 |
So, here we go for the lieutenants and the troops of SFB. And such troops!
Claudia Alfieri arrived via ABT. She dances wanton roles very well, but won't have much chance to show that in the UK.
Christopher Anderson is one of the dancers who consistently gets one of the meat-and-potato solo roles. He has portrayed the major domo in "Sleeping Beauty"; does a Candy Cane in "Nutcracker". Possessed of a good jump, medium height, perhaps because of a slightly diffident air, he is one of the company's standard support dancers. One waits for a surprise.
Julie Diana possesses a coltish air which provided an amazing note in the Lynn Seymour role in MacMillan's "The Invitation." An inspired piece of casting, her capacity to be devastated was altogether overwhelming. She also knows how to romp as a giddy, spoiled and errant young wife. Her take on the same in Lew Christensen's "Con Amore" is one of the best since Nancy Johnson created the role in 1954. She also danced a "La Sylphide" and a lead role in "Symphony in C" which demonstrated her classical command.
Sherri LeBlanc is both dynamic and free in her dance impulse. One feels her full into the tempo of the music in her head as well as through the body and into the feet. If the company ever mounted Jerome Robbin's "On The Town" she would give us an effective replay of Muriel Bentley's role. She has acquitted herself well in Tomasson's version of "Giselle's" peasant pas de deux, but I wonder whether she wouldn't be equally alluring in "Gaite Parisienne."
Gennadi Nedviguine is one of the most centered, diagrammatically beautiful technicians the company possesses. Doing incredibly demanding things to a killer tempo, Gennadi somehow manages to make it back to the appointed spot in time and with an plomb that astonishes, simply smile at the audience as if to say, "But of course, you knew I'd be here." He is very Russian, proudly so, but of the sunny sort. And oh that placement!
Damian Smith has done quite well with character roles since arriving in San Francisco via Portland Ballet Theater, and he has a line and technique to support his interpretations. Unfortunately, the company may not have anything in the repertoire to support this aspect of his talent. Leslie Young dances both sass and sweetness with assurance. The second lead in "Rubies" assured her of promotion, and she also is prominent in "Agon." In "Nutcracker" she dances The Rose frequently, leads one half the corps in "Giselle"; is one of the disappointed brides in "Swan Lake" and one of the fairies in the Prologue of "Sleeping Beauty".
Vanessa Zahorian was promoted to soloist this past July. A slender, highly musical young classicist, she often dances opposite Gennadi Nedviguine. The two of them won prizes at the Eric Bruhn competition in early 1999. Paired in Tomasson's "Haffner Symphony", they also debuted in the Balanchine "Theme and Variations" this spring.
SFB Corps in Swan Lake
Photographer Marty Sohl
When it comes to the corps de ballet, watch the men! Peter Brandenhoff returned to San Francisco Ballet after a year at Hamburg, having forfeited solo status for having left. Trained at the Royal Danish, Brandenhoff seems to possess a definite, inner freedom, and yet a weightedness which makes possible great expression in modern works. I could see him in Limon's "Moor's Pavanne" easily for example. His Gurn in "La Sylphide" is awkward, simple and quite in love, and his conspiracy with Madge the Witch exactly what one wants to see. He makes the same impact as Hilarion, even though he gives hints he could also make an acceptable Albrecht as well. Dietmar Seyffert selected him for the third cast of "Back Home" and his reading of the hero proved Seyffert's choice fully justified.
There's Gonzalo Garcia, Prix de Lausanne at 15, a tidy, engaging virtuoso with ballon aplenty. San Francisco Ballet is quite pleased to have developed two dancers through its out-reach program. Quite different personalities, Ikolo Griffin is the quicksilver of the two and Chidosie Nzerem an unaffected developing danseur noble, who was effectively paired off with Muriel Maffre in "Western Symphony" in one hilarious program.
Among the women, Virginia Long brings a cool sensibility to dramatic roles, and is particularly effective in "Sergeant Early's Dream." Sara Sessions (our cover girl!) has danced diverse demands such as The Queen in "The Cage" and Berthe in "Giselle." Nicole Starbuck was sidelined much of this past season, just at a time when important assignments were being given her. Another dancer from Marin, she is a classicist who can also prove effective in Val Caniparoli's haunting study of human isolation, "Slow."
More discoveries are undoubtedly to be seen in London...
|
