San Francisco Ballet is about to step into uncharted territory this April in a production titled "Van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster," bringing its first-ever full program dedicated to the works of Hans van Manen, a towering figure who stands at the intersection of classical dance and queer revolution.
The Dutch choreographer has spent decades redefining ballet's relationship with gender, stripping away its rigid roles in favor of something more fluid, more electric. His work has long challenged the straightlaced archetypes baked into classical ballet, and for dancers like Joshua Jack Price, that's what makes it so exciting.
Price, a soloist with SF Ballet, is rehearsing three of the four ballets in the program, "Grosse Fuge," "Variations for Two Couples," and "5 Tangos." He first began working on van Manen's choreography last June, rehearsing for three weeks before returning to it in March in preparation for the April 5 premiere.
For Price, van Manen's choreography is simple yet nuanced, like learning a different dialect of classical ballet. What stands out most to Price isn't just the physicality, but the way van Manen strips away expectation.
"A lot of classical ballet has very strict gender roles and has really pushed the straight male archetype," Price said. "Van Manen has created work that is more about tension and atmosphere rather than about sexuality or gender."
Breaking traditions
For queer dancers, that shift is profound. Ballet, for all its grace, is still deeply entrenched in tradition: where men partner women, strength and softness are assigned, and where the narrative of dance has long been built around heterosexual relationships.
Van Manen's work breaks that mold. His duets between men aren't just about romance; they're about energy and connection.
"There's a male part in '5 Tangos' that eventually includes two women," Price explains. "The men are really intensely looking at each other and moving around each other, but it's not in a sexual way, which I think is where queer narratives can often be taken on stage. There's so much more to us as queer people than just being queer."
Van Manen's influence extends beyond the movement itself. His work shifts how ballet frames identity. In an art form still grappling with its own traditions, van Manen's choreography proves that dance is a language that can evolve.
Dance identities
Ballet has historically relied on rigid storytelling conventions, but van Manen's approach invites interpretation, allowing the audience to witness something more open-ended. That freedom is what makes his work feel so relevant today, particularly in a city like San Francisco, where art has long been a vessel for social progress.
Price, who speaks openly about his own identity and relationship, has seen ballet's slow but real evolution firsthand.
"San Francisco Ballet has made a lot of progress," he said. "I just feel so comfortable expressing that in all areas of my life. But we as an entire art form have so much more work to do, especially when it comes to non-gender conforming people and how we look at gender roles, not just in our organization, but in our entire art form."
That conversation is one van Manen was having long before ballet itself was ready. Created in the 1960s and '70s, many of his works fearlessly played with gender dynamics, giving women as much weight and authority as men, and treating duets as intricate negotiations rather than predefined roles.
Price points to "Grosse Fuge," where no one entity dominates the other.
"Van Manen did a really great job throughout his work that there's never a moment where the tension is uneven," he said. "Even as early on as the 1960s, he was fearless in telling that narrative."
That kind of fearlessness feels particularly relevant in today's ballet world, where conversations about gender and queerness are finally gaining momentum.
"I really hope those conversations continue in a big way," Price said. "Because I think they're really necessary and very exciting. It actually opens up our art form to a whole other array of ideas."
According to Price, Van Manen's ballets may not offer a clear narrative, but they tell a powerful story of dance unbound by expectation. With this landmark program, SF Ballet is embracing that evolution, staging work that asks its dancers and its audience to see ballet through a different lens.
San Francisco Ballet's "Van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster," $35-$510, April 5-19, War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave. www.sfballet.org
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