Colorado Ballet, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College, New York, January 25, 1998.Just one performance on an unfamiliar stage in a new city is a tough deal for a touring company--particularly when it's New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , where critical response can, rightly or wrongly, strongly influence future funding and reputation. In its first local appearance since 1993, Colorado Ballet managed to show a strong and cohesive group of dancers who looked persuasive in most of their eclectic repertory. Two works by artistic director Martin Fredmann formed the core of the program's middle section, which also offered showpiece show·piece n. Something exhibited, especially as an outstanding example of its kind. showpiece Noun 1. anything displayed or exhibited 2. pas de deux pas de deux (French; “step for two”) Dance for two performers. A characteristic part of classical ballet, it includes an adagio, or slow dance, by the ballerina and her partner; solo variations by the male dancer and then the ballerina; and a coda, or from Swan Lake and Don Quixote. Silent Woods is also a showpiece of a sort. Set to Dvorak and imbued with a distinctly Edwardian Lilac Garden atmosphere, the dance is a nicely contained vignette that suggests complex stories behind the swooning swoon intr.v. swooned, swoon·ing, swoons 1. To faint. 2. To be overwhelmed by ecstatic joy. n. 1. A fainting spell; syncope. See Synonyms at blackout. 2. , swooping embraces and final, harmonious, hand-in-hand reconciliation of the dancers (the supple Maria Mosina and discreetly ardent Dmitri Kouznetsov). The other Fredmann work, Mon Dieu, is a less successful attempt at condensed con·dense v. con·densed, con·dens·ing, con·dens·es v.tr. 1. To reduce the volume or compass of. 2. To make more concise; abridge or shorten. 3. Physics a. narrative: a solo of undefined angst to an Edith Piaf recording that seems to have been conceived as a vehicle for the dramatic gifts and stage presence of longtime company ballerina Patricia Renzetti. Wearing a long, decollete dé·colle·té adj. 1. Cut low at the neckline: a décolleté dress. 2. Wearing a garment that is low-cut or strapless. black gown and white gloves, Renzetti couldn't save the solo from veering between vagueness and melodrama. In the nearly obligatory--for regional companies--demonstration of Balanchine capability, the program began with Patricia Neary's staging (which retains the oft-cut prologue) of Apollo. Meelis Pakri gave a thoughtful if sometimes technically hesitant rendering of the title role, with competent supporting performances from Mosina (Calliope calliope, in music calliope, in music, an instrument also called steam organ or steam piano in which steam is forced through a series of whistles controlled by a keyboard. ), Tiffany Helm (Polyhymnia), and the talented Michelle Dolighan as a surprisingly strong and sexy Terpsichore. In a very different vein, the company ended the performance with Peter Pucci's Size Nine Spirit, a feel-good ensemble piece to Benny Goodman recordings that exploits Koichi Kubo's small-scale physical dexterity in a good-humored but rather relentless fashion. Kubo whirls, spins, and leaps along among jiving, jitterbugging pairs of dancers, never finding a partner or friend among these tall foreigners, but apparently accepting their insularity in the right sort of spirit. He achieves revenge in a showstopping Don Quixote pas de deux, where he both gets the girl (Sharon Wehner, no technical slouch slouch v. slouched, slouch·ing, slouch·es v.intr. 1. To sit, stand, or walk with an awkward, drooping, excessively relaxed posture. 2. To droop or hang carelessly, as a hat. v. herself) and makes the audience gasp at his more-than-multiple turns, extraordinary elevation, and admirable control. |
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