Just when you thought they’d gone out of vogue—swans, mouse-kings, sylphs and all, with pantomime—story ballets are back this month, accounting for half of the six new works to date at the S.F. Ballet. Only now, it’s without all those kookie oldie characters. It’s not the kiddies’ tales of old any more. Sorry, no gnomes, just tomes of modern-ballet story-telling.

And now, it’s not enough to dance; the cast must also act.

The latest one—–No. five of the rare cornucopia of nine rapid-fire world premieres in the Next@90 Festival—was Bridget Breiner’s “The Queen’s Daughter,” presumably the story of Salome, her lascivious stepfather the king, and John the Baptist. She is no longer the usual temptress but rather a young woman looking like some green suburban highschooler attracted to, and perhaps in love with, John the prophet, who dies at the hands of the royal acolytes without being beheaded. So “Salome” (Sasha de Sola) is now transformed from villainess into heroine (even though she does a partial striptease), while true villainy lies in the visible carnal desire of the king (Tiit Helimets), throbbing right down to the fingertips in his most telling dramatic role ever. Always an inspiring lead dancer, the tall, blond Estonian  has evolved into a superior actor, here a balletic tomcat on a hot tin roof.

There’s a maelstrom of bodies around Salome, then around the Prophet (Wei Wang), whose power in motivation is never clearly shown, and some flashback showing how Salome and the Prophet grew up together. The Prophet develops a following, rendering the king infuriated.

Salome (Jennifer Stahl) does a touching solo of guilt and frustration after the Prophet is gone. Very nice; but despite the title, this show is really the devious and promiscuous king’s. The one misfire in Breiner’s dances is the Britten Violin Concerto, which rarely expresses the lurid and dramatic action on stage.

The new “Bolero” of Yuka Oishi is eccentric but eye-popping. It’s a futuristic tale of what may be downtown office workers, giving way to red and pink body stockings reminding one of the inner human organs on display in some  med-school dissection class. There are many surprises, such as the SF Ballet’s amazing star, Yuan Yuan Tan, merely doing steps parroting those of the corps but still provided with a spotlight, similar to the attention once lavished on Rudolf Nureyev’s every slight move.

The most memorable aspect was not Ravel’s resolute heart-pounding score (here reworked by composer Shinya Kiyokawa, with eccentric add-ons) but rather the ingenious backdrop projections suggesting melting ice sculpture by Nishida and Inokuchi.

The program opened with Val Caniparoli’s far less radical “Emergence,” an orderly work for eight couples with a concerto, some industrial noise, and speech (“What are you going to do with your life?”). The predictable boy-girl dances gain diverse traction when a pair of men start grappling and dancing with each other. In short, each of the three works offered one or another surprise, which is probably what the Next@90  Festival is about.

Conducting duties were shared by Martin West and Matthew Rowe.

BALLET NOTES—-Apart from character dancers in walking roles, has any one danced as long as Yuan Yuan Tan, in her amazing 28^th season? …….The SFB displays an international grasp in choreographers, leading off with an American (Caniparoli), then a director of a German troupe (Breiner), and a freelance choreographer from Japan (Oishi). Clearly, the tenure of the new SFB Artistic Director Tamara Rojo is paying off in her broad geographic reach.

Casts rotate nightly. The casting shown was that of Jan. 24.

SAN FRANCISCO BALLET’s Next@90 Festival, three programs through Feb. 7. This was Program Two. Opera House, S.F. For info: (415) 865-2000, or online www.sfballet.org.

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