Smuin Contemporary Ballet - Dance Series 2

Smuin Contemporary Ballet
Dance Series 2
Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA, San Francisco
April 25th, 2025

Four conceptual ballets danced by one extraordinary company-what a night for Smuin Contemporary Ballet! For the final offering of their current season, Artistic Director Amy Seiwert programmed a delightful collection of tonal works that journeyed through the decades. I use the words tonal and conceptual because, while none of the pieces told a linear story, they were not entirely abstract either. Instead, each wove distinct ideas, emotions and qualities into beautiful physical works of art. And it was a gallery of gems, with the standout being the oldest work on the bill, The Eternal Idol, a sublime pas de deux choreographed in 1969 by company founder Michael Smuin.

Brennan Wall and João Sampaio in Smuin's The Eternal Idol
Photo Chris Hardy

I’ve seen Idol several times and adored every casting; opening night of Dance Series 2 was no exception. A celebration of affection, desire and passion, the charged duet is all romance, all the time. Set to a score by the most beloved Romantic era composer (Frédéric Chopin), the pas de deux begins with two dancers intertwined on a rock upstage left, inspired by Rodin’s 1893 sculpture of the same name. Costumed by Marcos Paredes in unadorned beige-toned unitards, the pair begins to share their love story through epic classical and contemporary partnering. While the movement is undeniably beautiful, the costuming plays a key role - its blank slate transforming the onstage couple into anyone and everyone. Idol told the great fictional love stories of film, television, literature and stage. Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet and Ophelia, Ross and Rachel, Luke and Laura. And it spoke of every real love story too. Brennan Wall and João Sampaio were superb from start to finish, avoiding the sometimes sticky and awkward moments that can arise in Idol’s complex partnering.

Costuming and choreography were also inherently linked in Seiwert’s world premiere I Remember Now, the dress evolving and adjusting along with the mood and quality onstage. A seven-part ensemble suite, Sandra Woodall costumed everyone in the same beige leotard, jeans and flowing red shirts for I Remember Now’s first chapter. An anxious opening sequence, quick circuits, sharp directional pushes and whirling concentric circles filled the stage. But that frenetic tone would soon dissipate as Sampaio entered the scene with calm and hope, and he was without the red shirt. The layer had been removed and with it, the earlier frenzy. Wall and Ricardo Dyer brought support and care to the ballet’s fourth episode, now donning denim-colored bike shorts. Their duet had such a vast openness, particularly the seated lift in second position. A section for the women was full of fierce protection. And Maggie Carey and Jacopo Calvo wore sheer black chiffon in the ballet’s finale, where a sense of deep yearning became part of the picture. 

Smuin Ballet in Seiwert's I Remember Now
Photo Chris Hardy

Rounding out Dance Series 2 were Rex Wheeler’s Sinfonietta (2016 & 2018) and Trey McIntyre’s Wild Sweet Love (2007). A lovely welcome into the performance space, Sinfonietta kicked off the evening. Danced by ten artists, spritely joy imbued every instant as did an elegant, understated quality. With a subtle white and lime green balayage, Susan Roemer’s costumes were equally unassuming. Defined as a musical form and structure that is short and simple, Wheeler’s Sinfonietta may have been short, though it was anything but simple. Subsequent sections brought choreographic breadth and range, and there was a true feeling of anticipation. Everything seemed to be leading somewhere new – floorwork ascending to partnered jumps, spins and leaps. 

In her opening remarks, Seiwert told the audience that McIntyre’s Wild Sweet Love was going to be “a wild ride,” and she was not exaggerating. Led by soloist Cassidy Isaacson, the suite was set to songs and music associated with love. But if you were expecting all sentiment and schmaltz, you were in for a surprise. And in a good way. Wild Sweet Love’s first moments were deliciously creepy. The lights came up on Isaacson in a full white tulle dress and tea-length gloves. With a stoic, menacing expression, she cycled through textbook ballet positions and steps. The unsettled-ness would continue as Mendelssohn’s wedding recessional sang through the air, the pasted-on smiles seemingly commenting on marriage itself. Similar to the other pieces in Dance Series 2, Wild Sweet Love’s tonal scope would expand and deepen. Youthful exuberance and unabashed whimsy would unfold to The Patridge Family’s 1970 hit ‘I Think I Love You.’ Barrel rolls and sparkling hands evoking explosive joy alongside Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love.’

San Francisco Ballet - van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster

San Francisco Ballet
“van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster”
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
April 19th, 2025 (matinee)

This past weekend, San Francisco Ballet danced the final show of their “van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster” program, a quadruple bill tribute to choreographer Hans van Manen. And though I had my favorites amongst the four works, overall, I think it was one of the strongest programs that the company has presented this season. All of the pieces exist within SFB’s present repertory. But they’ve never been programmed together to showcase and celebrate this dancemaker, who while prolific, might be a little less familiar to West Coast audiences. What an afternoon at the ballet!

San Francisco Ballet in van Manen's Grosse Fuge
Photo Chris Hardy

First up was van Manen’s 1971 octet, Grosse Fuge. The curtain rose to reveal a stark, white background. Four women, clad in off-white leotards stood completely still upstage right, their angsty, somber faces (coupled with Beethoven’s foreboding score) suggesting something ominous was about to unfold. As Grosse Fuge continued, that serious tone was indeed present. But as four bare-chested men with flowing, full-length black skirts joined the scene, the work exploded into full-throttle, uninhibited and deliciously unexpected movement. Everywhere you looked, turned-in positions evolved. Arms and hands (particularly sculpted fists) were detailed, sharp and precise. A piston-like jump sequence brought equal parts strength and whimsy to the table. The cast burst out of turns into extension. And a throughline emerged that would inform the entire day: a deep love and choreographic exploration of second position. Grosse Fuge’s latter moments were erotically charged, yet at the same time, entirely egalitarian. Control was a shared experience, embodied by every single cast member. And you couldn’t help taking away that message from the thirty-minute dance: shared power, certainly, but also confidence in one’s own power. Such an amazing opener!   

San Francisco Ballet in van Manen's 
Variations for Two Couples
Photo Chris Hardy

2012’s Variation for Two Couples followed with another dramatic first look. The War Memorial stage’s surface was awash in cool blue; the dark black scrim marked with a giant aqua arc. Contrasting against that backdrop, the audience was treated to two angular pas de deux. Exaggerated flexed hands, sharp tango influences and long, piercing jazz runs. Again, the fifteen-minute work is a choreographic love letter to the openness of second position – in plié, in extension, in split jumps and in devant/derriere ecarté. And impeccably performed on Saturday afternoon by Nikisha Fogo, Max Cauthorn (who had also both just danced in Grosse Fuge), Wanting Zhao and Adrian Zeisel.

Alexis Francisco Valdes in van Manen's Solo
Photo Chris Hardy

Right before the day’s second intermission came the shortest ballet on the “van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster” program. Set to a Baroque Bach score, 1997’s Solo is only eight minutes long, and a truly grand eight minutes at that. I’ve seen it many times at SFB, and I always come away thinking that I had just seen the cast who were made to dance this piece. Without a doubt, every single time, and I felt that way on Saturday too. A trio for three men (Cavan Conley, Victor Prigent and Alexis Francisco Valdes), Solo is a constant physical stream of consciousness. One at a time, each enters the space and solos. Then, exiting in the wings, they invite the next dancer to take over center stage. It’s entertaining and energetic with a hearty dose of healthy competition. Over its short duration, Solo accelerates in tempo, dynamics and spiciness, making this viewer wish it would never end. And it features such unique communication between the three cast members: winks, fun-loving facial cues and winning head tilts. Easily my favorite composition of the afternoon, with Grosse Fuge coming in second and Variations, a strong third.

That brings me to the last ballet on the bill. I really want to like 5 Tango’s (1977). The tango vocabulary is excellent, and the opening group sequence is engaging. There is a lengthy male pas de deux and the company’s interpretation of van Manen’s syntax is exquisite. Yet still, it’s not my cup of tea. Tango is such a bold, dramatic movement tradition, and 5 Tango’s stays at a very similar, casual pace for most of its thirty minutes. There is one solo midway through, danced Saturday by Joshua Jack Price, that does have dynamism to spare. But otherwise, 5 Tango’s is just too slow for too long. Programmatically, it reads more of a first piece than a finale. 

 

San Francisco Ballet - "Frankenstein"

San Francisco Ballet in Scarlett's Frankenstein
Photo Lindsay Thomas

San Francisco Ballet
Frankenstein
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
March 22, 2025

The pelting rainstorm sent chills through the air. The anatomical diagrams on the main curtain felt undeniably foreboding. The score’s opening passages haunted. Such were the first few minutes of San Francisco Ballet in Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein, a co-production with The Royal Ballet. That chilly, ominous sensation emanated and persisted throughout the entire three-Act story. 

SFB premiered Frankenstein back in 2017, with an encore during the following 2018 season. At that time, I wrote about the in-depth narrative (inspired by Mary Shelley’s original novel) as well as the celebration/tragedy arc of the ballet’s three main pas de deux. Rather than repeating that commentary, I opted to think about some other aspects of the work at this viewing some seven years later.

First - the thematic essence. The throughline underpinning the whole world of Frankenstein. The fragile nature of the human condition. Every character is touched by this, beginning right in Act I, no one seems spared. Speaking of Act I, it goes full throttle for a full fifty-minutes. The viewer needs to buckle up for this circuitous ride. There’s an adoption, a birth, a profession of love, a proposal, a death, a journey to university, a grisly operating theater and finally, the creation of The Creature, portrayed at Saturday’s matinee by Cavan Conley. Throughout all this action, mortality’s darkness is revealed to many – Victor Frankenstein (Esteban Hernández), his mother (Gabriela Gonzalez), Elizabeth (Jasmine Jimison) and Justine (Elizabeth Powell).

A second revelation became readily apparent as the Act continued. While the main roles in Frankenstein are formidable (and crafted for dancers who are also extremely good actors, like those on SFB’s current roster), this full-length work is equally built for the corps de ballet. Here, the corps never fades into the background. From servants to students to tavern dwellers to nurses to party guests to wedding attendees, the corps’ sections are inventive, thoughtful and complex, without looking fussy or busy. An abundance of demi-pointework danced in pointe shoes pointed to the juicy ‘in between’ spaces in the narrative. It was a nod to how things were rarely black and white; Frankenstein, instead abiding in grayish zones.

Mortality would come again for many souls in Act II, but the highlight of the middle chapter was the duet between Victor and Elizabeth. Hernández and Jimison were marvelous at conveying the distance and uncertainty that had crept into their relationship. Meeting for brief moments, Victor continually turned and walked away from his intended, unable to come to terms with what he had done. Conley excelled as The Creature, though I still find some of the monster character’s choreography to be a little too pretty. 

Frankenstein is packed with significant scene changes, lighting spectacle, pyrotechnics, props and costumes, and every time a change was due to occur, moves were swift, rapid and appropriately urgent. Something that had been missing earlier in the company’s season. 

Act III’s wedding celebration is packed with stellar dance architecture, as The Creature weaves his way in and out of the scene, playing with Victor’s emotions and sanity. It’s pure genius! Once you spot The Creature and attempt to track and anticipate his movements in the space, inevitably, you lose sight of him. He has transformed into an elusive chameleon. In Frankenstein’s final moments, mortality arrives, plaguing the cast one last time. It comes to Victor’s father (Daniel Deivison-Oliveira), his beloved friend Henry (Dylan Pierzina), his true love, and finally to Victor himself. Mortality had touched everyone, and even The Creature did not truly escape unscathed.