Mariinsky Ballet La Bayadere – 10/17

The ritual fires burned brightly Tuesday evening as the Mariinsky Ballet began a seven-performance run of La Bayadere at the Kennedy Center which ends today. The company has been dancing this production since 1941 and continues to dance it peerlessly and with dedication. But this La Bayadere is more of a cherished relic than a living, breathing Petipa treasure. The improvements made to the staging over the years have been dancer-dependent. Brilliant artists such as Viktoria Tereshkina and Kimin Kim who led the cast on Tuesday have brought their own starry technical feats and eloquent interpretations to their roles. Still, the Mariinsky’s La Bayadere is like a valuable antique book with missing chapters and some loose pages that might be out of order. The binding on this ballet needs to be repaired; its spine needs to be straightened and reinforced. But there are other problems as well.

No company disrupts a ballet's story line quite like the Mariinsky with its lengthy operatic curtain bows between each act. Act I of its La Bayadere concluded around Gamzatti’s fierce face and clenched fist as she resolved to eliminate Nikiya. Then everyone came out with happy smiles for extensive bows. Act II ended with Nikiya’s tragic death. Then everyone came out for happy bows. The effect was to make the performance seem like an evening of three separate ballets. We had Acts I and II that were somewhat related, and then we had the Act III Kingdom of the Shades that was a distinct and separate ballet all itself with little, if any, connection to what came before it. But if one is Russian and one has always viewed La Bayadere this way, it all must make perfect sense. The Kennedy Center audience was slightly confused, and some members started to go home after the dramatic end to Act II.

Our principals (Tereshkina as Nikiya, Kim as Solor, Anastasia Matvienko as Gamzatti) easily rose above the imperfections of the production to deliver admirable performances. Tereshkina, perfect in every technical matter, painted a warm yet troubled Nikiya in Acts I and II and then exquisitely etched her pristine, beautiful portrayal of Nikiya’s shade in Act III. She is the bona fide queen of the Mariinsky Ballet these days: the integrity of her dancing knows no compromises; she resists all temptations to engage in vulgar modern adaptations in order to impress the ignorant. While so many of the Mariinsky ballerinas these days drift toward a generic Western off-standard, Tereshkina maintains much of what we remember from Natalia Makarova’s style — even the occasional tendency toward dryness. But there was no dryness on Tuesday. Tereshkina’s Nikiya was filled with ecstatic but vulnerable love in Act I and spirited defense of that love in Act II. Her Temple Dance in front of Solor and a gloating Gamzatti revealed tenderness through melting back-bends and the most astonishingly controlled developpes from releve to arabesque followed by soft roll-downs to plie that were quiet pleadings. Her Act III Shade made the difficult pirouettes with scarf seem simple with her neat, effortless closings of the feet in fifth position each time. 

Anastasia Matvienko as Gamzatti had the dramatic flair for the role and considerable strength of technique but there was no length to her limbs which also displayed substantial hyper-extension. Consequently, her balletic line did not sing as it should. It simply suggested power, which perhaps, was okay for the role of Gamzatti.

Kimin Kim has seemingly overnight become the Mariinsky’s most dramatic, most accomplished danseur in the Petipa classics. Every movement, no matter how slight, conveyed drama and storyline in La Bayadere — his sudden glances and use of his head were as sharp and communicative as spoken words could ever be. His double cabrioles were marked by power and clarity; his pirouettes punctuated with exclamatory finishes. His was some of the grandest classical dancing by a danseur that the Kennedy stage has seen.

The three shades – Valeria Martynyuk, Yana Selina, Anastasia Lukina – were masterly in their solos with Yana Selina offering a sterling performance. Haglund just adores her and dreams of what might have been if Selina possessed another simple inch in arm length. 

The Mariinsky Corps de Ballet in Act III did not disappoint. The 32 shades magically appeared one at a time from the darkness above center upstage rather than entering from the side creating a cinematic effect. Each artist was invested in the perfection of the scene; their integrity almost overwhelming to watch.

The HH Pump Bump Award, a Fiji diamante gold stiletto, is bestowed upon Viktoria Tereshkina, Mariinsky’s current gold standard and a standard for everyone, for her exceptional performance of Nikiya. At times we thought that we, rather than Solor, were the ones hallucinating.

 

Comments

[Ellen]

Hi, Haglund,

I was beginning to wonder where your review was. I went down to DC and saw Thursday's performance with Kondaurova/Askerov/Batoeva and Friday's performance with the cast you saw. Batoeva hit it out of the park as Gamzatti; she was the highlight of the evening. Kondaurova and Askerov were unwatchable; Askerov was the most boring nonentity of a Solor I have ever seen and he and Kondaurova had no chemistry, not an ounce, and it was hard to invest in the love story in any way. I also don't want to body shame, but if I could see Kondaurova's rib cage protruding from my vantage point at the back of 1st Tier, it must have been truly disconcerting from closer to the stage. She looked seriously anorexic to me. (Apologies if I have gotten any names wrong; I can't seem to find my program.)

Tereshkina/Kim/Matvienko were amazing. What a difference a night made! It was a sensational evening of dancing.

I agree the storyline was a hodge podge. Gamzatti just sort of disappears after Act II; you don't know who is dead, who is alive, who is just dreaming, is it the afterlife or not. You know what I mean. I missed ABT's destruction of the temple scene; the story makes more sense if you see the vengeance of the gods.

Loved the garden scene and all that non-stop dancing. Everyone was so well-rehearsed and together at all times. (I'm looking at under-rehearsed you, ABT.) I did have to stop myself from laughing at the girl who danced the water jug variation. With a blue crop top with a lot of silver sparkle and a handkerchief skirt of red and white stripes, all I could see was a dancing Stars and Stripes.

That's my shallow, superficial review. I'm so glad I went and glad I saw two casts for comparison.

Ellen

[Haglund]

Hi, Ellen. Sorry for the delay in posting the review. It's been a crazy October in the non-ballet sense.

I agree about missing the destruction of the temple scene. And Makarova's recollection/re-envisioning of the Candle Dance is such a beautiful use of the music that once you see it, you can't help but realize when it is missing.

It's sad to hear about your disappointment with Kondaurova. I certainly hope that she hasn't whittled herself down to bones. It may be that she was punching out her rib cage which seems to be popular with some ballerinas such as Smirnova, Somova, Skorik, Zakharova.

[Patricia]

Perfect timing since I’m sitting in the lobby at the Kennedy Center waiting to see that same cast! Thank you. Enjoy seeing Jared, Yuriko, Connor, and Sara tonight. Wish you were also seeing Charles-Louis as I’d love to hear your comments about him.

[Ellen]

Haglund,

You always enlighten me. Thanks for your reply. I did read criticism from others (at Ballet Alert), so I am not the only one who questioned Kondaurova’s look. I did enjoy her dancing, but her Solor was such a cipher, that it was Batoeva’s Gamzatti that left the biggest performance impact. I would buy a ticket to something in future on the strength of Batoeva’s name alone.

Ellen

[Jennifer]

Hi Haglund:

I saw the same cast in this afternoon's matinee. I loved Tereshkina and KIm. Her arabesques and back were so lovely. Kim was gallant in his acting and his technique was phenomenal. It was the first time I had seen either of them.

At most performances of Bayadere, I am acutely aware of why many companies choose to present "Kingdom of the Shades" instead of the whole ballet; a choice I fully endorse. The full Bayadere requires the audience to wade through two acts of weird conventions (fire worshipping cave men, the corps ladies dancing with fake parrot props and awkward scarves, etc.) to get to the beautiful "white act". This production kept my attention and interest throughout. A couple production details that stood out for me: Solor's entrance on an elephant (impressive), child dancers dressed as lions serving as the corps to the Golden Idol. I still loved the white act the best, of course.

Thanks for your review and a belated welcome to Washington!

Jennifer

[Anna]

I saw the Saturday matinee with Skorik, who bungled quite a few steps shockingly. I must say I much much prefer the ABT version. There were a few people who left after the second act because it seemed like the ballet was over. The corps acquired themselves Ok. Nothing really was spectacular. Everything just seemed off.
About a decade ago Mariinsky (I think they were still Kirov at that time) came to Lincoln centre with the original Petipa four act version. They should've continued to stage that one instead of resorting to the Soviet-time rehash.

[Matthew Brehm]

I saw the Saturday matinee and evening performances and I enjoyed both. In response to Anna, Oksana only messed up the first en dedan pirouette in the scarf variation and to be fair, it was not her fault. She very visibly had to pull the scarf from Yermakov before going to the left to get the length she needed. Her triple pirouette towards the end of the variation was also very beautiful.

In my opinion, Kondaurova did a great job as well. After the show she seemed a little under the weather - sniffling and the like. Her scarf variation was flawless and the act one pas de deux was immensely beautiful. I was a little annoyed that they started the show with the house lights still on, very awkward in setting the scene.
(Both Kolegova and Batoeva impressed me as Gamzatti; they need no comments)

Finally, I was so happy that the Kennedy Center presents flowers onstage. I came from Houston for the performance so I had called a florist to deliver the bouquets. I am happy to say that both Oksana and Ekaterina got the flowers they deserved!

[Haglund]

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I really would have liked to see Kondaurova in the Kingdom of the Shades.

I always enjoy my visits to the Kennedy Center; it's such a fabulous stage for ballet. I don't much like the 4-5 hour wait in Union Station for the next train out, but that can be interesting as well.

I see that the Suzanne Farrell Ballet will bow out at the Kennedy Center on Dec 9th with Serenade. Here's hoping that there is a strong contingency of old-timers in attendance.

[Marta]

Thanks as always for your perceptive review, Haglund, and to all who commented. I was unable to get to DC and would have been thrilled to see both Tereshkina and Kondaurova. I have seen ABT's and Boston's Bayadere, so it looks like youtube is now my only source for Mariinsky's.