American Ballet Theatre gala

Gala Treats

Opening Night Gala
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 22, 2006

By Susan Reiter
copyright ©2006, Susan Reiter

American Ballet Theatre's opening night gala served up a generous selection of bravura showpieces and concert numbers, but it was the evening’s third offering that got the well-heeled audience officially into the gala spirit. “Le Corsaire Suite,” a hodge-podge assemblage of highlights for five of that ballet’s main characters, made no logical sense, but its seven sections featured a nonstop showcase of flashy, exciting virtuoso dancing, and that’s what people expect on an evening like this.

The second act’s grotto setting was in place, and the celebrated pas de trios for Conrad, Medora and Ali provided the basic framework. But Gillian Murphy, as Medora, wore her first-act costume (and what a borderline-tacky one it is), and Xiomara Reyes turned up as Gulnare to perform her variation from Act One. Herman Cornejo, costumed as Birbanto but performing Lankendem’s variation from that act, scored the first wildly enthusiastic ovation of the evening — and deserved it, for his astounding blend of classical precision and robust vigor.

The other dancers took up the challenge. José Manuel Carreno offered his trademark performance of Ali’s variation, which he pretty much owns by now. With his panther-like attack and creamy phrasing, he makes it thrilling while never giving into the temptation for excessive wildness. Murphy was in exceptional form, glittering elegantly and offering a mind-boggling fouetté sequence — tossing in triples, which she nonchalantly punctuated with a raised arm, and all the while remaining serenely on the music. Reyes was crisp as she swiftly flew through her variation, but couldn’t help seeming lightweight in comparison. It was wonderful to see Marcelo Gomes, out with an injury during ABT’s City Center season last fall, back in all his plush, space-devouring glory.

That one item on the program took care of five principals at a shot on a night when the full roster of principal dancers took the stage — minus the injured Ethan Stiefel, and the less-than-full-time Alessandra Ferri and Vladimir Malakhov. In a nice gesture, the corps de ballet had its moment at the start of the program, performing a brisk, bracing Friends and Villagers’ Dance from “Giselle”’s first act. The gala crowd offered a perfunctory response (and probably wondered what they were seeing), but it was an appropriate and sweet gesture to launch the evening with a sense of the company as a larger entity.

After artistic director Kevin McKenzie made the obligatory welcoming remarks, citing recent achievements (major endowment gifts, a congressional citation as the USA’s “national ballet company”), Caroline Kennedy, always a perfect picture of subdued elegance, put in her annual appearance, offering supportive remarks. ABT is quite fortunate to have this knowledgeable, articulate, committed woman (who earlier in the day was on television in a completely different role, publicizing the Profiles in Courage awards) so firmly in its corner.

Since the Met season offers so little mixed repertory, the inclusion of Jerome Robbins’ “Other Dances” was a pleasant treat, and it received a glowing if slightly restrained performance form Julie Kent and Angel Corella. She tends to deliver the choreography in a very demure manner, and while her silky phrasing is lovely, one misses the touches of earthiness and Slavic rumination that the role can incorporate. At times, one wanted her to be a bit less ladylike. Her first solo was the highlight; the fluid spontaneity of her final diagonal run offstage evoking Isadora Duncan associations. Corella was at his feisty, dynamic best, with a few moments when he become overly emphatic. During the final mazurka, they could have been more mutually playful; when Baryshnikov and Makarova danced this duet, it always felt like a delicious shared joke. When Corella hoisted Kent up for the final shoulder lift, her dress completely covered his face, and she sweetly lifted it before assuming her final pose. David LaMarche was the fine pianist, although his instrument at times sounded a bit wan in the Met’s vast space.

The rest of the program consisted of excerpts from the season’s repertory. “Romeo and Juliet” and the new production of “Cinderella” were not represented. Diana Vishneva was the epitome of womanly allure as she wove a sensuous spell with her solo from Act Two of Kenneth MacMillan’s “Manon” before being swept off her feet and through the air in the strangely hypnotic scene where a group of well-to-do men pass her around. Her sensuous plastique and proud hauteur certainly whetted the appetite for her peformance of the full role later in the season — even if the audience seemed somewhat mystified by this excerpt.

Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Beloservosky’s performance of the “Black Swan” pas de deux (minus variations) from Act Three of “Swan Lake” was somewhat slapdash and forced. Coming right afterward, the luminous clarity of Balanchine’s “Apollo” could not have offered a greater contrast. Carlos Acosta and Paloma Herrera performed their variations and then the duet. He was very much Apollo the athlete, attacking the movement with feral intensity, and his final moments in his solo, working his way to the famous reclining pose, were a bit rough. She was a model of clarity, and their duet – even on a bare stage and shorn of context — vividly filled out the choreography’s crisp, surprising contours.

Since a pièce d’occasion by McKenzie that was built around soprano Ruth Ann Swenson had to be omitted due to the singer’s being indisposed, the one true novelty of the evenings was Julio Bocca’s moody, intense performance of Jose Limon’s “Chaconne.” It was his idea to perform this 1942 solo, which the Limon company has had both men and women perform in recent seasons, and longtime Limon artistic director Carla Maxwell staged it for him. While the compact Bocca has a physique totally unlike the tall, rangy Limon — and doesn’t exude Limon’s inherent nobility — his intense focus and scrupulously detailed attack made a strong case for his choice. Wearing a soft black shirt and pants, he prowled and lunged through what became an exploration of wariness and determination, imbuing the movement with hints of Spanish pride and severity.

The closing selection, the Act Three Pas de Deux and Coda from the company’s glorious production of Frederick Ashton’s “Sylvia,” couldn’t reach the apotheosis it does when seen in context. The absence of the lovely scenery — and the incongruous substitution of six chandeliers instead — did not help. Still, David Hallberg showed that he has the makings of an excellent Aminta as he partnered a slightly stolid Michele Wiles (as Sylvia), and the array of fanciful and mythological figures sailed buoyantly through the celebratory concluding passage. Veronika Part, serenely gracious and expansive as a golden Terpsichore, made a strong impression even in her fleeting moments on stage. She and ABT’s other soloists were hardly to be seen during this gala, but will presumably have their moments during the subsequent eight weeks.

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Gala Treats