 |
   |
Mikhailovsky BalletJuly 2008 London, Linbury Studio Theatre © Jeffery Taylor Former dancer, Dance Critic and an Arts feature writer for the |
|||||||
|
An exhilarating celebration of dance, theatre and music hit London between the eyes last week. Since the golden Bolshoi Ballet days of great male dancers like Vladimir Vassiliev and Irek Mukhamedov, Spartacus has been a flop. We should have known better than to expect more of the same with Farukh Ruzimatov as Mikhailovsky’s director, a former Kirov Ballet star of extraordinary virtuosity and flamboyance. Armenian conductor Karen Durgarian did more than get under the skin of compatriot Aram Khachaturian’s music. Tocsins rang, gongs shivered the air and the Mikhailovshy Orchestra strings were lush and heart tugging in a superb performance of the original score. Choreographer George Kovtun weaves the on stage chorus into his epic panorama, while Vyacheslav Okunev’s mighty colonnade splits into barracks, palace and gladiatorial arena; even lighting designer Mikhail Mekler’s obsession with a blood red wash was strangely satisfying. The four main characters never faltered in the evening’s high octane gallop. Irina Perren’s Valeria, Spartacus’s lover, danced with a welcome inner quiet, a perfect foil to Roman courtesan Sabina, Anastasia Matvienko. Matvienko’s Act II duet, lusting after a wounded gladiator, was as disturbing as it was exquisitely danced while Marat Shemiunov’s role as Roman general Crassus is one of the most exhausting I have ever seen. He coped manfully. Spartacus is, of course, a man’s ballet and Denis Matvienko, despite spending too much of Act II off stage, is a likeable, beautifully schooled and convincing hero.  © John Ross
|
||||||||
|
 |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
