Following next month’s 33 performances of The Nutcracker, San Francisco Ballet (SFB) will launch its 90th anniversary repertory season with a three-program festival of new works entitled next@90. Nine choreographers will contribute new works to the SFB repertoire, three of which will be performed at each of the three scheduled programs. These three programs will be presented on a rotating basis between January 20 and February 11.
The choreographers for the first program will be Robert Garland, the new Artistic Director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Jamar Roberts, former Resident Choreographer of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Danielle Rowe, who will be creating her second repertory work for SFB. Garland’s contribution will be “Haffner Serenade,” setting the music from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s eight-movement K. 250, after which the ballet is being named. The choreography has been conceived as setting West African movement in a classical context. Roberts is contributing his first narrative ballet, given the title “Resurrection” and setting the music from the first movement of Gustav Mahler’s second symphony (also given the title “Resurrection”). The title of Rowe’s ballet is “MADCAP,” setting carnival-inspired music by Pär Hagström orchestrated by Philip Feeney. According to the description provided, the dancers will be required to use their voices for “recitation, singing, percussive hisses and hoops and hollers throughout the ballet.”
The choreographers for the second program will be Val Caniparoli, who will be celebrating his 50th anniversary with SFB, Bridget Breiner, Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer of the Staatsballett Karlsruhe, and Yuka Oishi, who will be making her debut in the United States. The title of Caniparoli’s new ballet is “Emergence,” and it will be set to the concerto for cello and strings by Dobrinka Tabakova. “The Queen’s Daughter” will be Breiner’s first work for SFB. It is a narrative based on the story of Salome set to Benjamin Britten’s Opus 15, his only violin concerto, composed in the key of D minor. Oishi will make her debut with “BOLERO,” inspired by personal experiences of birth and death at almost the same time. The familiar music of Maurice Ravel will be supplemented with additional music composed by Shinya Kiyokawa.
The final program will present works by Nicolas Blanc, currently Rehearsal Director, Coach, and Choreographer for The Joffrey Ballet, Claudia Schreier, Choreographer in Residence at the Atlanta Ballet, and Yuri Possokhov, SFB Choreographer in Residence. The title of Blanc’s ballet is “Gateway to the Sun,” setting “DANCE,” composed by Anna Clyne in 2019. Schreier’s “Kin” will be set to a commissioned score by Tanner Porter. Possokhov’s new ballet is entitled simply “Violin Concerto.” The concerto providing the music is the one composed by Igor Stravinsky, which had previously been set by George Balanchine. Possokhov recalls Balanchine’s choreography, but he has expressed a need to approach the music with “fresh eyes.”
Performances of these three programs will interleave between January 20 and February 11. Dates and times for the Garland-Roberts-Rowe program will be as follows:
- Friday, January 20, 8 p.m.
- Sunday, January 22, 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, January 31, 7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, February 1, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, February 4, 8 p.m.
- Thursday, February 9, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, February 11, 2 p.m.
The schedule for Caniparoli, Breiner, and Oishi will be:
- Saturday, January 21, 8 p.m.
- Tuesday, January 24, 7:30 p.m.
- Thursday, January 26, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, January 28, 2 p.m.
- Sunday, January 29, 2 p.m.
- Friday, February 3, 8 p.m.
- Wednesday, February 8, 7:30 p.m.
Performances of the final program of Blanc, Schreier, and Possokhov will be as follows:
- Wednesday, January 25, 7:30 p.m.
- Friday, January 27, 8 p.m.
- Saturday, January 28, 8 p.m.
- Thursday, February 2, 7:30 p.m.
- Saturday, February 4, 2 p.m.
- Sunday, February 5, 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, February 7, 7:30 p.m.
All performances will take place in the War Memorial Opera House, which is on the northwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and Grove Street (across Grove from Davies Symphony Hall). Ticket prices start at $29. The first, second, and third programs each have a unique Web page for purchasing tickets for their respective dates and times. There is also a Festival Flex Package for those planning to attend all three programs. Tickets may also be purchased at the Box Office in the outer lobby of the Opera House or by calling 415-865-2000. The Box Office is open for ticket sales Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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