Enchanting, sparkling, fun and dramatic, Smuin Ballet's Holiday Program is a reflection of the very best of the Season. Plan on enjoying moments of contagious holiday merriment with standout performances, innovative partnering . . . and sexy numbers, too!
This year's performance will include:
- Act One, The Classical Christmas, with elegant décor, lighting and costumes uses music from Handel to Bach, traditional carols to klezmer.
- Act Two, The Cool Christmas, with fiery red sets as whimsical and contemporary as the music, with everything from Eartha Kitt's Santa Baby to Lou Rawl's The Little Drummer Boy.
- The 2007 Christmas Ballet also includes three new dances by Amy Seiwert, Shannon Hurlburt and Robert Sund, as well as three favorites from our archives . . . Blue Christmas, Winter Weather and Cajun Christmas, making wonderful additions to the 2007 Christmas Ballet!
- And . . . a special Wharton Club-only post-performance reception with Smuin Director Celia Fushille-Burke and several of the evening's Smuin dancers!
Register online (Note: If you plan to attend, reserve your tickets early--
these tickets are regularly $55, and we have only a limited number available for us.)
Date: Saturday, December 15th, 2007
Time: 7:30pm check-in.
8:00pm performance.
10:00pm post-performance reception with Smuin Director Celia Fushille-Burke and several of the evening's Smuin dancers!
Location: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater. 700 Howard Street. San Francisco
Registration: WCNC Members and their accompanied guests: $35 per person. Members of affiliate clubs and their accompanied guests: $40 per person. Non-member alumni and other guests: $55 per person.
Tickets are going rapidly, and while we hope to have them available for sale through Thursday afternoon, 12/13, there are no guarantees! The WCNC's
standard cancellation policy applies for this event.
You might be asking yourself, "what is Smuin?"
Michael Smuin, the former head of the San Francisco Ballet, started his own company,
Smuin Ballet in 1994. The Smuin Ballet combines ballet with many other dance styles such as jazz, tap, and tango, and they dance to modern music including Sinatra, the Beatles and K.D. Lang. The Smuin mission is to entertain the audience, and they are willing to use a vast dance vocabulary in any number of ways to guarantee that no one is ever bored--even
guys are going to have a great time!
Michael Smuin was a remarkable figure in the history of ballet. He was a major force in the San Francisco dance world and one of the region's most prominent and audacious showmen. Known for the vibrant, expressive and brassy works he created for his own company, for various regional companies, on Broadway and in Hollywood, Smuin was co-artistic director of the San Francisco Ballet from 1973 to 1985. He danced with that company from 1953 to 1961 and later with the American Ballet Theatre, where he was both a principal dancer and choreographer.
Celia Fushille-Burke was named Artistic Director of Smuin Ballet in October 2007 and has been with Smuin Ballet since its inception. A number of roles have been created for Celia: Frankie in Frankie and Johnny, Roxanne in Cyrano, Lola-Lola in The Blue Angel, and Santa Baby from The Christmas Ballet. Fushille-Burke was Associate Director from 1998 until earlier this year when she became the Smuin's Artistic Director. She retired from dancing only last year and has staged Smuin works for other companies, most recently the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
