Monday, December 16, 2024

Smuin Contemporary Ballet - "The Christmas Ballet"

Smuin Contemporary Ballet
The Christmas Ballet
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
December 13th, 2024

Friday night marked an important milestone in the Bay Area holiday dance calendar: the San Francisco opening of Smuin’s The Christmas Ballet. The company has been touring the famed production for the past few weeks, but landing at home in San Francisco, where it has been a mainstay for the last three decades, must feel particularly special. The revue-style program, created by Founder Michael Smuin, offers wide-ranging choreographic genres - like pointe, clogging, jazz, Irish step, contemporary – and equally varied festive musical selections. The Christmas Ballet has appeared on Pointe Magazine’s list of alternate holiday dance shows, and opening night’s dazzling offering indicates why. Together, Act I’s Classical Christmas and Act II’s Cool Christmas mirror the blend of tradition and newness that is the holiday season!

Artistic Director Amy Seiwert shared in her welcoming remarks that over the years, there have been 115 different dances crafted for The Christmas Ballet, and what that means for Smuin’s patrons is that no year is ever quite the same. Yes, there are pieces that often appear on the program, but they are joined by many other works, old and new, including three world premieres this year. For 2024, fifteen dances were choreographed by Michael Smuin, Seiwert contributed six, with the remainder created by talented artists in the Smuin Ballet family. 

Smuin in Seiwert's Dona Nobis Pacem
Photo Maximillian Tortorielo Photography

Favorite scenes peppered Act I. Zither Carol’s quiet peacefulness and delicate intricacy. Nicole Haskins’ Fantasia, with its playful exuberance and partnered Italian changement. The pedestrian elegance of Veni, Veni, Emmanuel; the sky-high lifts in For Unto Us a Child is Born; The Gloucestershire Wassail’s graceful beats and courtly demeanor. Haskins’ Joy to the World brings epic fanfare, every move that the company made felt a punctuation of the brass instruments in the score. New moments greeted the audience as well. Framed by a banner of snowflakes, the debut of Seiwert’s Dona Nobis Pacem gave tones and qualities of a gentle snowfall; swirling arms and vignette changes evoking a light flurry.

AL Abraham in Wall's Last Christmas
Photo Maximillian Tortoriello Photography

Onto Act II’s Cool Christmas. Standouts included Rex Wheeler’s Silver Bells, a nostalgic, cozy romp, complete with swinging postures resembling merry bells. And Seiwert’s duet River with its stunning spins that seem to defy the laws of gravity and physics. Company artist Brennan Wall choreographed the second world premiere on the bill, Last Christmas, to the 1984 Wham hit recording. Primarily a solo, performed superbly Friday night by AL Abraham, it oozed an eighties vibe. Old school jazz was everywhere – pas de boureés leading into parallel turns, dive jumps, fouettés and axel spins. Most of the dancer pairings in The Christmas Ballet tend to be heteronormative, but Wheeler’s Someday Soon (premiere) brought another story to the stage. The duet for two women (Gabrielle Collins and Julia Gundzik) conveyed a narrative of yearning, longing, hoping and eventually, the realization of love and affection. It was beautiful.

Any commentary on The Christmas Ballet must acknowledge the incredible feat that Smuin’s artists accomplish with every performance. They navigate close to thirty different dances! The footwear changes alone throughout the production (ballet flats plus pointe, character, jazz, saddle and tap shoes) are absolutely astounding.


Monday, December 09, 2024

San Francisco Ballet - Nutcracker

San Francisco Ballet
Nutcracker
December 7th, 2024
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco

Bountiful merriment poured into the War Memorial Opera House on Saturday afternoon for the first matinee performance of San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker. It was hard to imagine that just days earlier, 2024’s Nutcracker run was uncertain. Contract negotiations were ongoing, and it wasn’t until mid-week that the fate of the beloved Bay Area tradition was clear. Luckily, an agreement was reached! And so, the Stahlbaum’s house was awash with revelry, the mice and the soldiers battled, the snowstorm raged on and the Sugar Plum Fairy welcomed Clara and her magical Nutcracker Prince to another realm. The twentieth anniversary of the company’s current Nutcracker, choreographed by former Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson, is up and running until December 29th!

San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson's Nutcracker
© San Francisco Ballet
Photo Lindsey Rallo

Much of the narrative action unfolds in the ballet’s first half - Clara receives her treasured Nutcracker from Drosselmeyer; the Nutcracker (and the entire scene) transforms and grows; characters battle; and then the pair journey by carriage through a wintry forest. The clash between the soldiers and the mice tends to drag in many productions, but here Tomasson has injected such forward momentum and humor that the segment goes by at a brisk pace. Standout performances from Act I certainly include Carmela Mayo’s dancing doll. The doll may be life size, but it is still a doll, and so mechanized motions and off-balance leanings should be aplenty. Often, the doll solo doesn’t quite capture that spirit, but Mayo was superb, especially in recruiting her epaulement. Former longtime soloist Hansuke Yamamoto made a dazzling debut as Drosselmeyer! Equally impressive were Esteban Hernández as the Nutcracker Prince, Frances Chung as the Queen of the Snow and Cavan Conley as her King. The dance architecture for the snowflake sequence was unwavering; super clean as the corps de ballet shifted from one tableau to another. Turns in low attitude and low coupé were particularly delicate and soft, just like falling snow.

Jennifer Stahl’s Sugar Plum Fairy reigns over Act II with its series of variations and enchaînements. And again, with an eye towards the dance architecture and choreographic construction, it’s of note that most of the featured dances in this Nutcracker are for an odd number of performers. Spanish is a pas de cinq; Arabian, French and Russian are trios and Chinese is a solo, accompanied by students from SFB’s school. So many more interesting formations and choreographic possibilities occur because of these unique groupings. Hernández was joined by Katherine Barkman for the grand pas de deux, and the pairing was positively sublime. Together, every movement and transition was so precise yet flowing and elegant at the same time. Their energy was fervent. Hernández’ deep plié and soaring ballon were the epitome of strength and grace, which Barkman matched with her exquisite balances and fouettés.


San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson's Nutcracker
© San Francisco Ballet
Photo Lindsey Rallo


Monday, December 02, 2024

Pilobolus

Cal Performances presents
Pilobolus
Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley
Nov 30th, 2024

Moving from one month to the next is more than just turning the page on a calendar. Consider, instead, the opportunities. A chance to embrace something new. A moment to reflect on what just past. Allowing oneself to truly live and abide in the gift of liminal space. 

This past weekend, as time spanned November and December, Cal Performances presented Pilobolus, a company whose work is all about the notion of change and the in-between. Choreography and visuals take the viewer down an initial path, and then the scene quickly morphs into something phenomenally unexpected. Formed out of Dartmouth College in 1971, the troupe blends acrobatics, artistry and contemporary movement while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of shape, posture and gravity. They are currently traveling with their re:CREATION tour, though due to an injury earlier in the day, the program had to pivot on Saturday night. 

Of the four short works performed, first up was Bloodlines, an intricate due that revealed the simple power of repetition. While red confetti dripped from the rafters downstage left, dynamically and tonally varied movements unfolded: centrifugal spinning, arabesque turns, pedestrian walking and one mechanical sequence that read like the internal gears of a watch. Continuous and repeating, the motions accumulated in energy and intensity, creating a truly hypnotic atmosphere.

As dancers entered the space from either sides of the stage costumed in bright yellow unitards and baggy boxing shorts, it was evident we were in for something completely different with Walklyndon. And it was a terrific, humorous affair! With each new encounter/meeting, the cast ran into and leapt over each other, played kids’ games, climbed on one another and walked on their hands. Walklyndon had no score other than the ensemble’s own vocal sounds and body percussion, and it didn’t need one. It was a masterclass in reacting to the moment, to stimuli and to a changeable environment. Such fun!

Pilobolus in Transformation
Photo John Kane

Next up was the ingenious Transformation, my favorite work of the evening. Aptly titled, transformation was everywhere in this short duet between a company artist and a large hand. The pas de deux occurred behind a screen, setting both in shadow. At first, the interactions between the two were delicate, eventually crescendo-ing to more substantive orchestrations. The hand descended over her body, seemingly grasping her head. It turned her into a very believable pup shape, then back into a woman. The pair clasped hands, and the giant palm shifted to reveal another human being. A final animal silhouette emerged as Transformation came to a close: a plucky mule.

With a bolt of light and a loud thunderous roar, Symbiosis was off to a dramatic start, and the drama would persist throughout the duet. Symbiosis was sensual. It was primal. But it wasn’t just those things. Like all Pilobolus’ works, it was layered with multiple textures, qualities and ideas. Two performers would journey into a shape, form the shape (whether recognizable or more abstract) and then it would dissolve. Over and over, crafting unbelievable feats of physicality. Yet the most mesmerizing part was how every single movement was the epitome of elegance, control and grace. 


Pilobolus in Symbiosis
Photo Bridgid Pierce