ABT's Closing Night GISELLE

Saturday July 12, 2008 - The closing performance of ABT's season at the Metropolitan Opera House was a Kent/Stiefel/Wiles GISELLE. Marty Sohl's photo of the ABT Wilis in Act II. Maybe it wasn't a great idea to see GISELLE again quite so soon after the excellent Wednesday matinee; tonight's performance was far better-attended and marked Sascha Radetsky's last performance with ABT at the Met and also had a stellar central trio of principals. But the tremendous atmosphere of youthful romance  and broken promises that Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo created on Wednesday was tonight replaced by a more traditional balletic concept. Julie Kent and Ethan Stiefel danced wonderfully all evening - and excelled in Act II - but they seemed in Act I to be 'ballerina and danseur' rather than Giselle and Loys.

Julie Kent as Giselle in a Roy Round photo. Julie's Giselle has a great sense of fragility in Act I; pallid and demure, she almost seems doomed from the start. Quite often Berthe's admonitions to her daughter not to dance seem pointless but in this performance her motherly premonition plays perfectly off Julie's interpretation. In the meantime, she's dancing with remarkable beauty and poise, especially the tricky hops-on-pointe phrase which rightly elicited a wave of applause. Her solo after being crowned Queen of the Harvest had a beautiful lightness and flow. Julie played the mad scene with long moments of meditative stillness interspersed with wild passages of frantic movement. This paved the way for her splendid portrayal of the Wili/novice in Act II.

Ethan Stiefel (photo: Richard Perry) came flying onto the scene in a rush of romantic impetuosity, hair bouncing on cue. Ethan looks great with his high leaps and expansive extension. He is playful but genuinely tender with Giselle and shows solicitous concern when she has an attack of illness. But when Bathilde and the courtiers arrive, he seems to shrug off his entire incognito escapade with a "what-was-I-thinking?" attitude. He pays the price with his remorse at the start of Act II. Ethan and Julie have performed together so often that they seamlessly attain coordination of gestures and the timing of their dramatic passages. That they have kept their interpretations fresh is a tribute to their artistry. It's a truly impressive partnership.

Act I was something of a trial for me though, since my excellent orchestra seat found me in the midst of a particularly annoying group of patrons. I am not sure really why some people bother to come to the ballet; the people in front of me talked in exaggerated whispers. Two rows ahead a couple were having some sort of crisis and in the midst of Julie's mad scene they got up and left. Behind me was a woman who clearly was just released from some ward for consumptives while on my right was a gentleman who must have had ants in his pants the way he kept fidgeting and moving around in his seat. He also maintained a running commentary to his wife as to what he liked or disliked in the staging; he loved the dogs, of course.

The woman on my left at least was very attentive and extremely enthusiastic, applauding vigorously whenever a dancer accomplished a turn or leap; she literally gasped and sighed thru each of Craig Salstein's combinations in the Peasant pas de deux. And since Craig was dancing with his usual appealing charm, she had a lot to fuss over. Despite a momentary blip in the partnering, Craig and Yuriko Kajiya were delightful both for their dancing and presentation. Ms. Kajiya has impressed me this season; along with Mlles. Seo, Fang, Ahn and Tanatanit she reminds us of the deplorable lack of Asian dancers at NYCB. Sascha Radetsky was a vigorous Hilarion and Susan Jones again made a strong impression as Berthe.

The moment the curtain fell on Act I, I made my escape and went upstairs in search of a place where I could concentrate. The house was nearly full but Susan clued me in as to some empty spots and I was very happy up there, and especially glad to be able to fully savor the excellent second act.

Michele Wiles (Myrthe), her supporting demi-solistes and the ABT Wilis opened a thoroughly impressive second act, making me forget my unpleasant experiences downstairs. Michele is icy and commanding; I love the way she covers space with her long legs and enhances the amplitude of her steps with expansive use of port de bras. Kristi Boone and Melissa Thomas were first-rate as Zulma and Moyna, their solo passages danced with security and a breadth of style which echoed Wiles. The corps were splendid but I do think the two waves of applause when the crossing rows hop in arabesque across the stage are a bit silly and spoil the atmosphere. Julie and Ethan were magnificent: Julie starting out with those whirling spins in place. Later she suffused the adagio with poetic tenderness drawn from the haunting sadness of the melodies. Her Giselle, though delicate, wove a thread of strength which sustained her and allowed her to bring Albrecht thru his ordeal. Ethan danced with generosity and subjugated the technical demands to the poignancy of their joint interpretation. Their last farewell on Giselle's grave was overwhelmingly moving as she left him with a single flower, a token of her final forgiveness.

Whether it was the power of the performance or the audience's reluctance to say adieu to the Company at the end of their season - or a combination of both - it was gratifying to hear the din of applause and cheers which greeted the dancers for a sustained ovation at the end. The departing Sascha was given a royal send-off by the crowd and after Julie and Ethan bowed they stepped aside and made deep reverences to Sascha. Then Ethan went over and gave him a champion's salute. Julie was accorded a riotous din of bravas and she and Ethan basked in a long joint bow before the curtain as hundreds of flashbulbs popped creating a feeling of celebratory fireworks.

Comments

[jose]

Your usual excellent review was almost overshadowed by the news of Sascha's departure from ABT.Do you know what his future plans are?

[Philip]

I believe Sascha is joining Dutch National Ballet.

[Deborah]

A wonderful review! I saw Giselle on Tuesday night (same cast, I think) even though I didn't plan on going after seeing (the truly awful) "Merry Widow" last weekend. That said, I am a huge Ethan fan (and wish he was still with NYCB), and find Julie Kent just lovely! The craziness (with the audience) that goes on at the Met is such a turnoff that anytime I go (twice a year a least. That insanity doesn't happen at the ABT season at City Center - this year it will be somewhere else because of City Center renovations) that it almost always spoils the performances. I'm guessing Sascha (so good! I wish he'd come to NYCB instead of Dutch National Ballet) is leaving because he never had enough to do at ABT. But what do I know? I'm a NYCB gal, afterall.

[Philip]

I think ABT will be at City Center October 21 - November 2 with a season featuring some important Tudor ballets.

[ruth]

wow the news of Sascha leaving came out of no where!-at least this is the first place i've seen it mentioned Pity that the talented trio that graced the silver screen for Center Stage is now no longer at the same company. Sascha is one of my favorite dancers and i'm very sad to hear that he is leaving. I know Stella's been injured for much of the season but what are her plans? Is she staying at ABT...i'm just really glad I got a chance to see the two of them dance when they guested in Ballet hawaii's Nutcracker two years ago.

[Philip]

As far as I know, Stella will stay with ABT.

[jolene]

Radetsky's going to be on tour - I'm hoping to see him in Orange County. It's been really great to see him grow into a really mature dancer.

I think you hit it on the dot when you mentioned Julie Kent's "fragility". To me, she seems like she would be the quintessential Giselle.

[Ichabod]

I wonder how Sascha feels about his departure being announced here. There's no announcement on the Dutch National Ballet website.

[A]

The news about Sascha is such a shock! If he joins the Dutch National Ballet, what will happen with Stella Abrera? I'm assuming she's staying with ABT. This is very upsetting news as he's definitely one of my favorite dancers in the company.

[Philip]

Update: Sascha Radetsky is returning to ABT.