Pita’s erotic ‘Salome’ repulses, captivates
Oscar Wilde’s play “Salome” may strain credibility today, as may Richard Strauss’ opera, but in its own erotic way, Arthur Pita’s “Salome,” introduced by the San Francisco Ballet on Thursday, March 9, at the War Memorial Opera House, proved both repellent and fascinating in a moderndress setting.
A limousine carries in the protagonist for her 16th birthday. Father Herod (Val Caniparoli) and mother Herodias (Anita Paciotti) stalk the stage. This is an occasion for sexual awakening. Salome toys with seven scantily clad hunks; she chooses the hunkiest, John (Aaron Robison); after a sensual duet, he loses his head over her. There’s a grim denouement, which has earned the ballet a no-children-under-12 advisory.
At times, Portuguese choreographer Pita sends up the entire biblical tale. Periodically, guns shoot confetti, an apt metaphor for orgasm (Hitchcock did it with fireworks), and it’s funny. But, in the guise of Dores André, there is nothing amusing about her back-bending, squiggly solos (she doesn’t
disrobe in this one), but the dancer, in Yann Seabra’s stunning red dress, portrays the lure of erotic obsession with extraordinary intensity.
Composer Frank Moon provided a convincing melodramatic score, at one point during the beheading scene stealing a fortissimo chord from Strauss’ “Elektra.” Seabra’s decor is fine. I expect we will see more of Pita with less incendiary material.
This “Salome” isn’t easy to program in a repertory evening, but Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson erred by ending the evening with a revival of Liam Scarlett’s 2016 “Fearful Symmetries.” David Finn’s lighting has been brightened this season, but all the claims of the work’s sensuality evaporate with “Salome” preceding it. Yes, the dancers perform with bare limbs and chests, but they move too frantically. Most of last year’s cast returned. Standouts included Frances Chung, Lorena Feijoo, Jennifer Stahl, Yuan Yuan Tan in the enigmatic finale, Max Cauthorn, Esteban Hernandez, James Sofranko and Luke Ingham.
The problem here is that Scarlett, like the dozen choreographers before him, has not really melded his movement with the John Adams score (conducted here by Martin West). Scarlett gets fast and slow with tempo changes and arpeggios. But the guiding spirit here is poet William Blake, and that deeper layer of meaning is missing.
Program 5 of the S.F. Ballet season opened with the return of resident choreographer Yuri Possokhov’s very agreeable “Fusion,” which premiered in 2008 at the New Works Festival. What is fused is movement and music from Great Britain’s Graham Fitkin and India’s Rahul Dev Burman, all quite beautiful and beautifully played. Four Sufis in flowing white skirts (Diego Cruz, Steven Morse, Myles Thatcher, Lonnie Weeks) begin on the floor. The ballet folk in blue enter and merge; Tan enjoyed a fetching duet with Ingham. Sofranko now partners Lauren Strongin, and it was good to see Jaime Garcia Castilla back from the injured list.