Glancing back, gazing forward: last dance for San Francisco Ballet's Joanna Berman - Cover Story

Dance Magazine, May, 2002 by Cheryl Ossola

WHAT MAY SEEM LIKE the end of an era to ballet-goers is a beginning for San Francisco Ballet principal Joanna Berman. One by one, a generation of dancers who grew up under the directive force of Helgi Tomasson has retired: Anthony Randazzo in 1998, Evelyn Cisneros in 1999, Christopher Stowell in 2001. And now Berman, the hometown girl and a favorite in San Francisco ballet circles, joins them. On May 11, Berman, 36, dances her last Giselle and ends an eighteen-year career, fourteen of those years spent as a principal dancer, and every one of them at San Francisco Ballet.

Berman, who was born in San Rafael, California, knew from the age of 4 that she wanted to be a ballerina. Her parents' house was always filled with music. She and her two older brothers had "certain routines--one of them was `Rubber Duckie,'" Berman laughed. "I would always be dancing around. It sounds trite, but it's true; that's why my parents took me to a ballet class." She trained with Margaret Swarthout and Maria Vegh at Marin Ballet, then transferred to San Francisco Ballet School for her last year. In 1984 she became an apprentice, then a corps member later that year. Promotions quickly followed: soloist in 1987, principal in 1988. She has performed every kind of role, worked with choreographers from A to Z, and danced alongside a string of impressive danseurs.

Those who saw Berman at a young age predicted her future. Ballet Mistress Anita Paciotti has watched the petite brunette grow up in the company. "Joanna was a principal the moment she walked in the door. I saw her at 17 and knew she was a star. Even in class, I saw her facility, musicality, ease, and sense of humor."

Fellow principal Cisneros saw it, too. "You could tell she was one of those ballerinas who was going to come to full fruition, and had so much to offer--her artistry and her commitment to the dance," she said. "And she had the hunger, which you don't see in every talented young person--the hunger to really do it."

From comedic roles in Rodeo, Black Cake, and Gala Celebration to the passion of Juliet and Giselle to the abstractions of Mark Morris's A Garden and David Bintley's The Dance House, Berman has danced it all. And diversity is what has kept her in San Francisco all these years. "I love moving, in a day, from Without Words--floor work and flat shoes--to something extremely pulled up on pointe," she said. "I go to the same place to work every day, but it's always something new. Working with all these choreographers makes me find something different, physically and intellectually, all the time."

BERMAN HAS NEVER BEEN linked with one partner, which both she and Tomasson consider fortuitous, although not entirely unintentional. "Some of my friends have said, `It's such a shame that you never had your one partner,'" Berman said. "And since I haven't, I can't say everything that might have brought. But I've had a blast.... Something different will come out of me from dancing with different people. It's like having different conversations."

Principal Damian Smith began partnering her while he was still in the corps. "One of the first things we did together was Balanchine's Liebeslieder Walzer, which was an incredible experience.... I put myself under a lot of pressure because I was so anxious to please. She made it so easy. Dancing with Joanna has been one of the highlights of my career."

Whatever the company has given her, Berman has given back in a multitude of ways. Critics have noted her musicality, acting, technique, grace--and her sheer joy of dancing. Her dramatic range makes her a favorite of choreographers and audiences. "Visiting choreographers love to work with her," said Tomasson. "She's so pliable, but never compromises her own integrity in doing so. She's like a sponge--you give her something to do and see how it works, and she puts something of her own in there."

"What draws the audience to Joanna is her honesty," Cisneros said. "She's not afraid to be herself in front of the public, and [they] know that."

Principal character dancer and choreographer Val Caniparoli said he fights to get her for his ballets. "She can adapt to any style, and she's as giving to choreographers as to her audiences," he said. "It's a full experience--she's professional but fun at the same time. Everything is there, with the technique to back it up."

Offstage, Berman has helped make the company a community. Known for her warmth and openness, she says having fun is as important to her as her dancing: "Even though it's glorious work, it's really hard and often painful. It's always been important to me to find ways to make it fun, little things [like] bad ballet demonstrations suddenly in the middle of class."

"She has respect for everyone," said Paciotti. "She always had time to think about others. She'd have an opening of Romeo and Juliet and she'd be out shopping for merde gifts."

Tomasson describes her as an "anchor within the company, so highly respected by the dancers. They watch her and learn--how she dances and how she presents herself, not only in performances, but in rehearsals."