Tina LeBlanc's Farewell

San Francisco Ballet bid farewell to beloved principal dancer Tina LeBlanc with this special performance on Saturday, May 12. She is retiring after a remarkable 17 year career with the company, and this performance showed many sides of her wonderful dancing. There were live performances of two Balanchine virtuoso showpieces, plus two contemporary duets that she took great pride in having created during her time at the company. Video clips showed even more tidbits of dancing through the years.

I had the pleasure of seeing her dance only a few times in my limited time watching the company. Each time, she made an indelible impression, from the vivid clarity of her fast-as-lighting Square Dance, to most acrobatic contemporary dancing in William Forsythe's Artifact Suite. One of the testimonials on the video segments (I forget who exactly said it) hit the nail on the head in capturing LeBlanc's special quality: her technique is astonishing and yet her style is completely unadorned and crystal clear, free of excessive stylistic quirks. She completely subsumes herself into a role, whether it be through the music, the character or the mood.

Even at her age (she is 42, there was virtually no sign of diminished technical ability in her dancing. Her performance of Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux with Gonzalo Garcia (formerly a San Franciso Ballet principal, now with New York City Ballet) was one of the best that I have seen: it was lightly musical and fully elegant, she seemed to float through the choreography with the music. And the role's considerable challenges – expansive arabesques coupled quickly with high kicks, jumps and hops – looked like a walk in the park on her. Her trademark precise footwork was there in fine form as well. Younger dancers may be able to throw their legs up higher than her these days, but none that I have seen this season has matched her remarkable artistry in this most virtuosic of showpiece duets.

Pas de deux from Lar Lubovitch's ...smile with my heart and SF Ballet artistic director Helgi Tomasson's Sonata followed, showing LeBlanc's affinity for working with contemporary choreography. They were both completely different in style and feeling from the Tchaikovsky, yet she looked perfectly natural in both - a great display of her versatility, if nothing else.

The performance concluded with the pas de deux and finale from Balanchine's Theme and Variations. I've seen this ballet many times, and this season saw it twice with up-and-coming young dancers in the ballerina role. LeBlanc's performance was a step above them all: effortlessly musical, the most clear quick beats between the steps that I have seen - many dancers fuzz this bit of awkward choreography - and a true ballerina grandeur in her big classical tutu. With a large corps de ballet joining her on stage for the finale, it was in many ways the perfect thing to see her do last. (Incidentally, I also really loved seeing the finale from my vantage point in the balcony – Balanchine's patterns for the ensemble are really wonderful from above.)

Curtain calls were long and appreciative, with each of the company's male principal dancers coming on stage to give her a rose. Many bouquets were thrown from the audience on to the stage, and the applause continued for quite some time after the performance. I am going to miss eagerly searching for her name on San Francisco Ballet's casting sheets.

Photos: (1) Curtain call at Tina LeBlanc's farewell performance, photo by me. (2) Tina LeBlanc and Gonzalo Garcia in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, choreographed by George Balanchine. Photo by Erik Tomasson. (3) Tina LeBlanc and Davit Karapetyan in the pas de deux from Theme and Variations, choreographed by George Balanchine. Photo by Erik Tomasson.