What a way to end a ballet season!

By any conventional measure, the 12 world premieres within a month unreeled by the San Francisco Ballet in its “Unbound” Festival were a cheeky challenge and a collective success. Though costly, time-consuming and for performers undeniably fatiguing, the final   ticket income was well above budget, with near sellouts at the Opera House prevailing for programs like the “Björk Ballet.” Undeniably it showed off the creativity of youngish choreographers (48 or younger, mostly) as well as the superior performance night after night by a superior international dance troupe.

But whether “Unbound” pointed to new directions in future ballet as intended is as uncertain as predictions about the Kentucky Derby winner. The main hallmark was following a trend already seen in Olympic figure skating: Very high energy performance, sometimes exhausting just to watch, at the cost of emotion, feeling or plain acting. Whether this is a trend upward or downward is really your call. But if it is all about athleticism and acrobatics, I don’t feel that the dancers’ full capabilities are being exploited on stage. Also, there was no nudity, but a lot more exposed flesh than in the past; is Michelangelo still around these days??

Here’s one critic’s view of the unprecedented flood of premieres and all their ups and downs. (Titles of the works with its creator at the bottom.)

MOST INNOVATIVE CHOREOGRAPHIC MOVES—Edwaard Liang and Cathy Marston.

ADROITLY CATCHING THE ATMOSPHERE JUST SO—Annabelle Ochoa, the other female choreographer in the group of 12. Her Spanish ballet caught the intensity of bullfights metaphorically. By the final curtain, you could choke on the bullfight dust while smelling the sherry.

THE BEST CATCH— In the Liang, Yuan Yuan Tan did a perilous back dive from upstage into the abyss, perhaps caught on a fire dept. trampoline blanket. We’ll never know.

PORTEND OF THE FUTURE?—The “Björk Ballet” with its extra-brief, flamboyant, space-trekky costumes and wild colors was definitely futuristic and glitzy, a hit drawing huge crowds.

BEST STORY BALLET—Marston’s, after author Edith Wharton’s timeless love triangle. But will we ever know if the lovers died in the snowstorm? A close second was a tie: Thatcher’s allegory earthlings-vs.-aliens and Wheeldon.

SCENIC DESIGN—Giant sun- and moon-backdrops became a cliché. But for the McIntyre piece, Designer James F. Ingalls went one better, producing a giant solar eclipse in progress, symbolizing the onstage interactions. Also note the backlit effects of the Dawson, as if viewing it all from upstage, turned about.

MOST STUNNING PERFORMER—In the Dawson, as her adieu to San Francisco, ballerina Maria Kochetkova, lifting off like a weightless bird and doing jetees with a 180-degree split flying across the stage. Will she prove to be irreplaceable?

MOST VERSATILE PERFORMER—Dores André in several roles (Ochoa’s, Wheeldon’s, Peck’s and “Bj örk Ballet”), now in the forefront of the SFB roster.

BEST SOCIAL CRITIQUE—The smartphone-obsessed throngs, turning a cold shoulder to the lone woman without one, in Wheeldon.

MALES MAKING THEIR MARK—Newcomer “Just-Call-Me-Ulrik” Birkkjaer, (in Marston), Angelo Greco (in Rhoden), Benjamin Freemantle (in McIntyre). The Jack-of-all-trades was Myles Thatcher, both choreographer as well as dancer. And, as usual, Vitor Luiz.

GLINTS OF (LONG-AWAITED) EMOTION—Sofiane Sylve displaying tenderness to a partner (in Liang), after too many nights of mere athleticism by one and all. In Peck and Welch, similar dalliances. But these were few and far between.

EMERGING DANCERS TO WATCH—Lauren Strongin, Jahna Frantziskonis, Myles Thatcher, Gabriela Gonzalez, Lonnie Weeks, Wei Wang.

THE BEST MUSIC—John Adams’ rhythmically complex “Absolute Jest,” beautifully rendered by Martin West and the SFB pit orchestra in the Thatcher.

NOSTALGIA WITHIN MODERN BALLET—Marston (evocation of period pieces like “Ibsen House,” or works of Agnes de Mille); and Peck with his suggestion of Berkeley’s Summer of Love, 1968.

THE WORK MAKING THE MOST IMMEDIATE IMPACT—-“Björk Ballet.” Works I’d be dying to see again: Marston, Liang, Wheeldon, Welch.

BREAKING DOWN THE FOOTLIGHTS BARRIER—Bridging the gap to the audience, two offerings had dancers plop down and sit at the lip of the stage, looking out. In another innovation, one hoist of the gold curtain was cautiously raised to allow Lauren Strongin to escape and dance a solo prelude to   Thatcher.

BUT THE GOLD MEDAL GOES TO—–SFB’s Helgi Tomasson, 75, evolved into one of the great artistic directors, leading the three-quarter-century-old ballet troupe into its finest and most creative seasons ever.

LEGEND: In Unbound Program A, Alonzo King’s “The Collective Agreement,”  Christopher Wheeldon’s “Bound to,”    Justin Peck’s “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.” In B, Thatcher’s “Otherness,” Cathy Marston’s “Snowblind,” David Dawson’s “Anime Animus.” In C, Stanton Welch’s “Bespoke,” Trey McIntyre’s “Your Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem,”     Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s “Guernica.” In D, Edwaard Liang’s “The Infinite Ocean,” Dwight Rhoden’s “Let’s Begin It at the End,” Arthur Pita’s “Björk Ballet.” All world premieres.

“Unbound” festival of world premieres at the S.F. Ballet. Opera House, S.F. Through May 5. For SFB info: (415) 865-2000, or go online.

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