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MEGAN KURASHIGE |
Hello all!
Just back from seeing program C of San Francisco Ballet’s New Works Festival. As you can see in my (rather hopeless… my camera and I haven’t yet come to a friendly understanding about nighttime pictures) photos, the opera house is all decked out for the occasion. In celebration of the company’s 75th anniversary, SFB is presenting ten NEW ballets in two weeks. Exciting! Program C has three pieces: “Thread” by Margaret Jenkins, “Ibsen’s House” by Val Caniparoli, and “Double Evil” by Jorma Elo. (If you go to SFB’s website, there are all sorts of interesting goodies: videos, podcasts, interviews, etc.)
There was a surfeit of great dancing in all three pieces, but I had the strangest reaction to the last piece (“Double Evil”). I’m absolutely perplexed by it; I honestly don’t know what I think of it. Watching it made me feel like two separate parts of my brain were colliding. The closest thing I can come up with for a description of the movement is a classical, but abstract ballet given to amazing dancers who also happen to be interesting improvisers. They’re told to go wild with it, to take movements to their logical, but extreme and quirky conclusions, to follow whatever whims and ideas they might have. It’s a ballet fractured apart and pulled inside out, and, for some reason, it really confused me. I enjoyed it, there was so much bright energy and technique flooding the stage; but my brain is pinwheeling over it. I think this might be a good thing. Also, for the first time, realized what weird architecture tutus have. They halve the body onto two separate planes so you consider legs as one thing and upper body as another. Weird.
I think that’s what I like best about seeing new work. Any new piece might make you look at something and consider it from an entirely different angle. Always exciting! Plus, everything is shiny and new.
Now to bed. Good night!
