San Francisco Ballet: Firebird, Artifact, The Dance House

Yuri Possokhov surely has a goofy romantic streak in him. In his first commission for San Francisco Ballet as official Choreographer in Residence, Possokhov’s new version of the old Ballet Russes boy-meets-bird classic, “Firebird,” has a sleek contemporary aesthetic, but the moment when it really takes flight is in the sweetly naïve “first love” pas de deux for the Prince and Princess, danced at the premiere on Thursday night by Tiit Helimets and Rachel Viselli.

Possokhov originally created a version of “Firebird” for the Oregon Ballet Theatre in 2004, although the word is that he made substantial changes for this production. Nevertheless, although it had some standout moments—many of which center on a gleeful Pascal Molat, chewing the scenery as the demon Kaschei—this “Firebird” in the end doesn’t quite satisfy.

It’s not for lack of skillful collaborators. Adding the titular Firebird to her list of exotic creature roles, Yuan Yuan Tan gave the impression less of the mercurial critter we’ve come to expect, but a rather grander more haughty bird, and Helimets brings an doodle-headed charm to the not-too-bright-but-very-lucky Prince Ivan, who wins her allegiance and assistance in defeating the demon so he can win his princess.

Costume designs by Sandra Woodall explicitly call up the ballet’s Russian origins, but seem at odds with Yuri Zhukov’s elegant, rather minimalist sets. Taken separately, the pretty Russian dresses and the airy skeletal masses of the décor would stand up well, but seen together, they leave one with the sense of being half-in and half-out of a fairytale. The orchestra, under the baton of Martin West, also sounded unusually sluggish particularly through the dance of the demons and the final apotheosis, perhaps partly accounting for why the finale of the ballet, a scene usually heart-breaking in its gloriousness, appeared a little underwhelming.

Inevitably, however, one can’t help but compare this version with the original “Firebird,” a lavish work created by Michel Fokine in 1910 to a dazzling score by Igor Stravinsky that was seen locally a few years back when the Kirov Ballet brought a reconstruction to Cal Performances. While Possokhov retains most of the original libretto--conceived by Serge Diaghilev out of several Russian folktales-- his choice of the shorter “Firebird Suite,” devised by Stravinsky in 1945 instead of the full 1910 version of the score, has meant that much of the storytelling has been compressed, making for a good ballet, though not a great one.

On Thursday night, the company also returned to the blood red barre of David Bintley’s “The Dance House.” Created for SFB in 1994 in the maelstrom of the AIDS crisis, “The Dance House” had something of a histrionic feel when it debuted, but the years have softened the edges a little and abstracted the ballet into a better, though still programmatic sketch of doomed lives in the microcosm of a ballet classroom. In the central role of the bringer of death, Gonzalo Garcia unleashed a decidedly earthy, oddly sympathetic take on a problematic character created originally by Anthony Randazzo, while Tina LeBlanc and Kristin Long reprised the roles they created in the first and last movements respectively, joined by Viselli who gave a respectable inner quiet to her adagio pas de deux with Helimets.

More eagerly anticipated though, was the return of “Artifact Suite” William Forsythe’s deconstructed ballet which dazzled audiences last season, and which arrived on Program 1 on Tuesday night. With a lead cast as diverse as Muriel Maffre, Pierre-François Vilanoba, Lorena Feijoo, Pascal Molat and Elana Altman, it was clear that Forsythe’s idiosyncratic work is meant to look vastly different on every body. But just as clearly, it’s Maffre who makes the most of this freedom. Surrounded by ranks of corps members signalling enigmatic semaphores behind her, she traces a long arc with her leg that swoops into a teetering dive for maximum effect.

Notable in the masses of humanity that fill the stage was corps member Lily Rogers, whose incised, almost insolent lines brought unexpected clarity to the second movement. Rogers’ debut next week in the role of the Firebird should worth seeing.

A ballet like “Artifact” should always be on the program with a George Balanchine work. On Program 1 it was “Divertimento No. 15,” to the Mozart work of the same name and conducted by George Cleve. Watching the patterned brush of dozens of legs, the push through the hips in a step forward, the wide sweep of an arm, and then seeing it taken to a new extreme by Forsythe was like watching the journey that ballet has taken over the years. Among the five principal women of “Divertimento,” Katita Waldo offered exactly the right delicate pointe placement, turning mere steps into sparkling chains, which is not to detract from Kristin Long, Frances Chung, Vanessa Zahorian and Viselli, who navigated their solos with cheerful aplomb, as did the trio of principal men Gennadi Nedvigin, Jaime Garcia Castilla and Nicolas Blanc.

Also on Program 2 was Helgi Tomasson’s jaunty “Blue Rose,” and rounding out Program 1 was Jacques Garnier’s “Aunis” given a speedy slingshot velocity by Garrett Anderson, James Sofranko, and Rory Hohenstein.

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San Francisco Ballet: 2007 Opening Gala

It’s not often that pieces on a gala program surprise you, but San Francisco Ballet’s Opening Gala at the War Memorial Opera House on Wednesday night went beyond the usual star-studded pieces d’occasion to offer an evening of thoughtful, often provocative dance.

None was more surprising or engrossing than Yuri Possokhov’s “Bitter Tears,” a world premiere unveiled by Muriel Maffre, accompanied by countertenor Mark Crayton singing the famous “Stille Amare” or “Poison Aria” from G.F. Handel's “Tolomeo.” Combining spare modernism with a formality that evoked the court ballets of the 17th and 18th century, this startling work melded theater, opera and dance to explore tantalizing imagery. Even if Possokhov’s intentions were not immediately apparent to anyone unfamiliar with Handel’s tale of betrayal and death in ancient Egypt, the drama playing out onstage was nonetheless compelling. From her stately entrance, clad in a pale flesh colored leotard and a flame gold skirt, to her shedding of the skirt to reveal a diaphanous tutu frame, to her final throes in beautifully ugly sharpened angles, Maffre embodied the wisping vapor of poison itself twining around Crayton as he described his slow descent into death. This was not your usual gala fare.

As devotees of the company know, Maffre has announced her retirement from the company at the end of this season, though clearly she is still at the height of her artistic powers. Maffre has never seemed to worry much about going out on a limb in any performance, as if somehow she respects her audience enough to know they’ll appreciate the challenge of even the most esoteric interpretations, and the audience responds in equal measure.

An enigmatic air also surrounded Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith, who floated through dreamy, peripatetic acrobatics in a duet from Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain,” set to the music of Arvo Part. No less impressive, if more violent in its undertones was the Armenian-born Davit Karapetyan’s “Last Breath,” an impressively caustic solo to music from the film “Matrix Revolutions.”

The program also included several revivals of works from the 1970s-- among the most successful, Jacques Garnier’s 1979 ballet “Aunis,” which kicked off the entire program. Aunis is the old name for the area of France on the Atlantic coast around La Rochelle, and appropriately enough it was up to the trio of Frenchmen -- Nicolas Blanc, Pierre-François Vilanoba and Pascal Molat – to put their own stamp on the winged contractions and flights across the stage to Maurice Pacher’s arrangements of folktunes on accordion.

Tina LeBlanc and Gennadi Nedvigin gave their own wholly convincing spin to Gerald Arpino’s “L’Air d’Esprit,” a Romantic-tinged tribute to the great ballerina Olga Spessivtseva set to the music of the “Giselle” composer Adolph Adam. Nedvigin was more than suitably airy, but it was bravura precision and speed from LeBlanc – who surely has the fastest feet in the West -- that dazzled with its unexpected edginess.

In a different vein, San Francisco Ballet’s newest principal Molly Smolen offered a solo, “Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan,” accompanied on the piano by Roy Bogas. Smolen was coached in the role by Lynn Seymour -- for whom Sir Frederick Ashton originally created the piece in 1975 -- and she evinces something of Seymour’s wildness as she throws herself almost instinctively into the pure sensation and feeling of the arches and twining arms. If the deceptively simple-looking “Five Dances” seems a touch dated, it is nevertheless a credit to Smolen’s expressive powers that she kept it interesting to the end.

In a more classical vein, Lorena Feijoo and Tiit Helimets worked hard to infuse the duet from the second act of “Giselle” with a Romantic glow. Vanessa Zahorian gave her Aurora a bit of American attack in the grand pas de deux from “The Sleeping Beauty,” which SFB will perform in its entirety later in the season. Partnered by Gonzalo Garcia, who whipped through his solos with panache, Zahorian looks like the details of the role are still in development, even as the dancing hits a solid note technically.

Nutnaree Pipit-Suksun and Vilanoba unfurled a quiet air of composure and the intensity from the inside out to Helgi Tomasson’s contemplative “7 for Eight,” while Kristin Long and Joan Boada put the champagne fizz into Tomasson’s “Soirees Musicales,” a frothy display of virtuoso sauciness to the music of Benjamin Britten.

The evening, under the baton of Martin West, ended with the buoyant finale from George Balanchine’s “Symphony in C,” led by a sunny Frances Chung and Garrett Anderson.

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San Francisco Ballet: Saying good-bye to Yuri Possokhov, Stephen Legate and Peter Brandenhoff

San Francisco Ballet
Farewell Gala, May 5, 2006
War Memorial Opera House, Van Ness Avenue at Grove, San Francisco

In a specially arranged, almost impromptu tribute at the War Memorial Opera House for retiring San Francisco Ballet dancers, Yuri Possokhov, Stephen Legate and Peter Brandenhoff, an introspective program of solos, duets and trios created an atmosphere tinged with wistful romance not unlike that of a love affair that’s ending.

It was an evening of was ballet for grown-ups, with nary a fouette to be seen, but loads of the finely-honed dancing of the sort that speaks of the years of experience these men bring to the stage.

Jerome Robbins’ dreamy nocturnal ballet, “In the Night,” opened Friday night’s program. This intimate and subtle series of duets for three couples isn’t for everyone -- the dancers often do no more than merely walk to the introspective Chopin piano nocturnes, which were delicately rendered by Roy Bogas -- but in the hands of the right artists it can be transporting.

Robbins had a knack for drawing back the curtain on the internal life of the characters of his ballets and “In the Night” offers a study of introspection, sensitivity and temperament. It’s not a psychological ballet, but it requires a perceptiveness about human interaction which makes it a perfect vehicle for the talents of Legate and Possokhov not to mention their colleagues.

Partnering a lovely Rachel Viselli, Legate was attentive and self-effacing, bringing both finesse and freshness to the portrayal of the youthful rush of passion. In the second duet, Muriel Maffre and Damian Smith presented a different portrait, with Smith a dashing and somewhat haughty partner to Maffre’s pensive consort.

Lorena Feijoo was wild and heartfelt with Possokhov, who looked remarkably boyish in their contentious pas de deux. Possokhov’s reliability and generosity as a partner never fails to bring out abandon in his ballerinas, who look like they trust him implicitly, even if the characters they are playing are quarreling.

On the surface, “In the Night” looks like individual sketches – the sweep of first love, the serenity of a married couple, the tantrums of another couple – but there is more to the story than that. The six dancers here imbue the ballet with a past subjunctive mood that evokes regrets, longings, desires, all underlined in a moment when the three couples encounter each other. Smith and Legate face off silently in the background while Maffre looks on, abashed. A rivalry, a failed love affair? The finale leaves you with many more questions than when it started.

After a brief intermission, the crowd went wild for Possokhov in “Revelation,” a solo choreographed by Motoko Hirayama to the violin theme from “Schindler’s List.” Clad in dark pants and an open red shirt, Possokhov expertly drove the audience through the emotional highs and lows of the vignette. Though no one would claim he is at the peak of his physical powers, he can still loft tours into the air with whisper soft landings, and this deeply felt meditation brought the audience to its feet.

Hans van Manen’s fiendishly rapid-fire “Solo,” danced by three men to a recording of a Bach violin solo, was the only opportunity of the evening to see Brandenhoff dance, and he made the most of it, delivering his complex steps with acuity. Joined by Legate and a brilliant Pascal Molat, the three men gave the rat-tat-tat of the choreography extra dimension with sly interplay between them.

Possokhov returned with Yuan Yuan Tan in the fervid balcony scene from Helgi Tomasson’s “Romeo & Juliet.” Tan is all airy grace, but you have the sense that the illusion is accomplished by Possokhov who is mysteriously at her side to sweep her into the air.

In “My Funny Valentine,” an excerpt from Lar Lubovitch’s “…smile with my heart,” Tina LeBlanc and Legate effortlessly meshed together in a quirky pas de deux. At the end a fan lobbed a bouquet onto stage as the two came forward for a bow and LeBlanc scurried forward to snatch it up and knelt to present it to Legate – knowing that if he got to it first he’d give it to her instead, because that’s the kind of guy he is.

The evening closed with Maffre and Possokhov taking the stage in the “Summer” pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s “Quaternary.” The audience in the War Memorial Opera House was so intensely concentrated on the performance, so silent, that you could literally hear the 60-cycle hum of the fluorescent bulbs framing Jean-Marc Puissant’s pale, oblong backdrop.

Possokhov will dance it again in New York when the company tours to the Lincoln Center Festival in July, and then he’ll take up his post as Choreogrpher-in-Residence at San Francisco Ballet – an offer that relieves those of us who feared he’d would be snatched up by another ballet company and we’d miss the pleasure of seeing his work. Legate will move on to study chiropractic medicine in Southern California, where his wife, the incomparable Evelyn Cisneros, will take over the helm of Ballet Pacifica’s school. And as for Brandenhoff, one suspects that we have not seen the last of him onstage.

In the mean time, we will have to comfort ourselves in the knowledge that, with Smith, Molat, Maffre, Tan, LeBlanc and the many other beautiful artists of the company, dance of this caliber will return next season.

This review originally appeared in the Contra Costa Times.

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