Ol' Blue Eyes sings again Ol' Blue Eyes sings again (February 18, 2005)

Smuin show pays homage to late crooner

By Katie Vaughn

"A Man and his Music." It's the title of a classic Frank Sinatra album, but it's also a fitting way to describe Michael Smuin and his latest ballet. "Fly Me to the Moon" features dances based on nine Sinatra classics, plus three new works by company dancers.

"For us Americans, Sinatra's the quintessential voice of romance. There's a big spectrum of people that he's reached," said Smuin, who founded his San Francisco-based dance company in 1994. "These songs spoke to me, begged to be danced to."

The program premiered in October 2004 at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts Theatre and makes a run at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts Feb. 23 through 27. The fun Sinatra tribute brims with a cool, swinging style, sassy girls and smooth hands-in-pockets fellas.

Highlights range from "The Way You Look Tonight," in which dancers Shannon Hurlbert and Vanessa Thiessen tap-dance, to the funny "I Won't Dance," featuring a bored-looking Ethan White who refuses to dance while Robin Cornwell does everything she can to get him to move. "New York, New York" is saved for the finale in which 10 dancers appear.

The show was well received at its premiere, but Smuin is modest about the ballet's success.

"Let's face it, what were they enjoying most, the ballet or the music?" he said. "The ballet underlies the music."

Preceding the Sinatra pieces are new works by company dancers, who add variety to the program by offering a range of music and dance styles.

Celia Fushille-Burke makes her choreographic debut with "Three in Company" set to Vivaldi's Concerto in D major. A pas de trios (a dance with one woman and two men), the piece showcases precise, classical movements. Fushille-Burke said the work is traditional but still very "dancy."

"Especially compared to the others, it's the most classical and traditional," she said. "I find myself going back to the roots of my training."

However, audiences shouldn't expect basic arabesques and simple turns. Fushille-Burke created a physically taxing piece for her performers.

"It's very demanding and challenging for the dancers," she said. "It's eight minutes crammed with lots of dancing."

In contrast is Amy Seiwert's "Ruhig," set to Bach's Cantata No. 4. Written for a mass and meaning "quiet" in German, "Ruhig" was chosen because it evokes exactly that.

"It has the sense of walking into a huge Gothic church and feeling the quietness," Seiwert said.

In her characteristic style, Seiwert took classical ballet forms and used techniques of modern dance to exploit movements, extending them to their most extreme. Dancers explore how to naturally move from one physical situation to another.

"Sometimes it's all a big game of Twister," she said. "It's about problem solving."

Also challenging the boundaries of traditional ballet, Hurlbert's "Dumky" defies categorization. His second piece for Smuin infuses different forms with a sense of athleticism.

"I'm influenced by many different styles," he said. "My goal is to do a ballet that is sort of out-of-the-box. I'm trying to tweak what we know of as classical ballet."

The piece is based on a Slavic and folk-influenced quartet of the same name by Antonin Dvor·k. Hurlbert felt a small number of instruments, as opposed to a full symphony, created an appropriate balance for a work of four dancers, emphasizing Smuin Ballet's approach of making music a focus of its dances, not merely a soundtrack.

"Michael has been an influence in that it's about the music," Hurlbert said. "It's an homage to the music itself."

E-mail Katie Vaughn at mvvoicearts@yahoo.com.
Information

What: "Fly Me to the Moon" by Smuin Ballet Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St. When: Feb. 23-27. Wed.-Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. Cost: $20.50-$50 Call: 903-6000 or visit www.smuinballet.org.

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