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In 1979, Baker’s Dozen must have been quite chic; knowing her company’s roster, long on individual nuance, more weighted movement qualities. Here, the most polished,precise and matched were Yui Yonezawa and Le Mai Linh. Akua Parker made a striking impression; the stalwarts Karen Gabay and Raymond Rodriguez delivered their professional polish.

Blue Suede Shoes is a ballet that pulls out the stops relating to a period of some decade and a half over thirty years past; it does so with enormous skill even while most of it is so obvious. Elvis Presley, “The King”, was not subtle. But, man, was he ever powerful, and, on at least one occasion, straight to the point.

Dennis Nahat campaigned with his Cleveland Ballet board to mount the work. They were skeptical,but the box office response was enormous. Blue Suede Shoes was filmed for the PBS “Dance in America” series. Reviving it with Ballet San Jose, Mr. Nahat gauged the pulse of his paying public; the ballet is being performed for two weekends to generous houses.

The curtain rises on a flourescent-toned orange and purple guitar, followed by a pair of legs astride, slightly swiveled, equally flambouyant. Out come three pals - Arthur (Ramon Moreno)- glasses with frizzy hair; Raymond (Preston Dugger); Johnny (Peter Hershey). Bim-bam into energetic gyrations, kicks, free-wheeling spins, leg stretches using the sides of the feet. I don’t remember so many double tours so frequently in a ballet. Hearing Presley’s voice, the audience clapped rhythmically.

High school steps frame flouncy dresses, Rita Felciano reminding me they were called poodle skirts; tight bodices, pony tails, the colors on dresses and the men’s sweat shirts yellows, oranges, cheerful blues. Maria Jacobs is Johnny’s girl friend who receives his football necklace. Catharine Grow is Sally, school femme fatale, evoking puppy- dog adoration in Arthur. Grow, sleek, blond is just tall enough that Moreno when partnering her en pointe finds his eyes level with her boobs; ripples of chuckles erupt whenever Moreno partners or supports her. The boys fall prone as she picks her way over them.

Before graduation, a Hot Dog Drive-In scene is ballet high point, phony car profiles in bright colors, three attendants in shiny red patent leather. Mirai Noda and La Mai Linh, the couple who dazzled in their classical rendering of Giselle’s peasant pas de deux, join Yui Yonezawa with majorette helmets with perky tassels,red patent bikinis showcasing leg length and comparative nudity contrasting with silver, gold and red braid tunic with epaulets. Linh sports a red chef cap and apron. More cause for pirouettes, fouettes and battements en pointe. Elvis’ voice belts out Hot Dog and Tutti Frutti; hot dogs are tossed liberally. A dazzling replay of teenage rendezvous spot, it displays a minted American habitat. Arthur dogged follows Sally and encounters Boss Man (Daniel Gwatkin).
 

Treacle drips liberally in Steadfast, Loyal and True; white gowned and capped dancers file across stage front; the three friends are seen donning Army khakis. Treacle actually was standard fare;the sight of the Army khakis and duffle bags suddenly resonated again.

From treacle to a slapstick induction scene, Raymond Rodriguez plays the Physical Examiner. Nahat uses skivvies, the men facing upstage, to reveal bare buns of recruits to the tempo of Presley’s Frankfurt Special; a clandestine crotch peak is included. The audience howled. Wooden Heart provided a scene where Johnny’s girl divests herself of his football and chain, and The King renders You’re so Young and Beautiful with his clear pronunciation, accented by Southern overtones, resonant baritone.

Highways and Lonely Hearts sees dancers in grey unitards accented by black representing miles of railroad track and highways, traversing the stage in low, swift jetes, sometimes criss-crossing, mostly in one direction. The trio, slightly separated, dance reflective solos, Johnny Solo in My Hometown, Arthur, Mama Liked The Roses, Raymond In The Ghetto. Moreno’s interplay with mother Karen Gabay was quite sentimental, so Peter Hershey as Johnny. Preston Dugger’s solo ,In The Ghetto, revealed an unexpected edge in Presley’s repertoire. Dugger’s portrayal was striking for its intensity and the height of his grand jetes with little visible preparation. A former Dance Theatre of Harlem principal, dancing briefly for Oakland Ballet, before Nahat engaged Dugger: both lucked out. Dugger is strong, classical, versatile and spirited.

After soliloquies, the men don civvies for a Saturday Night. Mackie pulls out costume and decor stops: plunging necklines, high cut bikinis lathered with glinting beads, sequins, whatever glitters. Lacquered coiffures and dripping furs; Boss Man Daniel Gwatkin in a lemon yellow bell-bottomed suit trimmed in black. Sally sports white, others in outrageous tones of pink, magenta, partners in similar hues. The scene competes with Vegas.

You guessed it, there is a fight; the trio and the men find themselves in stir, leading into Jailhouse Rock with Sally in brief black and silver body suit and cap, glistening her way around in dominatrix fashion. Kicks, lifts, nothing is omitted.

The final scene is very golden, white and glittery, rather a come down from the prior inventive scenes. The entire company gets in the act and it’s good cheery Americana.

The cast danced full out, Moreno maintaining a goofy, dreamy, never-say die countenance. Hershey was suitably wistful and Duggers totally appealing. The supporting soloists delivered front and center, although I wondered about their private reactions to the glitz.

It would be intriguing if Ballet San Jose was able to take Blue Suede Shoes abroad. Balletomanes would witness a minted interpretation of some very American takes on living. There are 34 Presley songs; the only repeat is Blue Suede Shoes.