Wednesday May 27th, 2015 matinee - Farewells are always bittersweet, and this afternoon at ABT as Paloma Herrera took her final bows with the Company, it seemed rather sad that she should be leaving us since she is in gorgeous physical shape, technically polished to perfection, exuding prima ballerina confidence, and wildly popular with audiences.
Sometimes at a farewell, the occasion overshadows the actual work being performed, but this afternoon's GISELLE was excellent in every way. Paloma's Giselle is a classic: the marvelous feet, the expressive hands; the clarity with which she presents the character's hopefulness, her illness, her devotion to Loys, the devastation of his betrayal, and her fall into madness and death all so perfectly projected in Act I. As a Wili, she is able to portray both spectral remoteness and human tenderness in perfect measure.
Her Act I solo - the hops on pointe and then a swift, swirling manège - drew screams of delight from the audience, and her Wili solo in Act II literally stopped the show: she was called out twice to ecstatic applause. For all the brilliant surety of her dancing, it was her simple gesture of steadfast love after having saved Albrecht that will always linger in the memory.
Roberto Bolle is a blindingly handsome Albrecht, and handsome is as handsome does: his dancing and partnering are superb. As he watches Giselle being crowned queen of the harvest, Bolle's eyes reveal his foresight: "My number's up, this will all end soon." We cannot quite tell if he's taken his village romance seriously or has viewed it as a lark: whichever is the case, he is almost cripplingly devastated by remorse in Act II.
Bolle's bravura solo in Act II and his long series of entrechats were much admired by the audience; he and Paloma sustained a spiritual link throughout their other-worldly encounter, imbuing the adagio with the palpable sense of a dream from which he hopes never to awaken.
The most moving moment of the performance came with their final parting. As Herrera/Giselle was about to descend into her tomb, she stretched out her hand to the bereft Bolle/Albrecht to give him a single flower. He can barely reach her, barely grasp the blossom...her token of forgiveness. That's when I burst into tears.
The cast was a strong one down the line, with Thomas Forster's towering Hilarion, Susan Jones's clearly mimed presage of disaster as Berthe, and Luciana Paris's luscious Bathilde all making a fine effect. Youthful brio and charm marked the Peasant pas de deux as danced by Skylar Brandt and Aaron Scott, with Skylar bringing a touch of rubato to her first solo. In Act II, Devon Teuscher's Myrthe was imperious and sublimely danced, and Melanie Hamrick and Leann Underwood as the principal Wilis floated thru their solo passages with Sylph-like grace.
The final ovation was monumental: many of Ms. Herrera's partners - past and present - and seemingly the entire current ABT roster filled the stage to honor her, heaping flowers at the ballerina's feet. The applause went on and on, with a group of devoted fans yelling "PA-LO-MA! PA-LO-MA!!" At last she appeared alone before the Met's gold curtain to a veritable avalanche of applause and cheers.