A Bevy of American Ballet Theatre Swans
It was an exciting night, June 16, and a sold-out audience had come to see as ABT's Russian, Bolshoi-trained couple, Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovsky perform in Kevin McKenzie's version of "Swan Lake" at the Metropolitan opera.
Although the roster of stars in the role of Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried this season has included: Julie Kent and Angel Corella and with Vladimir Malakhov; Ashley Tuttle and Julio Bocca; Paloma Herrera and Giuseppe Picone, Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes, Amanda McKerrow and Ethan Stiefel, Nina Ananiashvili and Jose Manuel Carreno, it was Dvorovenko and Belotserkovsky who attracted the passionate devotion of their fans.
What is it about "Swan Lake" that causes such ardor? Surely it is the virtuosic steps that require the maximum level of technique, stamina, emotional projection and contrast between the Swan Queen's dual roles that are the great challenge in performing this much-revised classical ballet.
Other classical ballets presented by ABT this year as in the past - "Giselle," "Romeo and Juliet," "Eugene Onegin," "Cinderella," "Don Quixote" - and others, like "Swan Lake," follow a formula that has been tested and has endured: the presentation of a conflict in the scenario, believable characters in a romantic situation, and a resolution, sometimes ending in death as in "Giselle" and "Romeo and Juliet." As Odette, in the famous pas de deux, Dvorovenko's interpretation had the rubatos beloved by the Bolshoi interpreters, and incorporated steps not seen in execution since the "real" Bolshoi Ballet visited some time ago. Her battements serr or suivi (swift beats by one foot against the ankle of the other) vibrated magically. Missing in the more recent Sovietized coaching is the absence of long balances, as in the difficult ACT III variation of Odile that begins with an la seconde followed by a double rond de jambe. The trend is to extend a dvelopp up to the ear and do the circles on the way down. One remembers the breathtaking balances of Alicia Alonso and Maya Plissetskaya. Another change is in the frenzied port de bras, "swan" movements with undulating elbows, that are overdone and distracting. Nonetheless, Dvorovenko's interpretation was detailed to her very eyeballs and memorable.
Her partner, Belotserkovsky is more akin to the Maryinski style of soft landings and he performs far fewer impetuous turns than other Bolshoi male dancers. He is a tender Prince and a superb and considerate partner as he supported his ballerina, who bravely danced with three fractured ribs!
They, like Malakhov, who played a suave, seductive and sinister von Rothbart in Act III, against Brian Reeder's evil von Rothbart in Act I, "took the stage." That old term indicates a performer's command and presence in a role, and awareness of theatrical values that fall short of exaggeration, yet fully play out a character. In that manner, former Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo danseur Frederick Franklin, all but stole the scene in his entrance as Wolfgang, the Prince's tutor. Franklin, who recently turned 87 years old, belongs to that class who believe there are no small roles, just small actors. He can play with others, yet be distinctive.
Weakest point in most American interpretations is the character dances. ABT's corps lacked rhythmic nuances, proud and noble bearing. In the ballet corps work as well, the group appeared fatigued and out of sync with each other. Good corps de ballet work is a joy to see when its members have peripheral vision for staying in choreographic patterns and kinetic awareness of others on stage. If a group can master being a good corps, without some members standing out as disinterested, become endowed with precision with no member calling attention to herself as an individual, it can present a freshness that can ignite an audience. It is the basis of freedom gained with discipline that gives solo work a foundation unattained in any other way. A corps represents the company's level of technique apart from soloists or stars. A sense of loyalty is required to the style of the company (even when the members come from various training), a dedication that makes a wholeness of performance. While the standard of ABT remains high, that weakest link looms out of proportion.
Costumes by Zack Brown provide the proper Germanic look and Duane Schuler provided lighting that made the dancers visible.
Deborah Zall, modern dancer, choreographer and producer of "La Bonne Dame: Remembering George Sand," recently performed as Sand at the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in Manhattan. Zall's cast included Nicola Iervasi, as Alfred de Musset, Sand's lover and actress Tanny McDonald reading the words of George Sand as the writer, who explains the logic of her assuming a male persona to exist in the "man's world" of the 19th century.
Zall is an intense performer, who does extensive research into the roles that have been created for her by the Graham family of choreographers and for those she has created. Her performances are riveting, deep in meaning and produced with meticulous care.
Photo by: Frank Peters