A spirited summer showcase
Any doubt that there is an audience for dance in the Bay Area in the summer months was eradicated Thursday, June 22, at ODC Theater, where SFDanceworks opened its second season with a sellout crowd, a rather mixed assortment of dances and some of the more spirited dancing of the season.
Founding Artistic Director (and San Francisco Ballet soloist) James Sofranko is polishing a formula that he devised last season: new and classic dances, choreographers familiar and promising. One might argue with a few entries on the program, but one could not quibble over the commitment of the nine dancers, whose resumes include the San Francisco
Ballet and international troupes. Seeing them venture into new territory lent a welcome suspense to the six dances on view.
The problem with Sofranko’s policy is that the classic dances can sometimes make the more recent fare seem fussy, even irrelevant. Engaging Sofranko’s old colleague Pascal Molat to perform José Limón’s solo 1942 masterpiece, “Chaconne,” was a brilliant idea; happily, Molat’s artistry has not dimmed since his retirement one year ago, and Thursday’s performance was wonderfully musical (thanks in part to violinist René Mandel’s live reading of the Bach violin solo score) and searching. The French dancer may not possess the weighted attack one expects from Limón interpreters, but, in this staging by Gary Masters, Molat reveled in the swooping arms, the knowing transitions and the eloquent contractions that have made “Chaconne” central to the American modern dance experience.
The single American premiere on the program made a bit of news. Christopher Bruce’s dances have been absent from local stages for years, and his dour 2014 “Shadows” marks a welcome return. Four dancers (Steffi Cheong, Danielle Rowe, Garrett Anderson, Kendall Teague) sit upstage at a wooden dining table, in turn breaking away for ensembles that might symbolize family discord, or expulsion from a familiar environment; the suitcases at the end suggest the latter. Bruce, who set the dance to Arvo Pärt music, does not exaggerate the desperation. Rowe was searing in her attacks.
The sole world premiere came from local choreographer James Graham, a talky postmodern trio, “Two Dimes and a Nickel,” that seemed ingeniously cerebral and emotionally wanting. Anderson, Teague and Dana Genshaft begin with floor calisthenics; Anderson orates and ends up snuggling with Teague. Graham uses space intelligently, but Genshaft looks lost amid all that mutual male adoration.
The big piece on the program (co-sponsored by ODC Theater) is Penny Saunders’ “Soir Bleu” (2015), inspired by Edward Hopper’s 1914 painting of the same title. The choreography does little to clarify the connection with the visuals, and the listing of six composers negates any possible musical unity. A mirrored wall and window frame suggest mutual estrangement (at one point, Genshaft physicalizes her loneliness by draping herself over the mirror frame). But Saunders can move her ensembles with amazing dexterity; a sequence in which the dancers keep changing partners riveted me.
The evening gave us two duets. Alejandro Cerrudo’s “Never Was” united Rowe and Brett Conway to music of Handel and Purcell. Rowe’s “For Pixie” paired Conway and Laura O’Malley to a Nina Simone record. Both pleased without achieving distinction.