There
is no letup in the drive, imagination and professionalism
of the San Francisco Ballet doing modern works, coming down the the
pike in
rapid succession.
The latest
program (Number Seven) generously laced with
psychological overtones featured a world premiere, revival of a golden
oldie “Petrouchka,”
and the highly dramatic 2010 “Underskin.”
Renato
Zanella’s “Underskin” plays out the high-energy
torment of couples and an abandoned woman in a theatrical way. The
gloomy stylized
“forest” is the setting for multiple players to the sounds of
Schoenberg’s bold
modernism “Transfigured Night,” inspired by a poem of a woman who tells
her man
that her child-to-be is not his. The anguish is played out by the woman
in
black (the willowy Solfiane Sylve at the April 8 opening), who could be
roots
of a toxic plant come to life, then echoed by some of the SFB’s leading
players
(Yuan Yuan Tan, Frances Chung and Lorena Feijoo) who throw themselves
into the
fray with abandon, backed by males of equal capacity. It’s a sexy,
virtuosic
piece, taut and intense. The feathery Tan was especially impressive,
having
seemingly achieved total weightlessness on stage.
The
“Petruchka” was an important centennial event with one
of the 20th-century’s great innovative successes (It turns
100 in
June). The scenes of Old Russian pageants, the allure of dancing dolls
coming
partly to life, and the ingenuity of both Fokine’s choreography and
Stravinsky’s
music are unique, though decidedly intended for a more intimate theater
than
the Opera House. The large-scale pageant scenes never really came to
life
opening night---more lugubrious than animated---but the cast was tops,
capped
by Pascal Molat in the title role. The challenge of the Petrouchka role
is its
unorthodoxy, hopping about pigeon-toed (very challenging for the
perennially
turned-out dancer), and playing a character role of the hapless victim,
without
a true ballet step anywhere. Seeing him locked in a room, trying
desperately to
escape, is like a minicourse in Freudian psychology, as much so as
seeing him
fall in love and then be totally frustrated.
The world
premiere work “Number Nine” is one of the
brilliant choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s most conventional
concoctions,
with a stage full of solid colors, bright lights, and fast movement on
rather
classic lines, done to a Michael Torke score that sounds like
warmed-over
Mendelssohn. Four lead couples came on, most of them barely having had
time to
change costumes after “Underskin.” The crowd loved it and cheered its
conclusion.
Emil deCou
conducted with accustomed polish. Casts of
dancers rotate throughout the run.
San Francisco Ballet’s Program 7,
running through April 19.
Opera House, S.F. For info: (415) 861-5600, or go online.
©D. Rane Danubian 2011
#
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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