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Alexandra Tomalonis
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Tomasson's 'Prism': Worth Looking Into

By Alexandra Tomalonis
Special to The Washington Post
November 29, 2002

Helgi Tomasson has been Artistic Director of the San Francisco Ballet since 1985, and today, the company is a very successful reflection of his vision and taste. He’s attracted dancers from all over the world, interesting dancers with refined techniques and individual styles who dance as though they have a life outside the classroom, and he’s especially gifted at finding ballets, new and old, that suit their talents and personalities.

Tomasson is usually more acclaimed as a director than a choreographer, but his “Prism,” which the company danced Wednesday night at the Kennedy Center Opera House, deserves serious consideration. Created two years ago for the New York City Ballet and set to Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1, “Prism” is one of the few classical ballets created in the past decade that’s worth a second viewing. The first movement is a bit unfocused, but the second has a gorgeous pas de deux, and the finale boasts a terrific role for a male virtuoso. “Prism” uses a big corps de ballet as well, and is a fine showcase for the company’s dancers.

Vanessa Zahorian, with her beautifully centered, unflappable turns, led the first movement, ably accompanied by Zachary Hench and Vadim Solomakha). Muriel Maffre, all glamour and long, long limbs, was both tender and seductive in the central pas de deux. That she and her partner, Damian Smith, could dance so smoothly and with such rapport was all the more astounding as Smith was a replacement for Maffre’s usual partner, the injured Pierre-François Vilanoba. Gonzala Garcia, a pole vaulter without need of a pole, led the finale with an infectious zest.

Tomasson’s “Chi-Lin,” set to a contemporary score by Bright Sheng, takes its theme from Chinese mythology. The dancers represent the elements of earth (Chi-Lin, a unicorn), water (the Tortoise), fire (the Phoenix) and air (the Dragon), but since there is no program note and the elements aren’t clearly characterized in movement, the audience has no way of knowing this. It could be merely a divertissement with handsome sets (by Sandra Woodall) and several difficult solos for three strong male dancers: Sergio Torrado, Damian Smith, and Parrish Maynard.

The ballet is also about the peace that exists when all of the elements are in harmony, and this idea is embodied in the dancing of Yuan Yuan Tan, the Chi-Lin of the title. Tan has an exquisite, supple line and quality of stillness that Tomasson’s choreography shows off beautifully.

The company’s productions of Balanchine’s ballets have been generally excellent over the years, but his beautiful, Romantic “Serenade” (staged by Sandra Jennings), which opened the program, was a grim affair. The corps looked drilled, as though dancing to metronomes rather than music, and the ballet seemed a collection of numbers plopped down on the stage without context or frame. Even the fine dancing among the principals--Julie Diana, Zachary Hench, and especially Lorena Feijoo--couldn’t save it.