
Heather Desaulniers
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Dance Commentary and Reviews by Heather Desaulniers, freelance dance critic, former dancer, and choreographer, Ph.D. in dance history.
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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
Heather Desaulniers
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