Program 5

Program 5

Three short works that highlight the brilliant range of possibilities blossoming from ballet’s vocabulary. A love letter to Bach, Helgi Tomasson’s poetic 7 for Eight, is elegant and nuanced, with an undercurrent of deep emotion flowing through excerpts from seven keyboard concertos for eight dancers. Myles Thatcher’s COLORFORMS, the break-out hit of the 2021 Digital Season that was filmed during the pandemic at SFMOMA and Golden Gate Park, finally has its stage debut! William Forsythe’s Blake Works I, set to songs from James Blake’s album The Colour in Anything, starts with ballet’s precision, speeds it up, pushes it to the limit of physicality, then refracts it like a kaleidoscope as 21 dancers are driven by pop music and joy.

7 for Eight

Costumer Design: Sandra Woodall
Lighting Design: David Finn

World Premiere: February 26, 2004—San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House; San Francisco, California

COLORFORMS

Costume Design: Susan Roemer
Lighting Design: Jim French

World Premiere: February 11, 2021—San Francisco Ballet, War Memorial Opera House; San Francisco, California

Blake Works I

Staged by: Ayman Harper
Costume Design: Dorothee Merg and William Forsythe
Lighting Design: Tanja Ruehl and William Forsythe

World Premiere: July 4, 2016—Paris Opera Ballet, Palais Garnier; Paris, France

San Francisco Ballet Premiere: February 3, 2022—War Memorial Opera House; San Francisco, California