abatt, on Feb 22 2010, 09:19 AM, said:
I went to the Kings performance on Sun. afternoon, and I found it mostly disappointing because of the poor choreograhy. Some of it (Vestris and Fallen Angel) was awful. Most of it was mediocre at best. The only piece on the program that I would ever want to see again is the Ashton piece w. David Hallberg. Why doesn't ABT add this to their mixed bills this spring? We say many dancers in the audience, including Irina Dvorovenko (who looked stunning in a sequined top), Tiler Peck,and Erica Pereira. We also saw Darci Kistler and Peter Martins in Au Bon Pain next door during intermission. Peter decided to pay for his coffee by clearing his pockets of a pile of nickels, dimes and pennies.
I was also greatly disappointed by the "King of Dance". I attended Saturday evening (Grand Tier), and thought that after the affecting film showing the guys rehearsing and talking it was all down hill from there. The Wheeldon piece was mediocre, at best, and why oh why begin an evening with everyone dressed in black (hideous costumes, unflattering!) on a too dark stage with everyone in shadows. Even this piece would have looked better if the men were costumed in lighter colors and the stage had some light on it. And I would have preferred a work that utilized all the men. It is an ensemble of great male dancers after all. As for the second act, the less said the better. Gomes was ill served by his solo. Too much posing. What a waste of talent! The Vestris was silly, to say the least. I suffered through Hallberg's solo, because he could dance the phone book and he would look glorious, but as a dance work, it lacked oomph. The Carreno work was OK, and he did bring some soft passion to it. Desmond Richardson, looking all over extended in his purple underpants costume was well, over wrought. Dwight Rhoden just doesn't know how to fashion a work of choreography. Cote' in Kudelka's solo sure worked hard (those cabrioles to the back sure looked difficult!), but again, to what purpose? The less said about Tsiskaridze in "Fallen Angel" the better. Lightning? Come on! When I saw that roll of black fabric come out of the wings I knew Eifman was up to his old (very old) tricks. Yikes! And the Roland Petit work was simply gratuitous. Even Hallberg couldn't save this one. I honestly thought the only solo worthy of the stage was Joaquin De Luz in David Fernadez' "Five Variations". At least this piece had a beginning, a middle, and an end, texture and style. It had Joaquin in a great, simple costume. It had good lighting. It was just the right length. And Joaquin truly looked like he was having a great time dancing. All the other pieces were so heavy on the angst and on the gimmicks. By the time the Nacho Duato piece came on for a third act, it was too late to save the evening. Again, the evening should have ended with a work using all the men. The defile at the end where they all did their best "trick" was nothing more than bow music. The evening was much too long and lacked an overall artistic point of view. Sergei Danilian is listed as creative director and producer, but I didn't see much evidence of an artistic vision. Most was just tasteless. Granted, it must be difficult to get everyone together to rehearse, etc., but this evening was so slapped together. There are so many wonderful choreographers out there who could have done justice to the talents of these great male dancers. And I agree with MaCauley that perhaps the answer lies in a female choreographer.
I know there are a lot of fans of these dancers out there, and I am one of them. I just felt that they all deserved much better. Male dancing has been set back not forward by this silly, self congratulatory night.
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