ABT – Le Corsaire 5/26

The pirates are back!  Tall, blond and suave.  Short, blond and suave.

 

What’s wrong with this picture?

 

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

 

You could put a carrot top on stage as Conrad or Lankendem in American Ballet Theatre’s Le Corsaire and this would still be an all around enjoyable and highly entertaining production that is perfect for introducing the reluctant or uninformed to the art form.  It’s a good “date ballet.”  It’s a good Mom and Pop ballet.  It’s a good kids’ ballet.

 

Tonight’s opening of Le Corsaire included outstanding performances by all of the principals with a top-notch effort from Carlos Lopez as Birbanto, Conrad’s friend.   Carlos really stepped out tonight and delivered some of the best dancing and best characterization Haglund has ever seen from him.  Fierce jumping, swaggering, sneering, and some pretty good pirouettes were all in place tonight.

 

David Hallberg and Paloma Herrera were sensational as Conrad and Medora delivering the right balance of spectacular and lyrical, always complimenting one another, and were especially beautiful in the lush Act II PdD.   Haglund’s friend remarked on Paloma’s transformation, “She’s all ballerina now.” 

 

Daniil Simkin as Lankendem was simply incredible!   Huge jumps.  Huge turns.  Pirouettes followed by a one-legged push into a double tour.  But that wasn’t all.  His Lankendem was funny, engaging, animated and had all the sleaze of a Manhattan landlord.  An absolutely terrific performance!

 

Yuriko Kajiya was a lovely Gulnare with gorgeous endless arms and jumps where she seemed to suspend in mid-air.

 

Angel Corella as Ali was, well, what hasn’t been said about this performance over the past decade?  No matter how many times one sees Angel’s bursts of energy in Act II, it is still amazing.  Haglund dares to say that Corella has made this production the success that it is.  That’s not to lessen the contributions of others such as Bocca and Carreno, but when you remember Le Corsaire performances at ABT, Corella bursts to the forefront.  What a happy, happy time he has given us.  How lucky we are.  It is unfortunate, however, that the introduction of a most obnoxious blue tutu into the PdT mix has really done Ali a disservice by making his costume appear dull and dirty.  Now the tutu grabs all of the light leaving Ali dancing with inadequate lighting and spoiling some of the spectacular effect of what he does.  Who could possibly think that the addition of that blue tutu was an artistic improvement?  It really sucks.

 

And last, but not least, Stella Abrera is back on her feet!  Tonight she performed beautifully as one of the three Odalisques, the others being Maria Riccetto and Isabella Boylston.   Pristine, sparkling, and always perfectly turned out, Stella made an encouraging comeback for which we are most grateful.  Haglund is so happy that he awards her this extraordinary Chanel Pump Bump award:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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