"Baker's Dozen," "Sinatra Suite," "Meadow," "Fall River Legend";
"Ballo della Regina," "From Here on Out," "Fall River Legend"
American Ballet Theatre
City Center
New York, NY
November 2 & 4(matinee), 2007
by Susan Reiter
copyright 2007 by Susan Reiter
While one cannot fault the worthy intention of honoring Agnes De Mille's choreographic legacy by keeping her works in the active repertory, the revival of her 1948 "Fall River Legend" had a clunky preciousness that brought both these programs, despite the high note on which they began, to a rather flat thud of a close. Perhaps it was because the work was presented as a closing, rather than a middle work, or possibly because ABT has been showcasing mostly streamlined, high-tech choreography, but the ballet -- DeMille's blend of fact and fiction that is her take on the Lizzie Borden story -- felt endless and awkwardly paced.
"Fall River" has always required a galvanizing performance in its central role -- something that Sallie Wilson certainly used to provide, and presumably so did early interpreters such as Alicia Alonso and Nora Kaye. Making their DEBUTS at these two performances were Gillian Murphy and Michele Wiles, bravura technicians (and the company's resident Balanchine specialists, who had tackled "Ballo della Regina"'s ballerina role in its first two casts) who have made occasional earlier forays into this type of dramatic role. Wiles made a strong impression when she performed Hagar in Tudor's "Pillar of Fire," and Murphy has been deepening considerably as a performer in recent seasons.
Wiles did a fine job of conveying The Accused's tightly coiled frustration. One sensed that it took all she had not to give way to her pent-up emotions, and she made the role's occasional borderline-melodramatic moments (such as when she holds on to a wall and twists herself into a pose she then holds for quite a while) part of a truly organic portrayal. One could imagine Murphy's Accused as an outsider just from the way her gleaming red hair provided a jolt within the drab, predictable society in which she is trapped. But though she gave an intelligent performance, she seemed to still be in the midst of a learning process, and the role is not yet a comfortable fit, something she can inhabit from within rather than perform with dutiful meticulousness.
The ballet's scenes of the townsfolk, some with echoes of "Rodeo," feel generic and over-extended. The head-bobbing (to indicate gossiping) and other stylized movements look quaint. The way The Accused touches her abdomen or other parts of her body can easily look silly without the proper motivation and impetus behind them. Too much of "Fall River" suggests De Mille trying to do make an Antony Tudor ballet, while other portions owe alot to Martha Graham. In both cases, what we see on stage is far less persuasive or penetrating than what those two could communicate in their major dramatic works.
As the Pastor who offers the heroine temporary emotional sanctuary from her rigidly limiting family life, Isaac Stappas and Sascha Radetsky gave sympathetic but tame performances. In neither case, did we get a sense of why several of the womenfolk in the congregation flutter around him flirtatiously (shades of "Appalachian Spring"!) or what his connection to The Accused is. It seems that he's the one she latches onto because he happens to be coming down the street at the moment she runs out of her house in desperation.
Martine van Hamel brought a welcome touch of sensuality to the Stepmother, making her less of a caricature of venomous evil, as she seems to be in Georgina Parkinson's severe portrayal. Kelley Boyd was a lively, unaffected incarnation of the Accused's younger self, but her scenes -- and De Mille's attempts to create a memory ballet -- seem like outtakes from a lesser Tudor ballet.
The revival -- the ballet's return to ABT's repertory after eight years -- was staged by Susan Jones, with input from the invaluable De Mille authority Gemze De Lappe. As with "Fancy Free," it gave one another opportunity to admire the subtle brilliance of Oliver Smith's evocative scenery, the way it incorporates real-life detail yet expands into the realm of the imagination.
A new cast of "Ballo della Regina" featured Herman Cornejo's sublime perfection, paired with Yuriko Kajiya's sparkling warmth and vibrancy. His effortless elevation, musical sensitivity, and pristine classical perfection were ideally suited to his role. She was more demure than commanding, making a pleasant debut without seizing the role, and its powerhouse technical demands, with complete authority.