{"id":106411,"date":"2023-02-26T21:27:56","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T05:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=106411"},"modified":"2023-03-01T02:40:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T10:40:19","slug":"san-francisco-ballet-giselle-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/san-francisco-ballet-giselle-2\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Ballet: Giselle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sasha De Sola in Tomasson’s Giselle \/\/ \u00a9 Lindsay Thomas<\/p><\/div>\n

San Francisco Ballet presents Giselle at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco as part of their 2023 season led by Artistic Director, Tamara Rojo. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson after Marius Petipa, Jules Perrot, and Jean Coralli, Giselle runs from February 24th<\/sup> until March 5th.<\/sup>. Tomasson\u2019s production is set to music by Adolphe Adam, with additional music, orchestrations, and arrangements by Friedrich Burgm\u00fcller, Ludwig Minkus, and Emil de Cou, conducted by Martin West.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On <\/span><\/span><\/span>open<\/span><\/span><\/span>ing night,<\/span><\/span><\/span> February <\/span><\/span><\/span>24th<\/span><\/span><\/span> 2023,<\/span><\/span><\/span> the cast featured <\/span><\/span><\/span>principal dancers<\/span><\/span><\/span> S<\/span><\/span><\/span>asha<\/span><\/span><\/span> D<\/span><\/span><\/span>e<\/span><\/span><\/span> S<\/span><\/span><\/span>ola as <\/span><\/span><\/span>Giselle, <\/span><\/span><\/span>A<\/span><\/span><\/span>aron\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>R<\/span><\/span><\/span>obinson as <\/span><\/span><\/span>Count Albrecht <\/span><\/span><\/span>and Nikisha Fogo as <\/span><\/span><\/span>Myrtha.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The story <\/span><\/span><\/span>takes place<\/span><\/span><\/span> in a beautiful<\/span><\/span><\/span> bucolic setting surrounded by a gathering of friends where <\/span><\/span><\/span>Giselle <\/span><\/span><\/span>lives with her mother in a<\/span><\/span><\/span> Rhineland village. When noblemen visit \u2013 <\/span><\/span><\/span>an elegant and distinguished<\/span><\/span><\/span> Ricardo Bustamante as t<\/span><\/span><\/span>he Duke of Courtland <\/span><\/span><\/span>and his entourage<\/span><\/span><\/span> – there is great excitement and Giselle <\/span><\/span><\/span>meets the Count\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Albrecht, who is disguised as Loys, <\/span><\/span><\/span>a peasant…and so the romantic <\/span><\/span><\/span>and mysterious <\/span><\/span><\/span>journey begins.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Misa Kuranaga in Tomasson’s Giselle \/\/ \u00a9 Chris Hardy<\/p>\n

De Sola is fast, light <\/span><\/span><\/span>and fluid<\/span><\/span><\/span> as the peasant girl with a passion for dance, Giselle dances everywhere only to be curbed by her caring mother, Anita Paciotti as Berthe.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>Robinson <\/span><\/span><\/span>is dynamic as Albrecht\/Loys when he meets Giselle. The<\/span><\/span><\/span>ir<\/span><\/span><\/span> partnering is charming, joyous <\/span><\/span><\/span>and harmonious with intricate footwork\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>as they weave their way around the many villagers, friends and children<\/span><\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Pas de Cinq <\/span><\/span><\/span>with<\/span><\/span><\/span> Isabella DeVivo, Norika Matsuyama, Carmela Mayo, Max Cauthorn, Hansuke Yamamoto is notable and engaging in Tomasson’s production.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson’s Giselle \/\/ \u00a9 Chris Hardy<\/p><\/div>\n

While there is a lot of traditional style mimed expression in this production from several characters, and especially between Robinson’s Loys and Nathaniel Remez as\u00a0<\/span>Hilarion, a court game keeper<\/span><\/span><\/span>, this ballet demands substantial acting skills from its main characters – and they all manage very successfully.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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San Francisco Ballet in Tomasson’s Giselle \/\/ \u00a9 Lindsay Thomas<\/p><\/div>\n

The scene changes to another time and place \u2013 <\/span><\/span><\/span>to <\/span><\/span><\/span>the haunting glade of the Wilis, <\/span><\/span><\/span>who are <\/span><\/span><\/span>ethereal creatures, maidens who died before they wed and live their fragile lives at night. Fogo is a wonderful and commanding M<\/span><\/span><\/span>y<\/span><\/span><\/span>rtha, the <\/span><\/span><\/span>Queen of the Wilis with pure technique and the vision of the corps of Wilis is spectacular. The Wilis are wearing white calf length dresses covered with gossamer tulle and are outstanding as they perform Tomasson’s tricky choreography, ranging from lyrical or en pointe to the ensemble delicately balancing while turning in perfect unison, set\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>amongst a forest of tall dark trees with intricate branches that open and delicately settle into place, inviting the Wilis to inhabit the night, this scene is utterly beguiling.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Beautiful p<\/span><\/span><\/span>eriod costumes (with special attention to fascinating hats) in Act I <\/span><\/span><\/span>with<\/span><\/span><\/span> the striking Wilis costumes in Act II, <\/span><\/span><\/span>and <\/span><\/span><\/span>the scenic and <\/span><\/span><\/span>l<\/span><\/span><\/span>ighting design are <\/span><\/span><\/span>all <\/span><\/span><\/span>by Mikael Melbye.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Nikisha Fogo in Tomasson’s Giselle \/\/ \u00a9 Lindsay Thomas<\/p><\/div>\n

De Sola\u2019s mad scene and the quality of her strength and graceful precision performing sequence after sequence of intricate virtuosic footwork together with\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span>her range of character depth<\/span><\/span><\/span> in this rigorous <\/span><\/span><\/span>multi faceted <\/span><\/span><\/span>Giselle in both act I and act II are truly exceptional. Robinson <\/span><\/span><\/span>conveys<\/span><\/span><\/span> a range of emotion<\/span><\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span><\/span> with vibrant muscular expression and <\/span><\/span><\/span>a strong presence<\/span><\/span><\/span> in his solos and tender partnering with De Sola. They are an exciting match! Throughout the run the casts change, showcasing the quality and depth of SF Ballet dancers. The<\/span><\/span><\/span>re is much to enjoy and admire about this production – and the<\/span><\/span><\/span> final <\/span><\/span><\/span>flourishes of this ballet are simply breathtaking! Highly recommended!!!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Sasha De Sola and Aaron Robison in Tomasson’s Giselle \/\/ \u00a9 Lindsay Thomas<\/p><\/div>\n

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More Information and Tickets:<\/span><\/p>\n

SF Ballet<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

SF Ballet: Giselle information and Trailer<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n<\/strong><\/em>Jo Tomalin, Ph.D. reviews Dance & Theatre Performances
\n<\/a><\/strong>More Reviews by Jo Tomalin
\n<\/a>TWITTER @JoTomalin
\n<\/a>www.forallevents.com<\/a>\u00a0 Arts & Travel Reviews<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

San Francisco Ballet presents Giselle at the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco as part of their 2023 season led by Artistic Director, Tamara Rojo. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[755,507,512,756,506,753,285,754],"class_list":{"0":"post-106411","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-jo-tomalin","7":"tag-aaron-robinson","8":"tag-giselle","9":"tag-helgi-tomasson","10":"tag-nikisha-fogo","11":"tag-san-francisco-ballet","12":"tag-sash-de-sola","13":"tag-sf-ballet","14":"tag-tamara-rojo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"