Thursday October 30, 2008 - Is there a more princely dancer these days than David Hallberg? Matthew Murphy has generously loaned me one of his beautiful dressing-room photos of David (above). Now that I've started going to ABT with much greater frequency, watching David onstage is becoming addictive. His performance last week in the Tudor ROMEO & JULIET pas de deux was exceptional and it marked the start of a two-week mini-Hallberg festival for me, seeing him twice in BALLO and with Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux still to come.
Above, an Andrea Mohin photo of David Hallberg in Balanchine's BALLO DELLA REGINA. In tonight's performance David's evident joy in being able to do what he does gave BALLO its impetus. Everything is so light and fluid: the clarity of his steps and the elegance of his line. His partnering is effortlessly smooth. David's dazzling performance elicited a brilliant response from Michele Wiles who gave the most scintillating performance I have seen from her to date. The filigree of the rapid steps posed her no problems; her jetees and fouettes were reeled off with real sparkle. Moreover, her facial expressions which sometimes in the past have seemed too 'fixed' now have taken on a more naturally joyous quality. Michele and David did Balanchine's jewel of a ballet proud.
The attractive demi-quartet maintained the high level set by the principals: Isabella Boylston, Kristi Boone, Simone Messmer and Leann Underwood each displayed the lustrous finish their solo passages demand while their distinctive personalities gave an added appeal to their dancing. In the corps, Jacquelyn Reyes and Hee Seo were particularly fetching.
The pas de deux from ROMEO & JULIET again made me wish to see the complete version of the ballet in Tudor's setting. The Delius music is a welcome contrast to Prokofiev's (much) more familiar ROMEO score. Xiomara Reyes (above) was such a sorrowful Juliet, on the verge of tears throughout. Her performance was moving in its emotional candor..and she danced with gentle grace. Gennadi Saveliev as Romeo was thought by Susan and Leo to be too expressionless and cool. I felt differently: he seemed to be to be steeling himself for his inevitable departure. If Reyes' heartbreak had gotten to him he might never have left Verona: his face as he walked away from her was set, with eyes focussed on his unknown future. Saveliev's partnering was very strong and he loomed over Reyes protectively.
JARDIN AUX LILAS is just as moving and miraculous as I remembered it from the last time I saw it - thirty years ago. Thomas Forster and Melissa Thomas (in a Lois Greenfield photo, above) created an atmosphere of furtive tenderness and poignant despair as the ballet sweeps inevitably to its heart-stopping final moment when the lovers are separated forever. Tudor uses the Chausson score (his Poeme for Violin and Orchestra) to delineate the shifting dynamics of the two relationships which are central to the ballet: Caroline and her young Lover, and the Man She Must Marry with a mysterious Woman From His Past. Caroline wishes only for the chance to be alone with her Lover for one last time but other guests, unaware, keep intruding. Her husband-to-be finds himself attracted anew to his former mistress, boding ill for his impending marriage to Caroline. Caught in the inevitable flow of a situation which is beyond their control - for none of them would dare break the frame of convention - they come and go in the shadowy clearing of the lilac garden as fate closes in on them.
Veronika Part danced and emoted as the Mistress with consumate authority and Vitali's Krauchenka as The Man She Must Marry was cool and severe, allowing only the most subtle hints of where his heart really wanted to take him.
As Caroline and her Lover, Melissa Thomas and Thomas Forster were so entirely natural and so movingly and helplessly borne on the tide of fate which would tear them asunder. Ms. Thomas is a delicate beauty with a pale complexion and a vulnerable aspect to the lyrical poise of her dancing. Mr. Forster was something of a revelation with his modest gallantry and the sheer sincerity of his portrayal. The slender young danseur has an innocent expression and was utterly believable as a man who is losing the one thing he wants and can do nothing to prevent it. In their youthful ardor and frustration, always reined-in by a sense of decorum, Melissa and Thomas were the perfect match for this incredibly touching ballet.
Adding a final touch of charm to their success, the two young dancers seemed a bit unsure of how to react to the audience's warm reception. If they continue to give performances such as they gave tonight, they will learn the curtain-call routine soon enough. Their uncertainty was refreshing, really.
I especially loved the first curtain call after JARDIN where the dancers were seen in a tableau representing the emotional complexities of the ballet rather than just standing in a row and bowing. Really lovely.
COMPANY B (Andrea Mohin photo) seems darker and darker each time I see it. The veneer of extroversion gives it entertainment value and I suppose some people in the audience simply see it as a fun finale to an evening of dance. But tonight, death and despair were lurking just below the surface.
Mikhail Ilyin in Tico-Tico, Nicola Curry in I Can Dream, Can't I?, Carlos Lopez in Joseph! Joseph! and Thomas Forster with Jessica Saund in There Will Never Be Another You were all highly enjoyable, with Mr. Forster capitalizing on his success in JARDIN. Joseph Philiips danced with appealing playfulness in Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - until he was gunned down. And special kudos to Roman Zhurbin who showed an authentic Tayloresque flair in both his dancing and his free-wheeling stage manner. COMPANY B is a masterwork on another level, too: the Andrews Sisters are terrific harmonists.
David Halberg has the most amazing feet for a man....
Posted by: Laura | October 31, 2008 at 02:05 PM
Yes, and he's really been at the top of his game this Autumn season...
Posted by: Philip | October 31, 2008 at 04:39 PM
I greatly enjoyed the Ballo (altough I agree with Macauley that as good as she was, Michele Wiles will not make me forget Merrill Ashley in the role) and Company B (ABT did a terrific job with that and I also now have a renewed appreciation for the work of the Andrews Sisters), but quite frankly, both the R & J Pas De Deux and the Jardin aux Lilas left me cold. I don't question your very enthusiastic response to both. But the fact is that neither one really touched me. In the end, truth and beauty are to a great degree subjective. I guess I am simply not a "Tudor" person.
Posted by: Bob | October 31, 2008 at 08:54 PM