Lincoln Center 11/7 and 11/9Hungarian National Ballet Swan Lake & Don Quixote

By some strange coincidence Rudi van Dantzig and Andy Warhol showed up on the West Side of Manhattan on the very same day last week. The countercultural darlings of the ‘60s and ‘70s were represented by the Hungarian National Ballet’s U.S. debut in van Dantzig’s Swan Lake and the Whitney Museum of America Art’s retrospective of Warhol’s work. 

 

After spending an hour in the afternoon wandering through the Whitney’s member preview of the new exhibit, Haglund then sat through nearly four hours of Swan Lake at Lincoln Center which turned out to be as ordinary and uninspiring as a factory-made picture of a tomato soup can. "What was the point?” he asked himself over and over again. Why did the Hungarian National Ballet choose this particular staging of Swan Lake when there were so many others more worthy of its dancers and time? Why not honor the memory of Hungary’s most famous danseur, Ivan Nagy, with a production that honors his classical tradition? Nagy put Hungary on the map in the world of ballet; the Dutch choreographer van Dantzig made the Hungarians look like a bunch of ballet dilettantes. 

 

It’s hard to overstate how dreadful van Dantzig’s “contributions” to the choreography were. As a young man, he once dabbled in ballet for a time before transitioning to the modern idiom, but he was not one with great classical experience or knowledge. Imagine for a moment if Mark Morris decided to re-do Swan Lake – avec sérieux, that is. You get the picture in all its ordinary so-what-it’s-art dullness like a bunch of empty Coke bottles. Glissade assemble and grand jete ad nauseam – the most mundane classroom combinations mucking up Petipa and Ivanov for four hours were, to put it mildly, a disappointment. Van Dantzig couldn't even make the national dances look national. And here we were again with a choreographer screwing around with Swan Lake to try to make it all about Siegfried. Guys, get over it and find a new story. Swan Lake always has been and always will be about Odette/Odile. It will never be about Siggie, no matter what his sexual orientation. 

 

The Perm-trained ballerina, Tatiana Melnik, was lovely. Not a natural Odette physically, she is quite small with nice limbs and rather large untapered feet that tend to truncate any lyrical line. She delivered a sensitive performance of Odette as well as a deliciously dark interpretation of Odile. Her strong technique allowed us to enjoy some amazing balances throughout the evening. Pirouettes were her pocket change. But there was not much rapport between her Odette and the largely blank and struggling Gergely Leblanc’s Siegfried.

 

Throughout Acts II and IV, the beautiful Corps de Ballet women spoke as one with a clear Vaganova accent. The Four Little Swans were about as perfect as one could ask for.

 

This is a ballet company that has evolved way past the point in time when they should have an authentic Swan Lake set on them by a real ballet choreographer. Did somebody say Michael Messerer? The legendary teacher/coach/stager made the trip to New York to watch this troupe soar in his entertaining and authentic production of Don Quixote on Friday night. He originally made this production for the Mikhailovsky Theatre in 2012 which the company then toured here in 2014. What a thrill it was to spot him casually mingling with the crowd. 

 

A mere 48 hours after a rather dismal Swan Lake, the Hungarian National Ballet blazed through Don Quixote with jets on. Ms. Melnik as Kitri was a fiery phenom with complete command of the role. Igor Tsvirko, the Bolshoi leading soloist who recently joined the company, was a charismatic Basil. He is quite small with excellent technique that is well-suited for this role. But his lack of length in the legs meant that whatever technical tricks he performed didn’t have starry impact. He did, however, impress mightily with his one-armed lifts of Kitri, including one that he held unusually long and used his left arm to motion the audience to keep applauding. Loved the trick and the honesty.

 

Minjung Kim, a former student of Magarita Kulik and Vladimir Kim at the Korean National University of Arts, was exquisite as the Queen of the Dryads. Singing arabesque lines, softly gliding grand jetes, no-nonsense Italian fouettes, and a serene joy made her appearance one of the performance’s highlights.

 

Yourim Lee, two years out of the Korean National University of Arts, performed Cupid's petit allegro with outstanding clarity and charm. 

 

Balázs Majoros was a charming and cheeky Gypsy Boy who possessed Basilio-type qualities and technique.

 

And oh, that Street Dancer Karina Sarkissova. What a smoldering-one-moment, boiling-over-with-passion-the-next-moment performance she gave. In this outstanding production, the Street Dancer always steals the show no matter what company is performing. 

 

The Hungarian State Opera Orchestra played gloriously. After each performance, the conductor, Gergely Kesselyák, tossed his bouquet into the pit — a generous touch that one doesn’t see here very often.

 

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Karina Sarkissova for her burning Street Dancer in Don Quixote. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Irina]

Thank you for such a thoughtful review. Agree with every word. I couldn’t say it better. Beautifully expressed!

[Jeannette]

I’m grateful to have finally seen Van Dantzig’s Swan Lake, from an historical point of view. Yeah, it’s full of faults but at least it uses most of the music, which was magnificently played. The Hungarian company is actually a lot better than I had expected. My biggest complaint is with the Siegfried. Melnik was stunning, especially in the use of her arms and those wonderful 32 fouettés (single-single-double all the way!). Audience went into instant standing-o at the end. Sorry to have missed Don Q. The Hungarians can hold their heads high as they return to Budapest.

[Haglund]

I agree that the music was beautifully played. I imagine that the Hungarian Orchestra will be quite spectacular when they get their hands on the Liszt in Mayerling next June. By the way, the RB's Mayerling is being screened tomorrow night by Landmark Cinemas. The cinema in Manhattan is sold out!

[Haglund]

Irina, thank you very much.

[Ellen]

Haglund,

I went to the Don Q (unable to go to the Swan Lake); thank you for listing who danced the Queen of the Dryads, Cupid, etc. I didn't find them listed in my program, unless I was looking in the wrong spot. I loved the evening; I thought the sets and costumes were terrific, the orchestra played magnificently, the dancing was great. It was a fun evening out, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Yesterday I went to the van Manen triple bill; any reason to listen to the Satie is good enough for me, and I was very curious about Black Cake. Unfortunately Black Cake didn't wow me; I thought it looked effortful, not effortless: dancers trying too hard and just not making it work.

I have a prior commitment tomorrow night and can't go to Mayerling; please hint to management that a second showing would be appreciated! Thanks once again for all your wonderful insights and comments on dance.

[Haglund]

Thanks, Ellen. I couldn't make the Sunday performance, but I was very curious about it. I do like a number of van Manen dances and was sorry that I couldn't attend yesterday's sampling.

[Anna]

Thank you for your review! Unfortunately I didn't get to see their Don Q (saturday's performance was canceled) but Swan Lake was such a disappointment. The Corps did a great job with what was given to them and Melnik was good, but there was more connection between Siegfrid and his bestie, than between him and either of the Swans. Act III was completely mangled. Even the "hungarian" dance was off. Whoever decided this atrocious staging was worth the effort! Even von Rothbart looked more ridiculous than menacing.
And for God's sake can the company not afford better or newer Pointe shoes? The uniformly black soles and toe boxes kept distracting me, and Melnik's shoes did something strange to her arch line.
I would have loved to see them in a proper SL. With a better Siegfrid.

[Haglund]

I spent some time today looking at videos of Gergely Leblanc, our Siegfried last week, and found him to be a much better dancer than he presented in the van Dantzig Swan Lake. I think we in New York got gypped out of seeing a rather fine danseur because of a crappy production. He was originally scheduled to dance the Basil for the other Don Q that was cancelled. He acquits himself quite well in that role according to YouTube.

[AMJ]

Speaking of Mayerling, any word on whether Landmark will air the RB's La Bayadere? (I should hope so, as all of their other Royal Ballet screenings have been either sold out or almost so.)

[Haglund]

Hi AMJ.

The folks at Landmark say that La Bayadere is on the list of productions that the Royal Opera House has made available to them to screen in the coming year, but we just have to keep checking to see whether and when it will be shown. From the promo shown at last night's screening of Mayerling, it looks like the RB has done an outstanding job with Makarova's staging.

[yukionna]

The royal ballet is quite generous when it comes to taping coaching presentations. I’m very impressed with both Akane Takada and Yasmine Naghdi here:

https://youtu.be/r79932YSv18