San Francisco Ballet - "Manon"
Heather Desaulniers
by
2d ago
San Francisco Ballet in MacMillan's Manon Photo Lindsay Thomas San Francisco Ballet Manon War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco February 1st, 2025 I’ve never seen the full-length Manon before, and because of its difficult narrative themes, I was unsure about San Francisco Ballet’s first program of the 2025 season. As I expected, there were plenty of the scenes and interactions that were tough to watch. Inequitable class and gender dynamics, violence, abuses of power, passing women around like property – moments of shock, dismay and disbelief. But if ballet fans are being honest, mo ..read more
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San Francisco Ballet - Opening Night Gala
Heather Desaulniers
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1w ago
San Francisco Ballet 2025 Opening Night Gala War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco January 22, 2025 It was not lost on San Francisco Ballet patrons that this year’s opening night gala fell on an auspicious date – January two, two. An ideal frame to launch the company’s 2025 season, under the Artistic Direction of Tamara Rojo. Gala performances often take a ‘sampler’ style format, allowing the audience to preview upcoming programs as well as experience works that won’t appear in the coming months. This latter set allows the viewer to see the breadth of style, genre and tone that comprises any ..read more
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Smuin Contemporary Ballet - "The Christmas Ballet"
Heather Desaulniers
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1M ago
Smuin Contemporary Ballet The Christmas Ballet Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco December 13th, 2024 Friday night marked an important milestone in the Bay Area holiday dance calendar: the San Francisco opening of Smuin’s The Christmas Ballet. The company has been touring the famed production for the past few weeks, but landing at home in San Francisco, where it has been a mainstay for the last three decades, must feel particularly special. The revue-style program, created by Founder Michael Smuin, offers wide-ranging choreographic genres - like pointe, clogging, jazz, Irish step ..read more
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San Francisco Ballet - Nutcracker
Heather Desaulniers
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2M ago
San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker December 7th, 2024 War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco Bountiful merriment poured into the War Memorial Opera House on Saturday afternoon for the first matinee performance of San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker. It was hard to imagine that just days earlier, 2024’s Nutcracker run was uncertain. Contract negotiations were ongoing, and it wasn’t until mid-week that the fate of the beloved Bay Area tradition was clear. Luckily, an agreement was reached! And so, the Stahlbaum’s house was awash with revelry, the mice and the soldiers battled, the snowstorm raged on ..read more
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Pilobolus
Heather Desaulniers
by
2M ago
Cal Performances presents Pilobolus Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley Nov 30th, 2024 Moving from one month to the next is more than just turning the page on a calendar. Consider, instead, the opportunities. A chance to embrace something new. A moment to reflect on what just past. Allowing oneself to truly live and abide in the gift of liminal space.  This past weekend, as time spanned November and December, Cal Performances presented Pilobolus, a company whose work is all about the notion of change and the in-between. Choreography and visuals take the viewer down an initial path, and then the sce ..read more
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Biography Corner 2024
Heather Desaulniers
by
2M ago
Whether enthusiast or professional, scholar or die-hard fan, those steeped in the dance world likely have plenty of dance biographies and topical tomes. The cast is often very familiar though occasionally you meet someone new. Of my recent three reads, two of them delved into the well-known, and, excitedly, one tackled a dancer/choreographer that was new to me.  First up – Rupert Christiansen’s Diaghilev’s Empire: How the Ballet Russes Enthralled the World (2022). It is impossible to ignore the contributions that Diaghilev, the Ballet Russes, Nijinsky, Massine, (and others of the time ..read more
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"Carnival of the Animals"
Heather Desaulniers
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3M ago
Stanford Live presents Carnival of the Animals A SOZO Production Bing Concert Hall, Stanford October 27th, 2024 Making my way to Stanford last weekend for SOZO Production’s Carnival of the Animals, I didn’t know what to expect. On purpose, I had read very little about the show, but I was privy to a few details. First, it was a response to the hideous January 6, 2021 insurrection. Second, it was an interdisciplinary experience performed by legendary artists. And last, the musical source material was Camille Saint-Saëns’ 1886 fantasia, Carnival of the Animals. My curiosity stemmed from the fact ..read more
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RAWdance 20th Anniversary Home Season
Heather Desaulniers
by
3M ago
RAWdance's Stacey Yuen and Juliann Witt Photo Maximillian Tortoriello Photography RAWdance 20th Anniversary Home Season ODC Theater, San Francisco October 26th, 2024 Discerning choreographic intention takes practice. And even with a lot of practice, it’s still pretty tough. Sometimes it’s obvious what a dance is about – whether it be from program notes, onstage remarks or steeped in the history of the piece. But more often than not, it’s a bit of a guessing game. Viewers weighing movement choices, score and other theatrical elements in an effort to solve the artistic puzzle at h ..read more
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Smuin Contemporary Ballet - Dance Series 1
Heather Desaulniers
by
4M ago
Smuin Contemporary Ballet Dance Series 1 Cowell Theater at Fort Mason, San Francisco October 11th, 2024 A stage awash in glowing gold. Song lyrics that reference “October’s able skies.” Dance architecture that conjured falling, scattering leaves. If ever there was a program that screamed Autumn, it is Smuin Ballet’s 2024 edition of Dance Series 1. Under the Artistic Direction of Amy Seiwert, the company glided into Fort Mason’s Cowell Theater on Friday night to open the San Francisco leg of their recent Bay Area tour. Before a packed house, the troupe offered a dynamic triple bill of contempor ..read more
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EIGHT/MOVES
Heather Desaulniers
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6M ago
EIGHT/MOVES Z Space, San Francisco August 16th, 2024 While a new dance company vaulted onto the San Francisco contemporary dance scene this past weekend, the artistic visionary behind this endeavor is no stranger to audiences. With a resume that includes stints with top regional dance institutions (like ODC/Dance, Post:Ballet and Robert Moses’ KIN), Mia J. Chong is beloved in her community and in Bay Area performance spaces. You could feel that admiration and affection percolating in Z Space on Friday night as EIGHT/MOVES offered their inaugural performance. Filled with poise, confidence and j ..read more
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