This week, San Francisco Ballet’s 2024 season kicked off with a buzzy 7-show run of Mere Mortals, the first commission from new artistic director Tamara Rojo’s inaugural season programming.
The ballet explores artificial intelligence through the myth of Pandora’s box. It seems like a fitting metaphor — we don’t exactly know what’s in the jar we’re opening and what the consequences will be, especially in San Francisco, home to some of the world’s biggest AI companies. But can that metaphor be turned into dance? As it turns out, yes.
Mere Mortals (also the first full-length ballet by a female choreographer, Aszure Barton, in San Francisco Ballet’s history) is an immersive sensory experience. The score comes from electronic musician Floating Points, aka Sam Shepherd, and meanders throughout the ballet from booming techno to what sounds like microwave beeps to a haunting violin solo. The visual background, by Barcelona-based design firm Hamill Industries, oscillates between a gray wall, a twinkling sky, a UFO abduction-like spotlight, a glitchy Eye of Sauron, and a slew of extreme weather, at times.
San Francisco Ballet in Aszure Barton and Sam Shepherd’s Mere Mortals // © Chris Hardy
The troop of 40 dancers is dressed by seasoned fashion and ballet designer Michelle Jank in visually arresting costumes that range from dark broad-shouldered coats and capes to swishing skirts to all-gold latex. The modern choreography switches between militaristic marching, beautiful solos and duets, and often, singular dancers rising above a crowd of limbs.
Jennifer Stahl in Aszure Barton and Sam Shepherd’s Mere Mortals // © Chris Hardy
All together, the performance came off like a ballet version of a Black Mirror episode (one of the good early-season ones). Traditionalists might not expect this unconventional performance, but multiple shows received standing ovations from sold-out crowds. And with a run-time of 75 minutes with no intermission, evening performances of the ballet included well-attended after-parties featuring a cash bar and local DJs Nookah Jones and Mozhgan.
The first run of Mere Mortals wrapped up on Thursday, but it’s coming back for an encore set of performances in April before SF Ballet’s current season ends. You can get tickets here.
Wei Wang in Aszure Barton and Sam Shepherd’s Mere Mortals // © Chris Hardy
Feature image of San Francisco Ballet in Aszure Barton and Sam Shepherd’s Mere Mortals // © Chris Hardy.
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