Choreography by Aszure Barton

Artistic Direction by Tamara Rojo

Review by Claire Sawers

Far greater than the sum of its parts, several spectacular elements fuse together in glorious synergy for this AI-inspired production from San Francisco Ballet. Although the murky ancient Greek plot of Prometheus, Pandora and Hope is driven by more abstract than narrative forces, meaning it doesn’t drill directly into the complex ethics of new tech, it doesn’t detract from the relentless sensory thrills that are served.

Tamara Rojo (a former dancer with Scottish Ballet, then artistic director with English National Ballet) assembled a crack team for her first production as SF Ballet’s artistic director, and their first ever female boss. Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton brings a dazzling euphony of dance vocabularies, where she rewires classical ballet with dramatic, contemporary energy, harnessing drama from the large group of forty dancers. Floating Points (producer/ composer Sam Shepherd) morphs impressively between a soaring classical score played live by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and dreamy then nightmarish electronic soundscapes on Buchla. Michelle Jank works sensual, sybarite wonders with her wardrobe of shiny gold bodysocks and thrifted power suits from the 1980s. Then there is the tight corps de ballet, with talent and flair that won’t quit.

Barton’s group formations are breathtaking, with humans rippling in concentric circles, rising and falling in liquid murmurations, jerking and dropping as a synchronised shoal. Principal dancer Jennifer Stahl’s movements stand out as Pandora, who begins as a clay lump, writhing in double jointed angles and knots, then finding her flow in a stunning duet with Epithemius, where their limbs tangle like lovestruck sine waves. Joseph Walsh brings huge athletic swagger to his tech bro spin on Prometheus, the juiced up leader who commands chaos with arm-waving arrogance, while dropping effortlessly into middle splits. Arresting LED visuals from Hamill Industries conjure an apocalyptic cosmic soup behind the dancers, but we are left in no doubt, it’s the humans that create the real ambrosial delights here.

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