BOLSHOI BALLET
My disappointment may be due to the memory of the legendary Bolshoi roster of superstars that first dazzled American audiences 30 years ago with daring leaps and spins and uninhibited, passionate projection. It made ballet unforgettably exciting and had a remarkable impact on Western ballet technique, as our dancers discovered that such virtuosity was possible.
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The Bolshoi today is a young company that has acquired a more refined look. In the process, however, it has lost some of its old flamboyant, frequently exaggerated romanticism. It has a more homogenized look–not unlike that of major classic American and western European companies. The recent political opening to the West, which has encouraged closer professional contacts and exchanges of artists, may be responsible for part of the new look. In some ways the new elegance is a healthy development, but it would be a pity if the Bolshoi lost its idiosyncratic vitality.
Semizorova was an authoritative if cool swan queen–her every movement was technically perfect. She and Peretokin danced their second-act pas de deux smoothly, but somehow they never touched the heart. Her control was outstanding, and in her demanding solo variation, during which conductor Algis Zhuraitis set a ripping pace, a lesser dancer would have had serious problems. In the black-swan pas de deux the two dancers caught fire and dazzled–her fouettes were clean and sharp, as were his spins and leaps.
The production is saved by Ananiashvili as the tender young Juliet, Yuri Vasyuchenko as Romeo, Aleksandr Petukhov as Mercutio, Andrei Shakhin as Paris, and Peretokin as a wonderfully hateful Tybalt. The principals, assisted by a large cast, struggled bravely to bring the requisite passion to the tragedy, but they were given little help by the choreographer. The ballet goes on too long, and several pointless divertissements–Syrian and Moorish dances–have been inserted.
