September 23rd to March 3rd
- World Premiere: Amy Seiwert, Choreographer
- Stabat Mater: Michael Smuin, Choreographer
- Tango Palace: Michael Smuin, Choreographer
- The Eternal Idol: Michael Smuin, Choreographer
Smuin Ballet kicks off its season with a World Premiere by Choreographer in Residence Amy Seiwert. The San Francisco Bay Guardian declares, “[Seiwert] has one of the Bay Area’s most intriguing voices. . . fresh, mysterious, and mesmerizing” and the San Francisco Chronicle calls her “sharply innovative” and “one of the country’s most exciting young dance makers.” Seiwert’s premiere will be set to the music of Patsy Cline.
In honor of the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, the program includes Stabat Mater, Michael Smuin’s response to that tragedy. An eloquent expression of grief and loss set to Dvorak’s choral work of the same name. Stabat Mater has been called “a powerful response to a national tragedy. . . one of the most beautiful ballets in this choreographer’s remarkable career” (San Francisco Chronicle). Sharing the program is The Eternal Idol, a pas de deux Smuin created for American Ballet Theatre in 1969. This sensuous work, set to Chopin’s lush Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, is a wistful imagining, where Auguste Rodin’s sculpture of a nude couple locked in an embrace comes to life on stage. Rounding out the program is Michael Smuin’s Tango Palace, a seductive fantasy of possession and passion, jealousy, loss, and love. Examining both the complexities of the human heart and the inventiveness of tango itself, Tango Palace creates a feverish vision of desire through dance.