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Unto the Breach

"Swan Lake"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 27, 2014

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2014 by Mary Cargill

"Swan Lake"
Photo © Gene Schiavone

The injury bug has hit ABT with a vengeance, and Friday's announced "Swan Lake" cast, Alina Cojocaru and Herman Cornejo, were replaced by Hee Seo and Roberto Bolle; Seo had already stepped in on Monday for the black act to replace Gillian Murphy, injured during the performance.  This gallantry meant the audience was already rooting for her, but her Odette/Odile is still very much a sketch, illuminated now and then with bursts of beauty.

Chamber Ballet Project

Chamber Ballet Project
Choreography by Diane Coburn Bruning
       and by Jorge Amarante
Terrace Theater
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
June 26, 2014
 
by George Jackson
copyright 2014 by George Jackson

With a repertory for small casts – at most six dancers and a quartet of string players – this new group is aptly named. The dancing is definitely ballet – 21st Century ballet including some pointe work for the women. There is none of the high density of motion, the crowding of steps, or even the stylistic dilution that frequently typifies “contemporary” dance. When incorporating other types of movement such as expressive behavior or tangoing into a piece, the company’s balletic look is not obliterated. Dancers and musicians shared the Terrace’s small stage without cramping each other, helped by Maja E. White’s intelligent lighting. Although most of the performers were appearing together for the first time, they were experienced individuals: Chamber Ballet’s debut had polish.

Cinderella Gets Her Prince and Her Ballet

"Cinderella"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 10, 2014

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2014 by Carol Pardo

Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes are old hands at playing Cinderella and her prince; they’ve done so in two previous productions at American Ballet Theatre. With the acquisition of their third, Sir Frederick Ashton’s version, they--and the company--finally have a ballet worthy of their talents. And the dancers repaid the favor in full.  Given a great ballet to dance, the dancers responded with clarity, avidity and pleasure.

Baryshnikov at BAM

The Old Woman
Direction, set and lighting by Robert Wilson
Written by Daniil Kharms, adapted by Darryl Pinkney
performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Willem Dafoe
Brooklyn Academy of Music
New York June 22, 2014

by Tom Phillips
copyright 2014 by Tom Phillips 

First, the good news: At 66, Mikhail Baryshnikov is

Photo by Lucie Jansch

still a master of movement. His feet look as graceful and fleet, and his physical expressions even more versatile and free than when he landed here as a defector from the Kirov Ballet in 1974. Baryshnikov and actor Willem Dafoe put on an all-star display of physical acting, in Robert Wilson's staging of stories and bits by Soviet absurdist writer Daniil Kharms. But their talents are largely squandered in a show that tries too hard to make a spectacle out of absurdity, and winds up looking more senseless than absurd.

Elements of Style

“Cinderella”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 14, 2014 matinee

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2014 by Leigh Witchel

 

Joseph Gorak and Xiomara Reyes in "Cinderella."
Photo © Gene Schiavone

By the end of American Ballet Theatre’s run of Ashton’s “Cinderella” the company delivered more than balls, pumpkins and slippers. There was solid casting and a clearer delivery of Ashton’s style as well as the steps.

The production itself has only a few rough spots. The toughest elements are the low-tech stage mechanics that haven’t been fully ironed out. If the timing of the blackouts for the switches from pumpkin to carriage or from Cinderella in ball clothing to her double in rags aren’t razor sharp, they look leaden in this age of projections and lasers.

Heart Trouble

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 17, 2014

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2014 by Mary Cargill

Polina Semionova and David Hallberg in "Giselle"
Photo © Gene Schiavone

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" the man behind me shouted after almost every variation during the Polina Semionova/David Hallberg performance of "Giselle".  He certainly had a point.  Seminova is a tall, long-limbed dancer, not a typical Giselle, but she controlled her extremes to present a fully developed character; a ballerina, it seems, is someone who can do anything but has the taste not to.  Her first act Giselle was a shy, happy girl surrounding a spine of steel.  She was devoted to Albrecht, throwing herself in front of Hilarion to protect her lover without the gentle sympathy for the rejected suitor that some Giselles have.  Albrecht was her whole world, and everything she did was for him.  I loved the little impetuous gesture she gave her friends to clear the way so she could dance while he was watching, and the desperate concern she showed when her weak heart might make Albrecht unhappy.  This complete devotion made her mad scene so understandable, since she clearly couldn't live without him.  She had a quiet but intense breakdown, still and broken and could barely lift her arms to pluck the imaginary daisy.

Intimacy

“In the Night”, “Penumbra”, “La Chasse”, “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated”
Pennsylvania Ballet
Merriam Theater
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
June 13, 2014
 
by George Jackson
copyright 2014 by George Jackson
 

Pennsylvania Ballet Company Members Caralin Curcio (center), Laura Bowman, and Jonathan Stiles in Matthew Neenan’s "Penumbra." Photo: Alexander Iziliaev

Dispensing with ballet’s usual partner - a full symphony orchestra performing live – this program celebrated solo and chamber instru-mentation and intimacy. Close formatting benefitted three of the four ballets on the program, yet even the choreographic and musical outlier - William Forsythe’s potentially operatic “Middle” - appeared in a different, not at all unflattering light.
 

The Shoe Fits

"Cinderella"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 9, 2014

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2014 by Mary Cargill

Roman Zhurbin and Craig Salstein as the Step-Sisters in Cinderella
Photo © Rosalie O'Connor

"Who will play the sisters?" was the constant refrain when ABT announced that it would perform Sir Frederick Ashton's version.  The Cinderella story certainly seems like a natural in the full-length sweepstakes--a familiar story with a ballroom setting and a happy ending, but the previous two versions (by Ben Stevenson and James Kudelka) were choreographic duds.  The somewhat episodic Prokofiev music is not pretty in a sweet Disney way, with its occasionally spiky rhythms, but it has glorious moments of rarefied rapture.  Ashton made his steps look so natural, so inevitable, that the musical complications fade away.

A modern fairytale ending

"Cinderella"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
June 4, 2014

by Denise Sum
Copyright © by Denise Sum 2014

Creating a contemporary reimagining of a classic fairytale is a difficult thing to do. With his “Cinderella”, created in 2004, James Kudelka has hit many high notes that offset most of its shortcomings. There are some awkward moments and missed opportunities, but there is also a lot of imagination, wit, and charm. This “Cinderella” preserves the magical and enchanted elements that drive the story, while updating it to appeal to modern day sensibilities. For the choreographer who created such ominous ballets as “Cruel World”, “The Contract”, and a very disturbing rendering of “Swan Lake”, it is surprising that he did not draw on the dark underpinning of Prokofiev’s score more. Then again, perhaps keeping it light was a decision made based on the target audience including children and families. It is a visually stunning ballet with a familiar story that is guaranteed to sell tickets – an undeniable consideration for any classical company trying to survive. “Cinderella” does not ask for much from the audience, save an openness to fantasy and temporary suspension of cynicism.   

Young at Heart

 Pennsylvania Ballet
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.
June 6, 2014

by Ashley McKean
copyright ©2014 by Ashley McKean

Pennsylvania Ballet in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Photo © Alexander Iziliaev

Youthful exuberance prevailed at the Pennsylvania Ballet’s 50^th anniversary celebration at the Kennedy Center this past Friday evening. After Boston Ballet's largely somber 50^th anniversary program earlier in the week, the arrival of Pennsylvania Ballet’s bright, lighthearted “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” came as a refreshing change of pace. Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”—the first full-length ballet that he choreographed in America—uniquely appeals to both children and adults alike. A corps de ballet of more than twenty-five children opens and closes the ballet and guides the audience through Act I, providing a lens through which the youngest audience members can appreciate the themes of Shakespeare’s narrative, even if they cannot fully understand them. The luxurious Mendelssohn score, the magical atmosphere of Act I, and the fleet and fast-paced choreography kept my four-year-old son on the edge of his seat. Some of these same elements—exquisite music and vivid dancing, together with animated humor—drew the more mature audience members into a fantasy world where star-crossed lovers reunite under a magical spell. The Pennsylvania Ballet dancers’ delivery of the technically demanding, classical choreography in Act II gave even the most seasoned ballet goers something to celebrate.