Ballet Takes Step Toward Opera Alliance

In what may signal the beginning of a new alliance of opera and ballet in San Diego, nine dancers from California Ballet Company have joined the cast of the San Diego Opera production of “Lucia di Lammermoor” (at 8 p.m. today and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Civic Theatre).

“We don’t require a lot of dancers for the opera, and there’s not a lot of work here,” said opera director Ian Campbell. “However, unless we discovered that it was absolutely awful, the San Diego Opera has a responsibility to work in tandem with other local arts organizations whenever possible.”

“I’ve been discussing the possibility of using California Ballet dancers with the opera for a year and a half,” said Maxine Mahon, director of the California Ballet. “This is just a 3-minute bit--if you blink, you’ll miss it--but it’s an important first step.”

It was Rhoda Levine, director of “Lucia di Lammermoor,” who set the project in motion. An ex-dancer with New York City Opera and a versatile choreographer in her own right, Levine requested a group of dancers for this staging, then designed the dance routines herself.

“I thought maybe there was a Scottish dance group here that we could use, since the opera is set in Scotland,” Levine said. “But Ian got the California Ballet dancers and they’re very good. We’re both very pleased with the dancing.”

What makes this staging unusual is Levine’s insistence on integrating the dancers into the total production, whereas some directors merely trot them in for the dance scenes.

“I always loathed it when suddenly these people came out and danced, when you’d never seen them before,” Levine said. “I let the dancers take some of the smaller roles and walk in with the singers, so they look totally honest. They don’t just dance and disappear.”

“I’m doing a lot of walk-ons in several acts,” dancer Matthew Bean said. “I come walking in with the other characters even before the wedding scene, and then I’m back again at the end of Act III, even though there’s no more dancing at that point.”

Levine’s naturalistic style extends to every part of the performance, including the dance segment.

“The dancing is chaotic because it’s a drunken party, and we want to keep it realistic,” she said. “The dancers won’t look like ballet dancers in this production. That’s not what it’s all about. But they’re doing a wonderful job, and I’m glad the California Ballet dancers are with us.”