TV DANCE REVIEW : SAN FRANCISCO BALLET IN ‘CINDERELLA’ ON PBS

Filled with resourceful stagecraft and exciting special effects, the relatively modest San Francisco Ballet production of “Cinderella” on PBS (at 9 tonight on Channel 15; 5:45 p.m. Sunday on Channel 28; 6 p.m. Christmas day on Channel 24) also manages to avoid the major distortions of the recent, overproduced American Ballet Theatre “Cinderella” set to the same Prokofiev score.

Taped during January performances at the War Memorial Opera House, this version--choreographed by Michael Smuin and the late Lew Christensen--keeps the title character securely in focus, leaving the role of the Prince (danced with vacant competence by Alexander Topciy) utterly subordinate. (Ballet Theatre switched this emphasis completely.)

Indeed, the link between the mournful and even bitter mood of the music and Evelyn Cisneros’ often moving (and quite splendidly danced) portrayal gives this “Cinderella” an unshakable credibility even in the hopelessly crude--as usual--drag-comedy episodes with the stepsisters: a beanpole Vane Vest and a bovine Tomm Ruud.

One might argue that Smuin and Christensen bring back the Fairy Godmother (Catherine Batcheller) and Four Seasons for too many divertissements --and that cutting the Prince’s search for Cinderella leaves the plot resolution anticlimactic. Still, most of their ideas develop from intelligent structural premises, and the company responds with spirited acting and generally stylish dancing.

This is not, incidentally, the same San Francisco Ballet that danced at UCLA in October. Conspicuous in the ranks are important artists (including Kirk Peterson as the dancing master and Ricardo Bustamante as a companion to the Prince) who flourished in the Smuin-Christensen era but vanished once Helgi Tomasson became artistic director shortly after this production was taped.

Smuin and Emile Ardolino direct this “Dance in America” telecast, and they reasonably alternate between flexible camera work (with abundant close-ups) in the mime scenes and longer takes (with fewer disruptions of continuity) when the dancing starts.

Denis de Coteau capably conducts the company orchestra. Robert Fletcher designed the production’s atmospheric scenery and rich costumes. Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy supply pungent commentaries before and between the acts.