Youth's Promise
Valentina Kozlova's Dance Conservatory Performance Project
Annual Spring Gala 2011
Symphony Space
New York, NY
April 16, 2011
Valentina Koslova, the Bolshoi-trained former New York City Ballet principal, has a ballet school and showed off her dancers in the recent gala. The most promising of these have done well on the competition circuit, but these dancers did not have the slick, brittle demeanor of so many competitors; the sheer joy of dancing shone through. I could see into the wings from my seat, and saw the younger ones watching raptly and generously applauding their cohorts. It is of course, not fair to hold these students to professional standards, but the evening offered some very fine performances.
The first act was a sort of greatest hits selection from La Bayaderewithout the shades' entrance. We saw the shades' pas de trois, the three solos, Gamzatti (Sarah Steele) and Solor (Albert Davydov, a guest from the New Jersey Ballet) in the betrothal pas de deux, and a brief finale, with Gamzatti dancing with the shades. The dancing was sharp and clear, with a soft and gentle upper body. Maggie Yin Horowitz, as the third shade, stood out for her pillowy arms.
Sarah Steele is a tall dark-eyed beauty, with a regal carriage. Gamzatti's solo was only slightly modified--she did only a few of the Italian fouettes, and didn't manage all thirty-two fouettes, though the ones she did were nicely timed, so that she ended, not with a gasp, but with a double. Davydov threw in some fine turns and was a generous partner.
The second half had a more traditional gala feel, with a series of technically extravagant classical variations, mixed in with some modern offerings. The school seems short of boys (there were no male students to be seen), so, in addition to Davydov, Vitali Krauchinka, from American Ballet Theatre, was recruited. He has made his mark at ABT as an imaginative and powerful mime, but he is a fine classical dancer, and generous partner. He performed Gsovsky's Grand Pas Classiquewith Veronika Verterich. The pas de deux has challenged many experienced dancers, and Verterich didn't carry off the difficult balances, but she managed to give the impression that she could have--it was a thoroughly professional presentation. Her turns and footwork were fine, but what impressed me the most was the way she managed to give the impression that she was dancing for her partner, not for the audience. This modesty, combined with a confidence not to be overwhelmed by technical difficulties, appeared in all the performances, and made for a very engaging evening. It would be interesting to see what these fine dancers could do with a complete ballet, to see if they could present characters as well as elegant technique.
copyright © 2011 by Mary Cargill
