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The Rice Thresher
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Elissa Wagman For the Thresher Artistic Director of the Houston Ballet Ben Stevenson conceived of The Snow Maiden with Russian ballet star Nina Ananiashvili in mind. Set to a Tchaikovsky arrangment by John Lanchbery, the Houston Ballet's second production of the ballet is meant to be entertaining fluff. Instead, it leaves the audience feeling somewhat confused as to exactly what the point is. The Snow Maiden is based on the traditional Russian folk tale of Snegurochka, the beautiful daughter of Father Frost. She and her father live in the frozen forest, a land of perpetual winter. Complications arise when Misgir, a young Russian man, visits the glade where the maiden and her father live. The snow maiden is intrigued by Misgir and falls in love with him. The trouble is that Misgir is engaged to marry another woman, Coupava. On the day of their wedding, the maiden appears, sick with love for Misgir, and eventually perishes in his arms, melted by the spring warmth and the love she feels. Unfortunately, although this story has the potential to provide an entertaining, if light, background for a ballet, it doesn't quite work. For pure fluff of this sort, virtuosic and exciting dancing and convincing music, sets, lighting and costumes are necessities. Most of these elements don't come across effectively in this production. The biggest problem with the ballet is the music. Most ballets, like The Nutcracker and The Firebird, are set to cohesive musical scores, written specifically for the ballet and meant to fit the story. For The Snow Maiden, John Lanchbery, a British composer and arranger, chose selections from a wide range of Tchaikovsky's other ballets, symphonies and string quartets and tried to fit them together into a cohesive score. One of the pivotal scenes of the ballet, for example, in which Misgir and the maiden meet for the first time, is set to the slow movement of Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony. Though all of Tchaikovsky's music sounds, to some extent, as though it could be danced to, this particular excerpt seems too slow and melancholy to be appropriate. As a result, the choreography looks awkward and disjointed and does not enhance the scene as it could have. In addition, although Houston Ballet principal Ananiashvili is adequately convincing as a young, naive Snow Maiden, her part is not really exciting enough to warrant an entire ballet. Her dancing is fluid and beautiful, particularly during the solos, but there are no especially memorable scenes that really show off her dancing. I enjoyed the dancing of Dominic Walsh, who played Misgir, much more than that of Ananiashvili. In addition, Ananiashvili has the annoying habit of bowing after dancing a solo, which breaks up the cohesion of the story. The costumes, on the other hand, add a lot to the production. The maiden and her friends in the frozen forest are clad in lovely, filmy white, and the Russian peasants, particularly Misgir and his bride-to-be Coupava, wear charming, brightly colored costumes that look delightful against the glittering white winter scenery. The ballet's most successful aspect is the dancing of the ballet corps. The scenes in which they appear, most notably the wedding scene between Misgir and Coupava, are lively and fun. The folk-inspired choreography fits the music much more successfully than during the solo or duo scenes. The corps scenes seem to achieve what Stevenson's production was really aiming for: fun, engrossing fluff. The Houston Ballet's second production of The Snow Maiden is meant to be a light traditional ballet based around a Russian starlet, Ananiashvili. Unfortunately, the dancing, supported by an awkward score, just isn't exciting enough to make it work.
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