"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 3, 2010
By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©Carol Pardo
Peter Martins' production of "The Sleeping Beauty", in residence for two solid weeks at the David H. Koch Theater, is an Imperial Russian ballet streamlined to fit the taste--and attention span--of today's New York audience. Gone are most of the allusions to the benefits of the good and merciful ruler--no women knitting, no dances reflecting the order of rank--duchesses, marchionesses, etc.--in the forest. At this performance, even the battle between good and evil, as personified by Carabosse and the Lilac Fairy, took a back seat to the love story between Aurora and Prince Désiré, danced for the first time by Tiler Peck and Gonzalo Garcia.
This is a couple ready to fall in love. Aurora is curious about, and flattered by, the attention shown her by the four suitors at her birthday party, but not drawn to any one of them. Désiré, saddled with a countess who, in this production, is not only pushy but moves with a singular lack of elegance, has obvious reasons to look elsewhere. When, in the vision scene, Aurora and Désiré come face to face and their eyes lock, the coup de foudre is mutual. The force of it impels Désiré to the waiting Lilac Fairy and on the voyage to wake Aurora. The remainder of the ballet falls into place logically, effortlessly, inevitably.
The role of Aurora shows how far Peck has come since she burst on the scene just four years ago, the technical dynamo throwing off multiple pirouettes at top speed in Peter Martins' "Friandises." She can still do anything, but has learned to relax and to vary her attack. One of the pleasures of her Aurora is that she never seems rushed, no matter what the steps or the tempo. Gonzalo Garcia was completely at ease as Désiré. His demeanor, and use of his hands and eyes, told all about the lovesick, then smitten, prince. The melding of Peck's brilliance and Garcia's plush softness mirrored that of a couple where opposites attract and complete each other.
Neither Janie Taylor as the Lilac Fairy nor Georgina Pazcoguin as Carabosse realized their roles as fully in this, their debut performance. Taylor is perhaps best-known for her wildness as a dancer which, at its best combines daring and largeness of scale. While wildness would seem antithetical to Petipa, daring and scale could make for a commanding super-natural Lilac Fairy. But not yet. There are technical problems to overcome, and perhaps a lack of confidence, both of which could be remedied in future performances. Similarly, the kernel of a distinctive Carabosse is already present in Georgina Pazcoguin's characterization. This wicked fairy is glamorous, cold, sometimes surprised and amused by her power, and vain. It is her vanity, rather than her consequence, which is slighted when her name is left off the guest list. This needs to be fleshed out and gestures and mime made larger and clearer.
Also making their debuts were Erica Pereira and Anthony Huxley as Princess Florine and The Bluebird. Both are fine-boned and long-limbed, seemingly weightless. Air is their natural element. Having dispensed with gravity, all their beats are soft as a feather and unforced. Beyond physical similarities, perhaps it helps that they have danced together before (in "Square Dance" at the School of American Ballet Workshop in 2006).
The New York City Ballet production of "The Sleeping Beauty" is not without its problems (most of them in the prologue), but in the presence of promising debuts, and an Aurora and Désiré who are much more than that, the flaws disappear when Aurora turns sixteen.
