A subtle rebranding has taken place at San Francisco’s Smuin Ballet, with the company’s moniker both shrinking, to simply “Smuin”, and expanding, to incorporate “Contemporary American” within its name. And in proper form, the season’s opening program, Dance Series 01, performed Saturday at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, was indeed contemporary and American-infused ballet. Elegant, fresh and eclectic, it was also distinctively Smuin.
Saturday afternoon’s performance opened with a West Coast première of Stanton Welch’s 1999 neoclassical Indigo. Welch, internationally acclaimed choreographer as well as artistic director of the Houston Ballet, uses two of Vivaldi’s Cello Concertos (in B-minor and G-minor respectively) to create a ballet for four couples who move together, part, return in different pairings and reconcile, an abstract exploration of relationships and love. Ben Needham-Wood, Dustin James, Robert Kretz and Mengjun Chen smoothly partnered Erin Yarbrough-Powell, Erica Chipp, Nicole Haskins and Tessa Barbour. It’s fast-moving fare, technically rigorous, that nonetheless leaves room for playfulness amid the controlled elegance: a flirtatious hip sashay, a quirked arm, head bobbles (that became less effective after the tenth time). Costumes for the women, eye-catching blue chiffon split skirts and tops, showcased splendidly toned midriffs and beautiful lines. Erica Chipp was particularly polished and fluid in her movements; Nicole Haskins, too, offered a strong solo and, later, a series of fouettés turns that were clean, precise. Among the men, Robert Kretz was a standout, sure-footed and adept in his tour jetés, turns and solo work.
Stabat Mater, the program’s second ballet, was choreographed by founder Michael Smuin in 2001, his tender, personalized response to the pathos and trauma of the 9/11 events. Antonin Dvorák’s eponymous, choral-orchestral arrangement is the perfect music. Smuin, who died in 2007, shared that, “when I found myself playing the Dvorák “Stabat Mater” over and over, I realized that I had found my response to all the death and pain of those terrible days.” Ann Beck’s costumes, particularly the women’s beautiful chiffon skirts – red, blue, orange, with matching bodices – well suited the ballet, as did lighting design and adaptation, by Sara Linnie Slocum and Michael Oesch respectively, suffusing the ballet with a dreamy, haunted mood. All the elements here seemed to come together and meld perfectly, and the company artists responded in kind. Once again, Erica Chipp, as the female lead, gave a powerful standout performance, rich with gravitas and restrained emotion, without ever holding back physically. In one movement, Chipp leapt into fellow lead Robert Kretz’s arms and he tossed her to other men waiting to catch her. Later, four men lifted her high and she launched herself backward, airborne, with Kretz there to catch her... Not moves to be executed halfheartedly. Kretz, a former dancer with the Boston Ballet and Twyla Tharp Dance, is sublime, directing energy and refined technique into his performances, filling the stage with his presence. Stabat Mater, arguably one of Smuin’s most affecting ballets, continues to pay a beautiful tribute, in this fifteen-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.