Smuin's "Dance Series 1" features stunning Johnny Cash ballet

Smuin Contemporary Ballet continues its 26th season with Dance Series 1, a stunning program featuring three extraordinary works by established and rising choreographers. The music of country icon Johnny Cash comes alive in The Man in Black, an acclaimed work for three men and a woman, danced in cowboy boots. Choreographed by James Kudelka, the former artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada, this powerful piece is an ode to American working-class grit featuring complex choreography influenced by popular country-western dance styles—including line, square, swing, and step dancing. Arresting and inventive, The Man in Black was called “beguiling” by the San Francisco Chronicle and “deeply touching and poignant” by Canada’s National Post. It is set to six songs covered by Cash, including Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind.” Also on the bill: former Smuin artist Rex Wheeler’s Take Five, a delightfully witty work set to the jazzy beat of Dave Brubeck. Michael Smuin’s “dazzling” and “unforgettable” (San Francisco Chronicle) Carmina Burana, set to the sensual Carl Orff score, rounds out this spectacular program.

Smuin’s Dance Series 1 debuted last fall in Walnut Creek and San Francisco, featuring the Company premiere of choreographer James Kudelka’s The Man in Black. One of the world’s most versatile and innovative dance artists, Kudelka began his choreography career with The National Ballet of Canada in 1972. After a widely praised rework of The Nutcracker, Kudelka served as artistic director at The National Ballet for nine years. He began an affiliation with Toronto’s Citadel + Cie in 2006 and has been resident choreographer since 2008 where he has experimented with cross-disciplinary collaborations. Kudelka was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2005 and is among the 2020 Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame inductees. The Man in Black utilizes six songs covered by Johnny Cash in his final years for an “intense work of fascinating complexity” (Columbus Alive). This emotionally intense dance makes an appeal to the tenaciousness of the blue-collar American industry by utilizing a country-western dance style, and is lauded for proving “that a classical ballet company can honor tradition while accumulating the creative momentum that makes it artistically vibrant and relevant” (Dance Magazine).

The music of jazz legend Dave Brubeck will come alive in Take Five, choreographed by former Company member Rex Wheeler. Just in time to celebrate Brubeck’s Centennial in 2020, Take Five offers a charming and colorful set of inventive and surprising movement to complement the jazzy tunes. Born in London, Wheeler performed with Birmingham Royal Ballet, and for the Royal Family on several occasions, before joining Smuin as a dancer in 2015. As a choreographer, he has created works for organizations across the country, including Sinfonietta, presented last season by Smuin.

Rounding out the program is the revival of founder Michael Smuin’s renowned Carmina Burana. In its premiere at Smuin over 20 years ago, Carmina Burana was praised as “an exuberant dance by an American artist at the peak of his powers” (San Francisco Chronicle). Set to German composer Carl Orff’s triumphant score of the same title, this impassioned piece celebrates life, lust, and joy, honoring the enduring legacy of Michael Smuin’s genius.

For more than 26 years Smuin has pushed the boundaries of contemporary ballet within a distinctly American style, engaging and delighting audiences with uncommon physicality and expression. Founded in San Francisco in 1994 by Tony and Emmy award-winning choreographer Michael Smuin, the Company is committed to creating work that merges the diverse vocabularies of classical ballet and contemporary dance. Artistic Director since 2007, Celia Fushille has celebrated Michael Smuin's legacy while enriching the Company’s impressive repertoire by collaborating with inventive choreographers from around the world, commissioning world premieres, and bringing new contemporary choreographic voices to the Smuin stage.

Dance Series 1 will be presented February 27 – March 1, 2020 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts in Mountain View. Tickets ($25-$79) are available by calling (650) 903-6000 or by visiting www.smuinballet.org.