Shostakovich Trilogy, which I saw recently at San Francisco Ballet without doing any advance reading, including of the program, is the type of ballet I imagine makes people ask, “Is this supposed to be about something? Is there a meaning?”
Alexei Ratmansky choreographed Shostakovich Trilogy in two parts, the opening section premiering in 2014 and the others premiering together a year later. My favorite section by far was the last, Piano Concerto #1. I liked the costumes, the dancing, the dancers. And I loved the ending, which I immediately wanted to rewind and watch again.
Getting to that point, however, for me meant sitting there wondering what all the fuss was about. The first movement (Symphony #9), while well danced, did not especially draw me in; I decided it didn’t work as an opener. However, it did contain what was perhaps my favorite passage of dancing the entire evening. Eight men entered in a line that stretched across the rear of the stage (upstage). A ninth man entered, walking behind them. As he passed the man at the end of the line, that man then turned around and followed. Then when he passed the next person, that person turned and followed. All the way down the line. It was so breathtakingly simple and so incredibly exact. My focus was wholly absorbed watching the line fall away and re-form; I had no idea what was happening with the couple center stage. To my delight, Ratmansky then repeated this exact sequence, except with the women and taking place at the front of the stage (downstage). So I got to see it twice. Apparently I’m a sucker for a walking pattern.
The middle section, Chamber Symphony, is the closest the Trilogy comes to telling a story. Ulrik Birkkjaer took on the central role of Shostakovich, with Sasha De Sola, Mathilde Froustey, and Yuan Yuan Tan as the three key women in his life. As soon as the curtain fell, I turned to my mom and announced, “I liked the first piece better.” She preferred this one, citing in particular the group of four men who were very together.
I liked the pace of the evening. The total run time was two hours, shorter than many of the programs I’ve seen this season, and each time the curtain fell, it was a pleasant surprise. But… shouldn’t it be the opposite? Shouldn’t I want the ballet not to end? I just couldn’t get excited about this ballet.
Finally, we got to the end of the Trilogy. With its red and blue leotards and unitards and its overtly Stalinist backdrop, Piano Concerto #1 was the high-energy dancing I didn’t know I had been waiting for. It was not uniformly fast or driving, but the overall takeaway was intensity. There was an expansiveness to the movement, but it maintained a crisp tension too. There were also some highly acrobatic lifts. Both the music and the choreography build toward a big finish, which you can feel in the audience and which carries you along. I was additionally delighted to get to see Sofiane Sylve one last time for the year, and to see her finally getting some meaty dancing. It was also great to see Wona Park in something so different, having previously seen her in Don Quixote and The Sleeping Beauty. She and Angelo Greco (excellent) kept up with Ms. Sylve and Carlo Di Lanno without any difficulty.
Regrettably, the ending, the very last moment, which I loved so much, is gone from my mind. I saw it, and it disappeared. Evaporated, like the ephemeral thing a live performance is.
In many ways, the best part about this specific performance was how many people were there who I knew. I chatted with friends at intermission, and then another small group of us ended up on the train together. There’s nothing quite like that immediacy—“What’d you think?!” And it’s always paired with the hope that the other person agrees with you. With this ballet, there didn’t seem to be a strong sentiment from anyone I spoke with. We all liked it, more or less. It was well-danced, which should be enough but isn’t.
With Shostakovich Trilogy, San Francisco Ballet’s 2019 season came to an end. Next season has been announced and, as with every season, contains ballets I am excited to see and those that don’t interest me. But like the loyal ballet fan that I am, I’ll be there at all of them!
San Francisco Ballet: Shostakovich Trilogy, choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
May 8, 2019, at 7:30 pm at the War Memorial Opera House
Going to the Ballet 