Ballet Review: Smuin bringing its eclectic ‘Dance Series 2’ to Mtn. View

Next comes a treat from the late company founder Michael Smuin, the unapologetically romantic “Dream” pas de deux. The brief duet between Brennan Wall and Ricardo Dyer felt like it could have been lifted out of a Disney Renaissance movie in the way it portrays love so earnestly. It’s a story so recognizable and pure that the audience needs no context when dropped in what feels like the peak of the lovers’ story. Despite feeling instantly familiar, it resists feeling tired. Smuin’s rich sense of musicality and the way his choreography portrays an understanding of what makes any classical pas de deux captivating while allowing room for the dancers’ personal expression is what makes for a truly special experience.

Val Caniparoli’s “Swipe” is when the program begins to pick up intensity. Any contemporary ballet with black tights, bracing music and brash movement is going to draw comparison to William Forsythe’s seminal “In the Middle Somewhat Elevated,” but it quickly became obvious that the piece was possibly referential, but definitely not derivative of the contemporary classic.

Most compelling about the piece is Caniparoli’s dynamic use of the deconstructed string quartet, where he manages to balance working with and against the music, which helps maintain excitement throughout. Like “In the Middle,” “Swipe” is built on solid classical technique and partnership, but it eschews the inherent sentimentality and romanticism of classical works in favor of power and sexuality (though the latter to a lesser extent in “Swipe”). This is a great work to share with anyone in your life who may still hold the antiquated belief that ballet is boring, monotonous or too feminine.

Finally came the premiere of “French Kiss” by longtime Smuin choreographer and recently appointed associate director Amy Seiwert, which brought the program back to romance and earnestness. Set to the music of the iconic Portland-based band Pink Martini, “French Kiss” closes the show and encompasses everything that Smuin Contemporary Ballet does best, featuring the entire cast of dancers sharing the stage. In this slightly campy and very colorful work, dancers romp through duets, trios and group work with high energy and silly props punctuating throughout.

I found “French Kiss” reminiscent of a Wes Anderson film in the way it references a particular time and place that the artist has never experienced and puts that era through a modern and acutely aestheticized lens. The particular era pointed to in the ballet is mid-century French culture, with which Anderson also shares a particular fascination. Also like an Anderson movie, the ballet manages to traverse a wider representation of the human experience without ever losing its tone. While it is often fun, cutesy and romantic, it also doesn’t shy away from some darker moments, yet the contrast never feels too stark.

“Dance Series 2” is scheduled 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with matinees slated 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, on the MainStage at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St.

Tickets are $25-$79.

To purchase tickets and for more information, visit tinyurl.com/mwyf9h9s.