“If there’s a new and lasting credo from the Big Shakeout (the economic crisis) it’s this: People will continue to pay for quality. They will be less and less inclined, however, to pay for bullshit.”

He was speaking about high end restaurants and the gimmicks they employ. So true for the arts as well.

The competition is back on, folks! For all you scientists who work all day and night in windowless labs in fluorescent lighting (or is that just me?) and have always longed to express yourself through dance!, here’s your chance. The Dance Your PhD competition is on again for current and past PhD candidates, and the deadline for submitting your video is on September 1, 2010. The prizes are cash this year, and a chance to see your video at the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York City in October. (Personally, last year’s prize of seeing professional choreographers reinterpret your PhD into a more official dance sounded cooler, but I’m most likely in the minority.) An even cooler prize would be a guarantee from Science to print a first author paper from your PhD, but no such guarantees are included.

Is it also an unexpected perk for non-scientists to be able to read about the science that is being done behind closed doors?

For more details, click here. If anyone submits one, please let me know!! Also included this year are comments from last year’s videos, which are helpful. I wonder what they said about mine, the exploring, dancing, slightly promiscuous young neuron??

Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky, courtesy of ABT

It was a gorgeous drive into Napa Valley on a Friday early evening. Amidst fields of vineyards, Napa Valley got a taste of big city fine arts with the Festival del Sole. Only in its fifth year with a focus on fine arts, food, and wine, this was the first year that this festival included a dance performance, with big names from the New York City Ballet to the Bolshoi. From the start of the performance, there was excitement in the air; the presenter announced his surprise that the full house proved that there really is an audience for dance in Napa.

The program was an eclectic mix of pieces ranging from classical ballet to modern, from the well-known to the more obscure. Not surprisingly, the audience favorites by far were the familiar and the virtuosic. Andrew Veyette and Megan Fairchild brought down the house with  Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes. Veyette ate up the stage with his impressive lines and even more impressive charisma. In the midst of being awed by Veyette’s stretch and artistry, he made you smile with his playful attack and his grin. His chemistry with Fairchild was pure fun, in this glitzy rendition of Stars and Stripes, and it was perfect for the gala atmosphere of this performance. Later, Veyette and Fairchild’s Swan Lake didn’t fare as well; it felt like a more embellished and a slightly more muddled version of the classical ballet.

Petipa’s Don Quixote, danced with flair by San Francisco Ballet dancers Lorena Feijoo and Vitor Luiz, was another standout. I’ve always found Feijoo to be both a stylistic and stylish dancer, and she shines in Don Quixote. Every detail is colored with sass and flirty eyes, and Luiz flew through the air to the audience’s delight. Feijoo and Luiz also performed Forsythe’s in the middle, somewhat elevated with red-hot sensuality, the sexiest rendition I’d seen yet. I wished the music had been louder though; I hadn’t realized how much the heart-pounding beats of Thom Willem’s score was central to experiencing this piece.

The central billing of this evening was American Ballet Theatre’s Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky. Their transparent rendition of Balanchine’s Apollo added touches of humor and humanity amidst its stark angles. Every movement deliberate, Beloserkovsky distinguishes between the soft swoops to the pointed punctuations of quick footwork. Glances and smiles are shared between Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky, and the expansive ending lingers with Dvorovenko and Beloserkovsky draped over each other looking up with hope. Their other two offerings for the night, however, didn’t fare so well – Jessica Lang’s “Splendid Isolation III” is several minutes of melodramatic posturing, and Anatoliy Beliy’s “Carmen Suite” is even more so,  but more kinetic and even more over the top. Despite their program choices, Dvorovenko is positively statuesque, dancing beyond her diminuitive frame with glamor and dynamism, and Beloskerkovsky is pure elegant strength in various states of bare-chested costumes.

Bolshoi principal Marianna Ryzhkina and ABT soloist Gennadi Saveliev (a substitution for Bolshoi’s Dmitry Gudanov) were the epitome of control in excerpts from Raymonda and Giselle. They especially simmered in Giselle, with sadness and forgiveness in breathtaking balances and heartache.

One of the problems with this gala format is that each piece is so short, and it leaves you wanting to see more. There were some rough edges in the evening, with its stage that often left dancers in the dark practically in the wings when preparing for a set of leaps or turns, some sound fluctuations, and trouble getting people ushered into their seats on time. But these things are trivial; there was an adoring audience (including Rita Moreno and Helgi Tomasson), incredible dancing, and the buzz thanks to the visiting guest stars. Everyone left with something new and challenging, in addition to the familiar classics, and an anticipation for what the festival will offer next year. I hope that Festival del Sole continues to incorporate more dance offerings for the future.

Festival del Sole

“In some places, there is a certain ritualistic aspect to it. The audience expects to have a certain kind of experience, which perhaps reaffirms certain nice and comfortable things from their life. The idea that you can shake it up a bit at the concert or experience something new is very particular to this area and this audience.”

I know that Thomas was trying to say that Bay area audiences are different, and perhaps the Bay area is better than most places, but I still see a lot of both groups of people at the symphony.

San Francisco Symphony’s summer season ends this weekend with a bang with a really fun program, starting with John Adams’ Short Ride in a Fast Machine, Chris Noth (“Mr. Big”) narrating Copland’s Lincoln Portrait, the original jazz band version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (super cool), and a collaboration with the UC Berkeley Marching Band for the hit Broadway tune “Seventy-Six Trombones”. Come early for music and dancing with the Martini Brothers, plus desserts and specialty drinks in the lobby. For more information, click here.

Artem Yachmennikov taken at the Het Nationale Ballet, taken by Angela Sterling

New company members for San Francisco Ballet’s 2011 season has been announced! Artem Yachmennikov will be joining as a principal dancer, previously from the Mariinsky Theatre Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet. Vito Mazzeo will join as a soloist, previously from the Royal Ballet and the Teatro dell’Opera. The new corps members are Daniel Baker (previously a soloist at the Miami City Ballet), Nicole Ciapponi, Koto Ishihara, Elena Kazakova, Dustin Shane, Sebastian Vinet, Lonnie Weeks, and SF Ballet apprentices Kimberly Braylock, Myles Thatcher, and Sylvie Volosov.

Congratulations! It’ll be exciting to see how the newly hired soloists will perform, as well as seeing the familiar faces of previous SF Ballet students and apprentices (apprenticii?) who graced the audience last year in vivid, lasting moments onstage. Check out the new roster, here.

Summer is a downtime for the arts as many organizations closes its doors for the summer, but there’s still a lot to see, especially in the form of festivals which appear to be everywhere in the Bay Area.

The 5th annual Festival del Sole begins today in Napa Valley. In the beautiful locale, a festival of fine arts, fine foods, wine, and wellness includes, for the first time, an evening of international dance, featuring stars from the American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet. Titled, “Stars of American and Russian Ballet”, this is like the all-star exhibition game in baseball that I was forced to watch the other night. Representative dancers from top international ballet companies come together in an exciting program of classical and modern ballet,  including some of my favorite ballets and some I’ve always wanted to see.

Principals from American Ballet Theatre Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky will be dancing Balanchine’s Apollo pas de deux, Jessica Lang’s Splendid Isolation III, and Anatoliy Beliy’s Carmen Suite. New York City Ballet principals Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette will perform an excerpt from Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes and Jerome Robbins’ Andantino. Bolshoi principals Marianna Ryzhkina and Dmitri Gudanov will perform exceprts from Raymonda and Leonid Lavrovsky’s Paganini. San Francisco Ballet principals Lorena Feijoo and Vitor Luiz will perform excerpts from Forsythe’s in the middle, somewhat elevated and Don Quixote.

The gala will be on Friday, July 23, 2010, 6:30pm, at the Lincoln Theater Napa Valley in Yountville.For more information on this concert as well as the full calendar of the Festival del Sole, click here. Other performers participating in the Festival del Sole include Joshua Bell, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Chris Botti, Conrad Tao, and the Bay Area choir Volti.

San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Lorena Feijoo and A.C.T. core acting company member Jack Willis (pictured at the famed Tosca Café) are part of the multidisciplinary cast of The Tosca Project. Photo by Kevin Berne.

American Conservatory Theatre at San Francisco presents a collaborative project with the San Francisco Ballet in a world premiere dance theater production of The Tosca Project. This piece is a result of a three year collaboration between San Francisco Ballet choreographer Val Caniparoli and A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff, with a cast of dancers and actors. The story is inspired by San Francisco’s Tosca Cafe.

It sounds fascinating, and I’m interested in how artists can switch across theatrical mediums. Pascal Molat has shown ballet audiences that he can act, but can he convince the A.C.T. audience he can act as well? And doesn’t Lorena look fabulous?

A sailor (Pascal Molat) and his girl (Lorena Feijoo) dance a duet to Rosemary Clooney singing “What'll I Do?” Photo by Kevin Berne.

Lorena Feijoo (center) with members of the Tosca Project ensemble (Peter Anderson, left, and Rachel Ticotin, right). Photo by Kevin Berne.

A sailor (Pascal Molat) and his girl (Lorena Feijoo) share a last moment before he heads off to World War II. Photo by Kevin Berne.

Please report back if you’ve seen it – click here for more information and tickets. Check out the SF Chronicle review, here. The Tosca Project closes on July 3 after being extended due to popular demand, with A.C.T. core acting company member René Augesen, Milwaukee Ballet principal dancer Julianna Kepley, and Bay Area ballet dancer Jekyns Pelaez join the ensemble for the extension performances.

WHY are the judges crying??

Seriously, I tried to give this show “So You Think You Can Dance” another chance, especially when I heard that Alex Wong was back on the show. Don’t get me wrong – there is a lot of absolutely jaw-dropping amazing dancing on the show. But certain things I can’t stand – for instance, the judging has been like listening to nails on a chalkboard. A ballroom dance expert judging hip hop is not an expert opinion, no more than mine is. And it really pushed me over the top when Nigel Lythgoe, one of the judges, said, ”You don’t just need a formal training. It’s because you have a great feel for dance.” And one of the judges lost my respect in his bone-headed arrogance in the documentary of A Chorus Line, Every Little Step, made even sweeter by the fact that he didn’t get the role despite his confidence in that he can do anything.

And crying has become so ubiquitous on reality TV, it’s not shocking or heart-tugging anymore. People cry when they win and move onto the next round, and they cry when they don’t. And now, the judges cry. A lot.

Is it weird that a lot of the dancers are already professionals? I’ve even blogged about two of them, who were in professional companies. Is the point not about getting a job or guiding professional dancers, but widespread promotion and branding yourself?

It feels like a TV show can start off well, and it gets worse, season after season. It’s like the show becomes a caricature of itself, being more and more outrageous. Maybe this show doesn’t even know its point anymore. They’re not trying to find the diamond in the rough, or promote the amazing dance that comes with years of training.

Or maybe the thing that bugs me the most is that this show doesn’t project an image of the world that I know and love.  They promote the breathtaking beauty of dance, but now it’s looking more like a sport or a string of tricks. That is fine in itself – fouettes, sky high split jumps, and a dancing body is a wonderful thing to behold. But that enough isn’t enough to engage my attention and my heart and my brain – not for long, anyways. The dance that I see on TV has ceased to be about subtlety, or complexity. Or perhaps my hopes for TV are just too high.

I’m just going to hope now that someone posts Alex Wong’s solos somewhere on the internet. Would that person mind just muting the judges’ words for me?

Well, if anything, this show got me to blog again. I’m currently buried up to my neck in writing my PhD dissertation, and blogging after writing 70 pages of neuroscience jargon has been a bit much. I did recently enjoy a fun show of A Chorus Line on tour. The dancing was superb, and it was nice to see a Cassie that I liked. A singular sensation, indeed.

Brooke Reynolds and Ryan Camou in Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort presented as part of the Spring Program by Smuin Ballet. Photo credit: Scot Goodman

Michael Smuin’s Songs of Mahler
Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort
Ma Cong’s French Twist

I’ve anticipated Smuin Ballet’s spring program since the beginning of the year, and it rightfully took the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts by storm in a breathtaking display of the power of new choreography. With this program, you see artistic and executive director Celia Fushille’s careful eye for the future of Smuin Ballet and the right feeling for the pulse of what’s hot in the international dance world, with a nod to the company’s history and tradition as well.

This program thankfully gave me new perspective on some recent thoughts of cynicism I’d been having on the world of dance. I’d had the depressing thought that perhaps I’d just seen too much dance, because everything felt so done and overdone. Everything I saw seemed to remind me of Petipa, Balanchine, or more Balanchine. An article I read recently states, “Your average state-of-the-art premiere is so derivative of Forsythe, Tharp, or Martins that it feels secondhand (even when the ballets actually are by Forsythe, Tharp, or Martins, they feel secondhand).” The remedy to cliche is really good choreography, not just rehashed inspirations which just aren’t enough anymore in a bloated dance repertoire filled with similar pieces.

Smuin Ballet in Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort, part of the Spring Program by Smuin Ballet. Photo credit: Scot Goodman

Jiri Kylian’s Petite Mort is a piece which hits right to the heart, dissecting, through movement, the heartache in Mozart’s music. Created in 1991 celebrating the second centenary of Mozart’s death, the music is set to the slow movements of two of Mozart’s piano concertos. Like the music, the choreography is simple and sculptural, yet undercut with drama and melancholy. The dancers are symbolic works of modern art, set in the framework of the prim and proper. Men manipulate fencing foils, and the women navigate their rigid dresses. But within this framework, there is a rapid exchange between the tension in angular limbs and stillness, and the vulnerable release in the partnering lifts. Rounded arcs in the arms breathed with tense and overwhelming desire. The dancers are dressed in flesh-toned minimal costumes with corsets for the women and bare chests for the men, personifying vulnerability and the core of humanity within a rigid society that aims to cover with decorum. The music literally hangs in the air, notes clinging and dying into silence. Petite Mort means “little death”, a metaphor for orgasm. Wikipedia defines, “More widely, it can refer to the spiritual release that comes with orgasm, or a short period of melancholy or transcendence, as a result of the expenditure of the “life force”.” Kylian’s Petite Mort is an ingenious abstract take on this idea.

Travis Walker and Jessica Touchet in Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort presented as part of the Spring Program by Smuin Ballet. Photo credit: Scot Goodman

The world premiere of Ma Cong’s French Twist was a raucous romp of high-speed energy and quirky charm. Made up of a vocabulary of everyday movements with the men in shirt and pants and the women in flat ballet shoes, the shoulders and head all get involved in carrying one movement to the next. The costumes seem to refer to people in a French cafe or an every day setting, yet I personally couldn’t help but to wonder if a sleeker look would have worked better than the rumpled white dresses on the women. The earthiness of the grounded movement is mirrored in the throaty yet seductive French spoken word in the darkly humorous music of Hugues Le Bars (preview here). The trio between Susan Roemer, Darren Anderson, and Aaron Thayer was a particular highlight, with these dancers expertly capturing the humor, sarcasm, and violence in this movement with gusto. There is dark mystery, humor, violence, and fun – an all-encompassing exercise of the senses and emotions and poignant musicality. At just the beginning of his career, Cong proves himself to be a masterful fresh voice with a unique vision, and a clever orchestrator of this darkly funny production. It’ll be really exciting to see where his career takes him next.

Ryan Camou, Terez Dean, and John Speed Orr in Ma Cong's French Twist, presented as part of the Spring Program by Smuin Ballet. Photo credit: Scot Goodman

The evening started with Michael Smuin’s ballet, Songs of Mahler. This piece appropriately set the context for the rest of the evening. In Songs of Mahler, Smuin brings a lightness to the movement to set to the densely lush and heavy songs by Mahler. There are a series of sketches, most of them drawing a story of relationships amongst small groups of people. It’s also a technical showcase for the dancers – Brooke Reynolds’ precision in her lines was pointed and poignant, Olivia Ramsay was all softly fluid lines and femininity, and Erin Yarbrought-Stewart embodied effortless grace and a natural flirtiness. Ryan Camou impressed with his high-flying bravura, and Aaron Thayer and Matthew Linzer in elegant lines. Although this piece stretched a little long, it still reminded the audience of the importance of Smuin Ballet’s past and its relevance to the present. It’s the qualities of Michael Smuin’s choreography – his musicality, his abilities to weave a heart-tugging storyline – that sets the standard for Smuin Ballet’s present repertory and their future. And with this program, the future of Smuin Ballet looks like one that will definitely be an exciting one.

Smuin Ballet repeats their performances in Walnut Creek, Cupertino, and Carmel. Go see it!! For more information, click here.

Check out Google’s homepage celebrating the 170th birthday of Tchaikovsky, featuring the San Francisco Ballet. Pretty cool!

Image credit: Google doodler Jennifer Hom