a tasting flight of contemporary ballet
Classical (Re)Vision features ballets that highlight the range of San Francisco Ballet’s versatile dancers. Set to J.S. Bach’s violin concertos, Welch’s Bespoke is a neoclassical ode on the brevity of a dance career, created to show off the dancers of SF Ballet and their love for and commitment to the art form. Morris’ Sandpaper Ballet, created here in 1999, is a cleverly tongue-in-cheek ballet exemplary of this choreographer’s signature musical sensibility, set to the music of Leroy Anderson. Between these two works is a rotating group of ballets called “Director’s Choice.” Director’s Choice is made up of “gala style” pieces—ballet terminology for a series of short ballets or excerpts that showcase individual dancers—that illuminate the range of the company’s artists.
"The audience left grinning."—San Francisco Chronicle
BESPOKE
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Choreographer: Stanton Welch
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Director’s Choice
Feb 11, 7:30 pm • Feb 14, 8 pm • Feb 22, 8 pm
Foreshadow (Val Caniparoli)
After the Rain Pas De Deux (Christopher Wheeldon)
Soirees Musicales (Helgi Tomasson)
Feb 12, 7:30 pm • Feb 20, 7:30 pm
05:49 (Myles Thatcher)
For Pixie (Danielle Rowe)
Grand Pas Classique (Victor Gsovsky)
Feb 16, 2:00 pm • Feb 22, 2:00 pm
After the Rain Pas De Deux (Christopher Wheeldon)
Swan Lake Pas De Deux (David Dawson)
Concerto Grosso (Helgi Tomasson)
•••
SANDPAPER BALLET
Composer: Leroy Anderson
Choreographer: Mark Morris
Approximate run time: 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one 15 and one 20 minute intermission
off Stage
Delve deeper into the choreography, artists, and music that you'll see on stage and meet the artists who are creating ballet today.
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Find out what the contemporary choreographers on Program 2 have to say about their inspiration, motivation, and creative process.
BESPOKE
Costume Design: Holly Hynes
Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls
World Premiere: April 24, 2018—San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House; San Francisco, California
The 2018 world premiere of Bespoke was made possible by possible by Unbound Festival Presenting Sponsor Diane B. Wilsey.
SANDPAPER BALLET
Costume Design: Isaac Mizrahi
Lighting Design: James F. Ingalls
Assistant to Mr. Morris: Tina Fehlandt
World Premiere: April 27, 1999—San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House; San Francisco, California
The 1999 world premiere of Sandpaper Ballet was made possible by The Bernard Osher Foundation, the Phyllis C. Wattis New Works Fund, and Philip Morris Companies Inc.