It’s never easy to ramp up to negotiate the down ramp in Natalia Makarova’s staging of The Kingdom of the Shades. It just takes constant work and dedication. The seemingly uncomplicated step-arabesque-plie becomes torturous when it requires unrelenting consistency among 24 dancers for five minutes as they descend in a single file — arabesque after arabesque after arabesque. The first two performances this weekend revealed uncertainty in ABT’s corps and a need for more rehearsal. Despite luminous examples that would make Makarova proud, too many of the dancers stepped onto a bent or relaxed knee, hiked the back leg to 90 degrees or lower, stopped the movement to adjust, and then pitched the plie to hike the back leg up higher. Wobbling knees and ankles were the norm more than the exception. The start-stop-start again was the norm more than the exception. Smooth ascent of the working arabesque leg was the exception. The Shades got the arms and hands beautifully harmonized, but the ascent of the legs to arabesque was painful to watch.
Thankfully, things improved once the Shades cleared the ramp and picked up the pace. They not only danced in admirable unison, but their clomping shoes were in the same musical pitch. Apologies for throwing a little shade at the Shades, but ABT needs to address this problem which we deal with year-in and year-out. Of course, the noise issue is mostly due to the flooring that ABT transports around. The shoe noise not only soils the dancing, but it soils the music. The ABT Orchestra was playing its heart out (bless those cello players) and it was unfair for the dancers to mar the orchestra’s artistic effort by adding undesirable percussion.
The Shade soloist trios were delightful at both performances. Yoon Jung Seo, Sierra Armstrong, and Ingrid Thoms danced at the matinee; Lèa Fleytoux, Fangqi Li, and Elisabeth Beyer danced in the evening. Standouts were Seo and Fleytoux for the authority in their pirouettes, Armstrong for the lustrous texture of her developpes, and Beyer for her every move, every position, every moment in the grand allegro variation.
Isaac Hernandez and Joo Won Ahn have Solor in their blood. Outstanding technical and dramatic performances from both. Hernandez in the afternoon poured energy into Solor’s grand allegro and attacked the turns like the celebrated tiger hunter he is. However, it was Ahn in the evening who slayed the biggest tiger with his soaring double tour assembles, grand jetes, and confident pirouettes. Ahn was on and it was good to see.
Hee Seo’s Nikiya began with such promise. She was absolutely lovely and dancing with such gorgeous epaulment and conviction. Her rapport with Hernandez was persuasive. Then she psyched herself out on the scarf pirouettes and most notably the pirouettes to arabesque that followed. Seo can do double pirouettes. She just can’t do them under the stress of the game. Other than those turns, she was truly lovely.
Chloe Misseldine enjoyed a phenomenal Nikiya debut in the evening. What a year this woman is having. Her performance was a celebration of classical accomplishment in every way. Only some small struggles with the scarf turns kept this from being a perfect debut. While Misseldine would be a shoe-in for Gamzatti which we hope to see one day, we know that she could deliver Nikiya’s vulnerability and heartbreak as well.
The afternoon performance included Christian Spuck’s Le Grand Pas de Deux danced by Skylar Brandt and Jake Roxander followed by Twyla Tharp’s Known by Heart “Junk” Duet with Breanne Granlund and Herman Cornejo. Spuck’s piece is a tongue-in-cheek slapstick acrobatic comedy where the ballerina wears glasses and carries a purse. Tharp’s piece is a street-smart acrobatic contest between the man and woman that clearly ends with the woman’s win. Both pieces are nice to see occasionally, but not more often.
In the evening, Lèa Fleytoux and Herman Cornejo danced the very brief pas de deux from Frederick Ashton’s Rhapsody. It was beautiful but so short that it almost seemed like a 3-minute commercial break. SunMi Park and Michael de la Nuez cleared the hurdles of Gsovsky’s Grand Pas Classique in stunning fashion. She is coming back from injury whereas he seems to be trying to push through one. Let’s not allow de la Nuez, who has some of the most velvety grand allegro since Carreno, to tumble his enormous talent toward trauma that will lead to a painful absence. His dancing was superb but clearly under physical stress. We enjoyed every blessed moment he is on stage and live to see him take on all of the major classical roles; so let’s take care of this artist–and all of our artists. We’re missing Devon Teuscher this season terribly. Just terribly.
Sleeping Beauty Act III closed each program. Willa Kim’s costumes from the 2007 McKenzie/Kirkland production were brought back. Question: Who wears the same wedding dress a second time after the first marriage failed miserably? Isn’t that begging for bad karma?
No, this Aurora’s Wedding Act III doesn’t stand on its own legs. It’s like another commercial. This was McKenzie’s 2007 idea finally realized. It was dull, of course — beautiful wedding dancing by Christine Shevchenko and Daniel Camargo aside. Shevchenko and her pristine classicism deserve an Aurora in a full length Sleeping Beauty although we don’t think those long, beautiful attitude positions would serve her well in the Rose Adagio balances. Her performance on Saturday afternoon revealed the confidence and joy one expects in an Aurora on her wedding day along with stately port de bras, pitch-perfect elegance, perfect feet without showing the effort to be perfect, and an engaging rapport with Camargo. As Prince Désiré, Camargo needed only to dance his every day elegant way. The role was a natural fit. He didn’t have to do anything but be himself in order to convince the viewer that he was Désiré. The bride and groom made it through the fish dives but they could have used more drama and daring.
Remy Young was miscast as the Lilac Fairy. She simply does not possess the basic technique that is required for soloist and principal roles. Her dismal turning effort on Saturday afternoon was not something we should see on ABT’s stage.
Jarod Curley, Fangqi Li, and Sierra Armstrong were a handsome trio in the Rose Pas de Trois. Armstrong’s composure, length, and satin quality of movement are such a joy to watch.
Lèa Fleytoux and Jake Roxander danced a rousing Princess Florine and Bluebird.
The HH Pump Award, a tiger boot, is bestowed upon Joo Won Ahn for his big, big performance as Solor. It’s what we’ve been waiting for.
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