“The future begins now,” board co-chairs Sunnie Eversand Robert G. Shawannounced a little nervously at the start of San Francisco Ballet’s 90th season gala Thursday, Jan. 19. By the end of the performance, when new Artistic DirectorTamara Rojotook a confident first bow with the company, that proclamation at last felt true.

But what a surprising slog it was until the energy onstage rose to meet theChampagne-fueled pre-curtain buzz in the War Memorial Opera House.

Longtime viewers likeMatilda Abbe,the locally famous “Miss Tilly”ballet teacher and a dancer with the Ballet in the ’50s, shared the aisle with classical music fans who hadn’t ventured to the Ballet in years and socialite newcomers alike. All were there to see the beginning of a new era. Rojo is the Ballet’s first new director in nearly four decades — thefirst femaledirector in the company’s historyand a ballet world phenomena, with an impressive track record heading the English National Ballet,which she transformed from a regional touring troupe into an international newsmaker. So it was something of a relief 80 minutes into a parade of curiously mournful pas de deux when Ravel’s famous snare taps and slinky melody slithered from the orchestra pit, and 16 commanding dancers steadily filled the stage for Yuka Oishi’slush, quirky “Bolero.”

It was an even greater relief when Rojo’s curtain appearance in a sunny yellow dress made the audience sit tall and listen.

“Ballet has the power to change culture,” she said. “Throughout history, we have impacted every other art form.”

S.F. Ballet boasts ‘girl power’ and promising future at 90th season gala

She’s right, and the statement leaves one tantalized about the future programming she will soon announce (2024’s season will be revealed inApril) — but in the meantime, a gala has got to mix substance with fizz and pop. Rojo’s predecessorHelgi Tomassonwas a master at this, never failing to toss in a few whiz-bang 19thcentury pas de deux from “Don Quixote”or “Le Corsaire”(not to mention a bit of populist-mode Balanchine)to feed the black-tie, deep-pocket patrons some flash.

So, with his help as curator for the Ballet’snext@90 festivalthat launches Friday, Jan. 20, there were a few bright spots Thursday, like “Bolero,” Danielle Rowe’s“Madcap”and the gala-exclusive performance by Luke Inghamand WanTingZhao, whose inhumanly gooey side leg extensions in Val Caniparoli’s“Double Stop”prompted gasps from the crowd. But a subdued tone was set by opening with the serene third movement from Robert Garland’ssoon-to-premiere “Haffner Serenade.”莫扎特搭配粉色紧身衣and rococo neck ruffles (costumes by Pamela Cummings)doesn’t exactly scream “future,” even withsoloist Julia Rowedelivering pinpoint precise pirouettes in one of the more eye-catching passages.

As for the 19th century pas de deux, the audience was served Misa Kuranagaand Angelo Grecoin the graveside secondact from “Giselle.”Greco was excellent, really seeming to be danced nearly to death, as the plot entails, but viewers who haven’t seen the ballet wouldn’t know that fuller story.

This gala was a sampler for the season to come, programming that seems smart in theory. In practice, though, it meant we had two love duets both set to Prokofiev: the balcony scene from Tomasson’s“Romeo & Juliet” (Dores Andréand Isaac Hernandez,with a few dead moments and kinks to work out in their partnering), and the ballroom scene from Christopher Wheeldon’s“Cinderella” (Sasha De Solaand Joseph Walsh,stronger together, though he almost got whooped by one of those big penchee arabesques that she swung over his head).

Surely the excerpt from William Forsythe’s“Blake Works I”would amp things up — it’s a rollicking work of genius set to the pulsing pop music of Englishartist James Blake— but no, the slice presented was the quietest, most heartbreaking duet. (Danced with devastating eloquence by Nikisha FogoandHernandez, it must be said.)

How about a bit of spice from a world premiere showcasing the company’s longest-serving principal, the beloved and otherworldlyYuan Yuan Tan?Alas, resident choreographer Yuri Possokhov’s“Poscriptum,”set to lyrical string music by Shinji Eshima,was both elegiac and insular, sending the spectacularly muscled Aaron Robison在舞台上旋转与棕褐色开销,无ut much discernible musicality to the phrases.

Thank goodness, then, for an excerpt from “Madcap” to stir the audience mid-way, with the dancers singing Pär Hagström’screepy circus-inspired accordion music, and young corps member Parker Garrisonrevealing tremendous nascent talent in a slinky, propulsive solo as one of two decaying clowns. Rowe’s ensemble passages were layered and exciting, and the work seemed to be coming together well for its full premiere in the company’s next@90 festival.

In the meantime, all hail Oishi’s “Bolero,” danced nearly in its entirety. The ballet world has no shortage of “Boleros” (Google Maurice Bejart’sgyrating all-male rendition if you want to see one of the wilder treatments), but Oishi’s may be its best, plumbing both the weirdness and the grandeur of the universe in its alternately stately and twitchy vocabulary.

Esteban Hernandezwas the roiling, riveting opening soloist. Wona Park,Walsh, Sasha Mukhamedovand Daniel Deivison-Oliveiraall danced with fierce regality. Emma Kingsburydesigned the worm-like bodysuits, and Jun Nishidaand Hiroki Inokuchicontributed the spectacular projections. All the while, music director Martin Westdrove the orchestra to its best.

“The future of ballet starts now, here, at San Francisco Ballet,” Rojo said before the gala’s final curtain fell.

The journey to the future felt pretty stop-and-go at this gala, but thanks to Oishi, we finally got there.

San Francisco Ballet’s 90th Season

Next@90:Featuring world premieres by nine international choreographers, the festival runsthrough Feb. 11.

‘Giselle’:Retired Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson’sproduction of the iconic1841 Romantic Era ballet preserves the much-loved traditional choreography in this story of a peasant girl who, deceived by a nobleman, becomes one of the Wilis– vengeful ghosts who dance men to death. Runs Feb. 24-March 5.

‘The Colors of Dance’:This triple bill features the stage premiere of Myles Thatcher’s“Colorforms,”a high-energy take on Steve Reich’s“Variations for Vibes, Pianos, and Strings”that premiered as a dance film in 2021;Tomasson’s elegant “7 for Eight,”to Bach;and an encore of William Forsythe’s“Blake Works I,”to the electronic pop music of Englishsinger-songwriter James Blake.Runs March 14-19.

‘Cinderella’:Christopher Wheeldon’swhimsical treatment of the classic story, set to the well-known Prokofievscore. Runs March 31-April 8.

‘Romeo& Juliet’:Tomasson’semotionally lush staging of the popular Shakespeare tragedy, also featuring a well-known Prokofievscore, runs April 21-30.

Where:War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., S.F.

Tickets:$29-$448.

For more information, call 415-865-2000or visitwww.sfballet.org.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story misidentified the soloist in “Haffner Serenade.” The dancer was Julia Rowe. The San Francisco Ballet also informed The Chronicle that the 2024 season announcement has been pushed to April.