'Symphony in C' reviews 'Tchaikovsky pas de deux' reviews 'Prodigal Son' reviews 'The Four Temperaments' reviews Dupont in reviews Le Riche in reviews Gillot in reviews Moreau in reviews recent POB reviews more Naoko S reviews

Thursday last week POB opened the new season with an all Balanchine Programme. On the opening night there was an added bonus to the spectacle; Defile de Ballet, a thoroughly extravagant and enjoyable fifteen-minutes of a demonstration of the companies’ dancers as well as youngsters of the school. Who can imagine watching a mere repetition of marching & reverance to Berlioz’s music turns such an exciting and exhilarating experience? Well, but it was! Defile was followed by Tchaikovsky PdD, in which Aurelie Dupont shone like a brilliant diamond, with a young danseur noble and a next hopeful perhaps to become Etoile, Herve Moreau (interestingly casting info. for the role changed 3 times before finally settling down with this Premier danseur - all three previously casted were Etoiles). In the middle of the ballet Dupont delighted the audience with the stretched pirouette; she did it five or six times but in such a tender and natural manner it was not instantly recognisable. How one cannot love such a boldness from a dancer, who’s becoming a “face” of this exceptional company? Wonderful.

Then came Le Palais de Cristal turned Symphony en ut (the former was initially announced to be shown). This was a new production and after 3 viewings I wasn’t too convinced. It may be just me, but what I personally want to see most in the ballet is a festive mood, in an excessive way – after all, isn’t this meant to be a dance with a spirit of celebration? To my eyes Opera’s dancers looked rather tamed and seemed to lack aspirations and energies…. According to the programme the last time POB did Palais Cristal was nearly a decade ago; perhaps it was not easy for younger dancers to do justice to the exceptionally demanding (so it appears) choreography, let alone capture the essence of the ballet. That said, there were some memorable moments. Of the leading pairs, Letestu in adagio and Martinez in 3rd movement was both wonderful, particularly the elegance and sophistication from Martinez’s dancing was such a delight to watch. On the Bizet’s music I’ve always thought what a heavenly danceable music this can be – that’s how it sounds merely to the ears as I don’t dance myself – but then I’ve realized it should be a totally different matter if it’s indeed a heavenly music to dance to……

Prodigal Son, a rare narrative ballet by Balanchine, previously didn’t work for me. But with Nicolas Le Riche in the title role, this was altogether a completely different experience. What struck me most was his facial expressions, or his eyes. He has eyes of a child; the way he looked at his father with fear and Siren with curiosity, was of a child’s, not even an adolescent’s - whereas his dancing showed every maturity of a man; a heavy-weight, magnetic performance, and I found the unbalance of the two fascinating. Because of this purity and sincerity in Le Riche’s portrayal (he really looked like a helpless child), the final scene, when the father embraces the prodigal, turned a quietly moving moment. One curious thing is that in this ballet erotic choreography was here and there, but eroticism was not really there – that’s my impression. Maybe it was partly because of the Le Riche’s portrayal and Letestu’s approach to the role of Siren (a beautiful ice-maiden with properly long legs but lacking mysteriousness and evilness – to my taste). George Roualt’s decors and costume was refreshingly modern even today. I loved his improvisational image of an ancient middle eastern world painted on the screen.

On to the final piece, Les Quatre Temperaments – I thought they saved the best for last! Personally I found Opera’s dancers at their best in this ballet - the choreography really suited them, and they seemed to thoroughly understand the language used here. As Prodigal Son, again it was previously never my favourite ballet – I obscurely viewed 4T as one of many a Balanchine’s abstract ballets; no less, no more. But Opera’s dancers opened my eyes. No, it shouldn’t be one of those abstract pieces, there should be more to this ballet. I mean, perhaps Balanchine might have been inspired by this concept which had a lasting influence to Western civilization (am I right?) and merely used it as a theme, but perhaps no profound idea or philosophy attached – as I often heard on Balanchine. But the way Opera’s dancers presented it made me question and demanded me to revise the views, for which I am grateful to them - surely there should be some meaning to this ballet other than a display of interesting pas?

Four temperaments, consisted of “melancolique”; “Sanguin”; “Flegmatique”; “Colerique” – naturally has a changing mood, so does Paul Hindemith’s music, varying from Bach’s austerity to Jazz, and folklore. Of the principal role dancers, Laurent Hilaire in Melancolique, Le Riche in Flegmatique, and Marie-Agnes Gillot in Colerique gave particularly strong performances. The mood for Melancolique is dark and full of agony - I can’t think of any other dancer who could do justice to the role than Hilaire - how beautifully he executed the pas and brought characters with the atmosphere naturally came from him. Le Riche’s Flegmatique, if I’m not mistaken, is associated with water/cool; amazingly he was a totally different dancer who did Prodigal and now has a noble air, his dancing very light. Gillot in Colerique, with sharp movements and hot temper, was in her elements and led the company on to the finale with a queen-like authority. At the climax all the dancers lined up, with principals in front, repeated grands battements; it was one of the most thrilling balletic moments, and curiously it looked to me some kind of rituals - all I wished for was this moment would never end….. 4T has now become my favourite ballet and I’m really grateful to Opera’s dancers. If you have a chance, don’t fail, see them do this ballet – Five stars!