© mb 'Spectre de la Rose' reviews Kolb in reviews recent Kirov reviews more Eric Taub reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

First of all, I hate what Isabel Fokine's done to the ballet; what the Kirov has brought is very different from the "standard" reading that's evolved in the West. The poor girl spends too much time running out of gas and plopping down prettily on the stage so the Rose can pull her up, and why is it necessary for her to suddenly "see" the Rose? And then chase after him like he's a matinee idol with particularly odd taste in clothes?

I suppose I've always thought of Spectre as representing the girl's dream. It's a bit redundant to have her repeatedly flopping down on stage or back into her chair in an obviously sleeping position. If she's really dreaming all this, I can't imagine that she'd dream about falling asleep repeatedly in the middle of her dream — that's pretty ridiculous, as is the sudden peek-a-boo moment when she "sees" the Rose.

If she'd been truly sleepwalking, and just awakened at this moment, to see a REAL figment of her imagination, then all this unnecessary detail would make sense, but if she's dreaming of the Rose in her sleep, she must, at some level, know he's there. The whole "oh my gosh, there he is" moment (overdone to perfection by Salina) is as dramatically superfluous as it is artistically grating. I mean, seriously, is she dreaming she can't see him (while dreaming that he's there, nonetheless), and then dreaming she can? It makes no sense.

I rather like Isabel Fokine's emphasis on the Rose's arms as tendrils with their Art Nouveau curlings and uncurlings, but it's risky, too easily overdone or underdone. The rest of what she gives the Rose is uninspired, with far too great an emphasis on the Rose's extended and somewhat creepy control over the girl. Although the familiar double assemble turns are still there, many other lovely bits of dancing for the Rose are gone. I don't know the provenance of Isabelle's staging of Spectre; did her grandfather create an extensively notated photobook of the ballet as he did for The Dying Swan? All I know is that however she's come upon her version, she can't make it work. Or work better than what we're already familiar with.

And Kolb takes liberties with Isabelle's liberties. He doesn't do the double assembles, and instead of falling dramatically at the seated girl's feet just before his rush out the window, he lowers himself like an arthritic hound dog before a fire.

Kolb's not without an occasionally pleasing plastique, but his prinping and preening become just plain creepy. There's one moment when, as the girl chases him around the room after she "sees" him, she approaches the window as if she might've been about to jump out, and all I could think was put him in green tights, and they could both take off straight on until morning. But then he'd have to channel Mary Martin, which, given his histrionics, might not've been such a stretch.

Instead, he leads her away from the window almost as if he were saying, "no, that's my window, you find your own."

There's a lot more from Kolb which made me cringe; I'll save some for my review, but the real butterfly-net moment came on Sunday afternoon. The first time I saw him, when Kolb stood in a pretty pose behind the girl's chair as she dances around on her own (and a Rose who's actually done the steps might catch his breath), he stood with his back to the audience, mostly just doing the tendrilly arms thing droopingly over his head.

Sunday afternoon, to emphasize the fact that he's still "controlling" the girl's dance, he leaned in a deep backbend over the chair, so his back was draped over the chair. So, there he was, bent over the chair, controlling the girl while upside down and backwards, like deranged puppetmaster. It was just ... wacky. Not pretty. Not part of any reading of Spectre I've ever seen, heard of, or even imagined. I could never have made that up.

What was Kolb thinking? WAS he thinking?