Anniversary Presents
"Les Sylphides", "Jardin aux Lilas", "Rodeo"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 13, 2015 matinee
ABT is showing off a number of its early productions in the first week of its spring season in honor of its 75th anniversary. Since the company is a comparatively recent convert to the full-length blockbuster approach to scheduling, the first week is made up of triple bills, always a hard sell to the Met's summer audience. These bills, however, are a joy to ballet fans and the Wednesday matinee showed off three of the best: the romantic reverie "Les Sylphides", the dramatic "Jardin as Lilas" and the exuberantly American "Rodeo".
"Les Sylphides" was the first work that ABT (then known as Ballet Theatre) performed at its 1940 opening and its misty formations never go out of style. The corps looked very well rehearsed and danced with light flowing arms and a soft delicacy. The matinee had a luxurious cast: Sarah Lane in the waltz, Veronika Part in the prelude and Stella Abrera in the mazurka and pas de deux, with Joseph Gorak as her poet.
Lane was especially sparkling in her variation, with astounding control in her attitude turns, seeming to hover in the air. Part gave the prelude a powerful, dramatic tinge, using her back as if she were a Myrtha who hadn't been jilted. Abrera, with her long arms and delicate jump is a fine Romantic stylist. There were a few minor partnering hitches in the pas de deux as the "let me whisper the secrets of the forest" poses were a bit rushed, but Gorak, who was born to wear white tights, was an urgent and lyrical poet, alive to every mood. He is a dancer who can look out at the auditorium and see moonlight.
"Jardin aux Lilas" is another moonlit ballet performed during ABT's first season, but the mood looks down on loss, resignation and despair. The subtle interactions and emotions work better on a smaller stage, but Tudor's imaginative musicality as the rich romanticism of the Chausson score contrasts yet matches the tight, repressed movements of the forlorn foursome always makes an impact. I have read that at its premiere Tudor sprayed the theater with lilac scent, and this performance could have used some of it. Xiomara Reyes (Caroline), Thomas Forster (Her Lover), Alexandre Hammoudi (The Man She Must Marry), and Christine Shevchenko (An Episode in His Past) were a bit dry and tentative, backs not exactly rigid and timing not always precise. The quick entrances and hushed, alert glances were not always as spontaneous as they can be. It did come to life, though, in the magnificent tableaux, as Caroline's soul creeps out of her body to try and reach her lover. Reyes' used her eyes and body to show an unswerving but dreamlike and ultimately futile determination.
"Rodeo" is set in the bright West, far away from the moonlit Edwardian period, but with its raucous cowhands and prissy women trying to capture and civilize them equally distant to today's audience. Nowadays it should probably come with a trigger warning for women's studies students, as the story of a tomboy who desperately wants to win a man is not exactly a welcome scenario. But Agnes de Mille (the choreographer and original Cowgirl) lets the heroine show a touching honesty about the need to fit in, even though the Cinderella finale, where the Head Wrangler and the Champion Roper fight over her, is really a dream too far.
Misty Copeland, who made her debut, missed much of the vulnerability and loneliness of the little Cowgirl, stressing the broad, comic possibilities. She seemed punchy and confident, hitching up her pants and tilting her hat while trying to ride the bronco with an almost aggressive disdain--these little moves can show a haunting tinge of desperation as the Cowgirl vainly seeks acceptance. This more modern approach undercut the dress-up finale, since Copeland gave the impression she would rather cut up the Ranch Owner's Daughter's dress than wear one. But vulnerability and complexity may come with time and she certainly looked fetching in her costume.
Craig Salstein, as the Head Wrangler, is a more experienced "Rodeo" performer and he gave the extroverted, socially awkward guy, whose basic approach to women was to grab at them, an underlying sweetness. He seemed to recognize his own loneliness under the bravado as he took pity on the Cowgirl's plight, and his wonderfully danced tap showpiece seemed to come from an understanding that he could really be himself with someone. Performances like this are true presents to the audience.
copyright © 2015 by Mary Cargill
