| NINA'S NEW YORK 2003 SEASON, PART 1
Nina’s 2003
Spring season with American Ballet Theatre began on opening night, May 5, when she danced
part of a Don Quixote pas de deux with Julio Bocca. This Friend unfortunately had a
competing commitment that evening, so I can’t report on that event. However, I did
see her on April 28, at a gala for the Youth America Grand Prix, where she danced The
Dying Swan. It was remarkable that the audience, which heretofore had been cheering
(and interrupting performances of) the competition winners and the other guest artists in
a manner more suitable to a sports event, kept completely and appropriately quiet when
Nina entered the stage. All were completely enthralled by the mystical quality of her
interpretation of this familiar piece---it is as if she has distilled the essence of
beauty and simply poured it into her seamless bourrées and birdlike arm movements to give
us a few minutes of pure magic and elegiac peace. Thunderous applause and vocal approval
broke out only at the end.
OFFENBACH IN THE UNDERWORLD
Choreography by Antony Tudor
Music by Jacques Offenbach
Arranged and orchestrated by George Crum
Staged and reconstructed by Donald Mahler
Assisted by Leslie Rotman
Scenery and costumes by Kay Ambrose
Costumes recreated by Ray Diffen
Lighting by Brad Fields
The NYC Friends of Nina went to the first (May 6) of her two performances of Tudor’s Offenbach
in the Underworld---revived by ABT last fall and now brought to the stage of the
Metropolitan Opera. A surprise to many longtime ballet goers who expected a pale
copy of Gaîté Parisienne, Tudor’s depiction of an evening in a Parisian
café by a variety of people from all levels of society proved to be a more thoughtful,
grittier take on that scene, with much sly humor yet with an underlying sympathy for the
foibles of his characters. Nina relishes the chance to show a comic aspect of her artistry
as the Operetta Star. As she did last October, she manages to be quite naughty but never
vulgar in her portrayal of the flirty singer who tantalizes all the men around her. The
basically light-hearted one-act ballet opens with a Painter (Ethan Brown) and his young
model, the Daughter (Kelly Waddell) of owner of the café (Olga Dvorovenko---yes, the
mother of Irina). The lights turn brighter as the place fills up. A veiled Debutante
(Xiomara Reyes) and her friends, eager for some fun, arrive, followed closely by His
Imperial Excellency (Marcelo Gomes, suavely mustached). When the Operetta Star (Nina)
bursts into the scene, she immediately commands the men’s attention--- as much by her
looks as by her insouciant attitude, as she struts around while rotating her shoulders
provocatively. Naturally, His Imperial Excellency goes after her---although she seems more
attracted to the Painter. When the Queen of the Carriage Trade (Stella Abrera), a
courtesan, walks in, the aristocrat is diverted and the Operetta Singer redirects his
attention by raising her skirts to show off her fancy underwear. It’s impossible to
describe how Nina does this—there is a teasing quality to her eyes, yet also a
delicacy in her movements that makes the gesture shocking but not crude. It’s just
deliciously naughty. Things heat up and rivals get into a fight---there is a general melee
that the Operetta Singer coolly ignores---seating herself at the sidelines with her legs
on a table. After tempers cool down, a group of Local Ladies start a can-can; tired and
slouchy, their spirited efforts seem all the more authentic for its sloppy formations and
a sense of desperation. In the end, the tired revelers retire for the evening---the
Operetta Star leaving with His Excellency. Yet, as the young model returns to the now
darkened room (to the tune of the Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann), the
singer returns with a billet-doux for the Painter---who might, after all, be her next
lover.
LA BAYADÈRE
Music by Ludwig Minkus,
specially arranged by John Lanchbery
Choreography by Natalia Makarova, after Marius Petipa
Scenery by Pierluigi Samaritani
Costumes designed by Theoni V. Aldredge
Lighting by Toshiro Ogawa
Production Coordinator: Dina Makarova
After an absence of some years, ABT has revived its superb production of La Bayadère,
and Nina astounded us again by her mastery of the title role of Nikiya. The ballet has
become an audience favorite since its company premiere in 1980, and with refurbished
costumes, it shines brightly once more, with the corps de ballet drilled to top form this
season by Makarova herself. This Friend saw four performances, including both of
Nina’s (May 10 mat., May 14), and casts led by Alina Cojocaru/Angel Corella/Stella
Abrera (May 10 eve.) and Paloma Herrera/Jose Manuel Carreño/Michele Wiles (May 13).
Saturday, May 10 was an exciting day for balletomanes---I saw many familiar faces in the
audience at both matinee and evening performances. No doubt many were eager to compare the
much-touted newcomer, Cojocaru, with the gold standard, Nina. For this viewer, it was no
contest. Nina, with her dynamic partner, Juliio Bocca, and with Gillian Murphy as Gamzatti
gave a blazing performance---technically brilliant and suffused with emotion. In Act I,
Scene 1, a night scene in front of a temple in a forest clearing, she fairly melted into
Solor’s arms in their pas de deux by the sacred fire---her open arms and thrust
forward torso vividly affirming her love and trust. Her headlong jumps into lifts were
breathtaking and culminated in perfectly aligned poses that breathed meaning. Though
tender with her lover, this was a strong-willed temple dancer who was firm in her
rejection of the High Brahmin (Brian Reeder) and adamant in resisting Gamzatti’s
bribes. Her entrance for her command performance at the betrothal party (Act I, Scene 3)
held in the brightly lit palace gardens, had an air of challenge that turned into pleading
gestures---her softened arabesques and subtly varied backbends, as well as her facial
expressions were more eloquent than any words could have been.
As wonderful as she is in Act I, Nina in the Shades Scene (Act II) is truly an ideal. In
my years of watching this and many other productions of La Bayadère, there has
been no one who could touch her technical finesse in expressing Nikiya’s reproof of
Solor’s betrayal. This magically choreographed scene, bathed in soft blue hues,
starts with the corps dancers appearing onstage in one line, in a series of arabesques
penchées. It can be viewed and enjoyed as a plotless classical piece, but it attains
deeper significance with Nina’s portrayal. The purity of her classical style, the
power of her technique and projection gives it a moral dimension beyond mere dancing. The
perfectly formed phrases and poses refer to a world beyond the material; every time she
raises her right hand, it is not merely the completion of a movement---it is a reminder to
Solor that he broke his vow of eternal fidelity to her. She does not forgive him---she
reminds him of what he lost. In his opium dream, Solor loses her again as she disappears
in a blur of turns---stunningly fast as performed by Nina, who poses in a final arabesque
and vanishes.
Makarova’s reconstruction of Act III, though viewed as a denouement after the Shades
Scene, is nevertheless a welcome resolution to this highly dramatic story. The Bronze
Idol, alone in the dimly lit chambers of the temple, with a giant Buddha-like image lit in
eerie green, comes to life and dances. He disappears into an upper chamber as the High
Brahmin arrives to perform the marriage ceremony. The wedding party arrives, illuminated
by temple dancers bearing tiny candles in each hand. Nikiya’s ghost disrupts the
proceedings repeatedly, but in the end Solor bows down to accept Gamzatti. As the vows are
about to be completed, there is an earthquake and temple crumbles in a blaze of fire,
smoke and the rumble of falling rocks. (This coup de théâtre always brings a gasp to
first-time viewers.) As the smoke blows away, Nikiya and Solor are seen---holding two ends
of a veil---reunited in the Kingdom of the Shades.
Bocca, the senior male principal on ABT’s current roster, continues to perform at a
technical level to be envied by younger colleagues. He shows his maturity in his
concentration---always strongly projecting his character---and his unstinting support of
his ballerina. He is a true partner in the best sense of the word. Gillian Murphy is
emerging as a formidable Gamzatti who only needs to attain better control of her dramatic
and technical talents to be a truly memorable one.
Alina Cojocaru and Angel Corella are physically well-matched. Cojocaru has a very slight
figure and dances with a lightness and suppleness that is refreshing. Her arms are
languidly eloquent and she has the gift of playing with time for emphasis within a dance
phrase. However, her slight frame works to her disadvantage in big scenes, and she does
not yet have the strength to have full authority in the Shades Scene, The veil dance
revealed her weakness on May 10. And her seeming preference for overly broken-in toe shoes
spoils her overall image. Angel continues to grow in maturity as an artist---but he
can’t help trying too hard in places. Stella Abrera acted well as Gamzatti, but needs
work technically.
Paloma Herrera, although dancing well this season, remains a cipher dramatically. She and
Jose Manuel Carreño seemed like they had never met before. They performed as separate
units, Jose Manuel looking rather under par and uninvolved. Michele Wiles was her
beautiful self as Gamzatti, but lacked menace or authority. It could be that she is more
suited to Nikiya. All three Gamzattis needed more coaching in the exotic arm movements
that make that character’s third act solo compelling. Of three sets of Three Shades,
I particularly recall Anna Liceica and Veronika Part for the clarity and fluidity of their
dancing.
La Fille Mal Gardée |
