Review: San Francisco Ballet in Mere Mortals – it shocks so much that it alienates
Lucía Piquero sees San Francisco Ballet in Mere Mortals – stunning performances, with control, commitment and technical virtuosity… I’m just not too sure what it was for.
| Title | Mere Mortals |
| Company | San Francisco Ballet |
| Venue | Sadler’s Wells, London |
| Date | 9 September 2026 |
| Reviewer | Lucía Piquero |
San Francisco Ballet comes to London for the first time since 2019, and since Tamara Rojo took over the artistic direction, and they do it with a bang (only a little bit of a pun intended…).
Giving choreographer Aszure Barton the first full-length commission in the company for a female choreographer is already a statement; doing it with a work about AI, based on a Greek myth that discusses humanity’s evils, is a proper punch. The live music of Floating Point adds the final touch to something that would ordinarily have been a sensational performance, in all its meanings. Unfortunately, it “shocks” so much that it alienates, and I found myself wondering why we were watching this several times through the night.
That being said, the company is in fantastic form. Both the individual dancers (a special mention to Wei Wang and Jennifer Stahl) and the company as a whole gave stunning performances, with control, commitment and technical virtuosity. I’m just not too sure what it was for.
I guess there is one way in which it worked: it made me feel uncomfortable with overly technological contexts, including itself. After a few of the very loud distorted sounds and a round of the impressive but slightly meaningless projections, I was done with it all. There was a very interesting moment towards the beginning of the work when I wasn’t sure if the dancer was purposely not following the music, but after that it all kind of went into near-absolute synchronisation, losing a bit of effect for both movement and sound.
The music itself is fascinating, and its performance is as virtuosic as that of the dancers. There is mystery to the very quiet moments, but some of the loudest sections could have been contrasted for more impact and highlighting. Similarly, for the projections, there were moments of beauty: Stahl facing backstage while the screens throw a surreal development of images. However, it went on too long to arouse any kind of feeling – empathic or otherwise – in me.
The movement touched on some very original, fresh essences and combinations, perhaps especially with Pandora’s material, but it was not enough to hold the full-length piece. Beautiful contorting shapes, everlasting turns and jump combinations, group orchestration, which, although not as impressive as one could hope, were nonetheless interesting.
And there were further implications in all of it that either were not considered or not clearly communicated. A female-led production which used a myth in which a woman is responsible for all evil (and even if I’m aware of more recent reinterpretations, the classic interpretation remains in most people’s imagination), quite a strong serving of “macho-esque” energy in the movement material, a work about the perils of AI apparently (over)using AI in a creative endeavour, a performance that relentlessly reminds that it is indeed a “show” with the follow spot or the very audience-focused performances… it almost seems slightly caricaturesque.
In all, a stunning production for a powerful and virtuosic company, which unfortunately does not quite connect either with its own topic – or with me as an audience member.
Lucía Piquero Álvarez was born in Asturias, Spain, where she trained in Classical Ballet and read for a BSc in Psychology. She moved to London where she trained in contemporary dance (LCDS), also getting an MA in Choreography (Middlesex University). Lucía has been an independent dancer and choreographer since 2007, her choreographies have been presented internationally and she has been commissioned by choreographic centres, national companies and festivals.
She was lecturer and head of the Dance Studies Department at the University of Malta, and Senior Lecturer at Dance City (Newcastle), and is currently lecturing at Trinity Laban and English National Ballet School. She completed her PhD at the University of Roehampton. Her main research interest is on embodied emotion and cognition in dance, she has presented in conferences and directed workshops and practice research projects internationally, and published articles and chapters in diverse platforms as well as her own monograph.
