Agnes Y

I have watched the POB’s La Bayadère in Brisbane on 29/6 and 4/7 (matinee). The La Bayadère DVD is the first ballet of the POB I’d ever watched and it was this recording that made me become a fan of the company. Therefore, watching the ballet live had been my long-time wish. I’m not good at writing reviews…so do forgive me if you find my comments are poorly written… Aurélie Dupont was Nikiya on 29/6. I love her dancing, so watching her as Nikiya is really something. She was sublime and her every move was very graceful. With brilliant technique and acting, she stepped into the role of Nikiya completely and showed to the audience the ordeal of the heroine. In the matinee on 4/7, Isabelle Ciaravola took up the role of Nikiya and she was equally great. Her extensions were high---I guess this is characteristic of her? Hervé Moreau performed the role of Solor in both performances and he was gorgeous. He had all the technique and dramatic depth needed for the role. I really love his interpretation. He clearly demonstrated the emotional struggle that Solor was undergoing. It was unfortunate that he got injured in the final minutes before the end of the matinee on 4/7. I thought I might have a chance to see Dorothée Gilbert as Nikiya. But it turned out that she was cast as Gamzatti. Her Gamzatti was manipulative and fiery. With superb technique, her performance in Act 2 met with loud applause from the audience. In sum, Gilbert was simply awesome! On 4/7, the same role was danced by Laura Hecquet, who is a sujet. As Gamzatti, she was dashing. Her fouettés in Act 2 brought down the house. Act 2 was as sumptuous as ever. Apparently, the audience found the elephant very impressive. The series of dance in this act were enthralling. As always, the dance of Manu was entertaining. Both Marine Ganio (29/6) and Pauline Verdusen (4/7) gave an enjoyable performance. Yong-Geol Kim was the Golden Idol on both days and he danced the role capably. The entrance of the shades in Act 3 was captivating. Watching the shades descending the vamp and performing those beautiful and graceful moves was breathtaking. This is my favourite scene of the ballet. I thought I would be seeing premières danseuses perform some of the three variations in the Kingdom of the Shades. Yet, in the two performances that I attended, the roles were given to dancers of other ranks. On 29/6, the three variations were danced by Laurence Laffon, Charline Giezendanner and Alice Renavand respectively. Among these three shades, Giezendanner impressed me most. She was a lovely dancer and conveyed a sense of liveliness while performing the second variation. On 4/7, the three variations were performed by Ludmilla Pagliero, Charline Giezendanner and Aurelia Bellet. They were all adorable. In short, the POB’s performances were spectacular. I really love Rudolf Nureyev’s La Bayadère. His version only has 3 acts and I think omitting Act 4 makes the ballet less vengeful. I spotted Jean-Guillaume Bart’s name on the cast list distributed to the audience and he is one of the ballet teachers. I know he hasn’t danced with the company for some time. Did he retire or what?

I am not sure where I should post this… I watched the matinee of POB’s La Bayadere today. The company is great. Unfortunately, the performance ended rather sadly because towards the end of the show, Herve Moreau, who played Solor, was injured. He fell in the landing of that complicated jump (I’m very sorry for my poor description) when he was doing Solor’s solo in Act III Scene 2. It appears that he’s hurt his left foot. His injury seemed to be quite serious as he could not get up and he was clearly in pain. Everyone in the theatre was gobsmacked. After a few seconds, the curtain was lowered and then it was announced that the performance was finished because of Moreau’s injury. I believe the company could not continue with the rest of the scene without Solor... There were no curtain calls. I have also watched the performance on 29th June and Moreau danced the role of Solor too. He is really a wonderful dancer and his interpretation and technique were impressive. I hope he will recover soon.

Thanks a lot for your reply, carbro. I will watch 2 performances of La Bayadere, and so I am quite desperate to know the casting on specific dates. But it seems that at this moment, it still can't be confirmed...

I have just visitied the French forum Dansomanie and it seems that the cast of La Bayadere on specific performance dates is posted. Does it mean that the cast is confirmed and those dancers will dance in Brisbane as scheduled?