Dance Review : Smuin Ballets: Popular is as Popular Does

When you put the words ballet and popular songs together, the question is usually whether or not dance can enhance a work that already has us happily singing along with it.

What sort of pirouette, for instance, adds to the already overwhelming romance of “Unchained Melody” Or, during “Heartbreak Hotel,” will a classically trained dancer’s princely posture interfere with memories of the King’s perfect, pretzel-like moves?

These and other mysteries were taken on by Smuin Ballets/SF on Tuesday, launching a weeklong engagement at the James A. Doolittle Theatre. Headed by veteran San Francisco-based choreographer Michael Smuin, the new company of 13 superbly trained dancers presented “Dances With Songs,” 24 short works, most of which are set to Top-40 hits or standards.

A former artistic director of San Francisco Ballet, Smuin has also choreographed for television, nightclubs and theater, experience reflected in his movement vocabulary--ballet with liberal sprinklings of jazz, country and Western dancing and Broadway show strutting. What Smuin relies on most, however, is the beauty of balletic forms--the uplifted languor of curvaceously drifting arms, the allure of elegantly unfolding legs in pointe shoes or high heels, the nifty ways you can move from arrow-straight arabesques into romantic clinches.

Sometimes it was enough: In Pascale Leroy’s seductive ballet barre to Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable.” Or in the Gipsy Kings’ “No Vivre,” passionately performed by Tiffany Heft. The latter began in silhouette, as did several pieces, to show off well-made shapes.

Throughout, these shapes were enhanced by Sara Linnie Slocum’s smoky lighting and Sandra Woodall’s costumes, which ranged from drifty angelic gowns to quirky cowgirl chic.

Taking on “Heartbreak Hotel,” Andre Reyes showed what Elvis could have done if only he had attended the School of American Ballet (it’s hard to know if this is a good thing). Ex-Kirov dancer Nikolai Kabaniaev dances the same solo for the rest of the run.

Duets were less successful, somehow remaining on the surface of passion, offering familiar versions of partnership. Some were cute (a vaudevillesque “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” a “Straighten Up and Fly Right”); a few were pretty but failed to extend already powerful vocal and instrumental performances.

An also-on-tape gospel choir, contagiously singing “Oh, Happy Day,” for instance, was the accompaniment for a kind of three-ring circus finale.

It was exhilarating. And a little confusing. Smuin is out to please, and an evening of such eclectic fare is often pleasant. There are no surprises, no irony, no discovery. It’s possible he’s leaving that for another evening.