Anyone who has ever seen George Balanchine's Serenade would tell you that it's just about as close to perfection as you can get. The ballet features a corps de ballet of around 25 airy ballerinas in identical icy-blue tutus. It's ethereal. It's iconic. And you'd have to be crazy to want to change a thing about it. But what is an artist's duty, if not to be, well, a little crazy? Set to the same score (Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings), Colorado-based choreographer Garrett Ammon sets his version of Serenade on San Francisco's Smuin Ballet. In Ammon's version, expect less flowing, serene, and more tricky, contemporary movement — this isn't a restaging; it's a completely different work with a completely different feel. Serenade for Strings is shown alongside two other pieces in "Untamed," Smuin Ballet's newest program premiering tonight. Also on the program: a Latin-influenced piece by Michael Smuin in tribute to Gene Kelly and Objects of Curiosity, a new work by Smuin Ballet's choreographer-in-residence, Amy Seiwert.
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