At 92, Hans van Manen remains a towering figure in European choreography—a master of form, musicality, and provocation. Van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster, San Francisco Ballet’s four-part tribute to the Dutch icon, is more than a retrospective; it’s a sensual and cerebral immersion into a choreographer whose style is at once spare and lush, abstract and emotionally precise. The program—alternating between muscular intimacy and razor-sharp wit—cements van Manen’s legacy as a coolly rebellious architect of contemporary ballet.
Dores André and Esteban Hernández in van Manen's 5 Tango's
Thanks to longtime collaborator and stager of van Manen’s works, Rachel Beaujean, the aesthetic is crisp and unadorned, yet packed with intention. Van Manen strips away narrative to let the bodies tell the story, and those bodies—fluid, tensile, exquisitely attuned to one another—speak volumes. The design is equally focused: clean lines, high contrast, and costume choices that shape the space around the dancers as much as the dancers shape the air.
Dores André and Fernando Carratalá Coloma in van Manen's Grosse Fuge
San Francisco Ballet in van Manen's Grosse Fuge
The opener, Grosse Fuge (1971), set to Beethoven’s bristling score, immediately asserts van Manen’s appetite for tension—musical, sexual, and spatial. The men arrive bare-chested in dramatic black skirts that swing like pendulums. They later strip down to brief, belted shorts, a costume change that’s not just visual but visceral: it transforms the dynamics of the partnering. The women cling to those belts as they’re swept inches from the floor, the movement both perilous and erotic, a dance of dominance, surrender, and equal force. The quartet of couples moves with sculptural authority—this is not romantic ballet; it’s elemental, a study in balance and pull.
Sasha Mukhamedov and Aaron Robison in Variations for Two Couples
San Francisco Ballet in van Manen's Variations for Two Couples
Variations for Two Couples (2012) shifts gears into something quieter but no less intricate. Danced to selections from Bach and Astor Piazzolla, the piece feels like a conversation between tenderness and detachment. The partnering is cool and exacting—every gesture pared down, every line deliberate. There’s no obvious emotion, yet the space between the dancers pulses with meaning. Matching navy-toned costumes (designed by Keso Dekker) further underscore the symmetry and ambiguity of connection.
Cavan Conley in van Manen's Solo
The tone lightens with Solo (1997), a virtuosic sprint for three male dancers that plays like a choreographic game of tag. Set to a dazzling solo violin suite by Bach—performed live with athletic finesse—the dancers appear and vanish in rapid succession. It’s fleet-footed, humorous, and almost mathematically precise, requiring pinpoint timing and stamina. Here, van Manen’s wit is on full display: dance as mischief, rigor, and joy in equal measure.
San Francisco Ballet in van Manen's 5 Tango's
Finally, 5 Tango’s (1977) closes the evening with a flourish. Astor Piazzolla’s sultry score provides the pulse, and van Manen doesn’t resist its theatricality—he leans into it, stylizing the tango’s heat without overindulging. The women, in white strapless dresses, become kinetic sculptures, their skirts blooming as they gracefully twirl. The men, in sleek black, provide the contrast and counterbalance. Esteban Hernández, draped in a dramatic black cape, commands the stage with a series of charismatic solos—his presence both matador and modernist.
Victor Prigent and Fernando Carratalá Coloma in van Manen's 5 Tango's
The production is elevated by the exacting musical direction of conductor Martin West, who leads the orchestra through Beethoven’s storminess and Piazzolla’s swagger with equal precision. The seamless transitions between centuries and styles mirror van Manen’s own choreographic ease—a man who can collapse the gap between Baroque counterpoint and contemporary cool.
Dores André and Esteban Hernández in van Manen's 5 Tango's
What emerges is an evening that celebrates not just dance, but dancing—its mechanics, its magnetism, its subtle negotiations between risk and control. Whether you’re a seasoned balletomane or a novice—or one somewhere in between like myself—Van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster offers the thrill of clarity in motion, and I found it to be one of the most enjoyable nights of ballet I have seen. It’s an intelligent, sensuous night at the ballet—and a rare opportunity to see one of the 20th century’s great choreographic voices rendered with such elegance and electricity.
San Francisco Ballet in van Manen's Grosse Fuge
photos by Chris Hardy
Van Manen: Dutch Grandmaster
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
1 hours, 55 minutes with 2 intermissions
reviewed April 6; ends on April 19, 2025
for tickets, call 415.865.2000 or visit SF Ballet
