The Quest for Style – Inspired by Tan Yuan Yuan

When Michael and I lived in Boston area, we did take advantage of the famed cultural and intellectual scene of Boston. We went to Arts First at Harvard in April, Tanglewood in the summer, film screenings with directors present, plays and operas, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and of course the world-famous Boston Ballet quite a few times. Both of us decided that ballet was just not for us, as it was a combination of sub-standard components – often the music (with the exception of “Swan Lake”) is not as brilliant as other classical pieces, the orchestra is somewhat mediocre, the stage design not nearly as remarkable as the Met Opera, and the dancers themselves? – well, perhaps we were just not well-versed in ballet to truly appreciate them. They felt, well, kind of heavy and flat. To some extent, I almost came to the belief that ballet was not necessarily a great form for artistic expression.

Therefore, it was no wonder when I bought tickets for the world premiere of San Francisco Ballet’s new production of “Swan Lake”, Michael was understandably apathetic. Still, it had been years since we went to a ballet. And our shared spirit of “trying something new” made us at least believe in trying it once more with a different ballet company. And we had no idea what we would see.

The lead ballerina of San Francisco Ballet is the world-famous Tan Yuan Yuan – originally hailed from Shanghai. Slender, beautiful and passionate in person (I have since read more about her and watched a video clip of her interview), she made me believe that a true artist in ballet could absolutely convey emotion, just like a true artist in opera can. Her movements were fluid, light and effortless, making us almost believe that she was a swan in human form. It was the first time I was ever touched by the tragedy conveyed in dance movements.

Photo copyright Erik Tomasson

Helgi Tomasson was the one that discovered Tan Yuan Yuan when she won a competition in Paris at the age of 16. He recruited her to San Francisco Ballet when she was 19, and two years later, she became the youngest principal ballerina at the company. Tomasson’s new production of Swan Lake was picture perfect. I used to have the impression that ballet was kind of repetitive, mundane and tedious, despite the amazing athletic abilities of the dancers. Tomasson has the unique ability to keep the best of the tradition while making it more aesthetically appealing, through more elaborate choreography and better stage design. While Tan Yuan Yuan positively shined as the star, the other dancers were also beautiful, light and expressive. How should I describe the whole experience then, compared to the Boston Ballet’s performance of “Swan Lake” which made me feel like that I could hear their heavy footsteps (even when I could not) because they looked so heavy and un-elegant? – Ah, there is no other better word to describe it, but “style”. This production absolutely has the best style.

Then it occurred to me that a few years ago a college friend of mine got into a discussion on what constitutes the essence of each famous city. Since he and I both went to Harvard and MIT for college and graduate school, we naturally started with Boston. Despite its image as the most “European” city in the US and names like Boston Symphony and Boston Ballet, we both agreed that it is a city with a “quest for knowledge”. After all, this is the city with the best-known institutions, and many more prize-winning scientists than artists or musicians!

So how about the other cities? – We gleefully went down the list, and tried our best to capture each city with just one word. New York is the city with a quest for money; Los Angeles with a quest for looks; London with a quest for sophistication; Paris with a quest for romance; Singapore with a quest for identity; Tokyo with a quest for technology; Shanghai with a quest for modernization; Las Vegas with a quest for vulgarity; San Diego with a quest for comfort, etc.

And San Francisco is a city with a quest for style – that style that cannot be bought with money, but does require the backing of money. It is not the richest, nor the most beautiful, but it is undoubtedly obsessed with style. Think about it – this is the biotech and high-tech hub of the United States. While other areas (like Boston and San Diego) boast big and vibrant biotech clusters, they cannot compete with San Francisco Bay Area on the “style” of the companies. Genentech is the coolest biotech company in the world; Apple (thanks to Steve Jobs) built its reputation on stylish products; and of course Google is the internet darling. One just has to go on the campus of Google to realize what a unique and cool experience it is. You almost have to obtain a hyper-active brain just to be able to absorb everything that’s around you on Google’s campus. It makes you want to start a company of your own, but more importantly, it makes you want to start a company that is as cool as Google.

Now that I am moving from the city with a quest for comfort (i.e. San Diego), I will have to leave the most beautiful and convenient weather for periodically cold and foggy weather of Bay Area, not to mention the older conditions of homes, much more congested traffic and overall much higher living expenses of Bay Area. But Tan Yuan Yuan’s performance under the brilliant direction of Helgi Tomasson made me happy about the move…