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Company A

"Theme and Variations", "Romeo and Juliet", "Time","Overgrown Path", "Don Quixote",
"Company B"
American Ballet Theatre
City Center
New York, NY
October 21, 2008

by Mary Cargill
copyright © Mary Cargill

ABT's gala was more substantial and more varied than the usual fouette fest, and two great and very different works sandwiched a group of generally interesting shorter pieces.  "Theme and Variations", even with the somewhat kitchy costumes and black backdrop, remains one of Balanchine's jewels, an intricate and facinating synopsis of Petipa.  Marcelo Gomes is the perfect prince, steady and generous, and he danced the difficult variation with ease, never going for big effects, but stringing the steps into a gorgeous flow; his dancing sang rather than shouted.  His princess, Paloma Herrera, looked very good, with a much softer and rounded upper body than she has sometimes shown; her legs and feet are still second to none.  Her dancing at times, though, was scrupulous rather than rapturous, and the magnificent pas de deux at times seemed like a demonstration, not a conversation.   

Hedda, Get a Gun

"On a Theme of Paganini", "Ibsen's House", and "Double Evil"
San Francisco Ballet
City Center
New York, NY
October 14, 2008

by Mary Cargill
copyright © Mary Cargill

Program C of the company's brief visit were three New York premieres, showcasing the many new ballets created for the company's 75th anniversary.  As new choreography tends to go nowadays, the dancers were great.  The director Helgi Tomasson's new ballet "On a Theme of Paganini" to music by Sergei Rachmaninov, opened the program, and showcased the company's many strengths.  The male dancers, especially, looked uniformly stylish, with neat, compact jumps, elegant upper bodies, and a gracious, slightly retiring demeanor, not coincidentally, I expect, the characteristics that defined Tomasson himself.  The work itself was pleasant, but somewhat predictable; loud music=jumps, tinkly music=turns, and slow music=lifts, and the steps were both decorous and finicky.  The three men, Joan Boada, Pascal Molat, and Davit Karapetyan, jumped cleanly but to little purpose.  They jumped around two women, Maria Kochetkova and Vanessa Zahorian, who wore slightly different costumes, but did basically the same steps in unison.  Kochetkova, though, did stand out in her solo, playing with the phrasing and making the choreography look almost musical.

Diaghilev, Huh?

"Commedia", "One", "Monotones II", "Shutters Shut", "Fool's Paradise"
Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company
City Center
New York, NY
October 4, 2008

By Mary Cargill
copyright © by Mary Cargill

In his affable, charming opening remarks Morphoses director Christopher Wheeldon explained that the opening ballet Commedia was made to honor the 100th anniversary of Diaghilev's monumental debut in Paris.  This bold (or rash depending on your point of view) statement set very high standards, since Diaghilev was a master of program construction, and a bloodhound of genius when it came to discovering talent.  Judged by these standards, Morphoses is no Ballet Russe; the programming, like last year, lacks variety, and the choreography, with some exceptions (mainly due to Sir Frederick Ashton), was generally not memorable.

Young Love

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 10, 2008

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill

Herman Cornejo made his official debut as Count Albrecht on Thursday night, though David Hallberg's injury meant that it was actually his second performance.  Cornejo is one of ABT's best technicians, but his comparatively slight physique has so far put him in the peasant pas de duex type roles, and he hasn't had much chance to develop a commanding stage presence.  In addition, several of ABT's reworkings of 19th century ballets have substituted the poetic nobility of the ballet prince for acrobatic skills, and so the ability to dominate a stage and create a mood in a few concise gestures has been given short shrift.  "Giselle", though, has been generally spared these "improvements", and Albrecht does have to dominate the stage with his personality and not his jumps, especially in the first act. 

Love Means Having to Say You Are Sorry

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera
New York, NY
July 9, 2008

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill

One of the signs of a truly great work of art is that over time various artists can find new ways to portray the characters and new angles to find.  I expect the original librettists of "Giselle" would be quite surprised at Albrecht's current characterizations, since they felt he could repent and end up happily with Bathilde.  But the story is so strong and so true that Albrecht can be interpreted different ways and be equally moving.  I have seen him as a jaded cad, as an innocent, as a playful boy, and all varieties in between.  Marcelo Gomes, in his moving portrayal, was deeply, truly in love with his buoyant Giselle (Paloma Herrera), a true romantic who could not control his feelings.  He was trapped, in a sense, by his most honest emotions.  His loving concern when Giselle hinted at her heart problems, his protective gesture when she was warned about the Willis, and his rapture when dancing with her were all so believable.  This was the happiest day of his life, too. His one moment of weakness, when he could not bring himself to reject Mathilde in front of the nobility, was his real undoing (and poor Giselle's too of course).  The opening walk to Giselle's grave was staggering in its moving simplicity, with Gomes pausing to cling to his flowers, as if that were all he had left.  His grief on her grave was so painful, it was almost like spying on a private sorrow.  Few performers could make such paroxysms seem real, but Gomes had built such a believable character in the first act, so romantic and so genuinely likable, that I suspect many in the audience were sobbing themselves.

Makarova's Gift

"La Bayadère"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 23, 2006

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2008 by Mary Cargill

The audience at the opening night of ABT's "La Bayadère", as it stood and cheered, probably wasn't thinking about Natalia Makarova, but her production is one of the most valuable gifts ABT has ever received.  Over the years, it has become richer and more layered, but she put the basic structure in place.  It is strongly based on her memories of the Russian production, but she streamlined the more grandiose scenes, and brought the drama front and center.  The original libretto has been translated by  Roland John Wiley, and Makarova's follows it almost to the letter.  (Though the original makes it clear that the High Brahmin is told about the poison snake trick, and that is why he has the antidote on hand, rather than appearing, as in this production, to be a South Asian boy scout, prepared for any emergency.) 

Half Awake

"The Sleeping Beauty"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 19, 2008

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 Mary Cargill

Once upon a time, in far away Russia, there were three brilliant men who loved France and devised a wonderful world based on French ideals of harmony and reason, set in historical periods of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.   To make the world more real, the composer used melodies and harmonies from those periods, the costume designer based his designs on the same periods, and the choreographer came up with some of the most beautiful configurations ever seen, as a visual metaphor of the power of beauty.  But that, as they say, was then.  Other lesser men came along through the years with silly ideas, few sillier than the production that ABT offered last year.  Many of the more egregious changes have been excised, but until the sublime architecture of Petipa is back (ABT for some reason based its choreography on the 1952 Konstantin Sergeyev mish mash), it is just reupholstering the chairs on the Titanic.

FIESTA TIME

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 11, 2008, Matinee

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill

This vibrant, detailed, and exciting performance of the Petipa-based Spanish comedy remotely connected to Cervantes featured, among other joys, the debut of Herman Cornejo as the poor barber Basilio.  The artistic gods aren't known for their fairness, and his comparatively short stature and Puckish looks make the more extravagantly noble ballet heroes a stretch, but his exceptional technique and distinctive personality make him a natural for leading roles.  He danced Basilio like a human gyroscope on springs, but he also made Basilio warm, tender, and playful.  As yet, he doesn't project the calm nobility in the third act of some more naturally elegant dancers, worshiping their Kitris as she twirls away, but he didn't just stand there waiting for his chance; this was more of a friendly conversation.

Avast, Me Hearties

"Le Corsaire"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 24, 2008, Matinee

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill

Memorial Day weekend seemed to turn into the Forth of July with a spirited and invigorated version of the pirate caper.  In the recent past, this ballet has appeared to be danced, not just with tongue in cheek, but with a finger holding the nose, as if the company were barely enduring the admittedly mishmash of styles and confusing story.  Though Le Corsaire will never have the emotional richness or dramatic cohesion of some of the other Russian classics, it does have enough brilliant choreography to be treated as respectfully as it was for the lucky matinee audience.  The highlight was Angel Corella's Ali.  From the opening tableaux, with the pirate ship tossing on the waves, Corella was magnetic, his body tense with eagerness to serve his master.  His quick, sharp nod of understanding when given an order, his pride in his servility, his generous worship of his master's beautiful partner created a true character; even his back seemed to emote.  Corella has always been a charmer, but some of that charm came from a rueful grin when his technical tricks didn't quite come off--"well, I tried my best because I wanted to entertain you" he seemed to be signaling to the audience.  In this performance, there was no need for that, because his technique was rock solid, and he made the most amazing spins and jumps seem easy and almost natural.  He seems to be at that miraculous point when phenomenal technique and theatrical integrity and understanding merge; it was a magnificently complete performance.

Coming Attractions

"ABT Gala"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 19, 2008

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill

As good galas go, this one went quickly, with a lot of variety, and a couple of sets of fouettes to count.  It was, by and large, a preview of the season to come, with excerpts from various works.  The novelty was Antony Tudor's Judgment of Paris, a preview, so to speak, of the upcoming Tudor homage in the fall City Center season.  The only performances I have seen of this sardonic little vignette have been those of the New York Theatre Ballet, led by Diana Byer.  Byer, in fact, was credited, along with the late Sallie Wilson, with staging the ABT production.  ABT's version starred former ABT dancers Kathleen Moore, Martine Van Hamel, and Bonnie Mathis, in a very welcome return.  The major difference between the ABT version and the Theatre Ballet one was in the scale.  The cavernous Opera House is not the best place for sardonic subtlety, and Kurt Weill music worked better, I think, in the tinny piano version rather than the somewhat sweeter, more commercial orchestration used at the Met.  But the imaginative musicality and characterization that Tudor's steps have were so welcome in an evening otherwise devoted to fluff.