Take A Dive Under The Sea

When I stepped foot into the War Memorial Opera House to watch the San Francisco Ballet perform John Neumeier's The Little Mermaid, I knew I wasn't going to be seeing a Disney version of the story with Ariel's bright red flowing mane and waves triumphantly crashing around her. While I had an inkling it would be closer to the original story by Hans Christian Andersen, I was not prepared for the dark subject matter about unrequited love.

While enjoying a glass of pre-show champagne, the question arose: How are they going to make a mermaid dance? The answer was revealed soon enough. During the opening moments of silence, I thought I was at the theater watching actors on stage. Throughout the course of the ballet, it became more apparent The Little Mermaid is a dance-theater performance. Exactly how did the little mermaid and her underwater friends dance? Through imaginative costumes and fluid abstract choreography.

The set design transported the audience from the darkest depths of water to sunny ship decks and shoreline. The performance has moments of levity. One being when an ensemble of men comprised of the poet, the prince, naval officers and sailors take to the stage and dance. The scene is a nice break from the norm of an all-female corps de ballet. Principal dancer Yuan Yuan Tan is always delightful to watch but her performance in The Little Mermaid is mesmerizing. Her emotive portrayal of the Mermaid has you feeling her pain when her love is rebuffed by the Prince.

I thoroughly enjoyed the San Francisco Ballet's interpretation of The Little Mermaid and I suggest snatching up tickets to view this beautiful show as soon as possible or else you will be a fish out of water.

The Little Mermaid runs through March 28th, 2010 at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco.  For more information visit SFBallet.org.  (Image via the San Francisco Ballet website by Erik Tomasson.)

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Avelinda Garcia also writes at Superstylin*

Comments

[PatchRock]

Yuan Yuan for president!

[Keith Harris]

Thank you Avelinda for, such a wonderful article.I hope that you continue to give us your talented reviews.

[Avelilna Garcia]

My mija Linda you are an amazing daughter. I have always enjoyed watching your every talent. You still have me in awe of what you do. thanks. I enjoyed the article you wrote. Love you Mom

[Alex and Amy]

Thank you for this review, the Little Mermaid is a favorite of mine, look forward to checking it out! Being SF bloggers ourselves we are excited to have found yours, look forward to reading more!

xx,

refusestolabel.blogspot.com

[Little Mermaid @ SF]

Yuan Yuan Tan was amazing as the little mermaid - she is a world class dancer. But the production and stage settings were bizarre and disjointed. The music was not what I had hoped for. I did not enjoy most of this ballet and was tempted to leave during intermission. But I stuck it out and thought the final scene with the mermaid and the poet was stunning...breath taking. Those three minutes in the end made up for the mess that was the rest of this production.

[Avelinda Garcia]

Thank you for reading and for the input everyone. LM@SF: I agree with you about the closing scene. Looking forward to my next night at the ballet!