Smuin
Dance Series 02
Yerba Buena Center for
the Arts Theater, San Francisco
May 20th,
2017
World premieres,
contemporary ballet vocabulary, abstract choreography, historical references.
All were present in Smuin’s Dance Series 02, the concluding program of the
company’s twenty-third year. A triple bill of Nicole Haskins’ The Poetry of Being, Amy Seiwert’s Broken Open and Trey McIntyre’s Be Here Now, Dance Series 02 is
currently in the middle of its San Francisco engagement at Yerba Buena Center
for the Arts - running through next weekend - and from there, will head to
Carmel for this season’s last performances.
Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence score sang through
the air as the curtain revealed Nicole Haskins’ premiere work The Poetry of Being. Eight dancers were
costumed in blue, the women’s skirts having a lovely inner layer of contrasting
teal, and a lead couple, Erica Felsch and Robert Kretz, in taupe. The visuals
were not at all ostentatious, allowing Haskins’ vivacious choreography to eat
up the space, unencumbered. Joyousness, buoyancy and forward motion pervaded
the abstract work, with recurring upper body lifts and sliding circuits in open
fourth position. And while The Poetry of
Being seemed to be mostly about this movement in this place, there was a pull
outward, with the cast gathering at the front of the stage multiple times and
gazing out on the horizon.
The piece seemed to
settle into its groove more in the second half, with the phrase material
relaxing a bit, allowing room to luxuriate in the transitional spaces. Felsch
and Kretz’s central pas de deux was a delight; a courtly duet abounding with
intertwined arms and swiveling spins. With the stage bathed in a blue hue,
there’s was a gorgeous, elegant skate through space and time. Following that
main pas de deux, the cast returned to the stage, now dressed in neutral
shades. And then the entire ensemble joined forces for a unison expression of
reverénce.
The Poetry of Being was a solid start to Dance Series 02, with just
one curious element - the costume changes during the ballet. Felsch and Kretz
appeared for a short time at the beginning in the taupe and then returned in
the same blue as the rest of the cast. Then, they switched back to the taupe for
the ballet’s main pas de deux. The cast joined them, in similar neutrals, and then
Felsch and Kretz changed back to the blue again for the final tableau. With the
mood of the ballet staying more or less in the same dynamic range, the costume
changes were a bit puzzling.
Another abstract work
took the second place on the bill, the return of Choreographer-In-Residence Amy
Seiwert’s Broken Open (2015). A good
contrast to the other works on the Dance Series 02 program, Broken Open is communicated through
suite form, and right from the start offers an eclectic approach to ballet
vocabulary. Straight clock-like arms, flexed feet and parallel pliés in sixth
position meet with strong turned out arabesques and classic pirouettes. As
hinted at by the title, open postures unfold everywhere, particularly an
abundance of second position in lifts, in plié, in jumps, in
spins and in écarté extension. Two years after the premiere, some sections of Broken Open still seem elusive for the
company, though there were certainly standout performances on Saturday afternoon.
Lauren Pschirrer’s opening solo was all about defined specificity. And the
men’s pas de trois (Mengjun Chen, Ben Needham-Wood and Jonathan Powell) brought
an athletic, position-rich variation to the table. And then, in the final
section of Broken Open, Rex Wheeler
led the ensemble in a cluster formation – whimsical, light and refreshing. I think
it would be interesting to view the work with different costumes.
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Jonathan Powell in Trey McIntyre's Be Here Now Photo Keith Sutter |
The flagship of the
Dance Series 02 program, Trey McIntyre’s new ballet Be Here Now is an homage to 1967’s Summer of Love, the iconic San
Francisco event now fifty years in the past. An ensemble dance complete with an
arresting video introduction, nostalgic soundtrack, crazy drug trip, giant ice
cream cone backdrop and fracturing puppets, Be
Here Now spoke of youth culture, community and being in the moment. Twelve
dancers walked forward in slow motion, and then erupted into a physical
concert; a collection of varying vignettes set to music from decades past. The emotionally
charged choreographic sequences that followed expressed everything from
frustration to protest, love to acceptance. The entire ensemble was all in from
beginning to end, and their enthusiasm for the work was palpable. Erica Chipp,
Erin Yarbrough-Powell and Needham-Wood particularly soared in their featured
solos.
And there was something
about the conversation between slow motion and fast movement in Be Here Now. These two states of being
played against each other throughout the work, maybe a comment on the complex
human condition people found themselves in at that time (and might still now).
Feelings of being super present in an intentional space while surrounding
forces seem out of control. The lengthy drug trip mid-point added escapism to the mix, a sense of risk-taking and unabashedly hurdling into
the unknown.
A number of different
props and theatrical elements made an appearance in Be Here Now, specifically in the middle of the dance, and it
distracted a little from the choreography and the company’s performances. Both were
so powerful and compelling and could stand on their own without the extras. But
at the same time, the audience loved it, so perhaps a matter of preference. In
the final third of the piece, Be Here Now
did get back to its earlier community aesthetic and emotion-filled dance, which
made for a strong ending.