Paris Opera Ballet.

Opera Bastille, Paris

October 5-November 10, 2007

Review by Karyn Bauer-Prevost

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Despite the volatile atmosphere that plagued the early weeks of the Paris Opera Ballet season, including paralyzing strikes, the series opened with two stirring commissions. With her contemporary interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, German choreographer Sasha Waltz made her entry into the Parisian ballet's repertoire, while British icon Wayne McGregor made his debut here with Genus, an explosive, energetic exploration of Darwin's evolution of the species.

Waltz's vision of this epic romance was poignant and rich, albeit a romantic tragedy devoid of color. Dressed in black, white, and gray, the dancers moved on a bare black stage, shifting atop and around an imposing white triangular platform. As if to underline the vertiginous dangers looming in the evolving relationship between Aurelie Dupont, a deeply poetic Juliet, and her fiercely commanding Romeo, Herve Moreau, their performance unfolds around the sharp corners of this imposing modular stage.

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In spite of the tragedy that ultimately dooms the lovers, Waltz's choreography is infused with a deep sense of connection. Whether by hand, foot, head, or shoulder, the dancers often formed snake-like human links along the tilting stage, intensifying the impact of Romeo's tragic final solo. Performed to Hector Berlioz's symphonic score (banned at its creation at the Paris Opera due to internal quarrels) with the onstage presence of the choir of the Paris Orchestra, Waltz's Romeo and Juliet was both ethereal and intense.

"I was finally able to dance like a kamikaze!" commented Marie-Agnes Gillot about her featured role in Wayne McGregor's explosive Genus. The choreographer transformed this young generation of dancers in a 45-minute explosion of energy and strength. On a dark, barren stage, illuminated only by cutting spots and blinding white neons, principals Mathieu Ganio, Jeremie Belingard, and Benjamin Pech demonstrated their technical strength and flexibility alongside Gillot and Isabella Cividino.

With references to William Forsythe and Edouard Locke, the dancers overextended arms, legs, necks, and feet brought their conflicting body structures to a breathless climax in this energy-packed race towards modernity.

The creations of McGregor and Waltz, in collaboration with this new generation of POB dancers, were a flesh reminder that today's choreographers are pushing performances to new limits.