Chroma.

Last Thursday evening was the San Francisco Ballets world premiere of Wayne McGregor’s Chroma, which was originally set on the Royal Ballet of London. Contemporary lovers including myself have waited all season to watch this piece with orchestrations by The White Stripes and needless to say Chroma did not disappoint. Everyone and they’re mothers had come out to see this ballet. Not only dancers from the company who were not performing in the ballet came out to support but also seemingly everyone else in the world too. Christopher Wheeldon was in attendance because he had come back for the resetting of Ghost that the company premiered last season and I had the chance to catch up with him. Interestingly enough we share the same taste in bad films and I will not talk any further about that to keep us both from getting embarrassed.

Back to Chroma...I had an extra ticket so I invited my friend and dancer Alex Jenkins who is a big White Stripes/Radiohead fan so it was only appropriate that we go to the show together. We met at mine had a lil sesh and off to the ballet. The program opened with Wheeldons Ghost, which is an enchanting ballet with costumes that flow just as much as the choreography and music. The cast performed it beautifully with a new sense of maturity now that they are giving it a second go this season. With all of this "ballet is dead" hoopla it’s refreshing to see Wheeldons work because he is such a gifted dance maker and Ballet is lucky to have him.

Next was Helgis ballet 7 for Eight. This was a good time for me to think about my appointment on Sunday to get my taxes done. Thank You Jaime for giving us something to watch onstage.

Chroma was the final ballet of the evening and the company was in top form. The 1st cast of performers were Anthony Spaulding, Dana Genshaft, Frances Chung, Garen Scribner, Maria Kochetkova, Isaac Hernandez, Pascal Molat, Jaime Garcia Castilla and Yuan Yuan Tan. Stand out performers amongst the men were Garen Scribner who was so focused and attentive to every moment and detail that even in moments of stillness you can see the energy emitting off of his body ready to explode into the next sequence. Scribner’s full attack and abandon was a pleasure to watch. Jaime Garcia Castilla was the other standout performer amongst the men starting off the piece in a duet with Frances Chung with her strength absolute command of technique and flexibility Garcia was able to match while doing partnering work that would break any normal person or dancer for that matter. Once it was time for Castilla to really start moving in either solo or group work you can tell that he was moving not because he was supposed to instead he was moving because he had to. Fleshing out every detail with crystal clarity you could not take your eyes off of him and if you did he was offstage and you were eager for his next entrance. Standouts amongst the women were Maria Kochetkova whom is a world class prima ballerina with her petite frame you would expect it to be more difficult to fully digest McGregrogor's sometimes grotesque technique but she was all encompassing absorbing all of the movement information into her body and making it her own. Kochetkova commanded the stage and your attention with her dancing. She was able to bend, contort and lengthen her body in ways that were not human. She was like the Honey Badger onstage. She was not afraid of anything and attacked all of the movement like a beast! Next comes Dana Genshaft whom I did not know was even in the performance. I made a point to not look at the cast list and just be surprised with whomever was dancing. She was truly something special a great surprise. Genshaft is one of those rare performers who not only dance a roll but you can see them experience it and what an experience. Her opening solo with her standing in a fourth position forced arch with arms reaching behind her back is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about the piece. Not too mention the orchestrated music of the White Stripes and partnering by Anthony Spaulding this section was the ballets apex in my mind. Alex sitting beside me was freaking out over Genshaft and her all encompassing presence with her smooth style and radical technique coupled with an otherworldly sex appeal we need to see more Genshaft onstage please!

All in all it was a great evening so thank you to all of the dancers of the San Francisco Ballet for all your work because it’s a pleasure to watch.

Chroma video with the Royal Ballet of London

Below is a video of Dana dancing something i made for her years ago. Enjoy and go see the Ballet while they are still in season!!!!