Graceful entrance
S.F. Ballet begins virtual season with first online opening gala
Patrons prepared not by fastening their tuxedo cuff links but by downloading an app; the ribs bourguignon were served not piping hot in the War Memorial Opera House halls but reheated in the microwave after home delivery.
Yet there we were on Thursday, Jan. 14, for the opening gala of San Francisco Ballet’s 88th season, connected through our computer screens. There were the dancers, some with their spouses, in little Zoom boxes at virtual “tables,” free to socialize because their performances had been prerecorded.
Then the curtain rose.
It might be helpful to remember, in these tense times, that the genius choreographer George Balanchine made his first dances in the dire and dangerous wake of the Russian Revolution, that the nearequally genius choreographer Frederick Ashton created his masterpiece “Symphonic Variations” as London was blitzed by the Nazis, and that San Francisco Ballet staged America’s first “Nutcracker” under the rationing restrictions of World War II. What those committed to ballet cared enough to preserve then, if you read their accounts of persisting, was not the art form’s luxury trappings or its historical connections to aristocracies. What they cared enough to preserve was the physical language of their art and its inherent belief in civility, beauty and harmony. And that was being preserved again Thursday night, in a way that was deeply heartening to see.
True, there were pandemicera takes on gala flourishes. The Rodney Strong winery gave viewers tasting notes on the evening’s wines, which were delivered to guests’ front doors along with gourmet meals (with a first course, entree and dessert) in a curtainwarmer. Soloist Madison Keesler let us follow her, eveninggownclad, through the opera house doors and up to the boxes, where she
introduced the company’s first virtual gala, titled “Leap Into the New Year.” The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, led by Martin West but playing from separate Zoom boxes, delivered “The StarSpangled Banner,” and it was a salve to hear after the week the country witnessed.
Artistic director Helgi Tomasson, who recently announced he intends to retire in 2022, also offered his welcome, admitting how relieving but also eerie it was in the summer to finally return to the studios, where dancers took class masked in small groups and rehearsed in pods under strict COVID19 protocols of regular symptom checks and thriceweekly testing.
And then the precious thing worth persisting for — the dancing — began.
It was a good choice to start with an excerpt from Tomasson’s work in progress “Harmony,” set to the Baroque music of Rameau. This was a chance to reacquaint ourselves with eight dancers in their most exposed, most buoyant classicism, a celebration of their unique strengths.
Diego Cruz was notably crisp in a solo of quick coupés, Lucas Erni seemed to warp time itself with his shifts from fast to slow, and Natasha Sheehan upheld the fine art of dancing with one’s eyes. This new ballet should look terrific in the main season, properly costumed. But it was excerpts from the upcoming season’s other three world premieres — all shaped for video rather than the stage — that captivated.
The most intriguing is “Wooden Dimes,” by Danielle Rowe, making her first ensemble ballet for the San Francisco company. In this excerpt, Luke Ingham, dressed in Depressionera banker’s garb, was slitheringly tortured by Dores Andre in a lowcut flapper’s dress and Max Cauthorn in (among other accessories) sock garters. The cinematography by Heath Orchard was superb, and the effect was like a Netflix teaser inviting you to bingewatch.
Equally compelling was a slice of Cathy Marston’s “Mrs. Robinson,” a ballet that had been scheduled for the scuttled 2020 season but may have been improved by the shift to video. Joseph Walsh, perfectly cast as a standin for Dustin Hoffman in this twist on the 1967 film “The Graduate,” entwined most dangerously with Sarah Van Patten on the benches of a rooftop garden. (Director Lauren Finerman deserves great credit.)
An excerpt from Myles Thatcher’s stilluntitled world premiere, meanwhile, brought a welcome air of youthfulness and wonder, as his work so often does. To the driving minimalist rhythms of Steve Reich, Frances Chung and a cohort of frolickers roamed the empty halls of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Richardo Campos’ photography and Ezra Hurwitz’s editing tunneled us into their imaginations, bursting through in moments of bright lights. Maggie Weirich, an underfeatured corps member, lent a distinctively intelligent presence.
The 19th century classics were not neglected. Angelo Greco and Misa Kuranaga delivered the prime pas de deux from “Coppélia” with gracious connection, though I confess to being utterly distracted by Kuranaga’s extraordinary feet.
This gala also brought an important company debut. Swedish Jamaican dancer Nikisha Fogo danced the “Don Quixote” and the “Swan Lake” white swan pas de deux, opposite another new principal, Julian Mackay. I particularly admired her as the swan — she has the lines for the role and the lyricism of the arms.
On the other side of the classical/neoclassical/postmodern classical spectrum, Sasha Mukhamedov and Aaron Robison danced William Forsythe’s slambam “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated” pas de deux from 1987 with supremely sly authority.
Back at the virtual tables during intermissions, dancers kept up spirits and hope. Of wearing masks while breathing hard in the studio, corps member Gabriela Gonzalez said, “Our stamina when we finally get to take these off is going to be great.”
Then she added, “I just feel very fortunate that as dancers we’re working.”