Myles Thatcher's COLORFORMS Comes Alive On The Stage

San Francisco audiences are in for a treat next week when they have the opportunity to see Myles Thatcher’s COLORFORMS live at the War Memorial Opera House.

For the first time in their 90-year history, San Francisco Ballet is adapting a made-for-film work into a stage production. COLORFORMS was created by Thatcher, a soloist with the company, upon return to the studio after quarantine in August of 2020.

I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to work with these dancers who are not only physically talented, but also intelligent and capable and generous with their spirit, movement, and time. It’s incredible to work with people who you know and trust, and who know you. This - making COLORFORMS - is the dream.”

Myles Thatcher

Choreographer of COLORFORMS

COLORFORMS retains elements of the film, like a paper plane motif, and is set to Steve Reich’s Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings which uses three string quartets and two pianos. Jim French has designed the sets and lighting that evoke an art museum, and Susan Roemer of S-Curve Apparel & Design has created gently updated costumes for the stage premiere.

Myles Thatcher's COLORFORMS: From Scratch: Episode 1 of 3

Sandwiching COLORFORMS on The Colors of Dance triple bill are San Francisco Ballet’s former Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson‘s 7 for Eight and William Forsythe’s Blake Works I.

A series of elegant solos and ensemble numbers for eight dancers and set to portions of Johann Sebastian Bach’s keyboard concertos, 7 for Eight includes costumes designed by Sandra Woodall and lighting designed by David Finn.
Blake Works I is set to seven songs from James Blake’s album The Colour in Anything. Forsythe—one of ballet’s most innovative creators—crafts a living love letter to the art form with complex, kaleidoscopic movements that riff off the classic ballet vocabulary.