A Parisian Dream
A participatory eagerness, a desire to be part of something sweet and beautiful, suffused the return of George Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to San Francisco Ballet on the cusp of spring.
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Fouad Boussouf’s “Näss” (the title means “people,” in Arabic) is a dance for seven men from his company Le Phare, set to an hour’s worth of intensely rhythmic, often trance-like music. The men are strong, and focused, at times vulnerable, at times aggressive, but never less than compelling. As their bodies submit to, and then begin to bend, the rhythm, they seem to take part in rituals, either private or shared. Eventually each man peels away from the group and erupts into a solo—if it were a play, these would be monologues. Each seems to express a different emotion: solitude, fear, wariness, the need to break free. Each solo is performed with a fascinating combination of control and force. These men can really move—their feet are quick, upper bodies strong and fluid, arms nimble and able to propel them horizontally across the floor or vertically into the air. Each dancer contains a mystery, like, well, people.
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Le Phare in “Näss” by Fouad Boussouf. Photograph by Charlotte Audureau
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