Rachel Howard February 11, 2021Updated: February 12, 2021, 7:13 am
The San Francisco Ballet in the world premiere of Myles Thatcher’s “Colorforms.” Photo: Ezra Hurwitz, San Francisco Ballet
Are audiences attracted by frenzied glamour and urgent escapism in these pandemic-beleaguered early days of 2021? That’s what San Francisco Ballet’s advertising has mostly served up, with tense music and all-caps headlines touting “world class ballet” brought to your living room.
Fortunately for those of us needing relief from such intensity, the mood is quite different in Myles Thatcher’s new ballet, “Colorforms,” which premieres as part of the Ballet’s digital Program 2 on Thursday, Feb. 11, and shoots off the screen like a ray of sheer, unforced pleasure.
Rachel Howard January 15, 2021Updated: January 15, 2021, 6:21 pm
The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra under the direction of Music Director Martin West. Photo: San Francisco Ballet
Patrons prepared not by fastening their tuxedo cuff links but by downloading an app; the ribs bourguignon were served not piping hot in the War Memorial Opera House halls but reheated in the microwave after home delivery.
Yet there we were on Thursday, Jan. 14, for the opening gala of San Francisco Ballet’s 88th season, connected through our computer screens. There were the dancers, some with their spouses, in little Zoom boxes at virtual “tables,” free to socialize because their performances had been prerecorded.