Jewels.

BENEDUM CENTER, PITTSBURGH APRIL 10-13, 1997

Following in the wake of the Cincinnati and Miami City Ballets [see Reviews/ National, January 1997 and April 1997], Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre is the third regional company to present George Balanchine's Jewels during the 1996-97 season.

Of the 1967 ballet's three sections, "Rubies," first acquired by PBT in 1994, fared best on opening night. That success is directly attributable to the talents of principals Laura Desiree and Willy Shives, plus soloist Kristen Wenrick, who saucily shimmied and teased with her leggy battements. Desiree playfully exploited her substantial technical resources as she pranced through the quirky turns and confidently attacked the counterbalanced adagio. Shives, comfortable with the inherent speed and jazzy style, was outstanding in the pas de cinq. Flanked by the male corps, he nonchalantly jogged and gleefully launched into bursts of technique.

On second viewing, Ying Li and Alexander Nagiba brought classical nobility to the leading roles. Li delicately walked on her heels, while Nagiba approached the vigorous choreography with matador-like brio. Nanci Crowley, angular and Balanchinesque, repeatedly kicked heel to head with commanding thrusts.

The refined choreography and Faure score create a generalized romantic atmosphere in "Emeralds," but the lead dancers set the particular mood. For example, Li's beautiful epaulement and lovely port de bras imbued the first variation with ethereal nineteenth-century wistfulness. Laurie Miller's shaded footwork added glamour and joy to the role. Crowley and Stanko Milov were regal in the "step duet," while Lesley Bories and Jiabin Pan subtly approached the walks, poses, and supported passages with dreamlike romanticism.

Observed from orchestra and balcony levels, the female corps in "Emeralds" and "Diamonds" appeared well rehearsed. Carefully maintaining the stationary circles, loops, and lines in the former, they danced through the latter's angular formations with uniformity.

Alternating in the "Diamonds" adagio, Crowley and Desiree were both competently partnered by Milov, who nonetheless deferred more to the emoting Crowley. (And despite her technically correct execution, Crowley was less effective in her phrasing.) With Desiree, a dancer of restrained elegance, Milov engaged in eye contact and courtly presentation, which produced the more artistically satisfying performance. He also displayed an authoritative coupe jete en tournant combination and (despite an opening night falter) executed solid grands pirouettes.

The PBT costume shop outfitted the current production lavishly, indicating that the company intends to maintain it in the active repertory after the retirement of artistic director Patricia Wilde. Jewels will be seen on tour in Louisiana in October.