“76th Anniversary Gala Celebration”
San Francisco Ballet
January 21, 2009
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, California
by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano 2009
Considering that two-thirds of San Francisco Ballet’s latest Gala was derived from, or inspired by, Balanchine and Petipa, it made sense to put the evening under the motto of “Russian Treasures.” (Some of the women attendees took this as an invitation to pull out their furs, something rarely seen in the Bay Area). But looking at the line-up, the program might as well have been titled “Look at Our Men.”
Perhaps inspired by the recent accolades for SFB’s male dancers, Tomasson just about turned over the first half of the evening and the ubiquitous “Le Corsaire, Pas de Deux” to new men and paired them with ballerinas considerably more experienced. Apart from the novelty aspect of this casting, the decision set up intriguing tensions within the traditional Pas de Deux format. The newcomers were Principals Taras Domitro and Ivan Popov and Corps member Isaac Hernandez. Three-year Corps member Daniel Deivison received his first major exposure.
Overall this evening yielded one of Tomasson’s most intelligent and beautifully balanced Galas. Pas de Deux's are de rigueur for these events; Tomasson smartly grouped them into two sets of three. Not only was the dancing on a very high level, but by sandwiching Christopher Wheeldon’s excerpt from “Polyphonia” between Balanchine’s “Tarantella” and his so very different “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,” Tomasson offered the audience a taste for the range of this balletic mainstay.
For the program’s second half he followed the line-up with another three. One its most radical versions is Forsythe’s "In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated.” Yuri Possokhov also rethought the genre in his “Raymonda Pas de Deux.” All of these culminated in its non-plus ultra, the joyously spectacular “Corsaire’s.”
Even though Tomasson’s casting choices left many of the familiar men at home, showcasing long-time women dancers with the new guys worked nicely. Partnering the sunny and crystalline Frances Chung with the charming, fast as a whippet Deivison from Brazil, resulted in a gracious “Tarantella.” Chung shone in the way she paced her chainés and jeté turns. Deivison had a few issues with his constantly shifting foot work but he brought an insouciant touch of machismo to his role.
As presented by a magisterial Katita Waldo and Popov, the Pas de Deux from Wheeldon’s “Polyphonia” mesmerized. Its liquid use of sculpted space and the intricately evolving shifts in response to Ligeti’s music—performed excellently by Michael McGraw—made this duet one of the Gala’s high points. In December Popov had left an inconclusive impression during his San Francisco debut as Snow King. He was to disappoint later in the evening but in the Wheeldon he partnered Waldo securely and sensitively in those intriguing levels and numerous lifts. Throughout, Waldo remained a picture of serenity whether she pedaled in the air, floated upside down on Popov’s back or sent pointed feet upward like plant seeking the sun. At this point in her career, there is very little that Waldo doesn’t seem able to do.
Young Hernandez was a lovely complement for a radiant Tina LeBlanc in “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.” Quicksilvery in her feet but ever so lyrical in her upper body, LeBlanc’s musicality and that wondrous ability to incorporate little retards into her phrasing, remain unsurpassed. Hernandez is small but he dances big, rocking his balancés evenly, shining in tight turns with pinpoint landings and a huge appetite for space. He partnered LeBlanc-who will retire at the end of the season- almost reverently.
Sofiane Sylve took Muriel Maffre’s role in “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated.” Though she threw herself full-force into the choreography's off-balances, angular stretches and huge extensions, and strongly partnered by Pierre-François Vilanoba, “Middle” looked dated. For a work that purported to deconstruct ballet, Forsythe’s approach to partnering—the man as the enabler—looked positively reactionary.
Also looking at the Pas de Deux as a specific genre, was Possokhov’s “Raymonda Pas de Deux” for Maria Kochetkova and Joan Boada. Set not to the familiar music, but selections from Acts I and II, Possokhov appears to have used the conventions to undercut their expectations. The piece has a light-hearted circus-like quality to it. Combinations looked arrested; a fish dive appeared misplaced; an ice skating step oddly lead into a promenade, and at times Kochetkova looked like a doll. This “Raymonda” bears another viewing.
No such puzzlements muddled Vanessa Zahorian and Cuban hot shot Domitro’s wysiwyg's “Corsaire Pas de Deux”. Zahorian played it by the book, yet with a sweet self-assurance, in charge of her sterling technique. The point work sparkled, the fouettées whipped and the chainés accelerated. Domitro’s slave was everything audiences expect: modest and self-effacing until he stepped into the limelight. The splits in the air just about bifurcated his torso, the leaps hovered and the barrel turns rolled. It was quite show. And through it all the band played on.
Tomasson filled this well-placed program with four other works. Lorena Feijoo transformed his otherwise bland “Confidencias” into a passionate exercise of memory and longing. The octet that threw itself with such velocity and high spirits into Jorma Elo’s “Double Evil”, a popular success during last year’s New Work’s season, should gain it a spot on Superstars of Dance. It might improve the show.
The excerpt from Act II “Giselle” paired Yuan Yuan Tan with Popov, about as a mismatch as she ever has had to deal with. While he showed decent pirouettes, though modest elevation and hard descents, particularly from the cabrioles, as a partner he was wooden and disengaged. Granted that the dancers probably had little time to rehearse, the contrast between him and the limpid Tan—with penchées stretched upwards like so many prayers and needle-sharp staccato that somehow floated --was disconcerting to watch.
The Gala finished—one more time, but on the Day after the Inauguration oddly appropriate—with the Men’s Regiment and the Finale from “Stars and Stripes.” The ballet, incidentally, premiered just about to the day, fifty years ago. It’s a Balanchine ballet you either love or hate. I have done both. This particular performance left me, one more time, in delicious awe of him. With the simplest of means—staggered unisons, accumulation of dancers, variations on marching, bobbing-cork turns, lens-like contractions and bravura steps tossed off like confetti—he created one long crescendo and then topped it with that outrageous red and white descending backdrop of a flag. The men strutted, the ladies kicked, all of them led by that masterful French-born puppet soldier Pascal Molat. Chin up, chest out, Molat never lost his smile, whipping turns à la seconde and bouncing engraved-looking jumps, his hand jauntily at the edge of an American style képi.
Photos:
Top: Tina LeBlanc and Isaac Hernandez in Balanchine's “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux”
Bottom: Rachel Viselli and Hansuke Yamamoto in Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes"
© Erik Tomasson
