Smuin Contemporary Ballet brings its season-opening program to Walnut Creek's Lesher Center for the Arts on Friday, Sept. 18.
The program, titled "French Kiss," plays at 1601 Civic Drive for two performances: 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19. Tickets range from $25 to $100 at smuinballet.org.
The centerpiece is "I-SCRIT-AH-SCREE-TAH-SKRATT," a new work by Boston-based choreographer My'Kal Stromile set to music by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. Stromile, a Juilliard graduate who received the Hector Zaraspe Prize, spent six years performing with the Boston Ballet before turning to choreography full time in his early 30s. He has drawn commissions from Ailey II, Paris Opera Ballet and the Vail Dance Festival, according to the Mercury News.
The title? Stromile called it "a completely preposterous, made-up phonetic phrase I made when I was trying to organize my thinking," as quoted in Local News Matters.
The piece premiered Sept. 11 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts. Winn, reviewing it for the San Francisco Chronicle, described a work that married classical ballet steps with humor. Walnut Creek is the second stop on a fall tour that continues to San Francisco's Cowell Theater at Fort Mason from Oct. 9 through Oct. 18.
The program also features Artistic Director Amy Seiwert's "French Kiss," which premiered in 2023 and is set to Pink Martini's arrangements of 1960s French pop songs. The bill closes with a revival of company founder Michael Smuin's "Stabat Mater," his response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, exploring themes of loss, resilience and hope.
Festival Opera heads to free Opera Day in the Bay
Walnut Creek's own Festival Opera performs Sunday, Sept. 20, at Opera Day in the Bay, a free outdoor concert beginning at 1 p.m. at Transamerica Redwood Park in San Francisco. The park entrance is at 545 Sansome St., between Washington and Clay streets, where a rustic stage sits among a half-acre of towering coastal redwoods.
Festival Opera joins more than 10 Bay Area companies, including Livermore Valley Opera, Pocket Opera, Opera Parallèle, West Bay Opera, Opera San Jose, Lamplighters Music Theatre and others. Performers will sing works by Puccini, Mozart, Verdi, Bizet, and Gilbert & Sullivan.
The event is produced by Céline Ricci, founder of Ars Minerva, and emceed by Bay Area composer Carla Lucero. It is dedicated to the memory of Erie Mills, the late soprano who served as artistic director of Livermore Valley Opera.
Admission is free. Advance tickets are requested at tinyurl.com/OperaDay2026.
This weekend at a glance
- Smuin Contemporary Ballet, "French Kiss": Friday, Sept. 18, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 19, at 2 p.m. Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. $25–$100. smuinballet.org.
- Opera Day in the Bay: Sunday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m. Transamerica Redwood Park, 545 Sansome St., San Francisco. Free; reserve at tinyurl.com/OperaDay2026.
