Paloma Herrera and Marcelo Gomes delivered a Tchaikovsky PdD more stunning than Balanchine could ever have imagined his piece could be. It was, in a word, perfect. Balanchine’s choreography was a walk in the park for these two phenomenal dancers. They embellished it with simple elegance and each built on the other’s skillful efforts. Marcelo’s pirouettes and grand jetes were exceptional tonight with one multiple pirouette so perfectly balanced that he savored its ending like he was sipping Dom Perignon. Paloma’s upper body was beautiful and quietly expressive thereby making the incredible articulation of the legs and feet more apparent.
This was not always the case. Haglund remembers maybe 5 or 6 seasons ago at City Center noticing the beginning of the Paloma transformation in a Paquita PdD where there seemed to be a mature sense of values developing. Over these past five years, we have watched her evolve into a uniquely gifted and beautiful artist. Bravo to both.
Tonight Haglund observed what might be the beginning of another such transformation. Theme and Variations led by Michele Wiles and David Hallberg was quite a contrast to what we saw last fall at City Center. Subdued is not the right word to describe Michele's performance tonight. Perhaps thoughtful or measured or balanced or royal or perhaps all of those words. There was no slam bam in-your-face technical boasting. It seemed that great care was being taken not to emphasize the tricks if that would compromise the elegance. Michele came closer to bringing herself in balance with David tonight – if that makes any sense. As usual, David was all elegance and easy ballon. The beautiful articulation in his legs and feet is always admired and appreciated.
The program this evening included Allegro Brilliante with Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel. It had a couple of rough spots, but was an enjoyable performance none the less. Haglund continues to be troubled by Gillian’s clunky looking shoes. They make her feet look archless and stiff – all of which is exacerbated by the shine and color of the shoe satin. The corps was outstanding with Eric Tamm especially noticeable for his aplomb and attention to detail. Whenever before has a simple step back with the opening of the arm and turn of the wrist been worth the price of a ticket?! Mr. Tamm is prince material from top to bottom.
Mozartiana was the middle piece of the program with Veronika Part and Max Beloserkovsky. Veronika was absolutely beautiful throughout, but had some difficulty with her turns. Max was handsome and attentive but, at times, had his very talented hands full trying to keep Veronika on track in their PdD. Mozartiana is a little long and has enough twirling around and bourrees for three ballets. The black and white costumes were pretty and were a nice relief from the pink/peach/bubblegum costumes on the rest of the program.
Haglund awards this Pump Bump to the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux because it was perfect.
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