Smuin Ballet Presents 'Dear Miss Cline' in Walnut Creek, Mountain View, and Carmel

To shake off the winter blues, Smuin Ballet presents the enchanting Dear Miss Cline by Choreographer in Residence Amy Seiwert, set to the music of Patsy Cline in Walnut Creek (Feb 3-4), Mountain View (Feb 22-26), and Carmel (March 2-3).

The program also includes Michael Smuin’s Tango Palace, a seductive fantasy of possession and passion played out in the steamy underworld of tango, and The Eternal Idol, a romantic pas de deux Smuin created for American Ballet Theatre and named for the Auguste Rodin sculpture of a nude couple locked in an embrace. Rounding out the program is Stabat Mater, Michael Smuin’s breathtaking response to the September 11th attacks, eloquently expressing the hope of moving forward after grief and loss. Single tickets ($49-$62) are now available at www.smuinballet.org or the public may call (415) 556 – 5000.

Seiwert’s Dear Miss Cline is a buoyant and colorful romp set to ten Patsy Cline tunes, including “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “Come On In,” “Triangle,” “There He Goes,” and “Pick Me Up On Your Way Down.” An engaging exploration of relationships and their foils, Dear Miss Cline claims inspiration from the expressive choreography of Michael Smuin, Seiwert’s mentor. The work received its world premiere in September 2011, when the San Francisco Chronicle described it as “the stuff of sweet dreams” and “bright, carefree,” while the SF Examiner called it “chic and smart,” with “sharp, witty” performances from the ensemble. Seiwert, a former Smuin dancer, has been choreographing since 1999 and has won numerous awards and critical accolades. Paul Parish of Bay Area Reporter declares her to be “the most talented and prolific young choreographer working from a ballet base around here” and the San Francisco Chronicle calls her “sharply innovative” and “one of the country’s most exciting young dance makers.” Her work is in the repertory of Smuin Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, and Carolina Ballet, as well as Ballet Nouveau Colorado, Robert Moses KIN and Ballet Austin. Since Patsy Cline’s death in 1963 at age 30 in a private airplane crash at the height of her career, the Grand Ole Opry star has been considered one of the most influential, successful, and acclaimed female vocalists of the 20th century.

Sharing the program is Smuin’s seductive ballet Tango Palace. The brothel, the barrio, and the barroom become sultry, intimate playgrounds of grace and vulnerability – rooms where sexual urgency and delayed longing collide. Born in Argentina, tango was initially danced only in gambling houses and places of prostitution. Working women developed skill in the dance in order to attract customers, while lonely men practiced the art in order to woo and impress the women. Examining both the complexities of the human heart, and the fire and inventiveness of tango itself, Tango Palace creates a feverish vision of desire through dance. Also included is The Eternal Idol, a pas de deux Smuin created for American Ballet Theatre in 1969. This sensuous work set to the slow movement of Chopin’s F Minor Piano Concerto, is a wistful imagining of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture, where stone is transformed into flesh and blood.

The San Francisco Chronicle called Michael Smuin’s September 11th ballet, Stabat Mater, “a powerful response to a national tragedy” and “one of the most beautiful ballets in this choreographer’s remarkable career.” The ballet is set to composer Antonin Dvorak’s same-titled work, which was composed shortly after the death of his infant daughter and based on the sorrowful Catholic prayer Stabat Mater Dolorosa. Michael Smuin’s ballet, which premiered in 2002, is comprised of several duets that embody the crippling loss of a loved one and ultimately find affirmation in the perseverance of the human spirit.

Debuting in San Francisco in 1994, Smuin Ballet immediately established itself as one of the Bay Area’s most eagerly watched performing arts companies, as “one of this country’s most entertaining, original ballet troupes” (Dance Magazine), and as a dance company of international acclaim, performing to sold-out houses on European tours. Michael Smuin’s singular philosophy to create pieces which merge the diverse vocabularies of classical ballet and contemporary dance has served as the company’s touchstone since its beginning.

Now at the helm of Smuin Ballet is Artistic and Executive Director Celia Fushille, whose vision includes maintaining and increasing the company’s reputation for presenting accessible and innovative repertoire, as well as attracting new audiences of all ages to the medium. The company has continued to highlight works created by Smuin, both for his own and for other ballet companies, but Fushille also enriches its impressive repertoire with newer choreographic voices, bringing the Bay Area its first look at works by exciting choreographers from around the world, as well as developing world premieres by company members.

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