Foundation’s Season Draws Top Dancers

Mark Morris, the devilish, irresistible bad-boy of modern dance, will provide the counterpoint to the Kirov Ballet’s July appearance here in the San Diego Foundation for the Performing Arts 1992-93 season.

Morris, who has not yet announced any other Southern California appearances, will bring his Mark Morris Dance Group to the Spreckels Theatre downtown Nov. 17 and 18.

The 35-year-old, onetime Seattle artist, who spent three years in Brussels at the

Theatre Royal de la Monnaie shocking the Belgians, earned both raves and some mixed responses during his appearances in New York earlier this month. Martin Bernheimer, writing for The Times, called the choreographer-dancer “intensely musical, deceptively cerebral, insinuatingly sensual, fabulously funky.”

The foundation’s season, announced Thursday, also will include the only Southern California appearance by the Lyon Opera Ballet, which will perform “Cendrillon” (Cinderella), the renowned, futuristically mechanical reinterpretation of the classic fairy tale, choreographed by the French Maguy Marin.

“Cendrillon,” which caused controversy for its treatment of Prokofiev’s score, was performed in 1987 at the Los Angeles Festival, and the full work has been aired on Public Broadcasting Systems nationally, but the Oct. 2-4 performances of the 32-dancer company at the San Diego Civic Theatre will be the company’s local premiere.

The previously announced July 10-12 performances of “La Bayadere” by the Kirov Ballet will follow May performances in Los Angeles and Orange County by the company, but the world-renowned classical company will not be the only ballet company on this year’s San Diego dance foundation roster.

The Miami City Ballet, directed by former New York City Ballet star Edward Villella, will perform April 23-25, 1993 at the Spreckels Theatre, a year after performing next weekend in Los Angeles.

Formed in 1986 by Villella as a regional, outside-New York forum for quality ballet, the Miami company will perform both classics and some new works with a Latino flavor put together by Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros, the company’s resident choreographer, according to Fred Colby, executive director of the San Diego Foundation for the Performing Arts.

Also appearing will be the Kodo Drummers and Dancers of Japan (Jan. 29-31) and the Paul Taylor Dance Company, performing modern repertory Feb. 26-27. Both companies will appear at the Spreckels Theatre. Taylor also will perform in Los Angeles in November.

Colby said this will be the most costly and ambitious season in years for the foundation. With projected costs at $1.5 million, expenses surpass the 1991-92 season by $300,000. Colby is not discouraged, however, by an $80,000 shortfall in contributions--particularly corporate and foundation gifts--from the 1991-92 season.

Pointing to the recent popular success here of the Feld Ballets/NY, which had audiences screaming at the finale at the Spreckels performances, Colby said next year’s season should be the most “top-notch-across-the-board” season in the foundation’s 11-year history.

The last time the foundation’s annual programming was as costly was 1985-86, Colby said, a year of disappointing turnouts for major nationally touring companies. In the wake of that year’s deficits, the foundation saw years of financial troubles, culminating in near-bankruptcy in 1987-88, Colby said.

The past few years have seen growth both in donations and in the subscription base, Colby said.

“We did $370,000 in ticket sales in 1991-92,” he said, “right on target with our projections.”

He also said that roughly $60,000 in subscriptions for the 1992-93 season have been sold in the last two weeks, since the announcement of the Kirov Ballet’s performances, leaving Colby sanguine about the rest of the year: “If I were to write the headline for this story, I would say ‘San Diego is getting the season it deserves,’ ” Colby laughed, “They’ve proved they can support a quality season now.

“We’re saying, ‘OK, we’re going to give you what you say you can support.’ ”