MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DELIGHT
                    The Spirit of the Sprite, and Souvenirs of Fonteyn 
                                              By D. Rane Danubian
        artssf.com, the independent observer of San Francisco Bay Area music and dance 
                                                                 Week of April 4-11, 2009
                                                                  Vol. 11, No. 87
          SAN JOSE---David Guthrie is long gone, but his opulent designs of a florid paradise live on resplendently in Dennis Nahat’s thoroughly entertaining “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with Ballet San Jose captivating large crowds at the Center for the Performing Arts.
            This Shakespeare play and Mendelssohn score are the departure points for this droll fable about mismatched lovers, magic spells, country bumpkins and noble figures out of antiquity.
            There are earlier versions of this, by Balanchine and Ashton among others. But Nahat built it into a superb evening-length enterprise for his troupe, adding a charming array of little girls that---zounds!---actually knows how to dance. Plus a large phalanx of professional dancers and a dozen or so principals, plus a live orchestra with singers, and a generous two-act format. It’s very apt for this big anniversary year----the 200th of composer Mendelssohn, 20th for this production, and the dawn of the 30th BSJ season for the timeless ballerina Karen Gabay. The petite star can act, can turn, can dazzle, can execute picturesque arabesques, and can radiate charm as Tatiana (within the double-cast concept). And when she’s next to the hulking partner Maximo Califano, who stands head and shoulders taller, there’s even an unexpected Beauty-and-the-Beast dimension.
            With a performing career already double the norm, Gabay has evolved as the perpetual, indestructible Margot Fonteyn of the South Bay. And her performance appeared to have galvanized the entire company, which never looked better in a wealth of roles.
            Nahat’s scenario concept ranges through a dozen scenes and rapid changes effectively, with episodes of wonder, magic, love, humor and vitality. The glaring flaw is the finale, when it all clunks to a halt. Instead of accelerating in a rush to glory, we get a snoozer of a pageant with a repetition-driven corps, static segments for the rulers Theseus and Hippolyta, and Tatiana’s underwhelming cameo return in glitzy, flashy, Las Vegas chorus-girl garb.
            Still, this show has provided a glowing reaffirmation of South Bay performing arts by a never-say-die company that can pull small miracles out of the hat.
            The cast was solid, exuding flirtatiousness, enchantment, and accomplished pointe dancing. It’s a delight for the whole family---words rarely uttered once the “Nutcracker” season is past.
            The permutated couples in love were exuberantly interpreted by Maria Jacobs-Yu (Hermia), Beth Ann Namey (Helena), Maykel Solas, and especially Preston Dugger, who combined fluidity with deft humor.
            The 100-proof alcohol in this generous cocktail was the perpetually airborne, androgenous Puck of Ramon Moreno, a born scene-stealer, catching the will-o’-the-wisp spirit of the sprite.
            The music was drawn from the incidental music for the drama by Mendelssohn, who produced arguably the most scintillating overture ever written by a teenager. In addition, six other Mendelssohn sources were incorporated. Dwight Oltman’s pit orchestra was sometimes very good---oh, those delectable horns in the Lullaby!---and sometimes inconsistent. And that outrageous two-note donkey bray (on a tritone interval) doesn't work at all unless it's accented, sharply.

            Dennis Nahat’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” with Ballet San Jose; at the Center for the Performing Arts, San Jose. Through April 5. For info: (408) 288-2800, or go online.
        ©D. Rane Danubian 2009
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        D. Rane Danubian has been covering the dance and modern-music scene in the San Francisco Bay Area with relish -- and a certain amount of salsa -- for years.
    These critiques appearing weekly (or sometimes semi-weekly, but never weakly) will focus on dance and new musical creativity in performance, with forays into books (by authors of the region), theater and recordings by local artists as well.
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