Philadelphia Story

Ballo della Regina,” “Kazimir’s Colors,” “Push Comes to Shove”
Pennsylvania Ballet
Academy of Music
Philadelphia, PA
November 1, 2008

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2008 by Leigh Witchel

Surely it’s a coincidence, but Pennsylvania Ballet was stalking American Ballet Theatre last weekend. Both companies danced “Ballo della Regina” and Pennsylvania paired it with Tharp’s breakthrough work for ABT, “Push Comes to Shove.”

Pennsylvania’s version of “Ballo” has a few advantages.  The stage at the Academy of Music is big enough to really move.  Beyond a better space, Pennsylvania’s version is better in premise; the dancers are more conversant in the Balanchine style.  Their dancing is accented, they’re lighter on their feet, they jump and most importantly they move.  The soloists and principals aren’t at the same level as at ABT, granted.  The four demi-soloist variations were well-rehearsed if a bit staid. Amy Aldridge had fast feet but a tight neck and frozen smile; Zachary Hench had the jump, but not the cleanliness.

Mauro Bigonzetti’s “Kazimir's Colors” was made in 1996 for Stuttgart Ballet and made its premiere in Philadelphia.  I’m no fan of Mr. Bigonzetti’s work, but this one was relatively straightforward ballet moderne. Danced on a fashionably murky stage with dancers in parti-color jackets and shorts, it had his familiar theme of man against the group, but the Shostakovich concerto (the same one for piano and trumpet that Christopher Wheeldon used in “Mercurial Manouevres” four years later) kept Bigonzetti’s angst in check, permitting him only enough to be à la mode.  Bigonzetti is a hash slinger of a choreographer, who knows why the steps are in the order they are, but “Kazimir’s Colors” dad give Riolama Lorenzo a chance to show off her voluptuous extension. 

The program closed with another company premiere, Twyla Tharp’s “Push Comes to Shove.”  Tall, lanky Hench took Mikhail Baryshnikov’s role but couldn’t always match his effects.  He was capable and lightly funny in his initial frenzy to Haydn. He thought, agonized and ran his fingers through his hair in the stereotypical nightmare of wondering how the heck he wound up on a ballet stage doing a classical variation.  Hench was almost Buster Keaton-ish, but it was so deadpan it sometimes had too little impact.  The same in his dancing; it had the loose, insinuating floppiness that Tharp asks for, but not the punch as well.  As his partner, Martha Chamberlain mixed propriety and hip wiggles.  Lorenzo also danced with James Ihde, who did several “Look Ma, no hands!” maneuvers.  Barrette Vance was a determined and determinedly funny soloist, a grande dame in the line of Margaret Dumont.  The Academy of Music, even wrapped in tar paper and scaffolding, is worth a visit just to gaze at its luminous antebellum ceiling.

copyright © 2008 by Leigh Witchel