Review: Smuin Contemporary Ballet’s Future Forward, Cowell Theater at Fort Mason, April 17 – 19, 2026, San Francisco, CA
- Jen Norris
- Apr 20
- 6 min read
Two powerful humanistic dances, framed by a pair of abstract ballets, demonstrate the wide-range of choreographic approaches encapsulated by the evolving form of ballet in Smuin Contemporary Ballet’s spring program: Future Forward. Touring the Bay Area April 17 – May 17, it is an emotional rollercoaster of a program, which showcases the dancers’ classical and contemporary chops and some fine acting as well.
Inspired by the “plight of women in the world,” Andi Schermoly’s Jane Doe, a world-premiere, slayed me. Arrayed in an orderly pattern, stationed as couples around stiff wood chairs, six men dominate six women, capturing our attention from the outset. We can’t look away, as the men control the women in overt and subtle ways, lifting the women’s legs, twisting their heads, pulling them close and hugging them too tightly.
The patterns and recurring rituals of toxic patriarchy are widespread and societally ingrained. The pairs exist in isolated pools of light (lighting design Jim French). Each new affront is duplicated in synchronous horror, a half dozen times, across the space. The blank neutrality of the dancers’ faces heighten our discomfort. The women try various approaches, moving from compliance to pacification, redirection, and finally defiance. Undaunted, the men’s power continues to grow.
Women are moved from place to place, draped over shoulders, dragged by their arms, or shoveled along the floor with a chair. The slat-back chairs, a symbol of domesticity, and a metaphor for cages perhaps, are deployed to great effect. They provide a platform from which the men may lord over the women, and a location upon which the women may be trapped.
Reinforcing the universality of the dominating male-female dynamic, the musical choices span from Baroque-era Vivaldi, through romantic Rossini choral songs, and on to contemporary classical, and pop compositions of modern-day female composers.
Adopting coy performative femininity, the men taunt the women as if to say look how fun it is to be a girl, why are you refusing to meet my male expectations of positivity, sexiness and service? In the end, the men are wearing hot-pink boxing gloves and five of the six women lay lifelessly along the stage edge, as a lone female survivor contemplates their lot. Gasp-inducing at times, cripplingly sad at others, alarming, reverberating and unflinching, Jane Doe packs a punch, never allowing us to believe for a moment that women are not under threat as much now, as ever. (Of interest to some: The only other Schermoly piece I have seen is the equally effecting SALVE, which Sacramento Ballet premiered two years ago, also addressed the misbalanced power dynamics between men and women).
The transporting ballads of French chanteuse Edith Piaf set the stage for Michael Smuin’s classical story ballet, Hearts Suite (from Hearts: Le Ballet des Coeurs, created for San Francisco Ballet in 1986). With concept and scenario by Raquel Bitton, inspired by the film Les Enfants du Paradis, this duet excerpt features a relationship between a courtesan and the mime, who is but one of her admirers in the longer ballet.
Tessa Barbour is a ravishing 19th Century harlot. Flirty and notional, she pirouettes, causing the full-skirt of her red and beaded lace dress (costume design Willa Kim) to rise and crest like the opening of petals of the rose tucked in her decolletage. While her high kicks may conjure a Moulin Rouge dancer, the complexity of the emotions Barbour conveys on her face and in her gestures speak of longing and indecision.
In contrast to her uncertainty AL Abraham’s mime has eyes only for his beloved, leaping with joy at their encounter, kissing her feet as she draws away. He is bashful, supplicant, and exuberant, and too-soon heart-broken as after a few tender shared moments she deserts him. , Abraham cries, the sleeve of his blousy chemise, rippling below his diamond painted eyes, creates the illusion of his flowing tears. Resilient, Abraham channels his distress and desires into thrilling corkscrewing leaps and spinning arabesques. Seeing this excerpt left me wishing for a full remount of this technically challenging ballet.
The program opens with Sextette, an engaging abstract ballet, by choreographer Katarzyna Skarpetowska (2021), set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach. In stylish form-fitting white crop tops and shorts (costumes Susan Roemer), Sextette feels sassy, playful and joyful. A celebration of ballet’s versatility, the movement melds classical structures with contemporary ease.
It is a pleasure to experience the framing and flowing shapes of the dancers’ arm positions, or port de bras, as they dance. One can feel how the energy originates in their backs, moves through their shoulders, down the arms, and out through their fingertips, creating long, harmonious lines. No need to create stories for this one, simply lean in to the wonderful dancing and partnering of Isabel Borges & Tess Lane, Maggie Carey & Ricardo Dyer, and Claire Bueler and Yuri Rogers.
After a second intermission, the 2-hour program, closes with Still Falling, a world-premiere by Smuin Artistic Director Amy Seiwert, a contemporary ballet for six soloists supported by the full 15-member Smuin company. Danced to a series of Brahms’s solo piano pieces performed live by the amazing pianist John Wilson Still Falling is dynamic, rich in layered partnerships, soaring leaps, and inconsequential on this bill, coming as it does after the hard-hitting horror of Jane Doe. I find it difficult to switch gears back to abstract ballet. It does not help that both pieces cloth their women in short sleeve-less black dresses and their men in black pants and tops or suit coats.
I am hoping others were able to switch gears more quickly, as Still Falling contains the most dynamic dancing of the program. Seiwert reliably creates choreography that challenges the dancers and capitalizes on their skills. Ricardo Dyers appears larger than life in his opening solo, even before the circle of company members join forces to lift him to an exalted position.
IF the stage can seem over-full at times, Still Falling is infused with a sense of abundance and connection. The richness exists in the myriad smaller ensemble moments and some memorable pairings. With elegant extended lines, Eleanor Prince, making her Smuin performance debut, delivers striking balances and assured lifts supported by her charismatic partner Dominic Barrett. Yuri Rogers and Marc LePierre masculine love duet displays both physical strength and tenderness and concludes with a poignant forehead to forehead pause before parting.
Dispelling any misplaced categorization as a lighter or less serious performance troupe than other Bay Area ballet companies, Smuin once again delivers an ambitious repertory program with breadth and depth.
Review of April 18 matinee by Jennifer Norris, published April 20, 2026
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SMUIN PRESENTS ITS MARQUEE SPRING SEASON
FUTURE FORWARD
April 17 - 26: Cowell Theater SAN FRANCISCO; May 1 - 2: Lesher Center for the Arts WALNUT CREEK; May 14 - 17: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts MOUNTAIN VIEW
Artists: AL Abraham, Tessa Barbour, Dominic Barrett, Isabel Borges, Claire Buehler, Jacopo Calvo, Maggie Carey, Cameron Cofrancesco, Gabrielle Collins, Ricardo Dyer, Cassidy Isaacson, Tess Lane, Marc LaPierre, Jackie McConnell, Eleanor Prince, Shania Rasmussen, Wen Na Roberston, Yuri Rogers & João
SEXTETTE
WORLD PREMIERE: 2021 National Choreographers’ Initiative
Choreography: Katarzyna Skarpetowska
Répétiteur: Amy London
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Costumes: Susan Roemer
Lighting Design: Michael Oesch
4/18 2pm show cast
Isabel Borges, Maggie Carey, Claire Buehler, Tess Lane, Ricardo Dyer & Yuri Rogers
HEARTS SUITE
WORLD PREMIERE: 1986 (as Hearts, Le Ballet des coeurs), San Francisco Ballet
Choreography: Michael Smuin
Concept & Scenario: Raquel Bitton
Répétiteur: Amy London
Music: Edith Piaf
Costumes: Willa Kim
Lighting Design: Sara Linnie Slocum
Lighting Adaptation: Michael Oesch
Cast 4/18 2pm: Tessa Barbour and AL Abraham
JANE DOE
WORLD PREMIERE: APRIL 17, 2026
Choreography: Andi Schermoly
Music: Beth Anderson, Anna Meredith, Giachonni Rossini, Andreas Scholl, Antonio Vivaldi
Sound Design: Gabriel Ganey Smith
Costumes: Christopher Dunn
Lighting Design: Jim French
Cast: Tessa Barbour, Isabel Borges, Jackie McConnell, Maggie Carey, Tess Lane, Claire Buehler Joao, Dominic Barrett, Marc LaPierre, Jacopo Calvo, Cameron Cofrancesco, Yuri Rogers
STILL FALLING
WORLD PREMIERE: APRIL 17, 2026
Choreography: Amy Seiwert
Music: Johannes Brahms, performed by John Wilson (select San Francisco performances only)
Costumes: Christopher Dunn
Lighting Design: Jim French
Cast: Eleanor Prince, Dominic Barrett, Yuri Rogers, Marc LaPierre, Maggie Carey & Ricardo Dyer with The Company
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