San Francisco's Swan Lake

Yesterday afternoon, I attended the matinee performance of Swan Lake at San Francisco Ballet. This version was was choreographed by artistic director Helgi Tomasson and was debuted last season. San Francisco Ballet's website states:

Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson’s Swan Lake, which debuted to sold-out houses last season, receives an encore presentation in 2010. Featuring lavish costumes and scenery and Tchaikovsky’s breathtaking score, this timeless story of transcendent love showcases the depth of the Company, from its principal dancers to the corps de ballet.

The principal dancers are Yuan Yuan Tan, Casey Held (guest artist from Het National Ballet in Amsterdam) and Damian Smith, all proved elegant, powerful and expressive. Soloist Hansuke Yamamoto stepped in for principal dancer Vitor Luiz in the Peasant Pas de Trois and he and partners displayed an amazing bravura and playfulness. It seemed to me the biggest number of the afternoon, and seemed no other numbers lasted as long and the proportion of the ballet seemed strangely realigned. Cygnet episode was blessedly not too cute.

The performance was swift and moving and the live music was full of life and colors. Yet, it was not completely successful. The mixed period costumes, though nice to look at, confuses. Rotbart had not much to do and the Tutor and his by play with children was embarrassingly silly. The famous 32 fouettés en tournant was reduced to 25. Most damaging, however, was during the palace scene when a huge staircase took over the half-upstage and the dancers could only dance in drastically reduced area. At the end of that scene, the staircase rose rapidly. The production team really should have lifted it up after majoy entrances are finished and cede the floor to the dancers as soon as possible. Another thing was not right to me was the way too literal projections of swans, be on the lake or in the sky. It took the magic off the show.

The prologue, mimed out in front of scene curtain was again, very pedenstrian and it should either more stylized or cut off altogether.

The production is big, but not emotaionlly grand. It is new but nothing really re-imagined.

According to San Francisco Chronicle's review of Saturday's performance,

Tomasson's staging strips the mime passages down to the barest minimum. This withholding of motivation and suppression of context imparts a "greatest hits" aura to this "Swan Lake" that seems to rebuke the entire narrative tradition. Despite the fact that this version runs over 2 1/2 hours, it seems terribly rushed.

All those said, I would not hesitate to recommend this production. The last performance will be at 2:00 pm on 31 January.

Another highly expected production is the U.S. premiere of Little Mermaid by John Nuemeier, an American active as Director of Hamburg Ballet. The music is by Lera Auerbach. According to SF Ballet's website, Little Mermaid

Featuring an original commissioned score by renowned composer Lera Auerbach, Neumeier’s contemporary version of The Little Mermaid is a haunting tale of two divergent worlds: the serenity and simplicity of underwater life and the complex, often flamboyant lives of humans. The mermaid heroine travels through both worlds, enduring torment because of her committed love for a prince—but through her own strength in the end—transcends.

Please Note: This critically acclaimed production focuses on the deeper, mature themes of the original story and is not recommended for younger children.

The performance dats are from 20 March through 28 March. Don't deny you the chance to see the ballet by the one of the most exciting living choreographers.