Rick Homan
  • Home
  • Books
    • The Con Man's Son
    • Dark Mural
    • Dark Exhibit
    • Dark Picasso
    • Dark Portrait
  • Blog
  • Bio
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Books
    • The Con Man's Son
    • Dark Mural
    • Dark Exhibit
    • Dark Picasso
    • Dark Portrait
  • Blog
  • Bio
  • Contact

Smuin Ballet, Fall, 2019

10/8/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
To spend an afternoon watching the Smuin Ballet company dance to the music of Dave Brubeck, Johnny Cash, and Carl Orff, is to see humanity perfected. 

Watching these dancers do such difficult things so that we can feel joy and sadness and wonder makes me think maybe we're not such a bad species after all.

The Fall, 2019, show starts off with new work by Rex Wheeler set to Dave Brubeck's, "Take Five," "Blue Rondo a la Turk," and other classic recordings. These are fun, full of chuckles and surprises.

The show also includes James Kedelko's "The Man in Black," a suite of dances set to songs from Johnny Cash's last album, The Man Comes Around, (2002).   Listening to Cash sing songs like "If You Could Read My Mind" and "Hurt" moves us into the realm of classical tragedy. They are that deep.

Kedelko's dances put three men and one woman into costumes fit for line dancing at a cowboy bar, right down to the boots. Those boot heels play percussion on some numbers. The blending of vernacular dance with the power of classical ballet matches the intensity of Cash's recordings.


The company keeps alive the legacy of its founder, Michael Smuin, with his dance to Carmina Burana, a choral work from 1936, based on a collection of poems from the middle ages. The dance is as startling as the music. I would have to see it again to comprehend its symbols, rhythms, and physical daring.

As usual at a Smuin dance series, never a dull moment.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Dark Stories

    by
    ​Rick Homan

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Books On Writing
    Movies
    Movies & TV Index
    Nicole's World
    Noir
    Novels
    Novels Index
    Presidio
    Publishing
    San Francisco
    San Francisco Index
    Writing

    Archives

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    July 2017
    March 2017
    December 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly