Jump to content
This Site Uses Cookies. If You Want to Disable Cookies, Please See Your Browser Documentation. ×

Balanchine Program @ The Met 2004


Recommended Posts

ABT's "Tribute to George Balanchine" opened at the Metropolitan Opera House Monday night.

Theme and Variations was a bit sleepy to start off; Paloma Herrera and Marcelo Gomes took the leading roles, and it was mostly danced well, but there was very little spark or excitment until the finale. They seemed to be thinking through everything, though Gomes was still able to wow in his variation.

Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux: Irina Dvorovenko was spectacular in this role, a marked difference from her pretty but cold Raymonda on Friday. She seems to excel in the purely technical roles, but assuming a character is harder for her. She simply showed off her prodigious technical gifts in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and to great effect. Maxim Belotserkovsky was an adequate partner, but faded into the background behind Dvorovenko.

Mozartiana: First time seeing this piece (and the first time for ABT dancing it), so I can't say much to compare it to other times it has been danced. I did enjoy it, however, most especially because of Nina Ananiashvili's performance in the Farrell role. She was fantastic; she fully gives herself to the role, dances with great musicality, and projects a very warm and appealing stage presence. It was entirely different from most of the times I've seen her in classical roles, so I was impressed. Angel Corella was her partner in the Theme & Variations section, and he was a bit over-exuberant and consequently rough around the edges. Pushing too hard, there were many wobbles and mis-steps all over the place, but the audience still loved him. Corella only really needs to smile to have the audience in his hands. Herman Cornejo danced the Gigue. I was struck at how the costuming and sets for the production make it look like they are all at a funeral - especially the Gigue soloist's costume. Black everything, with some white embellishments here and there. Meanwhile, the music decidely does not invoke feelings of death. Maybe I need to read the book on Mozartiana to learn a bit more about this...

Ballet Imperial: First time view for this one also, both in the "Imperial" version and in "Piano Concerto No. 2" version. I enjoyed it immensely; the stage patterns and movement of the corps is endlessly inventive and interesting, and the way Balanchine plays with the music and choreography is thrilling. The dancing was quite good, though I get the feeling that it could have been more. Gillian Murphy was the lead ballerina - she has toes of steel, and especially in the first movement, she really seemed to "bounce" on pointe, or use it as a firmly anchored pivot point (if that made any sense whatsoever). Carlos Molina as her cavaliere was particularly strong, especially in the second movement, when he does a lot of stuff alone. Michele Wiles was bright in the soloist role. All could work a bit on the musicality though...everything didn't quite mesh as perfectly with the music the way things do at NYCB, but it worked and I still loved it.

Looking forward to seeing more casts in this program before I finally have to go home to Southern California. :-(

Link to comment

Marcelo Gomes is a dancer who almost always turns in an excellent performance, and he didn't disappoint in last night's first T&V of the season. Paloma Herrera is a dancer who often delights (and many in the audience enjoy) posing rather than going for the flowing line of a ballet. For me, T&V is just not her ballet. She had trouble with the opening allegro work, and her adagio was marred by posing. Perhaps because it's such a staple of ABT's rep, the corps looked a tad under-rehearsed. I'm sure tonight, they'll be just fine.

The Tchai. PdeD was everything it should be in the hands (feet?) of Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloserkovsky: both bravura and elegant at the same time. Despite a slight bobble at the beginning of her first variation, Irina danced precisely and exactly. Whoever coached her did a top-notch job because all the little nuances that can make this pas so special were there last night: the right tilt of the head, the looks to and at her partner, the precision of her dancing. And Maxim was also a delight.

ABT's first performance of Mozartianna was well and lovingly staged by former NYCB principal Maria Calegari (who also danced the lead herself). Herman Cornejo danced the role orignated by Victor Castelli. Cornejo did manage to bring back some of the elegance that was originally in this role. Very nice. Nina Ananiashvili danced in the grand ballerina tradition. Did she dance with the abandon that Suzanne had? Would, or could, Nina ever dance like that? No. But I found Nina's interpretation very satisfying. It was a star turn by a great ballerina. Unfortunately, Angel Corella was very much less than satisfying in his debut. He is a great favorite of mine so I was very disappointed. He consistently went for the arrival in every musical phrase rather than the journey. Mozartiana is all about the journey. He danced for bravua effect rather than for the elegance that is inherent in this ballet. He was pushing, almost coarse, here. However, I must report that the audience was very happy with his performance.

The Ballet Imperial was well rehearsed. The main couple was Gillian Murphy and Carlos Molina, with Michele Wiles in the second ballerina role. Gillian handled the killer cadenza quite well. That opening variation for the lead ballerina is the equivalent of an opera diva coming on stage and singing a demanding aria with no preparation at all. It sets the tone for the rest of the ballet: If the ballerina can handle the cadenza well, you can sit back and relax because you know she can manage the rest. Gillian did indeed do justice to this role. She was definitely in command. In the first section she had to wait for what seemed like an especially long time for the pianist to start the solo, yet Gillian didn't let the momentary lapse between the pit and the stage phase her. Carlos Molina was everything the cavalier should be. The second ballerina role is one of my favorites, so I'm very particular about it. There is one part where she rocks on her pointes, and you should really feel that she is "playing the piano with her feet." I didn't get that last night. But, putting that aside, it was a good performance. (I am anticipating that Monique will give this role all its due on Thursday night.)

Link to comment

I saw Monday's and Thursday's performance of this program, but I just wanted to jot down a few thoughts on Thursday's show because I've been looking forward to seeing Part in Mozartiana and Meunier as the second soloist in Ballet Imperial since I saw the casting.

Part in Mozartiana: On one hand, Part brought everything you would wish to this role - true ballerina aura, imagination, beauty, musicality... On the other hand, I'm sure Part never encountered anything on this scale as far as pointe work, shifts of direction, quick reflexes. Mozartiana is one of the Balanchine's last great essays on the possibility of pointe work. On the last point, Part needs to do some more hard work. Her opening prayer was very lovely, very internal. But her pas de bourrées going forward need attention. I liked that she tried to make each variation different in tone and exture. She also went for her pirouettes with a nice wide fifth position, rather than the smaller Russian-style preparation. In addition, when things didn't work out for her, she kept the overall arc or the phrase going.

The frame work is there and when she gets more comfortable with the combinations (although I have a feeling she will never gain full ease in technical parts such as this), she should flower in this role. I only fear that ABT won't perform Mozartiana again apart from this run.

Beloserkovsky (more about him in my next post) provided gracious support, but maybe a bigger partner would have been better. However, Beloserkovsky and Part did the ending of the pas de deux better than I have seen in a long time, with her head resting between his shoulder and neck.

Meunier in Ballet Imperial: She came bounding out like the Monique of old to reclaim this part as her own. The musicality, intellegence, physical gifts, beauty and star quality were there in abundance. Unfortunately, just as she was flying through her solo (during the trio section with two men) she took a nasty spill, head first right in the middle of the stage. But she bounced back up, looked around where she was and continued on, concluding the solo with some gutsy pirouettes, for which she received thunderous applause. She certainly earned some fans as I heard while leaving the theater. I hope she is OK (she looked pleased at the curtain calls) and will do Saturday night's performance, which should be even better.

Link to comment

Theme and Variations, Mozartiana, and Ballet Imperial on the same program (punctuated by Tchaikovsky PDD) was an almost overwhelming array of riches. I will comment at this late hour only on Tchaikovsky PDD and Xiomara Reyes' debut: she was lovely! like a breath of fresh, sweet air. Her musicality was wonderfully fleet natural, and she looked thoroughly joyful throughout, partnered solicitously by a generous Julio Bocca.

Link to comment

I saw Thursday's nights performance and I am in awe of Ananishvilli's "Ballet Imperial", she surpasses anyone I have seen in the role. She mesmerised me with her display of grandeur, and she brought Marcello Gomes right along with her. His second movement with the corps de ballet was pure poetry in depicting the mood of the music. Ananiashvilli had marvelous little touches: in the first movement she performed a unique Balanchine step--sort of a double pique turn done on demi-point with the back leg very low and stopping abruptly by bring the back leg forward sharply to the floor. This is repeated a few times. (Veronica Part had this same combination in 'Mozartiana' and had a bit of trouble with it) Also, at the end of lst movement she rose to her feet and with her expressive back to the audience, she raised her arms and surveyed the full female corps, and as they parted, walked down the center towards the back of the stage and walked off as only a great ballerina can. I liked Monique Meunier very much---there is a wonderful sense of abandon in her dancing---a bit too much abandon during a tour jete, she belly-wopped on to the floor and I was really concerned---she looked like she really hurt herself---but it did not mar her performance and she pulled herself together very fast. The other treat tonight was Xiomara Reyes "Tchai PDD". There was a marvelous flow to her movements. 'Theme and Variations' with Tuttle and Corella was a disappointment---it appears that Tuttle is out of her depth in this one and by the time the Coda came, she was out of it. Corella's turns had no delineation---in the passage with the double pirouettes and double tours, it looked like one turning blob. However, the audience loved them. :rolleyes:

Link to comment

I actually thought Corella's double tours/double pirouettes were very clean and academic, and that in general he began the ballet (T&V) beautifully, and one felt optimistic. However as things progressed both he and Tuttle seemed to struggle, falling farther and farther behind and losing the clarity, energy, and ease they had initially promised. As for the corps, I thought it looked quite good in this most splendid of ballets.

Mozartiana - what is missing? Veronika Part was beautifully serene and spiritual, and came closest to losing herself in the rarified atmosphere of the ballet, but Belotserkovsky was less successful. It seems to me that every movement, every step in this ballet must have a 'reason', or a 'motivation', and that he was sometimes just doing steps - beautiful steps, but still just steps. Someone somewhere mentioned that Mozartiana might suffer from being performed on the Met stage. I don't know if that is part of the problem with this production.

On the whole I thought this program looked very good on Ballet Theater, and it was wonderful to be engulfed by the exquisite beauty of Balanchine and Tchaikovsky's genius - sort of a sensory overload of the most pleasant kind.

Link to comment

On Thursday evening Ashley Tuttle, a dancer I love very much, wasn't her absolute best in Theme and Variations. She seem to be dancing rather cautiously though the whole ballet and atm711 is correct she seem, at least that night, to be out of step. As for Angel Corella he was very good, but you can tell he was trying to hard to please. But to be honest I'm care of tired of ABT's production of this ballet. For the past couple of years the dancers in this ballet seems rather bore with it. I also wish they would give it a new production. The sets are too dark and rather cheap looking and the costumes are rather drab.

Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux - in a word WOW! Xiomara Reyes was sensational. Technically and muscially solid, but for me what made her performance so wonderful was the pure joy you knew she felt dancing the role. She was having the time of her life and it showed in her sparkling dancing. And Reyes' energy and spirit certainly was contagious because Julio Bocca was just as terrific.

Veronika Part's Mozartiana was beautifully perform especially in the opening movement, but it's clear she needs more work. But I believe once she become more use to the part she will triumph in the role. She's a true ballerina. I would love to see her in Theme and Variations, with new sets and costumes of course.

As for Maxim Beloserkovsky at first I had to readjust myself - it was strange seeing him dance without his wife. Overall he dance well and was a reliable partner to Part.

I only knew Ballet Imperial as Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 as perform by NYCB. While there was always a since of grandeur it was always in the abstract.

But with the set and costumes of the great Rouben Ter-Arutunian I finally see why so many people was upset at first when Balanchine streamline the production in the early 70's. Sumptuous. Nina Ananiashvili dominated this ballet as only an individual with great star quality. Regal, majestic, she was the embodiment of imperial russia in the form of dance. She was every bit the PRIMA BALLERINA ASSOLUTA. Marcello Gomes was very much Ananiashvili's noble cavalier. Princely and strong he had blue blood running through his veins. But the highlight of the ballet belongs to Monique Meunier. Dancing the secondary role as only a trained Balanchine dancer could. Speed, musicality, clarity, it was all there. Then that terrible fall. But in a blink of an eye she was up and dancing as gloriously as before as if nothing had happen. The enthusiastic ovation at the end of the performance for her was well deserve.

Link to comment

I must say that Nina in Mozartiana and Ballet Imperial was a sensation.

She is absolutely peerless, and her ability to master different styles, different choreographic idioms, and look differently in the works of different choreographers is utterly stunning.

A lot of dedicated ballet fans (included myself) complain, that today the companies can't develop dancers any more. Here is Marcelo Gomes, who was carefully developed by the ABT into the rarest of the species - real ballet prince.

Link to comment

I don't get to ABT that often but Saturday evening a friend in the corps gave us tickets and we enjoyed seeing the Balanchine works in a different framework from across the Plaza (where we usually spend 2 or 3 evenings a week). Michele Wiles and David Hallberg were wonderfully clean & clear in THEME though she is almost too tall for him now. I hadn't seen Bocca for a few years and was surprised that he looks quite paternal at this point, especially dancing with the girlish Reyes. Ashley Tuttle's MOZARTIANA was beautiful, and Stiefel danced with a light touch. Ananashvili gave a real prima ballerina performance in BALLET IMPERIAL; the clarity of her dancing as well as the romantic overtones she brings were quite enchanting, and her fouettes are regal. She continued her performance in her bows, plucking out a rose from her bouquet for her partner, then one for the Maestro...then she took a rose for herself and gave the whole bouquet to the (excellent) pianist, Barbara Bilach. Monique Meunier, whom I have missed terribly at NYCB, danced beautifully despite an unflattering costume. The star of the evening was the spectacular Marcelo Gomes...with his towering presence, handsome and intriguing face, impeccable partnering and wonderful extension and balance he has it all. He lets his dancing speak for itself, nothing frilly or self-indulgent. Bravo!

It was fun spotting NYCB's Lindy Mandradjieff, Joaquin de Luz & Daniel Ulbricht in the audience.

Link to comment

I saw the Saturday matinee. As I said when she danced the role at City Center last fall, Ashley Tuttle is totally miscast in the lead ballerina role in "Theme and Variations". She was off, out of step, it was really sad to see. Tuttle is a lovely ballerina in ballets such as"Romeo and Juliet", "La Bayadere", and "Giselle", but she can't dance this role. (Not in my opinion, anyway, and the opinion of many other Ballet Alert posters.) I wish Kevin McKenzie would see it, and stop casting her in this role.

David Halberg and Michele Wiles were both elegant and exciting in "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux". I keep waiting for the day (hopefully it's soon) when they'll both be made principals. I don't think Wiles is too tall for Halberg. If she is, she's in trouble because this is a company of mostly short men.

"Mozartiana" is a ballet I haven't seen in a long long time (I only remember seeing Suzanne Farrell in the lead role ) and I had forgotten what a lovely ballet it is.

And what a wonderful ballerina Veronica Part is - a fact which has already been mentioned about other posters. I thought she looked very comfortable in the role as well. (But then I was seeing her second or third performance of the role, not the first.)

"Ballet Imperial" is another ballet I haven't seen for a long time, and I was impressed by its splendor. I thought Paloma Herrera was good in the lead role, but I would have preferred to see a grand ballerina such as Nina A. in the part. (But then I live on Staten Island and I hate driving so I'm pretty much limited to matinee performances.) I thought that Anna Liceica in the second ballerina role was just superb. Here's a dancer who in my opinion is always good - whether's she a shade in "La Bayadere" or a flower girl in "Don Q", and I don't recall her getting much mention - certainly not in the press. Maybe it's because she's not flashy and it's often the flashy dancers who get all the attention.

Link to comment

I went to the Thursday & Friday night performances of the Balanchine program. I find myself in agreement with most posters regarding the individual performances, except that I thought Tuttle was greatly improved in T&V compared to last season. I’m not singing her praises - IMO neither Tuttle nor Hererra are great in this role but at least Tuttle started strong and seemed more comfortable in the role than in previous performances.

I love Tchai pdd. Both couples I saw did a good job with it but it didn’t seem that either Reyes/Bocca or Tuttle/Steifel really went for the fish dives - I remember Max & Irina really going for them when I saw this at City Center. Reyes did exhibit a very lovely flow and lyricism, and great joy in her performance. She seems to be progressing quite nicely.

Both casts I saw in Ballet Imperial were wonderful, and so different! Murphy & Wiles were the perfect “All American” cast - all long legs, speed & attack, with Molina a gracious cavalier. Ananishvilli & Meunier were regal & imperial, both so lush and gracious and grand, dancing with great clarity and musicality. I have never seen Nina or Gomes give a better performance, they had me spellbound. There were times (maybe during their adagio?) when they seemed to be a czar and czarina, first in the midst of own private conversation, then addressing their court. I was sitting very close to the stage at this performance and at certain points they had expressions of absolute rapture on their faces. Both were very impressive technically, Gomes even more so than last season, but their ability to create their own world and take the audiance into it with them was something quite unexpected. I would love to see them paired together more often.

Link to comment

Atm wrote

Also, at the end of lst movement she rose to her feet and with her expressive back to the audience, she raised her arms and surveyed the full female corps, and as they parted, walked down the center towards the back of the stage and walked off as only a great ballerina can.

Oh you guys have made me want to come to new york to see ABT(!!?!@?!?!)

It must be great, and I can believeAnaniashvili is fabulous.

Atm, I didstinctly recall Susan Jaffe rising to this occasion way back when Baryshnikov frst took over the company. That exit just blew my mind -- it was SO majestic, SO grand, staggering, it made me feel she were going to another ball, with twice the assembly, twice hte elegance, and hte space she was about t oenter actually became more real in my imagination than the one she was leaving, it wasn't an exit, it was an entrance..... I guess it must be in the music,I've never had a chance to study the ballet, but that effect is IN the ballet somehow. ANd I can certainly believe Ananiashvili could create it - -I'll never forget her entrance as Giselle, back in 1989 or so, when she ws with the Boshoi -- when she opened that door adn stuck her head out, it was like the sun had come out

Link to comment

Liceica was thrilling; rather than performing like a lovely soloist she danced like a ballerina. She was entirely different from, but just as notable as Monique Meunier, who danced magnificently all week long and was a paradigm of Balanchine style in the pas de trois.

Link to comment

Meunier was just as fabulous as earlier in the week. She has been a tad cautious in the pas de trois since the first night fall, but nevertheless superb. In the third movement she dances with glorious abandon, apparent pleasure and devastating precision.

Murphy was wonderful but she is quite a bit younger and not quite as honed.

Link to comment

nycb's loss is abt's gain:

however, monique meunier is still an underutilized resource at abt, as she was at nycb

the ballet imperial costume could not have been more unflattering, but she rose above it (literally) and exhibited her considerable stage presence at the met, along with her stunning dancing

is there no choreographer ready to do something suitable for her - for her special look and her special talent?

does anyone remember the sab student performance - about 14-15 years ago - when monique danced the lead in the second movement of symphony in c?

i attended a final rehearsal at juilliard and, i believe, p. martins was coaching her in it

she was just superb

why has she not danced the same part as a company member?

the thing about monique is, when she steps on the stage -- the house is hers

Link to comment

Some Notes From Monday Night

Murphy and Meunier in Ballet Imperial:

Gillian Murphy’s Ballet Imperial was stunningly good – She was, it seems, both born and trained to dance this Ballet. (Good to hear that her pre-eminent teacher, Melissa Hayden, was in the house last night to see her handiwork – what a joy for a pedagogue I would think).

Ballet Imperial, in Murphy’s and in Carlos Molina’s hands last night at least, had a lovely and fascinating but also strangely sad and elegiac air at moments, alternating with the passages of soaring grandeur. The dance seemed a dialogue between an Empress Queen and her Consort or Consort Emperor to be – but shot through with an unmistakable and mysterious air of sadness at moments. Why the sense of abandonment by Molina in the adagio as he stood alone on the stage, lifting his arms, the sense of a romantic tragedy barely avoided or barely atoned or unatoned for? The heart wrenching sense of impending loss which Murphy conveyed a few moments later when she progressed up the two long parting lines of the corps de ballet, in her entrance into the adagio, to enfold Molina in that penchee arabesque embrace with an expression which seemed to convey impending tragedy and loss more than it did recognition and imperial triumph? Either this was Odette’s departure rather than Ballet Imperial; an unconventional reading of the emotional content of this ballet; or whether the lesson of last night is that Ballet Imperial and Tschai Concerto #2 are two very different works, I cannot say. Murphy’s reading, however, was very moving and resonated extraordinarily well with the musical score, particularly during the adagio, and particularly with the very slow and emotional exploitation of the score at that point by the wonderful Pianist, Barbara Bilach. I have seldom heard the piano adagio played this well. That Murphy can turn (my God, the explosive acceleration and attack in those chainees in her final solo exit), and jump (my God again); that she possesses an extraordinarily poetic developpee, graced with the loveliest turn out and presentation of her working foot – I knew all that. But not that she could embody such a subtly emotional evanescence.

Monique Meunier is indeed the most musical of dancers. She was a principal at City Ballet when Ashley Bouder was still in grade school. Her grasp and execution of the musical flow and phrasing of the second Ballerina role in Ballet Imperial last night took my breath away. Her physical presence does, however, to some degree distract from the artistic impression and, at that point, it is a fair matter of aesthetic criticism to say that I do think (and fully agree with others who have said) she could, and should, be able to get herself into better condition.

Mozartiana:

After a slightly flat Preghiera, Nina’s Mozartiana culminated with a beautifully inflected and joyously phrased series of female variations . As with Ballet Imperial, the emotional tone and content of Mozartiana was a little different than what I am used to, having come to know the work at City Ballet. At first I thought it a little disconcerting but finally quite lovely. This was a Mozartiana that seemed to have a heroine (Nina A) and a dramatic time and place. A Mozartiana set in a Ballroom somewhere in Russia, where a luminous but no longer young woman in a grey Tutu did not dance so much for the audience, for posterity or for God alone, as in the State Theater version, but more as part of a private drama with her partner (Angel Corella), which we were privileged to see, a very Russian and slightly giddy dialogue shot through at times with humour, at other times with almost an ecstatic joy. A reminder that the music is not Mozart, but a Russian Romantics gloss upon Mozart. Ananiashvili has, I think, lost some flexibility and range of motion over the past few years. She must be pushing forty, I would think. This is one of the very greatest roles for a mature Ballerina and I will remember it as one of her very greatest performances.

Consistent with this, Jesus Pastor danced the most beautiful Gigue I have ever seen, refusing to treat the Gigue as the demi-character showpiece it is so often reduced to across the plaza (in the hands of Tom Gold, for instance). Pastor instead performed it with a restrained, almost an introspective elegance and grace, particularly in the repeats of a beautiful and relaxed attitude front, hand insouciant upon his hip, with a reverence for his small female corps de ballet. The stillness at those moments was not something I had imagined in this music. It seemed quite a different and quite a more beautiful dance than I am used to.

Tschai Pas:

Speaking of showpiece roles made for an ageing Ballerina (in this case Patty McBride), Ashley Tuttle certainly benefited from such a role in Tschai Pas de Deux, where she quite (or almost quite) kept up with Herman Cornejo’s histrionics. (Also speaking of Cornejo treating a role as a demi-character showpiece and nothing else). Dear Herman -- a wonderful dancer, and a terrible partner. The concluding counterpoint of dashes across the stage by the two principals, with each dash finishing with a fish dive by the female principal into the male principal’s waiting arms, he having reached and stopped at the appointed spot one musical phrase before her -- looked more like something from a hockey game than from a Ballet last night, a dash to see whether icing the puck would be called -- but it capped a rousing performance after all. Surely in some way the spirit of the piece, if not the letter, was well represented.

Theme:

Finally Wiles in Theme. Michelle Wiles has certainly grown into this role technically since last autumn’s performance at City Center, to the point where you can now say she is perfectly secure in Theme, which is no small thing to say. Last night she had the command of a principal dancer in this role.

I did notice, though, as another difference from last fall and indeed, from everything I had previously seen her do, that she chose to project her affect in Theme last night as rather “Tragique-Grand-Opera,” substituting a mournful, emotionally moved and pained countenance, lifted towards the back of the theater, for the rather bright-girl-next-door smile which was previously her trademark. It’s dancing on a big scale and perhaps it works or perhaps it will work. As the above would indicate, however, I’m not so sure right now.

Wiles also last night seemed to lack a little of the flexibility and the turn out I would like to see from the Ballerina in Theme. The repeated quiet passages from arabesque-to-passee-to-developpee-front and then back from developpee-front-through passee-to arabesque, and so on, with the corps of eight other girls supporting her, were quite beautiful. But in the big supported developpees to the side, to the swelling music, during the pas de deux, she neither got her working leg very extended (does she lack extension generally, I wondered last night?), nor did she really “develop” the leg upward (by which I mean present a flowing, unfolding motion – instead she just jerked the entire limb up there), nor finally did she present a well rotated out line of the inner thigh, calf and foot when she reached the top. One would like even to see a last or final little bit of rotation out at the end of the developpee, to frame it and end it, as it were, but no such luck. Given how much she seemed to struggle and tremble, earlier, failing to get into a good deep arabesque at the beginning of the passage where the eight girls turn her across themselves, I found myself wondering whether Wiles isn’t, after all, perhaps not the most flexible of dancers generally? Or was this just an off night for that quality? Later during the pas, Hallberg seemed to get her attention and to call a much more physical and engaged performance out of her.

My sole real criticism of ABT in Theme, and in Mozariana too actually, involves the failure to cast the ballets well at the soloist level. A really good performance of Theme requires a really good performance from the first four female soloists. The casting here left much to be desired. It’s not that ABT does not possess the required talent, I think -- I could cast this myself in thirty seconds. It was, instead, that some rather odd choices seemed to have been made.

A wonderful and memorable evening at the Theater. Wish they were all this good.

Link to comment

Michael I enjoyed your review, but personally I think there is room for more than one body type in ballet and everyone should stop taking Meunier to task about her weight and instead urge many of the skinny but boring dancers around to develop an artistic sensibility.

Link to comment

Interesting review, Michael. I wish I could have seen this.

Either this was Odette’s departure rather than Ballet Imperial; an unconventional reading of the emotional content of this ballet; or whether the lesson of last night is that Ballet Imperial and Tschai Concerto #2 are two very different works, I cannot say.

Arlene Croce wrote an interesting essay about the overtones of Swan Lake in this ballet (and of The Sleeping Beauty in Theme & Variations). She was writing about Tchaik Concerto #2, but had also seen Ballet Imperial. The mournfulness of the adagio, with its suggestion of lovers parted by fate, certainly echoes Ivanov.

Tchaikovsky pas de deux was made for Violette Verdy, by the way, and she was far from aging at the time.

Link to comment

Michael's review of the adagio section of Ballet Imperial was as eloquent as the actual performance.the end of the adagio section was just heartbreaking.

It was my first viewing of MM in a major role and i could see now what everybody was writing about her dancing.

I was so glad to have seen this preformance.

Joe

Link to comment

It's been called to my attention by several now that Tschai Pas was made for Violette Verdi and in her prime. It was the Dance in America video of Patty McBride and Baryshnikov, she somewhat older at that time but the dance a most definite showcase for her talents at that moment, which I took for definitive, but which was far from the case. Thanks for the corrections.

Link to comment
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...