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Apollo

I may be spared for having suspected a little at the choice of roles for Laurent Hilaire's final performance at Opera National de Paris, when it's revealed. One of them was Balanchine's Apollo - isn't it a bit too light-hearted, as well as too short, a piece with which this grand etoile would bid a farewell to the scene? Well in the end I was proved wrong of course – but I may be granted for the misconception as, before this occasion, I had never seen him in the ballet so didn't know what he could do to this role.

Having seen this dancer in more caractère-like, darkish roles over the recent years (Jason, Rothbart, Mnester... to name but three) before the performance I somehow expected his Apollo could possibly have a touch of the very contrasting god, Dionysus. Interestingly, in the end, neither really emerged, but the strong sense that only the reduced essence of the ballet was there. In this very intuitive and powerful performance, Hilaire's Apollo was simply about divinity, no particular tag attached. Awe-inspiring, it was very individualistic Apollo, resembling no one. Although in this ballet the character was borrowed from Greek myth, divinity was something I had never previously experienced with any other Apollos. It came as a huge shock, even though it wasn't exactly for the first time; I had been there before when this dancer had left an indelible impression on me dancing the work by the same choreographer, 4T. How cruel is it to be given a brand new eye to see the certain ballet then be told at the same time I'd never have a chance to use it again? My misfortune is that this was the first, and will be the last, viewing of Hilaire's Apollo at l'Opera.

Songs of a Wayfarer

It was January 2003 when Hilaire, together with his long-time rival and peer Manuel Legris, revived the work that wasn't seen in Paris for many years; the ballet that must have had insignificant importance for both of them. Songs of a Wayfarer was originally choreographed by Maurice Bejart on Paolo Bortolucci, and Rudolf Nureyev – the latter was the two dancers' former boss and mentor. After a year from this revival performance, for his interpretations of the role for Wayfarer, Hilaire was awarded Benois de la Danse, at age of 41 – only a few years away from l'Opera's official retirement age.
 

On this special evening we were in for a treat once again as Hilaire chose Wayfarer as another role with which he bade farewell. Inspired by and set to Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, with the lyrics of autobiographical nature of the composer, the ballet is about a romantic youth who wanders, and suffers from solitude - or simply being himself. Deeply hurt inside, yet he never ceases to yearn for love, and life. Hilaire's mature reading for the role portrayed Wayfarer a naive and delicate young man, with whom the audience could immediately empathize. As his Destiny, Legris gave solid performance, and the thrilling contrast between the two - one, impassioned and utterly absorbed into the emotions, and the other detached with a cold persona - was so effective you could see their story was clearly told.

To my mind this is without doubt one of the most beautiful ballets created on male dancers, and seeing these two dancers in this work, with the history behind them, always arouses strong emotions. This time not only that but the sense of loss was keenly felt. Knowing that they are among few people who are in line of the legacy of the ballet, with Hilaire's retirement, could the heritage still be safeguarded – would the torch be passed onto the next generation of Parisian dancers? That was something crossed my mind while watching the figure of Wayfarer/Hilaire gradually faded into the darkness, at the very end.  

The moment the curtain went down on this ballet, the last piece of the evening, some members of the audience stood up, cheered with full enthusiasm - the next minute standing ovation spread across the auditorium. Shoulder to shoulder, two of the finest male dancers of their generation were there to receive warm applause from the packed auditorium. Then Legris disappeared, leaving Hilaire standing all alone on the stage for the next 10 or so minutes. All the while he was showered with bright red petals, coming down from the above, and I thought I saw tears in his eyes....

Note: The evening was complemented by Brown's O zlozny/O composite, Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, and Balanchine's Agon.