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Discoveries in the Familiar

Program VI
"Raymonda Act III," "Ibsen's House," "Symphonic Dances,"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
April 9, 2013
by Rita Felciano

Copyright Rita Felciano © 2013

Taking a second or third look at previously seen work may not offer the excitement of figuring out what this or that choreographer had in mind in his or her latest creation. But rarely, if ever, are there no new discoveries to be made. During the reprise of Rudolf Nureyev's 1966 "Raymonda Act III," I kept wondering whether a company can do justice to this refined, so highly specific style without it being part of the dancers' daily bread. Dramaturgically Val Caniparoli's "Ibsen's House", commissioned by SFB for the 2008 New Work's Festival, remains problematic but his choreography movingly delves into the soul of Ibsen's anguished characters. I had high hopes for Edward Liang's 2012 commission, "Symphonic Dances", his first one for SFB. Unfortunately, they were not fulfilled.

Midway

"Scotch Symphony," "Within the Golden Hour," "From Foreign Lands""
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
by Rita Felciano

Copyright © Rita Felciano, 2013

Halfway through the season, San Francisco Ballet offered a pleasant evening of fine dancing from which one walked away with a sense that, as the cliché goes, "a good time was had by all." Whether it was all that good an idea to program both Wheeldon and Ratmansky two, as another cliché goes, of today's " hottest choreographers"  can be a matter of debate.

Wild, Serene, Wild

"Guide to Strange Places," "Beaux," "The Rite of Spring"
San Francisco Ballet
Program III
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
February 26, 2013
by Rita Felciano

Copyright © Rita Felciano, 2013

Two radically different premieres from last year by Ashley Page and Mark Morris  preceded SFB's much-anticipated "Rite of Spring" by choreographer-in-residence Yuri Possokhov. His interpretation showed little kinship with an agricultural people's need to call upon the regenerative power of the earth. It did evoke, however, another more contemporary spring ritual when hordes of college students descend on the beaches of Florida during their annual Easter break. The work also got Jennifer Stahl, Possokhov's Virgin -- though one almost hesitates to call her that -- an on the spot promotion to soloist.

Too Much and Too Little

"Nijinsky"
Hamburg Ballet
February 13, 2013
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
by Rita Felciano

Copyright © Rita Felciano, 2013

For its first visit to San Francisco, Hamburg Ballett brought a staged a subject, dear to Artistic Director and Choreographer John Neumeier's heart: Nijinsky. The great dancer has been part of Neumeier's life--according to his own account--since at the age of eleven he ran across a biography on the great dancer in the local library. His two-act "Nijinsky" (2000), is spectacular in every sense of that term. Performed by the company very fine dancers, particularly strong in its male contingent, it left you wanting more and a lot less.

Bookending the Human Heart

"Suite en Blanc," "In the Night", "Borderlands"
San Francisco Ballet
January 29, 2013
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
by Rita Felciano

Copyright © Rita Felciano, 2013

San Francisco Ballet's first program of the season opened on a note of high interest. Of course, the company danced beautifully. It's what we expect by now. To see new soloist Shane Wuerthner prominently featured with principals Vanessa Zahorian and Tiit Helimets in Lifar was welcome. As was Lorena Feijoo's stepping back into performing on top of her expressive power. However, to have two premieres -- one local, one world -- present such extraordinarily different visions of artifice at its most communicative was simply exhilarating. Maybe, one day, Helgi Tomasson's tenure at SFB will not just be remembered for the variety of his repertoire and his eye to find and develop dancers, but his ability to program seasons with refined intelligence and, let's be clear about that, the bottom line.

Eighty and Still Going Strong

"Moving the Compass" Gala
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
January 24, 2013

by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano, 2013

If women's fashions are any kind of economic indicator, we are well on the mend. It's been a while since so many elaborate ball gowns have been seen at a San Francisco Ballet Gala, always a glamorous, elaborately choreographed event. At times this year you had watch where you stepped in order not to trip over some rouched train or floor-dragging skirt. But whatever their efforts to make an impression, these patrons had nothing on the elegance, eye-catching presence and sheer physical beauty that were pouring from the stage all evening.

Nureyev and I

 "Instrument"
Monique Jenkinson
November 29, 2012
CounterPULSE
San Francisco, CA
by Rita Felciano 

Copyright © Rita Felciano, 2012

Performance artist (and sometime drag artist) Monique Jenkinson may have -- as they say -- left Ballet behind, but Ballet has not left her. It creeps into her fantastical creations either as a reference or in actual movements. For "Instrument", she has dug into its core as a means to examine the nature of performance. The piece needs tightening, particularly in the early parts, and a few of the references probably could be clarified. But this is a rich, evocative and entertaining work of dance theater for which the genius and person of Rudolf Nureyev provided the conduit.

Diversity Out of Tune

"Lento a Tempo e Appassionato," "The Moor's Pavane," "A Swingin' Holiday"
Diablo Ballet
November 17, 2012
Lesher Center for the Arts
Walnut Creek, CA
by Rita Felciano

Copyright@ Rita Felciano, 2012

Diablo Ballet, now in its 19th year, has been remarkably successful in creating a space for itself among the medium-sized ballet companies that call the Bay Area home. Starting out with a full-orchestra, which disappeared with the funding, Diablo has never given up live music in one form or another. In the last couple of years, the company has worked with Greg Sudmeier and his small combo; Sudmeier is also a capable arranger so there is rarely a Diablo concert without at least some live music. Most importantly, Artistic Director and Co-Founder Lauren Jonas has a knack for intelligent programming, some of it commissioned, some of it from the rep. It may be one of the reasons that Diablo is anything but a pick-up group. Her dancers stay around because she challenges them. For this year's opening concert, however, the only one presented this season in the elegant 785 seats Hoffman Theater, Jonas' touch missed its mark. 

More Than Opera

"Einstein on the Beach"
Zellerbach Hall, Cal Performances
Berkeley, CA
October 26, 2012

by Rita Felciano
Copyright © Rita Felciano 2012

Watching a legendary work for the first time means committing to a perilous journey, with possible wrong turns, confusion about directions, fears about missing essential landmarks or, in this case, anxiety about submitting oneself to a marathon experience. Four and-a-half hours without a break? Not even Wagner asked that of his audiences. And I like Philip Glass about as much as I appreciate Wagner: digestible in small doses, very small doses. So did joining some 2,500 patrons, many of whom appeared to be on a pilgrimage, mean having to having to join the faithful?  I would not have moved from my seat if I had been paid to do so.

BY and For--Moses Dancers at Work

"Helen," "What Happens after the Fall," "The Vessel Stories", "Scrubbing the Dog," "Radiance & Polarity"
Robert Moses' Kin
ODC Theater
San Francisco, CA
June 8, 2012

by Rita Felciano
Copyright © Rita Felciano, 2012

In March of this year the Robert Moses' Kin company presented an evening of dance that offered a rich overview of Moses', work since 2001. This beautifully performed retrospective highlighted the investment the choreographer makes in finding  appropriate vessels for each of his ferociously intense pieces. Some artists create variations on a theme--both formally and thematically. With Moses one has the impression that every time he goes int the studio he treats the place like a tabula rasa. His latest concert seems to have been designed to offer him -- and us--a look at his dancers in non-Moses ways. Only two of this elegantly planned program's five works were by Moses himself; for this, perhaps first "The BY Series", he invited Molissa Fenley to restage her 2011 "The Vessel Stories," and Ramon Ramos Alayo and Sidra Bell to create world premieres.