© Rosalie O’Connor 'Rabbit and Rogue' reviews ABT 'Etudes' reviews 'Etudes' reviews recent ABT reviews more Anjuli Bai reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

Adding further to my dread was having read the several reviews of this program - which I should know better than to do - but curiosity won out. While not totally condemnatory, praise seemed to be distinctly lacking or at least thin enough to err on the side of kindness rather than stark truth.

First let me say, it was a stellar evening - literally. Seven of the Company's twelve stars - principals - came out and tore up the stage. It was great to see Ethan Stiefel back in top form (and then some) after a spate of injuries. This is the man who once told me in an interview that his favorite role is Albrecht in “Giselle” but here he was full out dancing as the Rogue in Tharp's “Rabbit and Rogue,” and obviously enjoying himself hugely. Watching a superb dancer in full throttle is always a wonderful thing.

Speaking of throttles, I don't think Herman Cornejo (as the Rabbit) knows the meaning of the word. He was the perfect counterpart to the Rogue - no rabbit ever moved as well, as quickly, or spun his way around the stage as surely. Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg, as the Rag Couple, and Paloma Herrera with Gennadi Saveliev as the Gamelan Couple, completed the constellation of star dancers doing star dancing. I would have liked, however, to have seen Hallberg given more solo work - just so I could indulge myself in watching this much heralded dancer for the first time. The appearance of a new "prince" is no small matter.

Ethan Stiefel in Rabbit and Rogue
© Rosalie O’Connor

As for the work itself, well, except for the lovely dreamy sequence in white, I found it frenetic Tharp. The choreography is certainly difficult, a minefield for mind and body but after a while, the observer longs for some content - well, at least I did. True, the Rogue and the Rabbit have their differences of opinion, but one wonders why, or why not, until one stops wondering. The music, again except for the dreamy white section, was ear plug mandatory - not a genre I enjoy, but then Mozart and his pals aren't writing any new stuff.

The costumes, by Norma Kamali, were black, black, black with an occasional white. There is no listing for set design because there wasn't any - only a black curtain backdrop behind the black, black, black costumes. I try to imagine a costume designer sitting with a sketch pad, thinking about costumes and coming up with a brain storm. I'll make them black! What a wonderful new idea! And better yet - I’ll make them the same shade of black as the black back curtain! What an innovation!

Harald Lander's “Etudes” made this old ballet teacher smile. Who else would enjoy seeing top drawer dancers doing tendues or grand battements? As I watched them executing these exercises at the barre it was possible to see the individual schooling of the dancers peeping out. When they dance as an ensemble, they come together, but while doing basic barre work it's a different view. In rond de jambe en l'air and a terre, one could see various methods of accomplishing the same end. The accents and impulse differed from dancer to dancer. This was also true in attitude derriére - the shape and placement of upper/lower leg to body exampled the various acceptable schools of thought on this particular classical pose.

Watching advanced dancers going "back to school" is a reminder how difficult it is to do the "simple" stuff of ballet. Simple never translates into easy in this art form. A single slow pirouette ending in a clean fifth position takes a great deal more concentration than spinning off a series of turns ending with a flourish.

I adored the a la Sylph segment. It was a wonderful dose - a visual vitamin pill - of that ole time ballet religion; the Romantic Era. Careful to keep height of leg within the parameters of the style was appreciated by this observer. Michele Wiles was beautiful - I could find a fancier word - but that's what she was. Corey Stearns and Jared Matthews were a pleasure and then some. Stearns is in the corps de ballet, and obviously someone upon whom to keep an eye.

And, yes, I would go see this program again.