San Francisco Ballet
Program VI
“Stravinsky Violin Concerto”, Within the Golden Hour”
“West Side Story Suite”
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
April 3, 2009
by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano, 2009
Great dancing and good choreography can’t be beat. They will always communicate. Though Robbins “West Side Story Suite” is one of his lesser, perhaps even forgettable works, Balanchine’s “Stravinsky Violin Concerto” and “Within the Golden Hour”, Christopher Wheeldon’s New Works commission from SFB 75th anniversary program last year, compensated for Program VI's ballet lite ending. Whether intended or not, the Wheeldon also curiously complemented the Balanchine. And it was so gratifying to see an audience respond to quality when it was in front of them. The Robbins received its whoops and hollers but it was Balanchine and Wheeldon who elicited unanimous thunderous applause.
Perhaps the most glorious aspect of the “Stravinsky” is the transparency with which Balanchine used the most fundamental of artistic materials: conflict/resolution, man/woman, group/individual, counterpoint/unison. He also reminded us that dance is fundamentally a social art, and that Ballet’s roots in folk traditions are deep. The dancers performed the four parts of the Toccata—each soloist in tandem with a quartet of the opposite gender--with the naturalness and inevitability that comes from a common purpose that is propelled by more than the exigencies at hand. Looking at the individual commitment and musicality—and yes-technical proficiency—with which the corps of sixteen dispatched its responsibility made one aware of the depth of quality within San Francisco Ballet.
In Aria I Sofiane Sylve and Pierre-François Vilanoba were seizing each other up. For them this duet seemed less a confrontation than an opportunity to get to know each other. The mirroring jumps and they way he walked her in the beginning seemed the initial stages of getting acquainted. When she breaks away from that overly tight entanglement by peeling off into a handstand, it felt less as a rejection than as a need for distance. She needed her space. Considering that theirs was a “failed” relationship, Sylve and Vilanoba danced it as if each had found an ideal partner.
For Aria II Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith, who has danced very little this season, intimacy was a given from the moment in which he allowed her back to practically melt into his own. Their hands intertwined as if they couldn’t get enough physical contact. In his slight reserve Smith was magnificent, almost afraid of overstepping her total trust in him. Balanchine here wonderfully invests angularity and unorthodox steps with a floating lyricism. Given the almost private nature of this duet, the odd “elephant trunk” gesture in the end looked like it was a direct address to the audience.
Wheeldon’s “Golden Hour” looked better than it did last year during the New Work’s Festival. On first hearing, Ezio Bosso’s quasi pop minimalism with its dash of Vivaldi had been off-putting. This time around it sounded somewhat less obnoxious. Wheeldon, who is known for his effective duets, also had chosen to set the score as essentially three, though quite, different duets. That was disappointing. But ultimately what matters in artistic choices is how well they are realized. And here Wheeldon—probably-- cannot be faulted.
“Golden Hour” is and remains a ballet about couple dancing, three major ones and four subsidiary ones. The tone was set by a quick mirroring duet, pristinely danced by Martyn Garside and Garen Scribner. This was going to be sweet but not saccharine. Flights of emotion but feet on the ground. Romancing as game. The choreography flows and intoxicates and evaporates like champagne. One of its nicest touches is a circle dance in which the men hold hands and the women’s arms on the outside create rings across the chain. Most remarkable was how Wheeldon’s fluid use of space made it look as if the stage were filled with twice as many dancers than the fourteen he had.
This year Katita Waldo was paired with a little-bit-too-tall for her Brett Bauer. In the gentle pizzicato section i Wheeldon blends at first boxy waltz steps with soft lifts, slide and an athletic engagement or two. But gradually the waltzing becomes more refined and then spills into other couples’ joining. Well done, it could almost be seen as the evolution of the Waltz
Sarah Van Patten with Vilanoba and Maria Kotchekova with Joan Boada reprised their roles from last year. With her quiet eroticism, Van Patten has often an odalisque quality about her. Here it was put to good use in the way she folded herself against Vilanoba and allowed him to travel her. At point, she seemed terribly alone as if leaning into an abyss with Vilanoba barely restraining her.
Approaching each other on a diagonal, with Boada on his knees, the romance with Kotchekova started on a highly formal note. But it quickly opened into playful give and take and blossomed into giving encounters in Kotchekova phrasing flowed like so much honey. This is a partnership that’s likely to grow in the years to come. There is a dramatic flair to her softness just as there is lyricism to this steadfastness.
“West Side Story Suite”, which received its SFB premiere last year, received a rousing performance. Robbins’ sense of timing and his ability to switch gears remains admirable but there doesn’t seem to be much need for this work in the repertoire except for ballet dancers who want to try out the Broadway medium. Shannon Roberts reprised her promotion-eliciting Anita; Ruben Martin let loose as Bernardo; Dores Andres could have let loose a little more as Maria; and Rory Hohenstein returned to the company as an amiable though not particularly forceful Tony. The dancers obviously enjoyed themselves.
Guest conductor David Briskin from the National Ballet of Canada worked well with the three scores and the musicians.
Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith in ”Stravinsky Violin Concerto”
Photo: Erik Tomasson
