SF Ballet Premieres Yuri Possokhov's ...TWO UNITED IN A SINGLE SOUL

Program 05, Lyric Voices, opens on March 27 at San Francisco Ballet with works that navigate the fine line between self-interest and self-obsession, and illuminate society's obsession with gadgets and devices. SF Ballet's Choreographer in Residence Yuri Possokhov's ". . . two united in a single soul . . ." premieres during the triple-bill program, which runs through April 7 at SF War Memorial Opera House, and Christopher Wheeldon's Bound To and Trey McIntyre's Your Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem both return after their critical successes during 2018 Unbound: A Festival of New Works.

". . . two united in a single soul . . ." is Possokhov's fifteenth work created for SF Ballet since his residency began in 2006. The new ballet is inspired by the Greek myth of Narcissus, the hunter who catches his reflection in a forest spring and wastes away as he pines for the sight. Possokhov's choreography positions Narcissus (pictured above as portrayed by Joseph Walsh) among 12 other dancers, and moments of reflection and refraction abound throughout. The ballet includes scenic design by Ben Pierce, costume design by Christopher Read, and lighting design by Jim French. As Narcissus toes the line between self-interest and obsession, a greater observation of humanity is revealed: "To fall in love with yourself, and yet never to be able to take it any further-I think as a human being, that's tragic," Possokhov says. "I think, inside, all men have a side of Narcissus. Actually, I think everyone has some of this-especially ballet dancers."

Possokhov's ballet includes a newly commissioned score by Daria Novo, a Technology and Applied Composition faculty member at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Novo's score combines the music of Handel-excerpts from Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare in Egitto, and Tolomeo, re d'Egitto performed in rotation by countertenors Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen (an SF Opera Adler Fellow) and Matheus Coura-with electronic elements like amplified orchestra, synthesizer, and tape tracks. Incorporating Handel's music is a natural fit for Possokhov, who cites the 1994 film "Farinelli," a biographical drama about the 18th-century castrato Carlo Broschi, as inspiration for his piece: "It's the combination of the dancing and the singing that I love so much. I knew I wanted voice, and I'm fond of countertenors. The ballet is set nowhere; it's just space-somewhere, somehow. And the voice is like the echo in the myth."

SF Ballet's Program 05, Lyric Voices, also includes two ballets returning from 2018 Unbound: A Festival of New Works. In Your Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem, American choreographer Trey McIntyre imagines meeting his grandfather as a young man. The ballet opens and closes with solos danced by a principal male, winding himself on and around a four-legged stool. A central section (inspired by the transformative nature of the 2017 solar eclipse) acts as a portal, where nine dancers drift through scenes of McIntyre's grandfather's life-from the vitality of youth to the onset of dementia. Music from singer-songwriter Chris Garneau's 2016 album El Radio, James F. Ingalls' lighting, and muted, 1920s-inspired costumes designed by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung create a dreamy, sentimental landscape of life and loss. Called "altogether wonderful" by the San Francisco Chronicle, Your Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem is McIntyre's second work for SF Ballet.

Christopher Wheeldon's Bound To, his tenth work for SF Ballet, observes technology's influence on our lives. "The overarching theme is the disconnectedness of our time," Wheeldon says, "and how we are perhaps even more connected with our devices than we are with each other." Scenic and costume designs by Jean-Marc Puissant, in collaboration with Alexander V. Nichols for projection designs, splay data sets across set pieces, and cell phones with brightly-illuminated screens feature prominently as dancers' props. Music by singer-songwriter Keaton Henson sets Bound To; the work's sections with titles like "Open Your Eyes," "Wavelength," and "Trying to Breathe" drive home the inter- and disconnected nature of communication in today's world. For Bound To, Wheeldon, who won the 2015 Tony Award winner for "Best Choreography" for his Broadway hit An American in Paris, creates his first ballet choreographed without pointe shoes, and for the first time pairs same-sex couples in tender pas de deux. Bound To's lighting designer is James F. Ingalls.

Casting for Lyric Voices will be announced at least one week prior to performances.

Additional information, including program notes for Lyric Voices' works, is available on San Francisco Ballet's website, in its Discovery section. Ancillary events are also scheduled, including a Ballet Talk about McIntyre's and Wheeldon's works with SF Ballet Soloists Lonnie Weeks and Benjamin Freemantle on March 19 at 6:00 pm. Meet the Artist pre-performance interviews occur on April 5 and 7 one hour before curtain. Lyric Voices' Pointes of View lecture with 2019 Visiting Scholar Clare Croft, PhD is March 27 at 6:00 pm.

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