posted June 21, 2002 04:56            

For two weeks this season, ballet came back to life in New York as something you could love without hesitation or reservation. American Ballet Theatre, after floundering so long in search of plausible repertory, found it where they should have been looking all this time—in Frederick Ashton. By staging so beautifully two of his greatest works—La Fille Mal Gardée and The Dream—the company not only revitalized its dancers, but revitalized an audience that’s spent far too long dutifully trying to find pleasure in duds like The Snow Maiden, super-duds like Pied Piper, and the Crankotrash of The Taming of the Shrew and Onegin. Gallant stabs at Martha Graham’s Diversion of Angels and Balanchine’s Symphony in C haven’t measured up to these masterpieces. But Ashton suits A.B.T.—and if the company perseveres, he will come to suit the big Met audience, too. As a friend of mine remarked after the cheering at the end of Fille had died down, "You’d have to be dead not to love it."

posted June 21, 2002 11:03            

I really did enjoy "La Fille Mal Gardee." The mime passage he mentions was especially touching and beautifully conveyed by Ananiashvili. And Acosta didn't hurt the production at all...

ABT's production was grander than I remember the Royal's being. But the Royal's fit the simple country scene better and fit the stage at Covent Garden. It would have looked sparse at the Met, so the new production is appropriate, I think.

As much as I liked this ballet, I wonder if the appeal would have been as great if 9/11 hadn't happened. We seem to be craving the simple things in life more than same time last year. Just a thought...

posted June 22, 2002 05:23            

NEW YORK, June 21 (UPI) -- American Ballet Theater has dusted off for its current Lincoln Center season the world's oldest surviving ballet story, "La Fille Mal Gardee" (The Unchaperoned Daughter), in its delectable Frederick Ashton reincarnation created for the Britain's Royal Ballet in 1960.

The ballet's original production premiered in Bordeaux in 1789, the year of the French Revolution. In line with the Revolution's anti-elitist sentiments, choreographer Jean Dauberval turned his back on the gods and goddesses of classical ballet to create a realistic comic ballet about peasants danced to popular folk tunes.

Dauberval's work had its American premiere in Philadelphia in 1794 and New York in 1828. Over the years it was re-staged by at least a half dozen choreographers including Bronislava Nijinska,, sister of legendary Russian ballet star Vaslav Nijinsky, and it was her version that was first danced by American Ballet Theater in 1940, its debut season.

posted June 24, 2002 08:28            

Ethan Stiefel definitely went for the comic approach; he was camp and cartoony. First there was his ridiculous, long BLACK mustache to match his blond hair. He turned in a good performance, at times extremely undisciplined, but in this role, he gets away with it. Technically he is very strong, but he looks somehow light-weight in comparison to what's going on around him. (I feel so unfair even saying this when Ethan is such an accomplished dancer.)

Corella turned in a nearly flawless portrayal of Ali the slave. I've seen him in this role before, and his dancing was superb, but here his characterization was so good that he commanded even when he was standing still. His second act variation was the best I've ever seen (live), with over-the-top virtuosity never outweighing his characterization.

Joaquin de Luz is a small jack-in-the-box who pulled off eight pirouettes as if he were born turning. Both of his pistols fired on Saturday night.

The Odalisques were fine indeed. Karin Ellis-Wentz filled in for Maria Riccetto and did a good job with her brisés, even if she did not look too happy or self-assured about them. Michele Wiles is all length and flexibility and strength. I feel she still needs some time to pull it together with artistry, and that the arms and upper body need some work. But the promise is there. And then there was Gillian Murphy in top form. Her diagonal of pirouettes was frightening: eight turns, I believe, alternating triples and quadruples. I don't usually count, but I wanted to be able to report accurately... Half way through I looked at her face to see if she was "buckling" or losing concentration. Sometimes you can see them thinking, "OK, do I have the energy to keep this up?" Not a hint here. Utter focus and composure. The rest of her variation was equally strong.

In the midst of all this technical wizardry was Julie Kent. She is not of this generation, but her radiant elegance and maturity served as the calm center of the storm around which all this energy swirled. She did pull off the 32 fouettés, but you could see her working hard on technical matters. I didn't care. It was a pleasure to watch her.

Xiomara Reyes did a very fine job with the role of Gulnare. Her acting was great -- I could feel her horror and confusion as she was sold to the Pasha as part of his harem. Her dancing was lovely, her piqué turns were as Kate described. She reminds me in some ways of Cheryl Yeager in that she is pert and petite. Last year I did not understand what the fuss was about and why she was getting bit parts in everything. Here I could understand and I look forward to watching her development in this company.

Also noteworthy was Ethan Brown as the greedy, lecherous, bumbling Pasha.

posted June 24, 2002 11:55            

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Le Corsaire" is a confusing ballet in which stars and those on their way up zip by in razzle-dazzle cameo parts. There was plenty to watch, with three role debuts and many cast changes, when American Ballet Theater presented this late-19th-century spectacle on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon at the Metropolitan Opera House.

There is no one quite like Michele Wiles for big, easy dancing that is inherently classical but has the freedom and intensity of a horse bolting onto the course. But Medora, the beautiful slave at the ballet's center, is an amorphous character, and Ms. Wiles did not seem quite settled into the part at this first performance. She began tentatively with a fixed smile, coming into her own only in the third-act Jardin Animé scene, when she could just dance. On Wednesday Medora also confounded Julie Kent, who started out with an imaginative characterization that eventually grew cloying.

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posted July 02, 2002 14:03            

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American Ballet Theater's production of "Giselle" is crammed with dramatic detail. Repeated performances do not dull the dancers' liveliness and feel for character, all the way back to the back of the corps. But there was surprisingly little rapport between two sets of principal dancers on Thursday and Friday nights at the Metropolitan Opera House. And that diminished dancing that was often inspired.

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posted July 02, 2002 14:08            

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Two performances of "Giselle" at the Metropolitan Opera House suggested that American Ballet Theater's production of this 19th-century classic is in fine shape. Alessandra Ferri and Julio Bocca portrayed the leading roles of Giselle and Albrecht on Wednesday night. Amanda McKerrow and Maxim Belotserkovsky starred on Tuesday night. Both casts were eloquent.

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...And another Jack Anderson article on Giselle:

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Ashley Tuttle and Angel Corella danced their way through love and death on Saturday night at the Metropolitan Opera House when they took over the roles of Giselle and Albrecht in American Ballet Theater's production of "Giselle."

For much of the first act, Ms. Tuttle was a shy, almost self-effacing Giselle. Yet she proved capable of vivacity in her joyous solo, in which the steps were quick and clear. When she realized that her beloved Albrecht was really betrothed to someone else, this mild young woman grew wild in the mad scene.

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posted July 03, 2002 20:22            

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American Ballet Theater followed up its "Giselle" marathon, which included a debut by Marcelo Gomes as Albrecht, with its first "Swan Lake" of the season on Monday night at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Julio Bocca, as a thinking man's Prince Siegfried, and Nina Ananiashvili, an anguished Odette and a mocking virtuosic Odile, had just the right dazzle for a production geared to opera-house splendor.

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posted July 05, 2002 21:09            

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The ballerina reigned in 19th-century ballet, both in the Romantic era and in the later works of choreographers like Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, who were the bridge to 20th-century innovators.

Kevin McKenzie's two-year-old staging of "Swan Lake" for American Ballet Theater is based on Petipa and Ivanov's 1895 version. Typically, they gave the lioness's share of the dancing to the ballerina: tradition has left her with a dual role as Odette, the good swan queen, and Odile, her evil double and imposter.

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posted July 07, 2002 13:19            

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The high points of the spring dance season were surely American Ballet Theatre's gifts to us, both British and both by Frederick Ashton.

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posted July 07, 2002 18:07            

We are used to Swans where it is really Odette/Odile's show. Thanks to the strength of the men at ABT and probably to McKenzie's staging, there is more opportunity to shift the balance in favor of Siegfried. Last night I felt the partnership was just about perfect. Julie, while technically not quite so amazing as the current generation, turns in a strong performance with beautiful line, and she has come into her own as an actress. I'll grant Kisselgoff that, at moments, the acting seems to be superimposed on the dancing, but only at moments. I found Kent's a very moving, convincing Odette/Odile.

Corella has always been a joy to watch. He seems to have matured this year; his characterizations are richer, more textured than in the past. He looks more mature, he relates more fully to his partner. His command of the stage and of his technique are extraordinary. He is a treasure.

Another noteworthy performance was that of Marcelo Gomes as Von Rothbart in his human incarnation. I'd gone in bemoaning the fact that I was not seeing Malakhov in the role; last year he was outstandingly, seductively evil in it. But in a very different, all-powerful interpretation, Gomes was...I begin to run out of adjectives for these men...stupefying.

Throw in Joaquin de Luz lighting up the Pas de Trois, and Herman Cornejo with Craig Salstein in the Neapolitan Dance, and it was an amazing night. And I must not forget the appearance of Frederic Franklin as Wolfgang.

On the women's side, in addition to Julie's fine performance, Xiomara Reyes looked very good in the Pas de Trois, as did Stella Abrera in both the Spanish Dance and as a Big Swan. The corps looked good most of the time, with only a few ragged edges. But it's been a long run...

Flowers flew through the sky, for everyone including the corps. All in all, a wonderful performance to end a wonderful season. Look out West Coast -- here they come!

posted July 08, 2002 14:05            

McKerrow's (possibly last)'Giselle' was beautiful. She looked like a young Ulanova. Very beautiful but not a lot of balon, which 'Giselle' should really have. Stiefel was a powerhouse of an Albrecht. He was an aristocrat who could not really hide it. I was not thrilled with the corps, nor the soloists in Act II. In the past the Queen of the Wilis was most often danced by a principle dancer and I was expecting that level of technique and artistry. Joaquin De Luz was fantastic in the Peasant Pas. What clean beats and high elevation and endless pirouettes.

'Swan Lake' - Ananiashvili and Bocca were greeted as superstars and they are superstars! She is completely glamorous and his technique is so easy and clean. I wish she would not hold her foot so crossed at her knee when she turns, but she is a beautiful artist and the queen of the dance these days.

Herman Cornejo shined in the pas de trois from Act I. His double cabrioles are the best I have ever seen. So high and such space between the beats. He is another fantastic turner. Just keeps turning with ease and in such a perfect position.

I'm not crazy about Kevin McKenzie's choreography for 'Swan Lake'. The old David Blair production was much better, though the sets and costumes for the new production do look like a million and a half.

Best performance for me was Gillian Murphy as Odette/Odile. Her dazzling technique (triple fouettes) and her new level of artistry have earned her the status of my favorite dancer. She is so young, I can only imagine how amazing she will be in a year or two. Carreno was charismatic and clean. A prince of the dance.

This year's ABT is very different from the ABT of last year. The company is looking much more well rehearsed and the level of talent is on par with the great companies of the world. ABT might even be the best in the world.

posted July 08, 2002 18:29            

Who did you see as Myrtha in "Giselle"? You mention it was not a principal dancer.

Kisselgoff commented on the over-crossed foot at the knee that seems to be in vogue in turns (I don't think it was with reference to Ananiashvili; actually I think she was complimenting one of the men for NOT doing it). She didn't like it either.

I think I agree with you in general about Mc Kenzie's choreography for "Swan Lake." The first act seems busy to me, but not with purpose. In concept, I'm still having trouble with the aristocrats and peasants celebrating together in the first act. I do like the dual, expanded role for Von Rothbart. That's concept, though. For actual choreography, I preferred the old version of Act IV. And the character dances are about a draw for me, but I do like this Neapolitan Dance. And I agree with you about the sets and costumes (except maybe for the shorts on the peasant men...).

I can imagine what Gillian Murphy's Odile was like. How was her Odette?

I can't compare with other great companies because I haven't seen any recently enough. But this was a season apart for ABT. There were certainly many world class moments and performances.

posted July 08, 2002 19:30            

The Queen of the Wilis I saw was Stella Abrera. She's very pretty and I liked her solo in Act I of 'Corsaire', but I did not find her up to the demands of Myrtha.

No one equals Makarova in control, but Murphy was a very good Odette. In time she will be a great Odette.

I have a lot of problems with McKenzie's 'Swan Lake'. It's weird for the Queen to have no court in Act I. She has the two ladies in waiting who carry the gift for her son, but they leave and then the Queen leaves alone. She should have ladies in waiting, guards and pages for her train etc.

Why is there a tutor? In this version he is just decoration. No realtionship with the Prince, no tipsy dance with a peasant girl and no almost skipping off with the peasants at the end. I miss that.

As for the Neapolitan Dance, I enjoy it and the little turning competition, but why do all the other countries have men and women and the Neapolitans only have men?

Act IV is the worst. What do the random exits of the swans mean? There are two beautiful pieces of music traditionally used that are gone.

posted July 09, 2002 16:51            

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Recent performances of American Ballet Theater's production of Swan Lake featured a new hero and a new villain.

On Thursday night at the Metropolitan Opera House, when David LaMarche conducted, Nina Ananiashvili was once again compelling in the dual role of Odette and Odile. This time her Prince Siegfried was Maxim Belotserkovsky, a hero with a sunny disposition.

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posted July 09, 2002 16:58            

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Closing its season on Saturday with "Swan Lake," American Ballet Theater introduced a new partnership at the matinee. Gillian Murphy followed up her outstanding debut of last year as Odette-Odile with an amazingly fresh performance and a different Siegfried, José Manuel Carreño.

Ms. Murphy, coached by Georgina Parkinson, one of the company's ballet mistresses, has created a vivid link between Odette, Siegfried's ideal, and Odile, her evil imposter. Her young swan queen foreshadows Odile's dynamism, and she is especially agitated in her first encounter with the prince

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