On Feb. 27, San Francisco Ballet brought an electric spontaneity to the War Memorial Opera House with their opening of acclaimed choreographer William Forsythe\u2019s \u201cThe Blake Works.\u201d The ballet is a three-part series displaying Forsythe\u2019s \u201cPrologue,\u201d \u201cThe Barre Project\u201d and \u201cBlake Works I.\u201d Set to the music of Grammy Award-winning composer James Blake, this work brings forth a tone scarcely seen in such a setting. Blake\u2019s music is atmospheric, crafting a distant, emotive and often unsettling feeling through electronic beats, textured sound bites and gentle vocals. It sets the stage for an exciting immersion into a world of modernity.<\/p>\n
Forsythe\u2019s choreographic style is unlike anyone else\u2019s. Geometric movement, sharp precision and profound exaggeration of the well-known Balanchine style highlight both the dancers\u2019 physicality and their technical prowess.<\/p>\n
The ballet opens with the premiere of \u201cPrologue,\u201d which is an immersive group piece that is just as much about space and silence as it is about the music and movement. The black backdrop stage is flooded with a deep blue lighting, revealing dancers clad in simple leotards that emphasize their lines and limbs. While the track \u201cLindisfarne I\u201d brings a reverberating, warbling sound, it\u2019s the moments of silence that stand out the most \u2014 when the breaths of the dancers are audible to the audience.<\/p>\n
A simple short film breaks the \u201cPrologue\u201d from \u201cThe Barre Project,\u201d spotlighting the all-important yet wholly overlooked act of hands overlapping on the barre. It is a dance in itself, bringing to light how a detail as seemingly insignificant as placing a hand on the barre is just as important to ballet as every other component.<\/p>\n
This break is followed by \u201cThe Barre Project,\u201d which incorporates the most foundational instrument in ballet that goes invisible to an audience. Forsythe\u2019s choreography incorporates the ballet barre in innovative ways. It is nothing like barre \u2014 repetitive, often slow and arduous, focused on repetition and perfecting technique. The three pieces, \u201cBuzzard & Kestrel,\u201d \u201cLullaby for My Insomniac\u201d and \u201c200 Press,\u201d deconstruct classical technique and reconstruct it into dimensional, avante-garde expressions of space and movement.<\/p>\n
Forsythe\u2019s choreography demands a certain level of funk. While dancers each aimed to bring unapologetic confidence, only one embodied it wholly. Madeline Woo, a former principal at The Royal Swedish Ballet, displayed a captivating firecracker performance. \u201cBuzzard and Kestrel\u201d is her tour de force and the stage is her stomping ground. She is electric, showing off wicked extensions and a bold attitude. With the speed of a bullet, Woo\u2019s jumps are high and precise, rendering the song\u2019s 140 beats per minute an easy metric for her rhythmic mastery. Woo didn\u2019t just dance with the music, it was as if the music was coming out of her. Beyond being a technically and aesthetically pleasing watch, Woo\u2019s dancing commands attention. Her performance was the peak of the entire show, marking it a true spectacle.<\/p>\n
\u201cLullaby for My Insomniac\u201d spotlights Principal Wona Park. Park\u2019s dancing is not necessarily expressive, but it holds a distinct grace. Like a ballerina in a music box, there is a cinematic elegance to the slow solo. Her long clean lines accent the beauty in high attitudes and intricate hand movement. Illuminated by violet hues and completely alone, the stage makes her look particularly small.<\/p>\n
Danced by Nikita Fogo and Joseph Walsh, \u201cThe Colour in Anything\u201d from \u201cBlake Works\u201d grounds the show. This pair brought tension, story and heart to the performance. It is one of the more touching pieces of the show, emphasizing connection and closeness. While the song is romantic in nature, featuring soft vocals, the lyrics recall a lover attempting to mend a broken relationship. But even without understanding the words, the choreography portrays the tension, a constant push and pull. It is intimate and yet rigid.<\/p>\n
\u201cI Hope My Life\u201d and \u201cf.o.r.e.v.e.r.\u201d emphasize Forsythe\u2019s inclination to feel space through intricate formations. \u201cThe Blake Works\u201d stands out among other contemporary ballets through its unique choreography, allowing dancers their moments of spotlight without causing a chaotic scene. Each piece stands out in its ability to simultaneously shift through geometric patterns while maintaining stylistic cohesion.<\/p>\n
A captivating performance by SF Ballet, \u201cThe Blake Works\u201d is onstage through March 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Feb. 27, San Francisco Ballet brought an electric spontaneity to the War Memorial Opera House with their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204333,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[94604,94603,73632,58081,101,103,102,104,30731,106,105,19034,94605,73638],"class_list":{"0":"post-204332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-barre-project","9":"tag-james-blake","10":"tag-joseph-walsh","11":"tag-madeline-woo","12":"tag-san-francisco","13":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","14":"tag-san-francisco-news","15":"tag-sf","16":"tag-sf-ballet","17":"tag-sf-headlines","18":"tag-sf-news","19":"tag-war-memorial-opera-house","20":"tag-william-forsythe","21":"tag-wona-park"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204332\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}