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Dances at a Gathering

Composer: Frederic Chopin
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Staged by: Susan Hendl and Victor Castelli
Costume Design: Jennifer Tipton

Green: Lorena Feijoo; Pink: Yuan Yuan Tan; Blue: Katita Waldo; Yellow: Kristin Long; Mauve: Julie Diana Brick: Hansuke Yamamoto; Blue: Peter Brandenhoff; Brown: Gonzalo Garcia; Purple: Yuri Possokhov; Green: Vadim Solomakha

Gonzalo Garcia made a wonderful impression as the man in brown, not massive or intense, but thoughtful, and aware of the sanctity of this particular ballet. I felt the air of sanctity, not solemnity, hung palpably around the music and the dancers with a special evanescence, asking the dancers to be in the moment, in the music, inside themselves with the same rippling, elusive magic of Chopin’s music.

Katita Waldo, Gonzalo Garcia and Yuan Yuan Tan in Robbins' Dances at a Gathering
Photograph by Andrea Flores © and courtesy of SFB

The Garcia quality was picked up by Julie Diana with an opening arm movement en haut and her manner of sitting and musing to herself, arranging her skirt – I could scarcely watch anyone else. Tan was perfect, clear and musical in her role, but apart, tweaking the quality like a minor vibration. Katita Waldo’s port de bras and movement impulse supported the ensemble work, her qualities subordinated with apparent intent to the work as a whole. Kristin Long gave joyously of her strong, clear technique. I hope she grows in her capacity for accent and inflection. Lorena Feijoo lent technique and Latin warmth to her hapless flirtation, masking her rebuffs with a slight shrug, starting at the waist flowing upward to her head, a subtle, impressive control.

Brandenhoff gave a touch of the courtly, matching his style with the Possokhov easy insouciance for the touches of Polish spirit, while Solomakha came the closest to a total engagement I have seen. Hanasuke Yamamoto jumped clearly, cleanly, impressing by his technique and partnering. Still in the corps, his quality was equal to the role.

I know the company will dance it for two seasons and then retire the ballet. But I hope Dances at a Gathering is revived every two to three years. It is a superb challenge to dancers not only for being themselves, but also in relating as an ensemble. Such a civilized ballet and tribute to relationships, musicality and inventiveness! How many ballets did Robbins create to Chopin? It speaks well of the affinity. I wish we had a new equivalent.

Elite Syncopations
Composer: Scott Joplin and Others
Choreography: Sir Kenneth MacMillan
Staged by: Monica Parker
Costume Design: Ian Spurling
Lighting Design: John B. Read
Lorena Feijoo; Muriel Maffre; Vanessa Zahorian; Gonzalo Garcia; September Legate; Parris Maynard; James Sofranko; Damian Smith

Elite Syncopations was on the bill of The Royal Ballet the year they danced in Berkeley, a disastrous season for the local impresario who presented The Royal Danes at The Opera House to minimal audiences; The Ballet Nacional de Cuba when the man who shot Harvey Milk and George Moscone was proclaimed not guilty of murder, provoking a riot in San Francisco, and then finally The Royal Ballet. The impresario, a bascially nice man, left town owing a bundle to the local musicians. His fatal flaw was presenting in a venue which didn’t draw San Francisco dance lovers. We can be real stick-in- the-muds.

Julie Diana and Damian Smith in MacMillan's Elite Syncopations
Photograph by Andrea Flores © and courtesy of SFB

That said, I didn’t remember the ballet was danced on a bare stage with the orchestra behind them. This chic cheeky Carnaby style provided enormous pleasure to the audience, ensemble and soloists. An evening’s work out for Garcia, Feijoo and Diana, it was a challenge to see the company essay the quintessentially English mod as Voyage Interdit by Carlos Carvajal was from the Flower Child and Haight-Ashbury era in San Francisco. What is more intriguing is MacMillan was perhaps the first major ballet choreographer to utilize the music of Scott Joplin and other composers of that era to such impudent effect. To match sardonic slapstick and technical intricacy to the tinny tone simply makes the display a stunning tour de force of style.

Lorena Feijoo gave the blue-legged floozy in Calliope Rag just the right dash of the blasé.I could almost hear her sing Dietrich’s rendition from “Destry Rides Again,” ‘Go tell the boys in the back room I’ll have one of the same,’ versatility in a neck and neck struggle with virtuosity.

The deliberate pairing of Maffre, in floppy hat, with James Sofranko was thoroughly relished by the audience. Maffre, flinging her lengthy legs around Sofranko who plays subdued porter with consistently dutiful posture, evoked laughter and a roar of approval. Maffre is a singular good sport, an acute purveyor of the right fragrance. Would someone please create a ballet about Chanel for her?

After Julie Diana’s quiet elegiac elegance to Chopin, her wispy silhouette emphasiziing one red star forward and two red stars aft, was a little staggering.

At the matinee, Possokhov and Brandenhoff will debut in Elite. What a trip!