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American Ballet TheatreJuly 2003 Costa Mesa, Orange County Performing Arts Center by Anjuli Bai |
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This is a ballet that is interrupted by a story. But if one wanted to discuss the premise of Don Quixote's search for the ideal woman, it could be said that the story presents several possibilities. Should this ideal woman be purchased as Gamache attempts to do (the base motive method), or should one try to attract her by tilting bravely at windmills (the head in the clouds approach), or is Basilio's simple but interesting solution of teasing and finally loving her, the answer? If her name is Kitri, with her heart firmly planted in reality, she chooses Basilio.
Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovsky as Kitri and Basilio (teamed off stage as husband and wife) gave a bravura performance both individually as well as an inspired partnership. She was a Spanish firecracker, he a tad shade cooler. Kitri's variation in the first act had all the ingredients of sky high temps de fléche, speed blurred tours, fully split sissonnes with the back of her arched head meeting her stretched foot in mid-air. She easily equaled Minkus' exciting music and triumphed with the Petitpa/Gorsky choreography. Irina's beautifully held, immediate, and effortless balances were a stunning counterpoint to her speed. The one handed, over the head, off center lifts were perfectly executed - quiet and rock solid - evidence of a seamless partnership. And, that was just the first act.
 American Ballet Theatre's Don Quixote © ABT Herman Cornejo and Erica Cornejo (brother and sister) were bundles of explosive energy in the roles of the gypsy couple in the second act. His successive pas de poissons (knees bent behind in this version) were heel to head. They both threw themselves into their dancing with sustained abandon underpinned by strength and verve. What a pleasure! Michele Wiles, as Queen of the Dryads, was lovely to watch. Her series of grand fouetté en tournant were well done with solid stops in attitude derriére betweem each rotation. Interestingly this is the same music and choreography for the female variation in the Le Corsaire Grand Pas de Deux. One wonders which is the chicken and which is the egg. Maria Riccetto's, Amour, played her pixie way around the stage with grace and spirit. Espada, the matador (Carlos Molina) and Mercedes (Carmen Corella) were admirable but did not capture. Sometimes the natural pride of Spanish dance drifted slightly toward restrained. They didn't take me beyond themselves. The other roles: Gamache (Guillaume Graffin), Don Quixote (Victor Barbee), Lorenzo (Isaac Stappas), Sancho Panza (Flavio Salazar) kept the stage flavored with their antics, fulfilled the personalities of each character without intruding on the flow of the dance. Others that decorated the stage both with dance and presence were engaged throughout, no one looked bored. This brings me to the crescendo of the third act. It deservedly brought down the house. The grand pas de deux, so often presented as a set piece, a predictable crowd pleaser, a gala staple, in this performance went beyond itself. In white costumes trimmed with red and gold, both Dvorovenko and Belotserkovsky took us past the edge. After seemingly endless pirouettes, he often slowed down the rotation to a final stop held on demi-pointe. In the jumps Maxim didn't add any personal embellishments as many male dancers do. Everything was firmly within the known ballet lexicon, but it was impeccably done. He was also an impeccable partner, enhancing all the ballerina did which allowed her the freedom to throw herself into his arms as well as into the dance.
Irina Dvorovenko last night was a marvel of speed and balance, a vision of scintillating saucy grace. Russian dancers seem to delve deeper within their souls and marry Russian spirit to Spanish flame. This ballerina's spitfire fouettés, interspersed with double pirouettes, sizzled with speed. Most ballerinas have difficulty keeping a smile on their faces when performing fouettés; this dancer not only smiled but also had the panache to tease us with her fan! A sequence of dazzling pirouettes that traveled downstage en diagonale ended with a rock solid arabesque, lingering long past expectations.
 American Ballet Theatre's Don Quixote © ABT The symbiosis of the partnership was evident everywhere. He set her balance, he walked away, and she stayed on pointe. When he turned and looked back at her she still held that pointe balance smiling at him, repeatedly. The look-no-hands fish dives were instanteneous and so secure that each dancer played with it. The grand pas de deux ended with Irina stepping up to passé en pointe, supported for only the merest moment, he quickly stepped away and once again she held it for an eternity only coming down because, well, by then music needed to move on. This ballerina owned the stage. The detailed and interesting sets were a good backdrop for colorful and often beautiful costumes, both by Santo Loquasto. The entire production (by Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jones) was well lit by Natasha Katz. The conducting of the Pacific Orchestra by David LaMarche enchanced the dancing throughout except for the missed cue during the ballerina's first variation in the grand pas de deux (échappé from fifth to pointe). It was a minor momentary glitch in a wonderful performance.
The program notes gave special thanks to Irina Kolpakova for her invaluable assistance in the staging of this production.
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