Forsythe’s ‘Pas/Parts’ sets an elegant tone for SF Ballet
Some choreographers content themselves with making dancers look beautiful.
William Forsythe also believes in making them look eloquent, and 15 of the San Francisco Ballet’s finest dancers rose to the challenge when the company opened its subscription series Sunday afternoon, Jan. 24, at the War Memorial Opera House.
Sunday it seemed dense in detail, yet airy in effect, classical in its language, pointe work and épaulement, yet resolutely contemporary in its sensibility and exploratory in the Forsythe manner.
Again, the choreographer has called on composer Thom Willems to furnish an electronic score, which, to these ears, is among his most varied.
What sounds like the upstairs plumbing evolves into high-pitched whistling and spare chords; there are hints, too, of cha-cha and even human vocalizations.
[...] the result is that “Pas/Parts” starts to look like a pageant, showcasing the San Francisco Ballet’s indecent dancing riches.
Forsythe has drawn the casting from all over the roster, so it’s not unusual to find a corps dancer like Mungamba in a duet with a principal like Maria Kochetkova.
Earlier in the afternoon Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson restored his exceptionally musical Bach essay, “7 for Eight” (2004), with Mathilde Froustey (role debut) sensitively partnering Tiit Helimets in the slow, spare opening movement.
To mark his 10th anniversary as resident choreographer, Yuri Possokhov revived “Magrittomania,” his daring first work for the company.