Backward and forward

The Sacramento Ballet has launched its 2015-16 season—one that will see the company move from its longtime home to a new one, at the E. Claire Raley Studios for the Performing Arts—with a program that looks both backward as well as forward.

Snap Shots is a show in two parts. The first features excerpts from six shows choreographed by Ron Cunningham, the ballet’s co-artistic director, and the other is a newly commissioned work, Mix De Moultrie, by New York dancer-choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie.

The program opens with scenes from Cunningham’s 2004 story ballet Dracula. Richard Smith (alternating with Dylan Keane) dances the role of Harker, the lawyer handling details of Dracula’s move to London. Christopher Nachtrab and Stefan Calka alternate in the role of the fangy fellow, while Ava Chatterson, Julia Feldman and Kaori Higashiyama create a feeling of menace with their sensuous long legs and sinewy spider moves as Three Vampires.

Other dances sampled include Etosha, the earliest work on the program; and Hamlet, with Calka and Nachtrab alternating in the title role and Maggie Rupp and Lauryn Winterhalder as the tragic Ophelia.

Moultrie created his playful but revelatory Mix to showcase the strengths and personalities of company members. Highlights include “Bloodline,” in which Alexandra Cunningham not only dances exquisitely but talks about the difficulties of striving for perfection and being the daughter of the directors; “Investigation of the Third,” danced by Keane, Smith and Chatterson; and “Cellular Imprints,” impressively delivered by the strong, assured trio of Calka, Nachtrab and Richard Porter.