ABT - Giselle 5/16

Let’s hope that Miss Meghan fares better this weekend in her nuptials to her dally-predisposed prince than our Giselle did yesterday when the royal love of her life shattered her heart like it was candy glass. 

Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin once again had to overcome ABT’s blunder of midweek matinee casting – one of many blunders this past year including the small-balled pushing out of Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes; the overindulging and mollycoddling of the inferior, 2nd rate Misty Copeland and the over-highlighting of the homely, heavy dancing of Isabella Boylston; the over-reliance, dishonest over-selling of Lendorf and Hallberg in the schedule; the pox-party casting of the best with the worst to try to make everyone sick at the same time and try to even out sales; and the failure to eradicate the company’s dancing of McKenzie’s signature blandness. Blunder after blunder after blunder.

 

But yesterday Sarah and Daniil were able to turn a deaf ear to the dissonance at ABT to focus on a remarkable telling of Giselle. Their performance was a divine blend of artistry and technique, clearly more netted together than last year when there was a sense of desperation in both the audience and in Sarah’s Act II. Everyone had waited so long to see this Giselle.  Sarah had waited nine years since first performing the role in Texas to show her home audience her interpretation. And then after such a resounding successful performance that surpassed the celebrina and equinarina that day, would she even ever get another chance given the pay-to-play politics of casting at ABT? That sense of desperation and the tension that accompanies it were set aside yesterday in both Giselle and the audience, and it resulted in a clarified telling and listening of the ballet’s main themes of love, betrayal, and forgiveness.

 

Robust dancing and vivid acting filled Act I. Sarah’s variations included arabesques that balanced lightly but made strong statements before lowering into deep penchés which foreshadowed the ghostly penchés of Act II. She showed supreme trust in Daniil’s partnering particularly during Giselle’s fainting spell when she fell backwards with such freedom that she would not have had the slightest chance of saving herself if Daniil had not swooped in to catch her. 

 

Sarah's hops on pointe effortlessly took her all the way to the front of the stage. The final manège of pique turns was especially impressive for the stretch of the leading leg, the perch to the top of the pointe, and the beautiful second leg always quickly arriving to attach itself to the back of the knee. The authority and speed of the menage this year reached far beyond the perfectly acceptable manège which we saw last year. 

 

Giselle’s dissent into madness was about as perfectly played as we’ve ever seen. Her face expressed a heartbreaking disconnection from reality. Her torment was ours. And her death stopped our own breath. 

 

Daniil’s fluency in all things jumping and turning was applied strictly in service to the story. No showboating. No smirks. His Albrecht's commitment to Bathilde was the farthest thing from his mind as he chased Giselle around the village. He was in the world where he’d rather be. It seemed not to occur to him that he was doing anything wrong or that there would be any consequences until his fiancée, the glamorous Isadora Loyola, showed up on the arm of her daddy (Roman Zhurbin) to discover Albrecht’s duplicity. Here we saw the character’s – not Daniil’s – immaturity as he tried to cover up his cozy cozening in the village. His sudden realization of the adult consequences of straying off the royal path was convincing. His regret was sincere.

 

Act II was one of those joyful viewer events when the telling of a known story surpassed expectation. From the whirling revolutions of the awakening spin – a creepy indoctrination into the sisterhood of Wilis that Sarah had to brake slightly before transitioning into the grand allegro – to the final stretched arabesque of love above her grave, Giselle showed us that she simply could not be a rank and file cold-blooded, revenge-filled Wili. And while we recognized some of Giselle's warm-blooded characteristics from Act I, the transition to cool spirit with a heart still filled with love for Albrecht was complete and convincing. Giselle's developpes reached high with a strongly arched foot as she circled the kneeling unaware Albrecht. While some Giselles emphasize the landing position in arabesque in this moving circle, Sarah chose the more difficult emphasis on the developpe while balancing at the top with striking articulation in the pointed foot. It’s a very good choice if the ballerina can do it, but it is very difficult.

 

Sarah’s crisscrossing the stage opposite Daniil while holding the lilies was exquisite. Once again Daniil's variation was loaded with virtuosity in service to his story: beautiful cabrioles, deep bends in the back, blistering brises, turns in which he seemingly watched Giselle pass before him. He didn’t get all the way underneath Sarah for the first overhead lift which ended up being less solid than the perfect second lift which he held for a fairly long time. Strength is never an issue with him. Coordinating with the partner sometimes is. For the ending, Daniil chose a happy realization that he had been truly loved by Giselle and then lay across her grave. This pair gave a highly polished performance with nearly complete mastery of technical and artistic matters.

 

Not so for some of the supporting cast. We have seen and have been thrilled by Christine Shevchenko’s Myrta in the past, but last night she was having some kind of trouble standing on one leg that affected nearly all of her arabesque promenades. Her character seems to have hardened a bit this season into a “Myrtanator” who takes immense pleasure in eliminating men from the world. Her greatest moment last night was her highly expressive realization that Giselle’s love for Albrecht was impermeable. Alexei Agoudine was a stock Hilarion rather than trying to make the part into a principal role as has been done thrillingly by Tom Forster, Roman Zhurbin, Jared Matthews, Sascha Radetsky, Ethan Brown, and Frank Smith. The Act I Peasant Pas de Deux was danced by Catherine Hurlin and Gabe Stone Shayer, a mismatch in heights which led to some partnering issues. Catherine was lovely and confident in the technical aspects including the pirouettes that rise from the knee on the floor. Gabe is showing steady improvement. Feet and legs were cleaner, but still not clean enough. His leg lines would look longer if there was vertical muscle definition like Simkin’s legs have. 

 

Moyna and Zulma, danced by Rachel Richardson and Lauren Post (substituting for Cassandra Trenary), were under-powered, under-rehearsed and danced without distinction.

 

Luis Ribagorda made Wilfred noticeable for more than running after Albrecht. 

 

The Wilis were fine in their steps but there was nothing startlingly beautiful about them as one sees in the Mariinsky or Paris Opera Wilis. Just small tidy steps that didn’t translate into anything more than small tidy steps.

 

Our HH Pump Bump Award, a Giuseppe Zanotti gold stiletto exclusively for Balmain, is bestowed up Sarah Lane and Daniil Simkin for their remarkable performances as Giselle and Albrecht. If they want the mate to the pair, Simkin will have to come back next year for a redux.

 

 

Comments

[Eulalia Johnson]

Bravo, Haglund, for your exactly observed appreciation of this deeply moving performance which has been replaying itself in my mind's eye since yesterday. As you wrote, there was no showboating: So far as Lane and Simkin are concerned, it was less a performance than it was a consecration that revealed why "Giselle" is a pinnacle work of Western art.

[Melponeme_k]

This performance was fantastic and I so wished Lane and Simkin had another night to really cement the work that they put into this ballet. Why, after all the raves they received for their debuts last year, were they not given an opening night or weekend evening performance? Meanwhile the one who shall not be named fell flat on her backside over simple pirouettes.

I was part of the group that stayed to cheer and clap. We were rewarded with a second curtain call by Lane and Simkin. They both looked so happy.

[Rachel Perez]

Melponeme_l - Me too. What a wonderful performance. It was totally worth taking the afternoon off from work to see this pairing.

Great review, and spot on, as always Haglund. You nailed it with the peasant pas - it WAS the height. They each danced well on their own, but the partnering pieces were a a bit of a mess. Noticed same issue with Myrta and the balancing leg for the arabesques.

I so desperately want to see this pairing again, and with Danil's imminent departure, I know it is unlikely.

[annisette]

I keep a little quote on my nightstand: "The only reason for mastering technique is to make sure the body does not prevent the soul from expressing itself."

That is exactly what those two ARTISTS did on Wednesday. Every technical feat was expression. You could comment on the speed, precision, height of jumps, number of turns, but what the audience took away was passion, desperation, love, understanding, heartbreak....It was so beautiful. I used to think that I loved going to the ballet to escape the outside world, but it seems to me that I go now to remember what is great in the world!
This couple should be doing a weeks' worth of Giselles together. With the right PR, ABT could have plastered their pictures and stories all over this city and sold so many tickets.
I am so excited to see Sarah Lane in La Bayadere. She is remarkable!!
(you know how she got dropped into Swan Lake at the last minute last year? Perhaps if we all wish hard, that will happen with Juliet....)

[suef]

I don't know where you were sitting, Haglund, but I was able to snag a ticket in the orchestra for this performance through TDF. (I took the day off from work to see Sarah in this) At the end of the performance, the entire orchestra was on their feet, giving both of them a standing ovation. I don't know if I have ever seen that at ABT. It was a magical afternoon indeed.

[Gerry]

Glad you were there Haglund! I had to live vicariously because a Wednesday matinee was just not a possibility for me. So incredibly annoyed at casting. I just can't even form the words... I hope to gracious God that Daniil returns next year to partner Sarah. Otherwise, I don't know what will happen with her Giselle given that Copeland monopolizes Cornejo most of the time and he is getting older.

I heard Misty's performance was it's usual subpar crapfest complete with fall on backside. But I also heard that Stella was not in strong form either. I think she languished on the vine too long.

[angelica]

I, too, was totally overcome by Sarah and Daniil's performance on Wednesday. I was at the Hallberg-Osipova Giselle last evening, and want to put words to the difference I experienced between the two performances. Sarah and Daniil were so completely transformed into Giselle and Albrecht that I believed in their dance reality 100%. Watching Hallberg and Osipova, I felt I was watching the story within the story, in other words, this was the story of Hallberg and Osipova, his long and painful recovery, how much he yearned to dance this ballet with her again, and to do it on the Met stage. Who were Giselle and Albrecht? They were simply the means to bring their personal stories to fruition.

[Haglund]

Angelica,

Frankly, the special "partnership" that Hallberg and the media have been hard-selling has never come across the footlights, IMO. They may have a special partnership between them as professionals that makes the performance feel special to them, but that's not the partnership that I much care about. I want to see it come across the footlights. While I didn't see last night's performance, their previous ones just didn't seem like anything special -- other than being extremely hyped. They're a long way from Bocca and Ferri.

[Melponeme_k]

I refused to buy tickets to the Hallberg/Osipova performance. Simply because I didn't want to reward the company for continual bad casting, promotions and PR.

The cold hard truth is, this company has the talent. It has all the talent it needs. But it is purposefully burying this talent for false gold. But heck, at least the SPONSORS got their name in the playbill next to the dancers. Right? Thats what really matters to the leadership of this company.

[fondoffouettes]

Thank you for your thoughtful and detailed review. Lane and Simkin were spectacular, though there Act II was slightly less finessed than last year. You get the sense when Lane is onstage that she lives and breathes this role. Soulful is the best way I can think to describe it.

It’s a shame about Shevchenko’s bobbles in the arabesques because I think she could be a great Myrta, and I liked her steely take on the role.

I went back and forth a lot getting tickets to the Osipova/Hallberg Giselle, but ultimately I worried it would feel more like an “event” rather than a heartfelt performance. I consider myself a Hallberg fan, but the dancer he was when he left for Russia still hasn’t returned. I’m not going to seek out his performances (what few ones there are) any longer.

[LLF]

I've purchased tickets to every Sarah Lane performance this spring, but very consciously avoided Osipova & Hallberg. ABT steals enough from its audiences, both financially and aesthetically, by hiking ticket prices and keeping Lane away from leading roles, and I won't play along by supporting the Osipova hype. They deliberately jack up ticket prices for all their "superstar" performances (both foreign and domestic superstars, that is), as well as relegating Lane & Simkin to only one Giselle, a Wednesday matinee at that, where much of the audience seemed bored and disinterested, instead of the two she (and we) should have. And that's in addition to keeping us from seeing her again in Swan Lake, not to mention her long-awaited Juliet. Lane was so wonderful on Wednesday, she should be dancing the lead in every ballet, and I feel cheated. However, I'm anticipating much more fabulousness from her upcoming debuts, especially the performances with Cornejo.

[Haglund]

My anticipation is that McKenzie will continue to avoid allowing audiences to see Sarah in a wide variety of major roles such as Swan Lake and Juliet until she is too old or too permanently injured to dance them.

[Michael]

What's the reason for Sarah Lane's being neglected by McKenzie? Payback for her having spilled the beans regarding Natalie Portman?

[Allisa]

Thanks for your great review, Haglund. Very detailed and accurate, as always. I was there and enjoyed every second of Lane's and Simkin's performance. I thought I'd be late because of the rain, but I ended up arriving very early. I happened to catch a large group of teenage girls who were there on a tour to visit a certain celebrina fakerina. They were, well, loud and not one of them mentioned actual ballet or anything related to ballet. Luckily, they went on their little tour (they had a guide) rather quickly.
The performance was great so I quickly forgot all about the annoyance I witnessed an hour earlier. Oh and I was definitely one of the people refusing to leave until we got a second curtain call. So well deserved.