'Imaginal Disc' reviews 'Valses Poeticos' reviews 'Grosse Fugue' reviews 'Rush' reviews Zahorian in reviews LeBlanc in reviews recent SFB reviews more Renee Renouf reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

The men open the number with bounding grand jetes, frequently executed on diagonals, arms down. Then sometimes the arms go en haut, the body tilts to one side. They bound all over the place, circle and weave, lift Martin aloft. In the background a white scrim is held up by five figures who are silhouetted; it slowly begins to move forward, confining the depth of the men's performing space. The men slide under and behind it, and the women are revealed in strapless white sheaths which almost hobble them to the knee. Their gestures proceed as movements from the elbow, forearm confined to the side; jerks of the shoulders, a cocking of the head to the side.

The men join them and there is an antiseptic quality to the obvious mating on the floor - sex can be delicate! The duet between Martin and Young repeats many of the same gestures. The scrim is tossed around and over the women, and when they emerge, Young has oblong pieces of white from elbow to wrist. She experiments and as the light blacks out, she is full out moth/butterfly.

Young plans to retire the end of the 2004 season after 19 years with the company, and as a soloist since 1995. The first Chinese-American to reach soloist status in the company, she has always danced with intelligence, a distinct, if low-keyed, spirit with her contribution in production assistance has been recognized by choreographer Adam.

Valses Poeticos is one of the Tomasson string of pieces d'occasions, evocative and charming enough to join a season's repertoire and periodic revival. With LeBlanc and Boada, I saw it for the first time, and wanted to see it the following night with Tan and Possokhov. LeBlanc had just the right hesitancy and persistence as the woman in love and Boada's initial indifference after the initial attraction, both macho and dismaying; was forever tango here we come. Hard to believe LeBlanc became a mother for the second time six months ago.

Grosse Fuge is San Francisco Ballet's third piece by Hans van Manen, and what a masterful piece. The program notes quote van Manen as saying that women are strong, stronger then men. One senses this with the clutch of four upstage right in modest white tunics. The men, in their swinging black skirts, like Japanese hakamas, are ranged downward on stage left.

Van Manen's spare use of the stage, his separation of men and women for the first half of the piece keeps underscoring gender difference, provided wonderful variations for Legate and Garcia, major quartets for the men. As the ballet moved into full ensemble, women in partnership with men, the men's skirts were shed, revealing black tights and a belt which served as pivotal instruments for the women to grasp while being moved on the floor. The phrase ‘wiping the floor' gained a major illustration, except the women had this firm grasp on those belts,telling you no way this was to be the situation forever or that the women would let go. When the curtain fell, the women's gestures were echoed by the men, though each group lay separately, men down stage and women mid stage left, as ever is thus.

Van Manen's theatricality has great strength in exposition, a distinct contrast between the three ballets in the program. I look forward to seeing it again in 2005.

Christopher Wheeldon's Rush currently leaves me neutral, if aware how busy most of it is, particularly for Le Blanc, Zahorian, Blanc and Molat, with bright colors and floppy touches on the women's costumes. It is blithe in the extreme, and I need to take a second look.