American Ballet Theater’s (ABT) return to Taipei after 12 years began on a bit of a down note last Thursday, with the discovery that principal David Hallberg, who now divides his time between ABT and the Bolshoi Ballet, had broken a foot the week before and so had not made the trip.
However, with that exception, the company’s visit was inspiring.
Hallberg was meant to lead off the first night’s mixed bill program, in George Balanchine’s Apollo, and his place was filled by fellow principal Marcelo Gomes — as was his spot as the warrior Solor in Saturday night’s La Bayadere (The Temple Dancer).
Photo Courtesy of American Ballet Theater
While Gomes was excellent on Saturday, as a whole Apollo left me feeling cold. It looked fussy and outdated, with the Gomes and his three partners just going through the motions. But Thursday’s night’s show quickly picked up with the set of three pas de duex: Daniil Simkin was spectacular as usual in Flames of Paris, though partner Sarah Lane appeared a bit hesitant. Julie Kent smouldered with Cory Stearns in James Kudelka’s Cruel World, while Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo were all fire and flare as they brought the house down in Rudolf Nureyev’s reworking of Diana & Acteon.
The first night was capped off with Christopher Wheeldon’s Thirteen Diversions, which has been in the repertoire for just over a year, a clean and crisp mix of duets, trios and group sets that gave both principals, solists and some corp de ballet members a chance to shine. As a whole, the show whetted the appetite for the four performances of La Bayadere to come.
Watching both performances of La Bayadere on Saturday provided insight into the personality that each dancer brings to a leading role. While Paloma Herrera and Sterns are solid dancers, their lack of chemistry meant you were never quite convinced of their passion for one another as the temple dancer Nikita and Solar during the matinee, compared to Veronika Part and Gomes in the evening show. When Part chose death rather than to live without her love, you believed her, as you did Gomes’ dejection over his love’s death, coupled with revulsion for the role he had played in it. Their pas de deux in the second act with the long scarf was very moving and his double saute de basques were terrific.
Photo Courtesy of Riverbed Theatre
However, in both shows, the women dancing the part of Gamzatti, the Rajah’s daughter who wanted Solor for herself, were stunning: Stella Abrera in the matinee and Hee Seo in the evening. Abrera especially was a revelation; she’s an exquisite dancer with beautiful arabeques. Both Abrera and Hee showed a passion and a steely determination to get what they wanted, no matter what.
The Shades scene in Act II was also better with the evening cast, the line of seemingly endless arabeques by the corp de ballet stronger and steadier. Lane, Maria Riccetto and Yiriko Kajiya each nailed their soloist variations.
Arron Scott danced the Bronze Idol beautifully in the matinee, while Craig Salstein did as well in the evening show.
It has been years since I last saw ABT’s La Bayadere and I had forgotten how silly the story is (especially the hunched and cowering fakirs), but it is a dazzling spectacle, especially the temple collapse, and it was wonderful to see a full-length ballet, with full orchestra, huge sets and scores of dancers in something besides Swan Lake.
On Friday afternoon, having snagged a ticket to one of the productions in Riverbed Theatre’s (河床劇團) second annual Just for You Festival, I approached the Hotel Eight Zone (八方美學商旅), the site of the festival, with some trepidation. I needn’t have worried, for I had picked probably the best introduction to one-on-one theater, or in this case, three-on-one — Li Jain-lung’s (李建隆) Geisha in the Room (梔子花與馬).
Li created a fantasy Japanese teahouse/doctor’s clinic, where the “Dr Ma” (complete with a horse’s head for a hat) began your treatment by having you relax in a bathtub filled with soft cuddly toys and think pleasant thoughts as you took deep breaths. Having “hypnotized” you, the sliding door to the bathroom opened to reveal the main room transformed into a fantasy teahouse room, complete with geisha, clad in an assortment of translucent netting and materials to give the illusion of a vast kimono and elaborate headdress.
A half-hour or so was spent with the “geisha” as she asked you questions about yourself and your hobbies while conducting an incense ceremony, whipping up a cup of green tea and then creating a ikebana flower arrangement that encapsulated what she had learned about you and then it was time to return to Dr. Ma and the bathtub, where he calmly counted you awake again.
That the geisha was played by a male actor seemed a nod to the Kabuki tradition of theater and added an interesting duality to the production, especially when he was transformed into a very masculine and very agressive temple dancer. Just whose fantasy was being played out?
I left my Japanese fantasy world feeling refreshed — and determined to try a more challenging play for next year’s Just For You festival.
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