Balanchine at ABT

ABT's "Tribute to George Balanchine" opened at the Metropolitan Opera House Monday night.

Theme and Variations was a bit sleepy to start off; Paloma Herrera and Marcelo Gomes took the leading roles, and it was mostly danced well, but there was very little spark or excitment until the finale. They seemed to be thinking through everything, though Gomes was still able to wow in his variation.

Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux: Irina Dvorovenko was spectacular in this role, a marked difference from her pretty but cold Raymonda on Friday. She seems to excel in the purely technical roles, but assuming a character is harder for her. She simply showed off her prodigious technical gifts in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and to great effect. Maxim Belotserkovsky was an adequate partner, but faded into the background behind Dvorovenko.

Mozartiana: First time seeing this piece (and the first time for ABT dancing it), so I can't say much to compare it to other times it has been danced. I did enjoy it, however, most especially because of Nina Ananiashvili's performance in the Farrell role. She was fantastic; she fully gives herself to the role, dances with great musicality, and projects a very warm and appealing stage presence. It was entirely different from most of the times I've seen her in classical roles, so I was impressed. Angel Corella was her partner in the Theme & Variations section, and he was a bit over-exuberant and consequently rough around the edges. Pushing too hard, there were many wobbles and mis-steps all over the place, but the audience still loved him. Corella only really needs to smile to have the audience in his hands. Herman Cornejo danced the Gigue. I was struck at how the costuming and sets for the production make it look like they are all at a funeral - especially the Gigue soloist's costume. Black everything, with some white embellishments here and there. Meanwhile, the music decidely does not invoke feelings of death. Maybe I need to read the book on Mozartiana to learn a bit more about this...

Ballet Imperial: First time view for this one also, both in the "Imperial" version and in "Piano Concerto No. 2" version. I enjoyed it immensely; the stage patterns and movement of the corps is endlessly inventive and interesting, and the way Balanchine plays with the music and choreography is thrilling. The dancing was quite good, though I get the feeling that it could have been more. Gillian Murphy was the lead ballerina - she has toes of steel, and especially in the first movement, she really seemed to "bounce" on pointe, or use it as a firmly anchored pivot point (if that made any sense whatsoever). Carlos Molina as her cavaliere was particularly strong, especially in the second movement, when he does a lot of stuff alone. Michele Wiles was bright in the soloist role. All could work a bit on the musicality though...everything didn't quite mesh as perfectly with the music the way things do at NYCB, but it worked and I still loved it.

Looking forward to seeing more casts in this program before I finally have to go home to Southern California. :-(