COLORADO BALLET.

COLORADO BALLET AUDITORIUM THEATER DENVER, COLORADO OCTOBER 2-10, 1999 REVIEWED BY GLENN GIFFIN

It's no secret that Martin Fredmann, artistic director of Colorado Ballet, has been acquiring works with American interest. Rodeo (Agnes de Mille) can now be added to the list that includes Appalachian Spring (Martha Graham), Western Symphony (George Balanchine), and Billy the Kid (Eugene Loring).

The whole success of Rodeo depends on its central figure, the Cowgirl (originally danced by de Mille herself). Essentially a mime role, the trick here is mastery of body language. The rude nose-thumbing, the infatuated stare, the slumped shoulders of defeat, and the broad hitching up of trousers as a sign of determination were all part of de Mille's dance vocabulary and, unlike the classics, they are impossible to cut: they are part of the choreography itself.

Sharon Wehner took the role in Denver on opening night, winsome for the most part, but not yet ready to throw herself into the psyche of a girl out to get a man. Different era, after all. Wehner does present the character's gumption and undefeatable optimism, even though, as we all know, she'll end up in the kitchen with the women rather than in the corral with the guys, where she wants to be. Her understudy, Kathryn Berger, emphasized the character's defeats rather than her spirit.

Meelis Pakri (Gregory Gonzales alternating) essayed the role of the Head Wrangler, the object of the Cowgirl's infatuation, with Koichi Kubo as the Champion Roper who brings her out of her shell. Kubo, normally as poker-faced as a card sharp, actually seemed to be enjoying this stretch (for him) of a role, doing the required tap dancing as though he'd been ready to hoof his way along for years. Igor Vassin, the alternate, was less secure there, but had a more open approach to the role.

Even with this cheery commentary on the battle of the sexes, the central portion of Colorado Ballet's opener was Stanton Welch's Of Blessed Memory, danced to excerpts of Cantaloube's Chants d'Auvergne. The stylized, almost art nouveau silhouettes of trees were the work of Kristian Fredrikson; they suggested the vistas of his (and Welch's) Australia. This was the work's first American production.

The subject is motherhood, specifically Welch's own mother, ballerina Marilyn Jones, and, generically, all mothers. The central figure, originally danced by Jones (who set the ballet for the Denver dancers), presides over a swirl of dancers who are children on the verge of adulthood and departure. As such, they can be playful, as in a segment where the girls become coquettish toward the boys; but earlier, a duet suggests that romance and sex will soon be part of the lush mix. Of particular interest was a quintet for the central woman, alga Volobuyeva, a daughter figure, and a trio with Pakri as the domineering older brother to Illya and Sasha Kozadayev.

This is a multilayered work in which Welch has managed to infuse great emotional range into the somewhat level-mooded music. His misstep was a false climax, which broke the flow before resolving the piece: each dancer embraces the mother and departs.

Rounding out the evening was a jaunty and surefooted account of Frederick Ashton's Facade. Until Paul Taylor did his Funny Papers, this was as close to an animated cartoon as dance came. These are caricatures, of course, but delicious ones. The deadpan Popular Song, with Illya Kozadayev and Kubo, was a standout; both Wehner and Michelle Dolighan did well with the Polka--hard to imagine that the immaculately coiffed Alicia Markova did it originally. The Tango, Ashton's own role as the gigolo, featured Andrew Thompson leering provocatively, but l missed the spotlight zeroing in on his ruby pipe for the exit. Indeed, he ought to be at least as fascinated by his ring in the dance as by his tipsy "debutante" (Maria Mosina and Volobuyeva alternating). The whole thing is a romp, and proved a sparkling introduction to the evening.