Program 6, it has to be said, had better be the low point of the San Francisco Ballet season, choreographically. Only the opener, Julia Adam's imaginative "Night" in revival, contained movement that was fresh or surprising, and the new work, "On Common Ground" by artistic director Helgi Tomasson, contained so much dullness there was lots of time to wonder how he can be such a good artistic director without being a more interesting choreographer.
Vanessa Zahorian had a visionary success as the dreamer in Night — at times, she reminded me of the bride in a Chagall painting as she "floated" through the night sky in the strong, capable arms of Tiit Helimets, who partnered her heroically. The Nightmare Lady with three heads (played by Courtney Wright, Mariellen Olson, and Pauli Magierek, swathed in a single band of wide-stretch jersey) was hilarious and alarming, and the various young men who made up the furniture moved like dolphins at play.
The Stewart twins, Matthew and Benjamin, were especially fine at this, since their near-identical forms added a spooky deja vu to the look of things. Matthew Pierce's music-box score built to an almost scary pitch, but it seemed less crazy at the climax than it did when the piece was new.
Tomasson's new piece sets an orchestration of Ned Rorem's String Quartet # 4 (brilliantly performed by the SFB orchestra) as a study in contrasts for two couples, one happy and one "troubled," and it's a noble failure. Sincere, thoughtful, but it didn't amount to more than a movement study. There are plenty of heroic difficulties to conquer, so the dancers are extended technically — but the audience did not care.
A very good revival of Agnes de Mille's cowboy ballet "Rodeo" made a hokey but agreeable end to the evening. Kristin Long made the transition from tomboy to pretty girl with some charm. The supporting players were all fine, and Hayley Farr and Chidozie Nzerem each had moments when I absolutely believed in them, gazing at the sunset or joining hands in a country dance.
There's never any question of wonderful dancing from this company, it's one of the greatest collections of dancing talent in the whole world. That's Tomasson's secret, his incredible gift for recognizing and signing talent wherever he sees it, then nurturing the gift and bringing them along. He's gone against the old rule for making a troupe with uniform training, so they don't have a "look" to them; SFB dancers come from France, Spain, Russia, England, China; they represent all races and have diverse schooling — their head positions, hands, arms vary widely.
Program 7 (which opened yesterday and repeats over the weekend, and memorably on SFB's gay Nite Out, Friday, April 20) is bound to be a stronger show, since the sublime, brilliant, glorious "Symphony in C" of Balanchine crowns the program, and it is one of the great ballets of all time. Check the ballet website for casting, which is not posted as of this writing. I'd look out especially if Sarah van Patten or Muriel Maffre are cast, and try to make that show if I couldn't see anything else all year.
Maffre, who retires this year, represents a major loss to the company. SFB's male ranks are incredibly strong, but the women's roster is not deep in imaginative dancers who can take on responsibility for the success of a whole ballet. Maffre can deliver in every genre, from romantic through classical to the wildly thrashing, modern hyperballet, such as William Forsythe's. Sarah van Patten, who's rightly been newly promoted to principal, is a movement genius, but so far in only one mode — as a Juliet, or the personification of Spring. She is extremely musical. Her ability to embody the flow of a melody makes her potentially one of the most satisfying dancers anywhere. I would love to see her in "Symphony in C." It will be fascinating to watch her grow.