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Ballet's 'Jewels' Sparkle, Glitter

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  • Ballet's 'Jewels' Sparkle, Glitter

    BALLET'S 'JEWELS' SPARKLE, GLITTER
    By: Janos Gereben

    The San Francisco Examiner
    April 29 2009
    CA

    Tina LeBlanc and Pascal Molat perform in Balanchine's "Rubies."

    Four decades after its creation, George Balanchine's "Jewels" still
    creates a gasp every time the curtain goes up, quite independently
    from the ovations when the curtain comes down.

    That opening reaction is a combination of "ohhhh!" and "awwww!" It
    happens three times: first when the green costumes and backdrop of
    "Emeralds" are revealed, then in registering the red glow of "Rubies,"
    and finally, at the dazzling white of "Diamonds."

    In San Francisco Ballet's Program 7 presentation, Tony Walton's scenic
    design and Karinska's costumes (in Haydee Morales' new realization)
    create a fitting companion to the glorious music and choreography
    that follow. At the same time, they set the mood for some of the most
    elegant and beautiful events in all performing arts.

    Usually, the individual gems of "Jewels" are performed separately,
    as parts of a repertory program; San Francisco didn't see the entire
    work until 2002, 35 years after the world premiere in New York.

    The reason, I think, is the slow, quiet, understated choreography of
    "Emeralds."

    Using Gabriel Fauré's graceful music (mostly from "Pelléas et
    Mélisande"), Balanchine created a meditative, elegant piece, just
    about the opposite of Stravinsky's rhythmic excitement for "Rubies,"
    and quite different from the "typical ballet music" of Tchaikovsky
    Symphony No. 3 excerpts for "Diamonds."

    To the credit of the company's brilliant principal dancers (a corps de
    ballet performing with a discipline worthy of Balanchine's standards),
    Martin West's orchestra (Michael McGraw as soloist in the Stravinsky
    "Capriccio") and coaching by some of stars of the original production,
    San Francisco Ballet is offering very different pieces, each in an
    authentic fashion. The three coalesce into a superb evening-length
    experience.

    Preparations for "Jewels" have been extraordinary.

    Balanchine star and Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson has invited Elyse
    Borne, herself a Balanchine veteran of renown, to stage the work, with
    assistance from three great ballerinas from the original production:
    Violette Verdy, Mimi Paul and Suzanne Farrell.

    For balletomanes, that list alone should produce a gasp similar to
    the audience reaction to the staging.

    At the Sunday matinee, Maria Kochetkova and Frances Chung realized the
    graceful solos of "Emeralds" with elegance and unpretentious dignity.

    Pascal Molat partnered Tina LeBlanc and Sofiane Sylve in "Rubies"
    with brilliance creating its own gasps and, at one time, incredulous
    laughter.

    Vanessa Zahorian and Davit Karapetyan made not only those of Armenian
    descent proud everywhere, but their "Diamonds" pas de deux seemed
    to stop time itself, as they alternated fluid passages with quick
    exhibitions of bravura.

    These dancers were equal to those in Saturday premiere. Principal roles
    in the opening night cast went to Yuan Yuan Tan and Chung; Zahorian,
    Molat and Elana Altman; and Sylve and Pierre-Francois Vilanoba.

    DANCE REVIEW San Francisco Ballet Program 7

    Where: War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
    When: 7:30 p.m. today; 8 p.m. Friday, Tuesday and May 7; 2 p.m. May
    9-10 Tickets: $15 to $250 Contact: (415) 865-2000, www.sfballet.org
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