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What a Waste

“Le Jeune Homme et la Mort”, “Kiss”, “Concerto Grosso”, “Whispers in the Dark”
Darcey Bussell and Igor Zelensky
Sadler's Wells Theatre
London, U.K.
November 28 to December 2, 2006

by John Percival
copyright 2006 by John Percival

This was a pointless evening that did little or nothing for its stars or its audience. We were told repeatedly that Darcey Bussell and Igor Zelensky were performing a joint programme because they like working together, but look at what happened. The only piece in which they both appeared was Roland Petit's “Le Jeune Homme et la Mort”, and this is a ballet where the two characters are associated only dramatically rather than dance-wise. Two further problems. It doesn't really suit them, and it wasn't well mounted. Bussell tried hard to hide by her acting that she has too nice a nature for the bitch who drives her artist lover to death. But Zelensky follows Baryshnikov and Nureyev in demonstrating how stars from Petersburg can miss the essential qualities that made the very different Jean Babilee so sensational in this role created for him as the greatest dancer of his generation a full 60 years ago. Way back in the 1940s I went night after night to watch him, but even seeing that searing performance only once would leave an indelible impression. Zelensky's dancing put too much emphasis on quick, small movement and not enough on desperate passion. And he didn't even have a fully authentic version; where for instance was that incredible leap from the table with the body parallel to the ground (you can see it in a photograph of Nicholas LeRiche in the Paris Opera's production — although I must admit that he is the only dancer who has ever reminded me of how Babilee used to dance). Zelensky might have looked better in Christian Berard's original costume — inspired by the overalls worn by the young Picasso — and we certainly needed a more authentic reproduction of Wakhevitch's studio setting than this over-decorated version hired from Milan.

The rest of the evening was no better. The two stars began the show with their individual numbers. Bussell had a seven-minute duet, “ Kiss”, specially made by Alastair Marriott to recorded bits and pieces by Samuel Barber. Partnered by William Trevitt (a late substitute for injured Rupert Pennefather), and wearing a skimpy leotard by Adam Wiltshire, she posed and was manipulated in brief sequences inspired by Camille Claudel, the sculptor Rodin's lover and pupil. A very slight work doing nothing for Bussell or Marriott.

Zelensky's solo “Concerto Grosso” (music by Handel) has exectly the opposite problem. Eighteen minutes continuous for one dancer is excessive; much of it must be limited in exertion, wandering around and waving his hands. Alla Sigalova's choreography doesn't sustain its occasional ingenuity enough to counter this.

Neither of the stars was in the evening's longest piece, “Whispers in the Dark”, which is performed by six soloists of the Novosibirsk Ballet, now directed by Zelensky. They look good dancers but spoiled by Edwaard Liang's choreography, fussy and lacking patterns, which wastes its Philip Glass accompaniment. Lighting and stage management all evening was abysmal, and the announced Russian Orchestra of London disappeared from the show when Zelensky decided at the dress rehearsal on the afternoon of the premiere that he preferred to use a familiar recording for his solo. Altogether a thoroughly disappointing presentation from two such stars, and one that left quite a few of their fans unhappy.

Photo is of Darcey Bussell and Igor Zelensky.

Volume 4, No. 44
December 11, 2006

copyright ©2006 by John Percival
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