San Francisco Ballet: “The Colors of Dance”
Opera House: San Francisco
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
The ongoing season of the San Francisco Ballet under the direction of Tamara Rojo continues to delight audiences with dearly reconstructed works and new ballets. Tomasson’s 7 for Eight opened the evening with the appearance of Yuan Yuan Tan and Aaron Robison in the first movement. The couple who are familiar to the SF Ballet audience appeared again in the sixth movement. The “Eight” movements are danced by seven dancers, each and all performing with delightful skill and energetic projection. Kudos to the soloist Lucas Ernie whose technique was extraordinary.
The premiere of the evening was “Colorforms” a new work by Myles Thatcher with music by Steve Reich. The dancers are released to some extent from the uniform colors of ‘classical’ ballet costumes, here dressed in a variety of contemporary outfits including shorts, slacks, skirts and a variety of shoes and sneakers. Of course there are toe shoes on the women, but a more varied style of movement sparked the casual play between the cast: Jasmine Jamison; Sasha de Sola, Aaron Robison, Misa Kuranaga, Cavan Conley, Esteban Hernandez, Isabella Devivo, Steven Morse, Maggie Weirich and Davide Occhipinti. There is a good deal of casual acting, flirtation and teasing before and during the interactions, solos and duets that are danced amidst the changing landscape. This reviewer, although admiring all the dancers, did not find the setting and stage set changes to the advantage of the dance. Notes indicate that the dance was “infused with joy-and a bit of irreverence,” even escapism. Yes, but enough to lose the sense of the whole. Although sets are exciting to see and visually inventive, the dance and dancers are often ‘lost’ in the demands they make. Sets, lights, overdone costumes can ‘upstage’ dance.
“Blake Works!” Choreography and scenic design by William Forsythe, which has its premiere at SFB in 2022 was a more pleasant and for me, a more theatrical work. Composer James Blake provided a variety of songs and dancers Sasha De Sola, Nikisha Fogo, Jasmine Jimison presented casual but intriguing acting in their dance/movement.
The dramatic action of soloists against group was particularly fine. Sasha De Sola had the delight of her toy ‘plane’ to give the work a ‘center’ action. The audience also enjoyed the game. A men’s section danced by Joseph Walsh, Isaac Hernández, Max Cauthorn, Lucas Erni, Esteban Hernández was particularly skilled and delightful and of course in other sections, the men partnered the women (as named above) in various song-duets. It was good to see Nikisha Fogo on stage again. She has not appeared in the last year as often as her talent offers.
“The Colors of Dance” was a delightful evening extending ballet ‘libretti” in ways that are contemporary and for the most part delightful. Although Thatcher and Forsythe expand the usual ‘classical’ dance vocabulary in the their works, still, in the midst of innovative movement the choreography reverts to ‘pas de deux’ lifts and falls, pirouettes and acrobatic extensions which are the fundamental ballet vocabulary. It would be interesting for ‘new works’, ‘new choreographers’ to find a consistent vocabulary for their inventions.’
7 FOR EIGHT
Conductor: Martin West
Piano: Mungunchimeg Buriad
First Movement
Yuan Yuan Tan, Aaron Robison
Second Movement
Norika Matsuyama, Cavan Conley
Third Movement
Ellen Rose Hummel, Carmela Mayo
Lucas Erni
Fourth Movement
Cavan Conley, Luca Ferrò
Norika Matsuyama, Carmela Mayo
Fifth Movement
Lucas Erni
Sixth Movement
Yuan Yuan Tan, Aaron Robison
Seventh Movement
Ensemble
COLORFORMS
Conductor: Martin West
JASMINE JIMISON
SASHA DE SOLA, AARON ROBISON
MISA KURANAGA
CAVAN CONLEY, ESTEBAN HERNÁNDEZ
ISABELLA DEVIVO, STEVEN MORSE
MAGGIE WEIRICH, DAVIDE OCCHIPINTI
BLAKE WORKS I
I Need a Forest Fire
Sasha De Sola, Nikisha Fogo, Jasmine Jimison
Kamryn Baldwin, Thamires Chuvas, Isabella DeVivo, Gabriela Gonzalez, Blake Johnston, Swane Messaoudi, Nicole Moyer, Lauren Parrott, Leili Rackow
Max Cauthorn, Diego Cruz, Lucas Erni, Luca Ferrò, Esteban Hernández, Lleyton Ho, Alexis Francisco Valdes, Joseph Walsh
Put That Away and Talk to Me
Isabella DeVivo, Jasmine Jimison, Esteban Hernández
The Colour in Anything
Nikisha Fogo, Isaac Hernández
I Hope My Life
Sasha De Sola, Nikisha Fogo, Joseph Walsh, Max Cauthorn
Ensemble
Waves Know Shores
Isabella DeVivo, Diego Cruz, Alexis Francisco Valdes
Thamires Chuvas, Gabriela Gonzalez, Lauren Parrott, Lucas Erni, Luca Ferrò
Two Men Down
Joseph Walsh, Isaac Hernández, Max Cauthorn, Lucas Erni, Esteban Hernández
Ensemble
Forever
Sasha De Sola, Max Cauthorn