Tonight’s San Francisco Ballet opening night gala to honor Helgi Tommason’s 25 years as artistic director for the company
was a contradiction for me. I wonder if I was alone in finding it simultaneously glamorous and unstreamlined with performances that were lovingly presented while being manipulative. This isn’t to say it wasn’t arresting–the intriguing costumes and precise performances are what I’ve come to expect from their shows at the War Memorial–but I found the first act a bit discombulated in its combination of the affectionate pas de deux from “7 For Eight” and the light-hearted ensemble number “Mistake Waltz” from “The Concert.” Still, Tommasson’s coreography of “Concerto Grosso” couldn’t have been more beatifully prepared with five male dancers of similar strength and grace against a simple backdrop (and not just because it was the same aqua to be used in the upcoming redesign of TheSanFranista–truly, monocromatic ankle-length outfits have never looked so good). It’s enough to have me excited for a repertory season to include performances as diverse as works by Fokine/Possohkov/Forsythe and the American premiere of “The Little Mermaid.”
Tommason and “The Little Mermaid” images by Erik Tomasson.