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Ballet Review: Dancing under the stars

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  • Ballet Review: Dancing under the stars

    The Tech: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
    September 27, 2013 Friday


    BALLET REVIEW: Dancing under the stars

    by Attila Forruchi


    Night of Stars
    Boston Ballet Company
    Boston Common
    Saturday Sept. 21, 2013, 7 p.m.

    The Boston Ballet opened its 50th season before an estimated audience
    of over 45,000 ballet aficionados, performing the dazzling Night of
    Stars in Boston Common last Saturday. The free one-night performance
    featured excerpts from Boston Ballet's entire repertory of classical,
    neo-classical and contemporary ballets. Multiple giant screens, a
    velvety state-of-the-art sound system and the gigantic stage, which at
    times dwarved soloist and pas de deux performances, made for an
    enchanting evening of highbrow artistry.

    The show opener was the classical Don Quixote pas de deux, featuring
    the romantic qualities of the principal dancers Misa Kuranaga and
    Jeffrey Cirio. While the cumbersome distances from the outdoor stage
    made it difficult for most in the audience to appreciate all the
    nuances and delicacies of Kuranaga's exquisite movements, her
    performance remained stunning from all distances and angle.

    Rooster, from Boston Ballet's stunning contemporary repertoire, is set
    to the music of the Rolling Stones and the choreography of Christopher
    Bruce, but it's not just your parents' ballet. In it, the dancers
    swayed in vibrantly colored street clothes against the stark,
    larger-than-life set. As the Stones crooned "Paint It Black," four
    dancers donning stunning black and blood red outfits, drenched in
    hellish soft red lighting, displayed how fluidly ballet dancers can
    move and contort their bodies while remaining loose. Next, the Stones'
    "Play With Fire" set the mood for a duet more reminiscent of an edgy
    flamenco than a classical ballet, the crowds' favorite of the three
    pieces. The last excerpt, set to "Sympathy for The Devil," featured
    vibrant, buttery, samba-esque figures, coloring the movements in time
    that reflected the deep rhythms of the Rolling Stone's ode to the
    Satan. Stylistically it was carnival crashing into post modernism.

    La Bayadère whisked us into the exotica of Regal India, where the
    drama of the unrequited love of the High Brahmin for Nikiya, the lead
    temple dancer (in French, la bayadère), and her devotion to Solor the
    gallant warrior, unfolds in glittery costumes and motifs worthy of a
    Raj. The excerpt chosen, "Golden Idol Variation," is a dream piece for
    any male dancer to perform. It is a tour-de-force of male dancing with
    anti-gravity jumps and powerful, speedy, skillful movements. Avetik
    Karapetyan, the Armenian soloist, rose to the occasion. His stunning
    physique shimmered in gold, and was so well defined that the contours
    of his chiseled muscularity often revealed the physicality of his
    performance. Needless to say, however, I and most ballet aficionados
    would have preferred to see the legendary white act, "Kingdom of the
    Shades," instead of the opium induced dream state of Solor's mind.

    The highlight of the night was the world premiere of Swan,
    choreographed by Viktor Plotnikov with the accompanying score of
    Camille Saint-Saens and performed by principal dancers Lorna Feijoo
    and Yury Yanowsky. Their pas de deux - performed in the cool, dark
    sparsity of a film noir-esque ambiance and minimalist set decor - was
    haunting, tragic, and foreboding. There was nothing to distract from
    their lush, posh and melancholic romanticism - neither Yanowsky's
    superlative topless prancing, nor Feijoo's seemingly endless beautiful
    leggy pointe. The ultimate goal of dancers should be to conceal their
    technique, not to display it prominently. After all, ballet is a
    performing art, not a science; the whole must not only be bigger than
    it is parts, but, more crucially, it must not be reducible to its
    parts.

    No medley of an American ballet company's performance is ever complete
    without Balanchine's Symphony in Three Movements. Not everyone's
    favorite piece, and often dismissed as too showy and toothy by the
    purist, it nevertheless has a charm all of its own. It is to American
    ballet what Grease is to Broadway musicals - an all-American display
    of cheery exuberance with enough topologically twisted formations and
    routines to impress any geometer. The finale is a 3D matrix formation,
    seemingly emerging from the randomness of dancers frolicking around.
    This is a feast for the eyes, but at the same time not brain candy.
    There is too much of everything, and yet one feels unresolved at the
    end!

    Plan To B, by the resident choreographer Jorma Elo, would perhaps more
    aptly be called "Plan B." I doubt it was anyone's favorite, but
    nonetheless it has high energy and is full of accelerations and
    decelerations that take your breath away, if not out of excitement,
    then out of sympathy for the dancers, whose stamina seems to be
    tested. Ironically, the glitterati seated in the VIP caged area seemed
    most impressed with Plan To B. It must be highbrow.

    Another one of Balanchine's masterpieces, Serenade, capped the
    evening. Sixteen maids-in-waiting, dressed in lightly translucent
    draping skirts which highlighted their long-legged silhouettes, danced
    to the upbeat tempo of Tchaikovsky's refreshingly modern
    Viennese-waltz-like score. The solo performance and the ensuing pas de
    deux, headed by Prince Charming prancing onto the stage, was dazzling
    and exciting. Next, the full ensemble was back on stage and draped in
    a steely blue shade of lighting, rendering them elegant and polished.

    Mass performances are never easy to organize, nor are they cheap; they
    oftentimes have a circus-like air about them, but that did not hold
    last Saturday night. Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet's Artistic
    Director, must be proud since the starry night performance went
    silkily smoothly. In fact, the whole night was a success, and should
    have bolstered Bostonians' sense of ownership and pride in their
    hometown ballet company.

    Boston Ballet's 2013-2014 season will feature La Bayadère,
    Balanchine's Jewels, and the ever popular The Nutcracker, Cinderella,
    and Pricked.Post a comment on this article



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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