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Masters of discipline

By Diane Baker
STAFF REPORTER
Friday, Aug 29, 2008, Page 13

PERFORMANCE NOTES: WHAT: Russian Festival Ballet WHEN: Tonight through Sunday at 7:30pm, tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm WHERE: National Theater (國家戲劇院), 21-1 Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei (台北市中山南路21-1號) TICKETS: NT500 to NT$3,000, available at the National Theater box office or www.ticket.com.tw

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The Russian Festival Ballet must be one of the most-traveled dance troupes in the world, having appeared in more than 50 countries. They always seem to be on the road and have visited Taiwan more than a dozen times in the past few years. Since Taipei lacks a resident professional ballet company of its own, the Russian Festival troupe could be considered the next best thing.

They are back in town this weekend to perform their crowd-pleasing troika of Sleeping Beauty (tonight), Swan Lake (tomorrow) and The Nutcracker (Sunday). However, unlike previous tours that took them to Hsinchu and points further south, this visit is strictly for Taipei audiences.

The company, now 19 years old, was formed by Timour Fayziev, a former premier danseur-turned-choreographer, with the aim of presenting the traditional romantic classics. The company’s repertoire may not be as broad as other troupes — it sticks to the same nine ballets — but Fayziev’s focus was on quality over quantity.

He took advantage of the collapse of the Soviet dance system to fill his company with graduates of the Bolshoi and Stanislavski schools who were well-schooled in classic Russian techniques and style. He has also had his pick of winners of international ballet competitions. The company is now almost 60 members strong, which allows him to have two to three traveling groups at any one time.

One of his company’s strengths is its corps de ballet, a must for turning pieces such as Swan Lake or Giselle into mesmerizing spectacles. Principal dancers may grab the spotlight, but nothing detracts from watching Swan Lake more than seeing a ragged lines of cygnets clomp onto the stage. It was often painful to watch the American Ballet Theater’s productions years ago, despite such stellar performers as Cynthia Gregory or Natalia Markova, because ABT’s corp de ballet was made up of women coming from a variety of schools and lacking a unity of style, much less of timing.

You may not know or remember the names of the Russian Festival Ballet’s stars, but you will remember the company’s performances.

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