Balletmet Columbus, Ohio Theatre, October 23-15, 1997; April 23-26, 1998.

OHIO THEATRE, COLUMBUS, OHIO OCTOBER 23-25, 1997; APRIL 23-26, 1998

As the cornerstones of its twentieth-anniversary season, BalletMet Columbus unveiled two major story ballets performed to familiar musical scores. In October, the company premiered a dance version of Carmen. And, in April, it closed its 1997-98 season with a new Romeo and Juliet, danced to the well-known score by Prokofiev. Both ballets, accompanied live by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, were choreographed by BalletMet artistic director David Nixon, marking, respectively, Nixon's fourth and fifth evening-length contributions to the company repertory in three seasons.

The two works were not equally successful. Carmen was performed to the odd, percussion-laden orchestration of Bizet's score by contemporary Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin that did little to send emotions soaring. Nixon's choreography attempted a substantive merger of flamenco with ballet, and the results were, unfortunately, almost comical. While Nixon, who once studied flamenco intently, was passably effective in a cameo role during the tavern scene, his dancers came across as mere poseurs.

In general, the choreography confused inflection with style, cliche with characterization. Moreover, the dancers performing the leading roles on opening night, Tiffany Kmet (Carmen) and Jim Orrante (Don Jose), proved too green to convey the intense emotions experienced by the story's principal characters. They may have looked the parts, but they couldn't act them or even dance them convincingly. Watching, Carmen, I began to wonder if Nixon had taken on too many creative challenges in too short a time.

Romeo and Juliet, however, proved that the well had not entirely run dry. While an imperfect ballet at its premiere, Nixon's Romeo succeeded on several levels, especially with Yoko Ichino (Nixon's wife and longtime partner and a former National Ballet of Canada etoile) as Juliet. Performing for the last time, Ichino was partnered by an injured Nixon, who at the eleventh hour had to reduce the demands of his role and rechoreograph some of his scenes (other dancers performed the lead roles in the remaining four performances).

Capping their partnership was an unforgettable balcony scene built on the foundation of Prokofiev's oh-so-tender and romantic music. Here Nixon found the inspiration to assemble an extended pas de deux that captured the rising emotions of the young lovers through an ever-quickening pace and ever-more-breathtaking dramatic steps. He and Ichino moved as one, and their dancing seemed as natural as breathing.

Overall, Nixon's choreography and staging of the ballet were wildly uneven, ranging from dynamic duels to tiresome folk dances. The crowd scenes quickly became too similar in look and content, and some of the most emotion-laden moments depended on nondance movement for expression and meaning.

Ichino was in peak form. Her presence onstage is considerable, at odds with her tiny stature and slight frame. She seems lit from within with a radiance that captures the audience's attention and, by evening's end, its heart. Ichino's farewell to the stage made many Ohio balletomanes regret that they had not had an opportunity to experience more of her talent.

Apart from Ichino, the strongest performance came from David Paul Kierce. His Mercutio was consistent from beginning to end. Even if some aspects of his streetwise portrayal seemed vulgar, in the end they could be overlooked because of his strong technique. Though the choreography made too much of a comic Nurse, Catherine Yoshimura conjured up, by turns, a most amusing and heartrendingly loyal companion to the heroine. David Stover's Benvolio, Erik Cederlund's Tybalt, and Orrante's Count Paris, though slightly smaller roles, were nevertheless marked by fine acting and athletic dancing.

BalletMet built all its own costumes and scenery. Designer Carla R. Chaffin's imposing italianate set, replete with arches, staircases, and doorways, created a strong backdrop for the drama even as it shrunk the space left for dancing. Costumes, designed by Nixon, were gorgeous--sufficiently rich and ornate to have adorned Italy's old aristocracy.