Ballet San Jose review: Company finds its footing splendidly

Ballet San Jose Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño takes the stage in Roland Petit's 1949 retelling of "Carmen" as Don José, with Alexsandra Meijer in the title role. Ballet San Jose Artistic Director José Manuel Carreño takes the stage in Roland Petit's 1949 retelling of "Carmen" as Don José, with Alexsandra Meijer in the title role. Photo: Alejandro Gomez. Photo: Alejandro Gomez. Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Ballet San Jose review: Company finds its footing splendidly 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

A translucent revival of George Balanchine's "Serenade" opened José Manuel Carreño's first season as artistic director of Ballet San Jose in February. A stunning performance of Twyla Tharp's incendiary "In the Upper Room" closed the season over the weekend at the Center for the Performing Arts.

These two works represent polarities. That the dancers were so adept at exploring those dramatically different approaches to contemporary classicism leaves no doubt: This is now Carreño's company. I don't think these performers could have done such justice to these two masterpieces five years ago. The future has never looked rosier at Ballet San Jose. Silicon Valley should pay attention.

Friday's performance clinched it. Created for Tharp's own company in 1986, taken over by American Ballet Theater in 1992 and never before danced in San Jose, the nine-movement "In the Upper Room" remains among the most encyclopedic and brilliant works by this choreographer.

The visual appeal - Norma Kamali's prison-stripe costumes, the red tank tops and pointe shoes - bathed in Jennifer Tipton's iconic smoky lighting - registers immediately when a pair of "guardians" (Lahna Vanderbush, Sarah Stein) and a trio of men (James Kopecky, Kendall Teague and a fit Jeremy Kovitch) emerge from the misty void and melt back into it. In pairs and ensembles, the others follow, all moving elegantly to Philip Glass' exceptional commissioned score (originally for acoustic instruments but recorded here).

The fast, furious action arrives with a message: no dichotomies on this stage. Some dancers wear sneakers, others slippers, and still others sport those pointe shoes, while the choreography borrows breezily from the classics and the moderns. That torrent of energy and rhythmic propulsion can obscure the care with which Tharp constructs her combinations. Phrases coalesce into unisons, bits are added; they reappear in retrograde, and there's scarcely a moment of rest, yet Tharp's sense of order generates a feeling of serenity. You feel the end of this journey in your marrow.

As staged by Tharp stalwarts Shelley Washington and Gil Boggs, this superior revival (barring a few missteps) tested the troupe all the way. The standouts included the duet pairings of Sarah Stein/Maykel Solas and Lahna Vanderbush/Akira Takahashi. Amy Marie Briones' high energy also commanded attention, as did Alexsandra Meijer's fullness of phrasing.

There was more news at Ballet San Jose on Friday, including the departure of controversial executive director Stephanie Ziesel. Onstage, the retired Carreño made a surprisingly restrained return to the stage in a new role for him - the susceptible Don Jose in Luigi Bonino's revival of Roland Petit's classically chic one-act retelling of "Carmen." This survivor from 1949 is a period piece with staying power. The story of infatuation, jealousy and murder progresses swiftly and peppers its classicism with a pinch of the cabaret. It made Zizi Jeanmaire an international star and established the French choreographer's reputation.

The company immersed itself in Petit's sassy, Bizet-inspired tragedy, and in the title role, Meijer flashed the leggy extensions and impressive line that have become the glory of Ballet San Jose. But, even in Jeanmaire's trademark black wig, she lacks the playful gamine appeal of the doomed protagonist, striking few sparks with her paramour. Other members of the company occasionally succumbed to caricature, including Damir Emric's swishy Escamillo and the pixyish bandit of Ramon Moreno, who retired last weekend after a splendid, 15-year career.

Nevertheless, Antoni Clavé's stylized designs still appeal, and Paul Polivnick led members of Symphony Silicon Valley with zest in the reorchestrated Bizet music.

Both this "Carmen" production (with Russian stars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev in the leads) and the company will tour to London, Moscow and Southern California this summer. But back home is where they may yet remake local dance history.