Rita Felciano - danceviewtimes (Page 6)

San Francisco Ballet

Twelve Makes A Dozen

Program A: "The Collective Agreement," "Bound To" "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"
Program B: "Otherness," "Snowblind," "Anima Animus"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
April 20 and 21, 2018

This past weekend San Francisco Ballet opened its much anticipated, or at least much advertised, unbound-a festival of new works with two programs of three world premieres in each. An additional two evenings will bring the grand total to twelve new choreographies. That’s a

Greatness Derailed

"Nijinsky"
National Ballet of Canada
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
April 3, 2018

John Neumeier’s 2000 “Nijinsky”, excellently performed by the National Ballet of Canada, is certainly a sui generis extravaganza – a mixture of psychodrama and Cecil B. DeMille. Neumeier is a brilliant designer. His costumes veered from the Edwardian for the hotel guests to modernist flapper ones and reconstructions from Ballets Russes ballets. The two-part set –- secessionist touches for the Suvretta Hotel and

San Francisco Ballet

A Hundred and Still Alive

"Opus 19/The Dreamer" "The Cage" "Other Dances" "Fancy Free"
San Francisco Ballet
March 2, 2018
Program V
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA

A full evening of one-choreographer works is a rarity, eagerly to be anticipated. At SFB it took the one choreographer’s centennial and an artistic director’s thank-you for having enabled him to get a spot on the list of the country’s great male dancers. The men, of course, are Jerome Robbins

ODC Travels -- Locally

Dance Around Town
"Path of Miracles"
Grace Cathedral
Feb. 10, 2018
"What We Carry What We Keep
"News of the World"
March 15, 2018
Buena Vista Center for the Arts Theater
San Francisco, CA

For the last four decades, Brenda Way and KT Nelson have shared the stage during ODC Dance’s annual spring season; Nelson, at first as a superb dancer, today as a choreographer with her own distinct voice. This year the company changed its format. In a

The Latest from McGregor

"Autobiography"
Company Wayne McGregor
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
San Francisco, CA
March 8, 2018

“Auto- biography" by Wayne McGregor, does it tell us something about the man? No. Does it tell us something about being human? Yes. Does it tell us anything about the choreographer? Yes. His collaborators? Even more. About his dancers? YES. About a willingness to forego a trajectory? Yes. Does it work? Yes and No. A brief after-performance conversation with local dancers elicited uniform

Heart and Brain on Same Wavelength

"Speaking Ill of the Dead" "Trapdoors/Trickbags/Painted Corners (Excerpt),
"Lucifer's Prance" "Bootstrap Tales"
Robert Moses' Kin
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
San Francisco, CA
February 25, 2018

During the twenty-three years of creating for his Robert Moses’ Kin company, the former Twyla Tharp/ODC Dance ensemble member has embedded formally demanding works into contexts that might range from fairy tales to American and African American history, families of whatever denomination, world peace to the horrors

San Francisco Ballet

Revisiting a home-made Trio

"On a Theme of Paganini" "Ibsen's House" "Ghost in the Machine"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
February 15, 2018

Helgi Tomasson has an astute sense for programming. After an evening of works that were brought in, he followed it with pieces created in-house: “On a Theme of Paganini” (Tomasson), “Ibsen’s House (Val Caniparoli) and “Ghost in the Machine” (Myles Thatcher). The first two were created in 2008; corps member Thatcher’s first

San Francisco Ballet

Reflecting Language

"Serenade," "The Chairman Dances-Quartet For Two," "Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes"
San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
February 13, 2018

The first of this season’s repertory programs was called “Bright Fast Cool Blue”. You probably could find at least one of these qualities in the magnificently performed “Serenade”, “The Chairman Dances — Quartet for Two” and “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes.” George Balanchine’s name only appeared in his early masterpiece but his spirit hovered

Love's Labor Gained

"Dance Lovers 7"
James Graham Dance Theatre
Counterpulse Theater
San Francisco, CA
February 8, 2018

Watching two dancers work out a relationship on stage – whether romantic, exploratory, contentious or distanced — can raise the question about how they might interact when the curtain comes down. Is this relevant in terms of what we just saw? Perhaps not, but we do know that behind these masks are human beings with private lives that may or may not enter their professional endeavors. James

San Francisco Ballet

Classicism Well and Alive

"Sleeping Beauty"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
January 23, 2017

Is “Sleeping Beauty” the greatest classical ballet? It’s a question that periodically arises in my mind. After again seeing Helgi Tomasson’s 1990 version, I finally decided: “Sleeping Beauty” is the finest expression of classicism that we have, and SFB’s current production is about as good as they come. Lora de Avila and Larisa Lezhnina coached the company.

So why was this opening

San Francisco Ballet

Mostly Airy

"Celestial"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
January 18, 2018

Galas exit is to raise money — lots of it. The people who give the money took, until recently, hefty deductions, and get to dress up and socialize with their peers. They also fill the house with an audience determined to like everything. That’s a given. More importantly, we get to see what the artistic director has up his sleeves for the new season. Helgi Tomasson,

"Nutcracker"--One More Time

"Nutcracker"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, CA
December 13, 2017

Maybe a break from writing clears the mind and opens it to fresh perspectives even on familiar material. At least, it seems so after more than a dozen yearly viewings of Helgi Tomasson’s 2004 “Nutcracker" set at the time of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. He set it to a grand event that somewhat ironically celebrated the country’s hegemony while Europe was already

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