{"id":112413,"date":"2026-10-10T17:13:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T00:13:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=112413"},"modified":"2026-10-11T17:12:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T00:12:39","slug":"smuin-ballet-offers-two-truly-awesome-revivals-one-experiment-in-san-francisco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/smuin-ballet-offers-two-truly-awesome-revivals-one-experiment-in-san-francisco\/","title":{"rendered":"Smuin Ballet offers two \u2018truly awesome\u2019 revivals, one experiment in San Francisco"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amy Seiwert<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

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Michael Smuin<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

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By WOODY WEINGARTEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFrench Kiss,\u201d choreographed by artistic director Amy Seiwert in 2023, was the definitive hit of the San Francisco Opening Night concert of Smuin Contemporary Ballet, if Friday\u2019s level of applause is used as a measuring device.<\/p>\n

The light-hearted, liquid, and lovely dance \u2014 note-perfect to the music of Pink Martini\u00a0\u2014 was smooth as satin yet filled with flavors: romantic, dramatic, traditional, modern, and hilarious.<\/p>\n

It encompassed smile-inducing lifts and circles as well as sexy flashes and rather unusual butts-extended moments.<\/p>\n

Best received was a comic sequence in which two manikins atop small platforms on wheels were pushed around by a pair of dancers.<\/p>\n

Pink Martini is an eclectic American band that embraces jazz, classical, Latin, and pop \u2014 in 15 languages.<\/p>\n

Seiwert, in the program, writes that the ballet pays homage to the \u201csignature style\u201d of company founder Michael Smuin, who died two decades ago, by being \u201crich in characterization\u201d and celebrating \u201cthe individuality of Smuin\u2019s dancers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Friday\u2019s introduction, Seiwert flippantly claimed her \u201cFrench Kiss\u201d crammed in \u201call I learned from Michael in 25 minutes.”<\/p>\n

The presentation, in addition to loud applause, drew a hailstorm of encouraging and appreciative \u201cwoo\u201d cries from the audience.<\/p>\n

Another truly awesome revival, \u201cStabat Mater,\u201d was a Michael Smuin creation that dated to 2002 and was choreographed to the music of Antonin\u00a0Dvo\u0159\u00e1k. It hadn\u2019t been staged in the Bay Area in 10 years.<\/p>\n

That stupendous ballet was Smuin\u2019s dramatic response to the \u201cdeath and pain\u201d of 9\/11 and featured lots of female bodies trustingly falling into the arms of male dancers. It met its intention of exploring \u201closs, the resilience of community, and, ultimately, hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third part of the concert was new \u2014 an experimental dance-salad choreographed by My\u2019Kal Stromile, a triple threat who also was responsible for the costumes and stage design. It was, however, as odd as its title, \u201cI-Scrit-Ah-Scree-Tah-Skratt,\u201d which is an invented phonetic phrase, and almost as opaque as the choreographer\u2019s official explanation in obfuscation-speak.<\/p>\n

Its music was by Wilhem Friedemann Bach, the oldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, replete with choral that\u2019s a knock-out.<\/p>\n

Still, most of the dance segments felt as if they were unfinished fragments, perhaps intentionally. Some concertgoers, in fact, probably found it difficult to perceive exactly what was being portrayed.<\/p>\n

In contrast, the company\u2019s program was enlightening in many ways. It showed, for instance, how many behind-the-scenes people are necessary to keep the dancers in good shape. It listed a wellness team with eight orthopedic and physical therapy doctors, three chiropractors, four acupuncturists, and two massage therapists.<\/p>\n

All, of course, were also available to keep the company healthy for previous performances in Mountain View and Walnut Creek.<\/p>\n

Obviously, it\u2019s worth any trouble.<\/p>\n

French Kiss<\/em>\u00a0will run at the 437-seat waterfront Cowell Theater at Fort Mason, 2 Marina Blvd., San Francisco, through Oct. 18. Tickets: $25 to $100. Info: 415-912-1899 or\u00a0boxoffice@smuinballet.org.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Woody Weingarten, a longtime voting member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theater Critics Circle, can be contacted by email at\u00a0<\/em>voodee@sbcglobal.net\u00a0or on his websites<\/em>,\u00a0https:\/\/woodyweingarten.com\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0https:\/\/vitalitypress.com. His books include\u00a0<\/em>Rollercoaster: How a caregiver can survive a partner\u2019s breast cancer or any other lethal disease;\u00a0MysteryDates \u2014 How to keep the sizzle in your relationship; The Roving I, a compilation of 70 of his newspaper columns; and\u00a0<\/em>Grampy and His Fairyzona Playmates, a whimsical fantasy intended for 6- to 10-year-olds that he co-authored with his then 8-year-old granddaughter.<\/em><\/p>\n

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        By WOODY WEINGARTEN \u201cFrench Kiss,\u201d choreographed by artistic director Amy Seiwert in 2023, was the definitive hit of the San Francisco Opening Night concert of Smuin…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":3.5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-woody-weingarten"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"