ABT 2002 SEASON
AT THE MET OPERA HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY - EXCERPTS, SHORT PIECES AND LA FILLE MAL GARDÉ
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Nina’s extensive engagements with ABT this season (18 performances at the Met) has kept the Friends happily occupied. Nina herself has certainly been busy, rehearsing and coaching her roles and especially having to relearn the part of Lise in Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardée. Excerpts and Short Pieces Of course, Nina was the epitome of classical style in Act III of Sleeping Beauty (May 21, 25), with Bocca as her ever-attentive Prince Desiré. However, this truncated version of the Petipa masterpiece does not really showcase her sufficiently---one misses her subtle development of the character in the full ballet. Coaching by the staff of the Balanchine Trust showed its effect in performances of Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Symphony in C. This Friend had the privilege of watching a rehearsal. It was fascinating to note how the careful emphasis on details and dynamics can shape a ballet to fuller effect. Onstage, Nina and her partner, Jose Manuel Carreño, seemed to explode with new vitality and confidence in what in balletomane talk is affectionately called Tchai Pas (seen May 27, June 8). Both played with the timing of their steps for greater excitement. Nina alternated swift and slower movements within a musical phrase with astounding control and finesse. It simply took your breath away. Nina being Nina, she played with different parts of her solos on different evenings, always making the fiendishly difficult look effortless. Carreño’s partnering of Nina has become surer; she leaped into his arms for fish dives fearlessly. For their exit lift, Nina timed the arc of her leg and the release of her hands exquisitely---the extra verve igniting excited bravos and extra-long ovations from the audience. The company as a
whole looked much better at the Met in Symphony in C (May 24, 29, June 10). On that
big stage, Balanchine’s symmetrical formations had room to breathe, and the corps
looked much more confident and coordinated than when seen at
Having witnessed
two long rehearsals of Fille, with the original
Alain, Alexander Grant, doing most of the coaching, I was more than prepared for the total
triumph of the performances. I must admit that this Ashton masterpiece is one of my
favorites, and I was fortunate enough to see Rudolf Nureyev as Colas during one of the
Royal Ballet’s The ballet opens at dawn, with a rooster and his coterie of hens waking up, delightfully shaking and stretching their legs and wings. Soon Lise appears, obviously expecting to see Colas, a young farmer. When she can’t find him, she blithely starts her chores, stirring a bowl of cream; later she finds a ribbon and starts playing with it, finally tying it into a lover’s knot for Colas to find. As Lise exits, Colas (Carlos Acosta) enters the stage, finds the ribbon and rejoices in a cocky solo. The lovers meet, but Lise’s mother, Widow Simone (Guillaume Graffin), who has other plans for her daughter, soon separates them. She sets Lise to churning butter, but as soon as she leaves, Colas returns and soon butter churning is forgotten as the lovers express their feelings in a beautifully crafted “Ribbon Dance.” They are interrupted by the arrival of farm girls who invite Lise to play. Colas slips away as Lise and her friends make merry. The suspicious Simone puts a stop to their games and is chastising Lise for neglecting her chores when Thomas (Brian Reeder), a wealthy vineyard owner, and his son, Alain (Carlos Lopez) enter. Thomas asks for Lise’s hand in marriage to his son, an odd and clumsy creature who amuses but repels Lise. They set off to the harvest, Lise and her mother in a donkey cart, the rest following on foot. At the cornfield, the farm hands, led by Colas, celebrate the harvest in a joyful dance. The parents push Lise and Alain to dance together, but Colas manages to interpolate himself, making it a pas de trois. When Alain tries to mingle with the harvesters and take a turn at flute playing, the farmers mock him and he has to be rescued by his irate father. Lise and Colas are left to dance together, later joined by Lise’s friends in a further development of the lovers’ “Ribbon Dance.” A climax of this set piece finds Lise holding the ends of several ribbons and pivoting on one pointe--- as if she were the centerpiece of a carousel---while her friends circle around her. When Simone returns and starts scolding Lise for dallying with Colas, Lise and her friends divert her by asking her to dance. She is delighted to comply and is soon fitted with “sabots” for her famous “Clog Dance.” A “Maypole Dance” follows, which in turn is interrupted by a sudden storm, at the end of which Alain and his red umbrella are blown aloft by the wind. Act II finds Lise and Simone inside their farmhouse, drying themselves off after the storm. The mother, after pointedly locking the door, sets her daughter to work spinning, hoping this will keep her out of mischief. However, Simone soon gets sleepy and Lise, who has spotted Colas near the gate, tries to take the keys from her pocket. Simone awakes, and makes Lise dance to her tambourine accompaniment. Sleep soon overcomes her again. The clever Colas meanwhile has managed to open the top half of the door, and the lovers manage a pas de deux with Colas supporting Lise from outside the room. The harvesters arrive, bringing the sheaves of grain and asking to be paid. Simone goes out to take care of them. Lise, frustrated at being locked in alone in the room, soon diverts herself by imagining her married life with Colas---even miming the antics of their children. Suddenly, Colas jumps out from the stack of sheaves, to Lise’s great embarrassment. She is soon consoled by Colas’s declarations of love, and they exchange scarves. When Simone returns, Lise hides Colas in her bedroom. Simone, noting that something is amiss, thinks it best to lock Lise in her bedroom. Thomas and Alain arrive, bringing a notary to execute a marriage contract. When it is signed, Simone gives Alain the key to Lise’s bedroom. After some moments of comic indecision, he opens the door to find Lise, in wedding attire, kissing Colas. The lovers, supported by their friends, ask for forgiveness---reluctantly, then fervently given by Simone, to the fury of Thomas and the pathetic bafflement of Alain. They leave abruptly, leaving the rest of the party to rejoice. The story is pure delight, and Ashton’s choreography tells it with masterful invention, making the steps project character and feelings. But he charged the dancers with the difficult task of seeming to breeze through each scene while actually executing a lot of challenging movements. The part of Lise is particularly demanding, as she is almost constantly on stage and dancing. A test of stamina comes at the end of the ballet – the “Wedding Pas de Deux”, featuring a complex set of steps and jumps trumpeting the lovers’ triumph. Ashton requires fleet and accurate footwork, effortless jumps. The use of the torso and arms is eloquent, but differs from the Russian bravura style. The wonder of Nina is that she managed to “reshape” her arms and torso to fit the Ashton mold to a great extent. Those familiar with her Kitri in Don Quixote know that she has a spunky, sunny side. Her Lise is a delicious mix of naughty and nice. She clearly is fond of her mother, but she is determined to marry the man she loves. Of course, she dances big at all times---she can’t help projecting the aura of a star. Some may have preferred a more demur interpretation of Lise, but those who have viewed film clips of Ashton’s original---Nadia Nerina---will concede that the choreographer wanted a bold interpretation of this character. Carlos Acosta, the Cuban virtuoso, displayed easy jumps and wonderful turns, along with great natural charm. With his height and muscular build, he also proved a good physical match for Nina. He was alert and secure in his partnering. Guillaume Graffin, as Widow Simone, extended his range as actor and dancer. His characterization was truly endearingly hilarious---and his joy in performing was infectious. Carlos Lopez is already an effective Alain, repeat performances will surely give him more insight to the character to allow him to gain our sympathy at his rejection. The June 1 performance was superb, the one on June 5 near perfection. |