San Francisco is a discordant metropolis with picturesque views, pastel houses and vacationer locations that someway additionally floods the eyes with really primary denim, hoodies, Crocs, Birkenstocks, and Patagonia vests. However sometimes you could find a really trendy night, like this yr’s opening gala with the San Francisco Ballet, an upscale occasion that features hobnobbing with Nancy Pelosi, sipping champagne, knocking again “bumps” of caviar, and getting misplaced in a sea of taffeta, feathers, tulle, lace; And oh sure, there’s a dance efficiency, too.
This yr marked the group’s ninetieth anniversary and introduction of Inventive Director Tamara Rojo, a 48-year-old dancer and first lady to carry the place with the SF Ballet. That she’s working alongside Government Director Danielle St. Germain led the SF Chronicle to deem the SF Ballet in its “woman energy” period as one of many uncommon all-female-led corporations on this planet. Rojo’s impassioned speech that capped off 11 performances invited the viewers to “be daring” and step into the longer term, letting us know the forthcoming season and sure her longer tenure will combine traditional dances with modern work.
I need to provide the insider-baseball look on the dance portion of the night, however know that I come from a suburban bumpkin childhood that by no means noticed a ballet efficiency save for Ms. Patty’s studio on Gilmore Ladies, and that no matter experience I’ve within the musical arts is best utilized reviewing symphony and ballroom dancing. For this occasion, nevertheless, I carry to you my love of “Heart Stage” and its sequels, “Black Swan,” and an in-person viewing of “The Nutcracker” in Oakland a number of years again. I additionally attended the SF Ballet Opening Gala final yr and detailed my experiences that evening, so this recounting will give a pair compare-and-contrast moments.
Arrivals and opening reception, 5:15 p.m. — 6:30 p.m.
Three others in my group exit an Uber with me onto a reasonably quiet gold carpet with gazebos that I’m guessing are in case of rain. It’s chilly exterior and most early arrivals have already entered the Struggle Memorial Opera Home, the place a gap reception is occurring for high-price ticket holders.
Whereas efficiency tickets started at $74, most of the fancier nightlife festivities included a dinner starting at $2,000, and there’s a midrange possibility I’ll speak about in a bit. Belief that I’m not within the higher rich echelon of San Francisco, so I’ve hounded the SF Ballet publicist for entry each years I’ve attended. If it’s cash you’ll be able to spare although, $1,600 of the ticket is tax deductible and benefiting the ballet firm, and this yr, the gala raised about $2.75 million.
The reception ultimately opens for basic ticket holders, and I like that they expertise the identical get together that features caviar, hors d’oeuvres and simply an enormous quantity of champagne and glowing cider. Inside quarter-hour although, the foyer packs itself tighter than a homosexual bar at Pleasure, claustrophobia wins, and I not really feel like squishing via a throng of sequins, velvet, and bowtied males in my hoop skirt and corset.
On the periphery of the gang, I encounter Bip Apollo, a distinguished artist that I admit solely vaguely understanding as a result of his Instagram verification caught my eye (I’m sorry I’m so Millennial!) when he reached out a while again to fee a garment from me. Decked out in a fuschia swimsuit, Apollo pops up later within the night to emphatically obsess over my gown.
Simply earlier than the efficiency, we additionally stumble upon David Reardon, a self-made designer I met ultimately yr’s gala whose superbly hand-beaded interval items all the time make an announcement and draw consideration from onlookers and photographers.
Efficiency, 6:30ish p.m. — 8ish p.m.
Once more, ballet information just isn’t my forte, however I instantly acknowledged an early quantity from Romeo & Juliet as a result of it was in “Heart Stage”! It’s superbly danced by Dores André and Isaac Hernandez, and classics in wonderful artwork are kind of my jam, so this was one among my favorites. Somebody in my group turns to me and whispers after Romeo kisses Juliet, “In fact he will get what he desires after which he’s accomplished along with her.”
Some world premieres felt extra thrilling than others. A muscled Aaron Robison in Yuri Possokhov’s “Postcriptum” was, properly, loads to behold. As somebody talked about to me at dinner later, “He might have simply stood there and that may have been sufficient.” (Sorry for ogling, Aaron; Your dancing was additionally very fairly.)
I had heard some hype over “the one with the clowns” — Danielle Rowe’s “Madcap” — however for me the shining trendy quantity was “Bolero,” a big ensemble dance that featured French composer Maurice Ravel’s composition of the identical title. This model choreographed by Yuka Oishi featured a mind-bending 16 dancers shifting to the sluggish, march-like drum of “Bolero” whereas a swirling animation meant to evoke the universe performed behind them.
Oishi explains her inspiration right here, saying the music “accomplished my concept of a continuing beating, the thought of rising a cell to the universe’s scale.”
Occasion time, 8:30 p.m. onward
I liked the performances however freely admit I got here for the ball. It’s the second yr in a row Nancy Pelosi has attended however I someway missed her. (Somebody tells me: “Did you see her, she’s so little, I had no concept!”)
An enormous gaggle of night frocks squishes its manner out of the chilly via the doorways to Metropolis Corridor after which previous metallic detectors, which this time round is equally humorous as final yr to me as a result of my bodice has 10 metal bones and my skirt is wired with a couple of hundred LEDs. That’s actually okay, although: I inform my buddy I can’t brawl in a corseted poofy robe.
A theme tonight is in regards to the previous assembly the longer term, however decorations in Metropolis Corridor give me fairly old skool Nice Gatsby vibes — in the easiest way. The grand staircase is decked out in black-and-white carpet, and mirror ball installations all through the house give me a disco Christmas decoration impact. Dinner occurs all around the fundamental space, upstairs, and an adjoining room the place we’re ultimately seated at an enormous mirrored desk, and so they’ve moved a seat out of the way in which so I can match my gown in that spot.
The power of the get together is somewhat quieter this yr, which makes some sense as a result of the rampant post-lockdown glee has worn off somewhat for the reason that final gala in March 2022. The after get together thrown by the Encore group bought out its $450 tickets to subscribers solely, and that room has modified since I final attended: an enormous dance flooring has changed the seating, there’s a stay band taking part in Millennial covers from Taylor Swift and Future’s Youngster, and from what I can inform, no buffet just like the one from 2022.
To complain about any a part of the evening could be “the firstiest of first-world issues,” I informed my buddy later; The entire get together was pitch excellent and I can’t fault it, the vibe was simply completely different from final yr. My favourite bit was watching gala chair Betsy Linder — one other one who complimented my robe a number of occasions all through the evening, I’ve to say — shake it on the dance flooring in a superbly draped white robe and sequin sneakers. I’m jealous: The place did she stash her heels?
