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I need help in puzzling out a touring performance of the Moscow Classical Ballet, in Nutcracker.
I went expecting a well-trained, well-coached classical company dancing in a stripped down physical production. What we actually got was the reverse: a sumptuous production (sets, costumes, lighting) and some of the most astonishingly bad dancing I've ever seen from a company with a serious classical pedigree.
I should add that this feeling was confirmed at the end of the performance by a good friend, an extremely knowledgeable woman who has seen -- and remembered -- virtually every major classical ballet production to visit New York City from the 1950s through the 1970s. Both of us admitted that there were times that we just couldn't look at the dancers and tried to focus on scenery, costumes, and lighting, all of which were high level.
The cast seemed young, which may explain a certain tentative quality in the performance. But what could possibly account for the erratic arm movements, the eccentric approach to what to do with feet, the sometimes inappropriate facial expressions? It is as if the company no longer gives classes in upper body or footwork. The dancers' necks and shoulders were invariably tight. Big jumps, especially with the men, were accomplished by throwing the leading arm and neck out into the air, with the body and legs dragged behind. Positioning of the head and shoulders among the women was something that appeared to have been left of to each individual. This went beyond mere sloppiness. The inconsistencies almost seemed to be a "company style." (I exaggerate, but not all that much.)
A couple of performers did a creditable job: most notably, the soloist in the oriental dance. The others seemed below professional standards in this repertoire, certainly for a company whose performance base is the capital of Russia. The dancers with biographies seem to have come primarily from the Moscow Academy of Choreography, but also Perm and Saratov
Just a few years ago the Moscow Classical Ballet appeared in the same production (also with choreography by Vainonen, with additions by Vasiliev and Natallia Kasatkina) at Lehman College in New York City. They received a short but respectable review in the New York Times. Now, I admit it is possible that they sent their first-string team to NYC. But even that would not explain just how bad the rest of the company has become.
http://www.nytimes.c...nce/28lehm.html
Has anyone seen the Moscow Classical Ballet recently? Or know about it? Or have any idea about what is going on?
P.S. To add to my confusion, the performance -- one of three sold out performances in our city -- received a warm standing ovation.
