''Sandpaper Ballet'' is a ballet choreographed by Mark Morris to music by

Leroy Anderson Leroy Anderson ( ) (June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975) was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. John Williams described him as ...

. It was created for the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Franc ...

, and premiered on April 27, 1999, at the

War Memorial Opera House The War Memorial Opera House is an opera house in San Francisco, California, located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the west side/rear facade of the San Francisco City Hall. It is part of the San Francisco War Memorial and ...

Production

Choreography

Mark Morris's ''Sandpaper Ballet'' was created for the

. Tina Fehlandt, a frequent collaborator of Morris who had staged the ballet, said Morris "loves ballet, and he uses ballet vocabulary ..But he likes to use it in a different way." She noted that this ballet is "very classical." The ballet is performed by sixteen women and nine men. Fehlandt said Morris deliberately used an odd number of dancers as a challenge as he "loves spacial patterns and moving large groups of people around" and "wanted to challenge himself." She also said Morris wants the dancers to be individualistic, "so there's not a sense they're performing at you. Although, that said, if you didn't feel good on a particular day he'd want you to pretend."

Music

The ballet is set to music by

, who was associated with the

Boston Pops Orchestra The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symp ...

. All eleven scores used by Anderson are three to four minutes long, though "

Sleigh Ride "Sleigh Ride" is a light orchestra standard composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had formed the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946, and he finished the work in February 1948. The original recordings were instrumental ...

" is used as an overture. and "Sandpaper Ballet", from which the title of the ballet is taken, is not featured. It was Morris' first piece with a full orchestra, and he called the music "little gems; one-liners that really show off the band."

Designs

Isaac Mizrahi Isaac Mizrahi (born October 14, 1961) is an American fashion designer, television presenter and chief designer of the Isaac Mizrahi brand for Xcel Brands. Based in New York City, he is best known for his eponymous fashion lines. Mizrahi was prev ...

designed the costumes, with the dancers in blue and white tops, lime green unitards and gloves, plus skirts for women.

James F. Ingalls James F. Ingalls is a lighting designer who has worked extensively on Broadway, in London and at many regional theaters including Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera, Playwrights Horizons, Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, and Steppenwolf. His ...

designed the lighting.

Performances

''Sandpaper Ballet'' had its premiere on April 27, 1999 at the

, conducted by

Emil de Cou Emil de Cou is an American conductor who became associate conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) in September 2003. He has led the orchestra on residency tours in five states, in subscription ...

. The company had since revived the ballet, most recently in 2020. The company will release a video recording of the full ballet online in 2021 as a part of their digital season, which will be held in lieu of the premiere of a new Morris ballet and the 2021 repertory season, both of which had to be cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes the major cities of San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, was an early center of the COVID-19 pandemic in California. The first case of COVID-19 in the area was confirmed in Santa Clara County on Janu ...

. The

Houston Ballet Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company, consisting of 59 dancers, produces over 85 performances per year. History Tatiana Semenova (1955–1967) Houston dev ...

performed the ballet in 2005, staged by Fehlandt, and Morris completed the final touches.

Original cast

The ballet is performed by 25 dancers. The original cast includes: * Evelyn Cisneros *Stephen Legate *

Julie Diana Julie Diana Hench (born ) is an American ballet dancer, teacher, writer and arts administrator. She joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1993, and was promoted to principal dancer in 2000. In 2004, she joined the Pennsylvania Ballet, where she rem ...

*Joanna Berman *Yuri Possokhov

Music

All the music used in ''Sandpaper Ballet'' were composed by

, including:

Critical reception

Following the premiere, Octavio Roca of ''SFGate'' called ''Sandpaper Ballet'' "the hit of the evening," and commented, "Morris giddily ignores the lines between principal dancer and corps, and he has designed dance patterns that make each dancer look his or her best." In 2002,

Anna Kisselgoff Anna Kisselgoff (born 12 January 1938) is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for ''The New York Times''. She began at the ''Times'' as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she h ...

of the ''New York Times'' commented, "It looks funny, but its geometric formations are choreographed with dead seriousness ..The steps look occasionally messy in the solos and trios but the formations look great, especially when someone is inevitably out of line."

References

{{Reflist

External links

About ''Sandpaper Ballet''
on San Francisco Ballet's website
''Sandpaper Ballet''
on Mark Morris Dance Group's website 1999 ballet premieres Ballets by Mark Morris