Ballet `Giselle' stresses technique, forgets the flair
The American Ballet Theatre's array of talent encompasses a broad scope of dancers. The cast is large and diverse, including 18 principals that hail everywhere from Russia to South America.
So you'd expect a spectacular show, right?
Well, not exactly. Though the dancers are strong performers, many of them lack flair. The emphasis on technique over personality results in a fine technical show, but a boring one.
Choreography played a major role in whether or not this ballet would be a success. Once again, you'd expect a lot of dancing, and with such a famous group of dancers, a lot of fancy footwork, gorgeous lifts, gigantic jumps and whirlwinds of spins. There were a couple of each, but the choreography's mainstay was simple combinations that did little to impress.
During the first act, much of the choreography consisted of walking from stage left to stage right. With what dance combinations they had to work with; however, the dancers executed everything very cleanly.
Cleanliness in lines and extensions proved to be a great asset in the ensemble dancing. Ensemble dancing tends to be messy in general, and if you can have 12 or more people doing the exact same move at the exact same time, you know you have good dancers.
The female lead, Giselle, was danced by Amanda McKerrow on Friday night, and she did the role justice. You could see the emotion in her face as well as her body movements, especially at the end of Act 1, when she dies of a broken heart.
Her love, Count Albrecht (Vladmir Malakhov), also received many "bravos" during curtain calls. He commanded the stage when he danced, though his emotional levels weren't as high as McKerrow's.
The Peasant Pas de Deux was supposed to be a major highlight in the show -- South American wondergirl Paloma Herrera was paired with Angel Corella, who graces the cover of Dance magazine this month.
Herrera looked a little nervous, and her facial expressions made her look like a mean peasant girl rather than a jolly one. She fell off pointe several times, and instead of observing fine dancing, I found myself concentrating on how big her feet looked.
Then again, here's a 19-year-old who's a principal dancer in a famous ballet company dancing the second biggest female part in what many critics perceive as the finest ballet tragedy. She has room to be imperfect.
Her counterpart, Corella, stole the show. He looked like a doll working on heavy-duty Energizer TM batteries. A smile never left his face, and the energy he put into his performance could even be seen in how his hair flew around his head while he danced.
Herrera and Corella danced in the first act, which was much more entertaining than the second. Though there was less dancing in the first, the dancing in the second seemed to drag on forever. Then you wondered why it takes so long for the spirits to dance the count to death. He's saved, of course, but he could have been saved more quickly.
The further the story line goes, the more the pace slows, and boredom starts to kick in when the count meets Giselle's ghost in the forest.
Still, it's nice to see a different ballet company with a different style than Houston Ballet. It's just too bad their style isn't quite as exciting.
This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the November 17, 1995 issue.
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