San Francisco Ballet—the oldest professional ballet company in the nation—celebrates its 75th anniversary, and Helgi Tomasson, Artistic Director and Choreographer, called 2008 a remarkable year. While it would be hard to imagine a higher degree of excellence than the Company already possesses, this season’s program, according to Tomasson, was “designed to be unforgettable.” Program 2, which opened last Thursday, proven to be of that quality, especially its final piece— “Firebird,” composed by Igor Stravinsky for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russe a century ago. This one-act was conceived in time of wild experimentation in classical dance when revolutionary ideas of all sorts filled the air, helping transform the traditional and the rigid into something promisingly modern. An unusually high concentration of multi-disciplinary talent didn’t hurt either. It is quite remarkable that SF Ballet is following suit with what we enjoy today. For those balletomanes that come to envy Nijinsky’s contemporaries, SF Ballet has many gifts for which future generations will envy us, and one of them is a principal dancer Yuan Yuan Tan. In the role of Firebird she is unforgettable, and it’s no wonder, since the dancer is almost inhumanely perfect. She flies across the stage, she wiggles in Prince’s hands, and she trembles with her every fiery feather—deprived of her freedom and abused for her magic—in the cherished traditions of grim Russian folk tales. Pascal Molat in the role of Koschei, Damian Smith and Rachel Viselli as Prince and Princess, and the rest of the ensemble created this absolute stunner of a show, choreographed by Yuri Possokhov, conducted by Martin West, with scenic design by Yuri Zhukov, costume design by Sandra Woodall, and lighting design by David Finn. Program 2 runs through Feb. 10. For farther information visit http://www.sfballet.com/. Photo by Erik Tomasson. Yuan Yuan Tan in Possokhov’s Firebird.
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