San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
MAKING BIG MOVES
Four San Diego dance companies will premiere new work, and a Canadian troupe celebrates the music of Leonard Cohen
An exciting year awaits with contemporary and classical ballet programs that introduce new dancers, a new artistic director and original choreographic works.
There’s another reason to see a 2024 dance concert. It’s good for your health. Studies by Corinne Jola, PH.D., a research fellow at the University of Surrey in Guildford, England, revealed that even without physical training, “corticospinal excitability can be enhanced as a function of either visual experience, or the tendency to imaginatively transpose oneself into fictional characters.” Science aside, professional dancers are experts at the mind/body connection, and these five concerts intend to elevate the way we perceive ourselves and the world around us.
‘The Many Loves of Don Juan’ — San Diego Ballet
Artistic director Javier Velasco created this ballet based on the story of Don Juan Tenorio, a theater piece known throughout the Spanish-speaking world that represents the lead character as someone who seduces women and leads a scandalous life, but is saved in the end by love and repentance. The production is reminiscent of a ballet bouffe, or a comedic tale with stock characters that include Gypsies, sea nymphs and peasants. Don Juan is an emotionally rich part and the perfect production for San Diego Ballet to tell because they have a new male dancer for the title role — the tall, strong and dashing Marshall Whiteley. The threeact ballet is accompanied by Joaquin Rodrigo’s guitar concertos and Lord Byron’s 16-canto “Don Juan.” It sounds fantastico. Feb. 24-25. Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, 7600 Fay Ave., La Jolla. sandiegoballet.org
‘Pieces of Us’ — San Diego Dance Theater
Those who determine to try again after tragedy strikes often do so with a willful power and energy. San Diego Dance Theater had an intriguing show scheduled this month, but an outbreak of COVID-19 in the company forced a cancellation. “Pieces of Us,” a concert of works by four choreographers, has been rescheduled, which means the rehearsals and effort that went into the preparation have been doubled. It’s bound to be a well-executed show. The production includes live music and two world premieres that contemplate the “complexities of love.” Artistic director Terry Wilson has choreographed a duet titled “A Quiet Place,” and guest artist Randé Dorn will present “3 Love Letters Never Sent,” a study on relationships over a year’s time. Choreographer Kim Epifano has reworked “Who You Are, Where You Are,” a popular dance that was showcased in this year’s Trolley Dances, and Jean Isaacs’ “Partita for Six Dancers,” accompanied by an a capella soundtrack by Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw, is a known crowdpleaser that highlights the athleticism of the company. March 15-17. Light Box Theater, 2590 Truxtun Road, Suite 204, Liberty Station, San Diego. sandiegodancetheater.org
‘An American in Paris’ — City Ballet of San Diego
This should be an exciting program of firsts. Resident choreographer Geoffrey Gonzalez premieres his new ballet, “An American in Paris,” set to a score by George Gershwin. His idea is to tell the story of a young American fashion designer who travels to Paris in the 1950s and becomes inspired by the designs of the Chanel luxury fashion house. Paris was becoming a city of culture in the 1950s, a time when its female fashionistas dressed in ensembles with hats, gloves and fitted suits. Gonzalez is an imaginative young dancemaker who dreams big when it comes to sets and costumes, and his choreography promises to be visually captivating. Elizabeth Wistrich premieres her new ballet, “Boléro — The Awakening,” to the Ravel masterpiece, always, from a musical standpoint, a study in sensuality. And City Ballet adds “Morphoses,” its first Christopher Wheeldon ballet, to its repertoire. I saw a rehearsal for the latter, and the movement is so fast, if you blink, you’ll miss it. It’s technically demanding and an exciting challenge for the four principal dancers who will perform it. March 16-17 at the Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., downtown; and March 27 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, 340 N. Escondido Blvd., Escondido. cityballet.org
San Diego Museum of Art performance — Malashock Dance
A fusion of art, dance, discussion and an introduction to Christopher K. Morgan, the new Malashock Dance artistic director, are included in the intimate, one-hour program, staged in the rotunda of the museum. Six professional dancers will perform three works to live music by guitarist Rann Golamco. John Malashock, who retired last year but stays involved with the creative side of the company, will present two dances: “Convergence,” a collaboration with dancer Jessica Rabanzo-flores, and the duet “A Pointed Conversation,” which was a response to a Henry Moore sculpture. Morgan choreographed “Companions,” inspired by artist Arshile Gorky’s “Child’s Companion,” an abstract oil and graphite on canvas that was newly acquired by the museum. Gorky’s painting, with its blotches of color and scribbled forms reminiscent of the drawings of a youngster, is personal and non-representational, but he had a tragic life and died in his 40s by suicide. The discussion with the choreographers should be interesting. Was Morgan choreographically moved by the visual impact of the painting or Gorky’s traumatic life? March 23. San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego. Tickets included in museum admission price. sdmart.org
‘Dance Me’ with music by Leonard Cohen — Ballets Jazz Montréal
Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s songs were a complex choreography of language that could represent multiple meanings, with songs such as “Dance Me to the End of Love” (it lyrically implies a poignant love song but was, in fact, about the Holocaust), “Nevermind” and the popular, often-covered “Hallelujah.” Ballets Jazz Montréal’s 14 dancers perform to Cohen’s songs in a production presented by the La Jolla Music Society. The show was approved by Cohen before his death in 2016, but sadly he didn’t live to see it. Directed by Louis Robitaille, “Dance Me” evokes “the grand cycles of existence” that Cohen alluded to, with rhythmic movement that gives his work an elevated form of expression.