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Kirov BalletJuly 2001 Royal Opera House by Ann Williams |
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The Kirov in last night's 'Homage to Balanchine' programme at Covent Garden were simply awesome, and it seems clear now that the Russian-born choreographer will be hugely important in their future. The Kirov seem to understand his work in their bones and muscles, and come to it as of their birthright. As someone pointed out earlier, this may be because both Balanchine himself, born in 1904, and the current crop of young Kirov dancers trained under the same Vaganova system which has stretched to cover both his lifetime (he died in 1983) and theirs, and still survives. In Serenade, to Tchaikovsky's Serenade in C Major for strings, the corps were a miracle of precision in the beautiful, complex patterns of this early Balanchine piece, their gorgeously soft arms contrasting nicely with their steely and precise feet. Janna Ayupova, Maya Dumchenko and Sofia Gumerova all danced with the heartbreaking grandeur we now expect of these Kirov ballerinas (and even their soloists seem like ballerinas). According to all the books, Balanchine created this work in America in 1934 for a class of students and tailored it to his students' various abilities. Whatever, it remains a timeless, faultlessly-structured work of art. Andrian Fadayev in Apollo, though small and slight in stature, looked like and god and danced like a god, perhaps because he understood he was meant to be a god. Too many interpreters of this role seem to miss this vital knowledge and simply strut and pose through it, but Fadayev got it right. The fact that he had Svetlana Zakharova, Irina Golub and Daria Pavlenko as his divine muses undoubtledly helped; they were all superb. The Kirov have retained Balanchine's original opening with Leto giving birth to Apollo atop a platform, but the 'tick-tock' walk to the top of the tower at the end had lost its power and drama, and likewise the sublime 'sunburst' ending failed to thrill. These small disappointments will surely pass as the company grow more confident in the work. Finally, the superb Symphony in C to Bizet's fresh and youthful score (which was conducted sparklingly last night by Boris Gruzin). Sofia Gumerova and Igor Kolb in the first movement, Veronica Part and the tireless Ilya Kutnetsov in the second movement, Elvira Tarassova and and Anton Korsakov in the third movement, and Janna Ayupova (replacing the injured Dumchenko) and Andrei Yakolev in the fourth movement were al lsuperb in the various moods of Bizet's score and Balanchine's choreography, and this last piece received the most sustained cheers of the evening. 'Bravo, bravo, bravo!' roared a chap behind me deafiningly.
Yes, bravo indeed. On this evidence, the Kirov is currently the best classical
dance company in the world, and one cannot help feeling excited at the though
of the rich store of Balanchine's works still awaiting them.
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