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| Maninyas |
| MANINYAS
Music by Ross Edwards Maninyas Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Choreography by Stanton Welch / The Creation Scenic and costume design by Stanton Welch Lighting by Lisa J. Pinkham Originally created for San Francisco Ballet in 1996, Maninyas was Mr. Welch�s first commission outside his home company, The Australian Ballet � his first American exposure. A mix of classical and contemporary ballet, Maninyas is a small abstract work, a series of pas de deux and pas de trois. Set to Maninyas Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, a work by Australian composer Ross Edwards, the piece features five couples in delicate costumes designed Artistic Director Stanton Welch, who move in and out of a series of shimmering curtains or veils. �The piece is a process of unveiling,� explained Mr. Welch. �It examines how in relationships, you gradually unlayer yourself, and how scary, dark, and open it is to reveal yourself to another, without protection. The dancers are undressing themselves spiritually as well as physically.� / Source |
| Dancer: Melody Herrera
Dancers: Barbara Bears and Ian Casady Photos: Amitava Sarka |
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| The evening opened with the return of ``Maninyas,'' last season's runaway hit by the Australian dynamo Stanton Welch. Just as Welch's 1995 ``Corroboree,'' premiered at the United We Dance festival, celebrated the strength and sex appeal of Australia's male dancers, his 1996 ``Maninyas'' is above all a sensual tribute to the San Francisco ballerinas. Sabina Allemann -- new to the piece this year -- along with Sonja Kostich, Katita Waldo and Sherri LeBlanc seldom have looked this alluring.
The men too were impressive in this often eerie nocturnal romp set to an eclectic Violin Concerto by Ross Edwards. San Francisco's superstar Yuri Possokhov seemed born to the Australian style in the unsettling second movement, as did the electrifying Jose Martin later opposite LeBlanc. Love duets throughout the ballet, in fact, once again were the most powerful among Welch's step combinations. The sensual drift was seductive as Possokhov held Wal do from behind and swayed her gently before turning her again and again in dizzying, sublime passion./ Review |
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