“Le Corsaire”
American Ballet Theatre
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
April 12 & 14, 2013
by George Jackson
copyright 2013 by George Jackson
Kennedy Center during its four decades has now shown five different productions of “Corsaire” - not counting excerpts. All derive from Marius Petipa's late 19th century versions in Russia of what was originally a French ballet. The first version, brought by the Kirov/Maryinsky company, became more than an adventure spectacle about pirates and pashas when danced by the right cast. On such occasions it turned into a commentary on the difference between entertainment and art. The Bolshoi's staging was sophisticated in a different way, invoking the refinement of French styling in both its dancing and miming. The three other versions - ABT's initial production, the one it just premiered and Washington Ballet's minimax edition - seemed made to amuse and astound, managing that directly, simply, straightforwardly. All three appear to be variations on that theme and all were assembled by Anna Marie Holmes. On this visit, ABT danced Holmes's newest "Corsaire" five times with substantial cast changes in the ballet's 11 leading roles.
American Ballet Theatre
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
April 12 & 14, 2013
by George Jackson
copyright 2013 by George Jackson
The April 12 performance, the run's second, didn't yet look lived in by the company. The crowd for the first act's bazaar was static instead of simmering, roiling. The third (last) act's big classical ensemble - the Jardin Anime - had precision but lacked perfume. As the story's principal lovers, Medora and Conrad, there were two physically well matched dancers, Veronika Part and Cory Stearns with their big, ample, shapely bodies and handsome, expressive features. What they needed to do but didn't was to bond before our very eyes. Part stretches stunningly yet didn't appear to relish the precise stitching Medora must also execute. Her fouette turns, however, were proud and as steadfast as might be the Statue of Liberty's. Stearns moves spaciously although sometimes too loosely.
Major in the roles of Medora's and Conrad's sidekicks, Gulnare and Ali, were Yuriko Kajiya and James Whiteside. She articulated ever so vividly the spring and resilience in Gulnare's steps. He seemed an arrow shot from the bow. Characterizations for the treacherous pirate Birbanto (Arron Scott), slave dealer Lankendem (Jared Matthews), and the Pasha (Roman Zhurbin) tended to the stereotypic. However the dancing of Matthews and Scott, as well as that of Kristi Boone (Birbanto's Pirate Woman partner) and the 3 Odalisques (foremost Simone Messmer, Zhong-Jing Fang and Devon Teuscher) was interestingly individual.
Most dance numbers associated with "Corsaire" are in this production - the Pas d'Esclave (duo for Gulanare and Lankendem), the Grand Pas (its trio version for Medora, Conrad and Ali), the so-called bedroom duet for Medora and Conrad (looking not Petipa-era at all) and, of course, solos for Medora and Gulnare as leaders of the Jardin Anime. Missing and missed, though, is Medora's travesty solo in sailor boy guise.
The Byron-based story of the ballet has been sanitized. In the Pasha's harem there are his wives and assistants but no named concubines and eunuchs. The visualization of the pirate ship and its wreck in a storm is so-so. Can super-stars make this "Corsaire convincing?
At the last performance of the run, Sunday afternoon April 14, ex-Bolshoi dancers Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova were cast as Conrad and Medora. ABT's Danil Simkin (ex-Vienna) and Herman Cornejo were Ali and Lankendem. The house was almost sold out. Craig Salstein's Birbanto and Sarah Lane's Gulnare contributed. Skylar Brandt, Luciana Paris and Christine Shevchenko danced the Odalisques, Zhong-Jing Fang was Birbanto's caractere partner, and Zhurbin again caricatured the Pasha.
Cornejo started the cannonade by tearing onto the stage and letting loose tightly coiled loops in the air. He also characterized the slave dealer as someone street wise. Unfortunately his role dwindles too soon. To see Vasiliev in white tights was a shock. His legs have gained mass. However, mass x acceleration = force. The force of of Vasiliev's dancing is phenomenal. One's eyes don't just see the impact he makes but feel it. In splits, he raises his legs so that the toes touch the palms of his outspread hands. In leaps, he switches direction with a snap. Where does the energy go when he suddenly stops in his tracks? An amazing contrast is Simkin's Ali. The supple flow of his torso and the quicksilver spins suggest that the slave he plays must have been born a prince. As villain, Salstein is a tough cookie. Among the women, Osipova keeps up with the men. There's a lift to her dancing that gives it spontaneity. She phrases precisely without seeming sharp. Temperamentally, though, Osipova isn't given to wooing the viewers .
Together, Osipova and Vasiliev were more of a pair than Part and Stearns, but that's far from being iconic lovers. The bazaar crowd looked livelier in this performance and in Jardin Anime there was some charm. Although it seems simple, ABT's new "Corsaire" hasn't quite arrived yet.
Credits. Anna Marie Holmes staged ABT's current "Le Corsaire" after Marius Petipa and Konstantin Sergeyev. Kevin Galie reconstructed the score after Adam, Pugni, Delibes, Drigo and Oldenbourg. The Maryinsky version referred to was Oleg Vinogradov's; word-of-mouth credits the late Peter Gusev with initiating that reconstruction. The Bolshoi reconstruction, based on Stepanov notations, was by Yuri Burlaka and Alexei Ratmansky.
Major in the roles of Medora's and Conrad's sidekicks, Gulnare and Ali, were Yuriko Kajiya and James Whiteside. She articulated ever so vividly the spring and resilience in Gulnare's steps. He seemed an arrow shot from the bow. Characterizations for the treacherous pirate Birbanto (Arron Scott), slave dealer Lankendem (Jared Matthews), and the Pasha (Roman Zhurbin) tended to the stereotypic. However the dancing of Matthews and Scott, as well as that of Kristi Boone (Birbanto's Pirate Woman partner) and the 3 Odalisques (foremost Simone Messmer, Zhong-Jing Fang and Devon Teuscher) was interestingly individual.
Most dance numbers associated with "Corsaire" are in this production - the Pas d'Esclave (duo for Gulanare and Lankendem), the Grand Pas (its trio version for Medora, Conrad and Ali), the so-called bedroom duet for Medora and Conrad (looking not Petipa-era at all) and, of course, solos for Medora and Gulnare as leaders of the Jardin Anime. Missing and missed, though, is Medora's travesty solo in sailor boy guise.
The Byron-based story of the ballet has been sanitized. In the Pasha's harem there are his wives and assistants but no named concubines and eunuchs. The visualization of the pirate ship and its wreck in a storm is so-so. Can super-stars make this "Corsaire convincing?
At the last performance of the run, Sunday afternoon April 14, ex-Bolshoi dancers Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova were cast as Conrad and Medora. ABT's Danil Simkin (ex-Vienna) and Herman Cornejo were Ali and Lankendem. The house was almost sold out. Craig Salstein's Birbanto and Sarah Lane's Gulnare contributed. Skylar Brandt, Luciana Paris and Christine Shevchenko danced the Odalisques, Zhong-Jing Fang was Birbanto's caractere partner, and Zhurbin again caricatured the Pasha.
Cornejo started the cannonade by tearing onto the stage and letting loose tightly coiled loops in the air. He also characterized the slave dealer as someone street wise. Unfortunately his role dwindles too soon. To see Vasiliev in white tights was a shock. His legs have gained mass. However, mass x acceleration = force. The force of of Vasiliev's dancing is phenomenal. One's eyes don't just see the impact he makes but feel it. In splits, he raises his legs so that the toes touch the palms of his outspread hands. In leaps, he switches direction with a snap. Where does the energy go when he suddenly stops in his tracks? An amazing contrast is Simkin's Ali. The supple flow of his torso and the quicksilver spins suggest that the slave he plays must have been born a prince. As villain, Salstein is a tough cookie. Among the women, Osipova keeps up with the men. There's a lift to her dancing that gives it spontaneity. She phrases precisely without seeming sharp. Temperamentally, though, Osipova isn't given to wooing the viewers .
Together, Osipova and Vasiliev were more of a pair than Part and Stearns, but that's far from being iconic lovers. The bazaar crowd looked livelier in this performance and in Jardin Anime there was some charm. Although it seems simple, ABT's new "Corsaire" hasn't quite arrived yet.
Credits. Anna Marie Holmes staged ABT's current "Le Corsaire" after Marius Petipa and Konstantin Sergeyev. Kevin Galie reconstructed the score after Adam, Pugni, Delibes, Drigo and Oldenbourg. The Maryinsky version referred to was Oleg Vinogradov's; word-of-mouth credits the late Peter Gusev with initiating that reconstruction. The Bolshoi reconstruction, based on Stepanov notations, was by Yuri Burlaka and Alexei Ratmansky.