STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTO COURTESY OF SAN FRANCISCO BALLET and COPYRIGHTED BY ERIK TOMASSON
High-flying aerial twirls, elegance, intrigue—they were all there in the San Francisco Ballet’s performance Friday night at the Sun Valley Pavilion.
The ballet engendered rave reviews from the sell-out crowd that spilled out onto the Pavilion lawn on a picture perfect summer evening.
“It was spectacular and so awesome to be able to watch the warmups during intermission since we don’t have dressing rooms in the Pavilion,” said Clare Swanger.
“It was fabulous—my favorite event of the summer,” said Carter Hedberg.
“If I had to choose a favorite—the men, just the men,” said Sandra Flattery. “The entire company knows each other so well, it was flawless. And to think we’re paying a pittance.”
The good news? They’re back tonight with an entirely different performance.
Ballet Sun Valley led by Robert Smelick has brought San Francisco Ballet’s entire company of 38 dancers, collected from such places as Brazil, South Korea, Japan, France, Spain, Italy, and China—and, yes, places like Omaha, Neb., Las Vegas, Nev., and Greenville, S.C.
And the dancers are performing selections from an entire season of performances over two nights.
Seven dancers wearing blue leotards launched the two-hour performance on Friday night with Helgi Tomasson’s ”The Fifth Season.”
The dancers lifted one another higher than imaginable.
The “Romance” section was exquisite with perfect lines performed by Dores Andre and Vitor Luiz. mirroring. And it was followed up by a saucy tango, with the unique perspective of three guys and one gal.
The piece, which featured some nice footwork by Yuan Yuan Tan, was emotive, modern and extremely varied, evoking thoughts of The Joffrey Ballet, of which Choreographer Tomasson was once a dancer.
“Grand Pas Classique,” choreographed by Victor Gsovsky, was a study in elegance between Wei Wang and Wona Park, who engaged the crowd with her radiant smile and high steps.
“The Pas de Deux from The Sleeping Beauty” had a beautiful ending in one fell swoop.
And Danelle Rowe’s “UnSaid” boasted interesting, captivating movements, especially on the part of Sofiane Sylve.
The performance ended on a happy go lucky note with high-flying aerial twirls by Angelo Grego to Tomasson and Yuri Possakhov’s “Pas de Deux from Don Quixote Act II.”
Tonight’s performance, brought to Sun Valley by Ballet Sun Valley, begins at 7:30 p.m. It features three pieces from the San Francisco’s “Unbound” program, which has only been performed in three other places: London, Hamburg and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Tickets begin at $25 for lawn tickets with children 10 and under free. They’re available at https://balletsunvalley.com/tickets/