ABT – La Bayadere 5/18-19

There have been so many cast substitutions during the first three performances of La Bayadere that the ABT scheduler may have already gone cuckoo before the completion of the first week of the season.  In Wednesday night's Playbill, the Flower Girls were listed as Joseph Gorak and Jose Sebastian. 

Thankfully, Joe and Jose did not follow the Playbill script, and in fact, danced admirably as Fakirs and warriors and special warrior attendants who quite literally followed in Marcelo Gomes' footsteps in Act III.  Marcelo was not supposed to dance Wednesday night but had to substitute for an injured Roberto Bolle.  In Wednesday afternoon's performance, Hee Seo made an early debut as Gamzatti when she replaced Stella Abrera.  Maria Riccetto then replaced Hee Seo as one of the three major Shades.  Even poor, mysterious Aya, Gamzatti's, servant has  been hard to keep track of from performance to performance.  Just because she skulks around covered up with scarves doesn't mean we don't want to know who she really is.  Brand new apprentice Courtney Lavine has gotten a baptism by fire while substituting in the corps.  They haven't let her leave the stage to go home since the first performance.

 

In spite of all this turmoil, ABT has managed three superb performances of La Bayadere. La Bayadere is one of Haglund's favorite fantasy ballets. He especially loves the Lanchberry orchestration and arrangement of the Minkus music.  He loves the music so much that he feels compelled to go to nearly every performance and sit on top of the orchestra.  The last time La Bayadere was on the schedule, Haglund saw all but two of the performances which he skipped in protest of ABT's hiring of a guest artist to replace the injured Abrera as Gamzatti. 

 

Tuesday evening's principal cast included Diana Vishneva, Marcelo Gomes, and Gillian Murphy.  Wednesday matinee's cast was Paloma Herrera, David Hallberg, and Hee Seo.  Wednesday evening's cast was Veronika Part, Marcelo Gomes, and Michele Wiles. 

All of these major players offered different takes on their characters.  Ms. Vishneva was the most sensual of the three Nikiyas; Ms. Herrera, the most vulnerable; and Ms. Part, the most divine.  Mr. Gomes was the most emotionally invested of the Solors; Mr. Hallberg, the most princely and wholesome.  Ms. Murphy was the most spoiled-acting of the three Gamzattis; Ms. Seo interpreted her role as a smiling ingenue; and Ms. Wiles was the most deliciously deadly, fierce, over-entitled, dangerously beautiful Gamzatti that Haglund has seen in a long time.  The cat fight with Nikiya was terrific, particularly when Ms. Wiles' Gamzatti removed her own necklace and attempted to force Nikiya to take it in exchange for giving up Solor.  Teeth bared, eyes boring into Nikiya – good stuff.  Ms. Wiles' Act III solo showed unexpected tenderness and sadness.  There seemed to be additional flexibility in her neck and upper torso, but it would be nice to see even more. 

 

Ms. Part, after an unsteady performance at Monday's gala, was secure in every step, pirouette, and balance on Wednesday.  Some of the most striking images were when she would developpe a la seconde and the raised leg was exactly parallel to the line of the upper arm which was raised in fifth position.  (Haglund thinks that should be the official rule:  leg no higher than parallel to line of the upper arm.)  She was beautifully responsive to Marcelo Gomes' passionate Solor and, of course, drop dead gorgeous in every costume.

 

At each of the three performances, the Shades were impeccable - a terrific job from everyone - and they deserved the deafening applause which they received from the audience. 

Haglund bestows this little Christian Louboutin crepe satin flower Pump Bump Award to the ladies and gentlemen of the corps for holding it all together so far this week.

 

Comments

[Peter Quennell]

Great. The corps deserves all the praise you give it and then some. Diana Vishneva was transcendental, and Gomes Tues and Wed just wow.

You made me laugh twice. Once at disagreeing with Alastair Macauley so deftly on Minkus. Once in your remarks about Michele Wiles. What a blazing Gamzatti. I just posted this on her Facebook:

"Michele is Gamzatti in Bayadere again sat at 8:00, a dont-miss performance as the audience around us agreed. The only Gamazatti we've ever really felt for and as for that final act... perhaps the world's greatest technical talent in eye-popping warcry."

Thank you.

[Haglund's Heel]

Hi Peter. Thanks for stopping by Haglund's Heel.

Alastair Macaulay resents anyone applauding for any ballet that was not conceived by either Ashton or Balanchine. And he tries to follow the Anna Kisselgoof tradition of inserting Balanchine's name in every review where ever possible even when no Balanchine or Balanchine-derivative was on the program.

Macaulay's recent slurs about the non-Hispanic look of the dancers in the Don Q PdD at the gala were truly outrageous and were ethnic-based criticisms that have no place in the New York Times or any other "news" paper. They illustrate just how far he will go to denigrate everything that isn't Balanchine or Ashton. Again, one has to ask - where are his editors? What would Macaulay think if every time he wrote a review that people didn't like or agree with, they responded by discussing his arrest record instead of what he wrote? Haglund thinks that Macaulay would prefer that readers focus on the professionally-sound content of his reviews just as the dancers would prefer that he focus on their performances - not their ethnicities.

Haglund forgot to mention how much he enjoyed watching Joseph Gorak in everything that he has danced thus far this week. Believe it or not, his feet and legs are as beautiful as Hallberg's and his energy, eagerness, and plain old happiness about being out on the stage remind one of Corella. Haglund cannot wait for ABT to cut him loose in a soloist role.

Also forgot to mention how stunning Maria Riccetto danced as one of the shades.

-- Haglund