***** !!!!! A Day To Live For !!!!! *****


Two Mega-Universes Of Talent Coming Together On One Stage At One Time !

Graciously And Magnificently !


Irina Dvorovenko -- Giselle

Veronika Part -- Myrta


Sunday, November 8, 2009

Act II -- "Giselle"

These Two Remarkable Women May Have Presented One Of The Most Perfect "Giselles" That Has Ever Been Staged !

Supported in Act II by an Outstanding Cast

Maxim Beloserkovsky as Count Albrecht, Jared Matthews as Hilarion, the very young and already much talked about Simone Messmer as Moyna and an equally impressive Kristi Boone as Zulma, a wonderful Act I Peasant Pas de Deux by Isabelle Boylston with Mikhail Ilyin, a Corps de Ballet in Absolute Top Form and Radiance and Everyone Else that I have not mentioned

This Performance Sailed Heaven Bound !


Veronika Part

I had hoped for wonders from her, as I usually do, and she delivered !

Irina Dvorovenko

I had only seen her twice before and I had been very impressed, but I wasn't quite sure what to expect this time. She surpassed my greatest expectations ! I believe that she really reached beyond herself this time. She was Giselle and she was Amazing !


Act II solos began with Veronika Part bourreeing across stage with consummate grace and presence. As usual she presented at least one move of unequalled excellence. This time it was a swing of her elevated leg, front to back, the likes of which I had never seen before ! Then came a series of almost equally remarkable cross stage jumps !

This outstanding sort of magnificence continued until the arrival of Giselle, Irina Dvorovenko. At this point Myrta, Veronika Part, moves to the side of the stage and essentially remains there for the rest of the ballet. This creates a double challenge for anyone who performs this Act. The first is how does any newly arrived Giselle reclaim the stage from a wonderfully choreographed Myrta performance? Second, how does a possibly superstar ballerina playing Myrta now quietly remain at the side of the stage, after such a high keyed performance, while another dancer now claims absolute attention?

Veronika Part handled this beautifully! While constantly maintaining the Aura of The Goddess of All The Goddesses, she graciously stepped to the side and remained there. Not once during the entire Act did I see a sign of jealously or competitiveness cross her face!

And how does Irina Dvorovenko as Giselle reclaim the stage as her own? She did this by almost immediately going into the required whirlwind, one foot spinning with the effect of a Cosmic Spitfire!

After that came the real Wonderment. Irina Dvorovenko then proceeded to perform one of the most convincing and spellbinding Giselle portrayals imaginable !

I just looked back and forth at the Iconically Angelic Irina Dvorovenko and the All-Encompassing Deity of Veronika Part and was in a state of absolute rapture !

When it all ended the entire audience rose to its feet immediately with a sustained thunderous and heartfelt applause !



***** !!!!! It Was Really Magnificence Of The Highest Order !!!!! *****



(More to follow)

As I sit here writing down a seemingly unending flow of descriptive notes and recalling a seemingly unending list of facts and impressions from this performance, once idea surfaces to the top to describe Veronika Part.


Veronika Part


** She Is Living Poetry In All Respects -- Absolutely Beautiful Poetry **



*******

This is a cast would have loved to see. Buddy, you are very lucky.

Fortunate, indeed, LMCtech !


Irina Dvorovenko -- Giselle

Along with her husband, Maxim Beloserkovsky, I believe that she is generally known for doing very fine performances with a high level of virtuosity and expression, but I have also been impressed with her basic gracefulness. As with her husband and Veronika Part, her 'Russian' schooling is very evident. Extreme gracefulness of the upper body, beautifully refined motion and a mastery of stage presence are some of these characteristics. In her dancing the beautiful articulation of her elevated foot while in arabesque position was one of many examples of this.

I have also noticed in the past an apparent, strong desire for a genuine 'heart-felt' sense of expression in her portrayals. In Act I this time I saw more of this. For instance she performed the 'demise' scene, that ends Act I, with a gentler sense of poetic restraint and sensitivity, which left a little girl sitting in front of me seemingly 'uneffected' -- a very good thing, I believe.

In Act II she 'Transcended' !

It was possibly the best portrayal of Giselle that I have ever seen and I have seen some excellent ones, live and on video.


She Was A Giselle So From The Heart And So From The Heavens !


[typo correction]

I made the mistake of choosing to attend Saturday's matinee with Maria Riccetto and David Hallberg. Giselle's slip in Act II was the first time I've ever seen a dancer fall on stage. Quite stunning.

Woah. How embarrassing. I don't know these dancers at all. Can you give us a bit more information?

Bluebell_Lover, first of all "Welcome to CriticalDance!"

Secondly, I also saw that performance. I do have to say personally that I thought Maria Riccetto's overall performance was beautiful as was the entire presentation. Only the time involved and my energy limitations along with my preoccupation trying to describe Sunday's amazing performance have kept me from mentioning it.

Of coarse, what you feel is what you feel and it is certainly good of you to share your opinions with us and very appreciated. Always feel free to openly express your opinions here and I look forward to hearing more from you.



Veronika Part


She is a subject of benevolent fascination for me. You might also call it Love.

(Love from an artistic distance as much as possible -- and certainly a respectful distance at my age).


Her remarkable ability to produce spellbinding Artistic Grace makes her an Ideal.

Her physical Beauty is undeniable.

Her Humanness can be absolutely endearing.


I would imagine that her primary love is her art.

It is probably the predominant part of her life. I would guess that when we don't see her she is thinking or practicing her art.

When we do see her on stage, she is living it.


It is her remarkable talent that makes her the focus of attention here.


Her talent seems to be almost Inherent.

It seems to be a natural and essential part of her being. When she appears on stage her presence and a few gestures almost guarantee an aesthetically elevating experience, well worth all an entire performance's time and attention.

The times when she accomplishes an entire performance of artistic perfection, she may be one of the greatest performing artists ever !


I have never left one of her performances being untouched by its beauty and her beauty.

Quite often I am Overwhelmed !


[a minor word change]

" Lovely, Just Lovely ! "

This is what I would liked to have exclaimed, along with the Bravos!, at the end of Friday evening, as Xiomara Reyes finished her performance of "Giselle." This sentiment also applies to all the "Giselles," which I was able to see, and to all the lead dancing and much of the other wonderful performing.

I actually saw four performances, the last four of the series.

For the second time in about two weeks, I drove across the state of California to see outstanding ballet performances. The first time was to see the wonderful Suzanne Farrell Ballet in Santa Barabara.


The four lead casts

(Giselle, Albrecht, Myrta (program spelling), Hilarion)

Nov. 6 Xiomara Reyes, Herman Cornejo, Stella Abrera, Jared Matthews

Nov. 7 Maria Riccetto, David Hallberg, Gillian Murphy, Gennadi Saveliev

Nov. 7 Paloma Herrera, Marcelo Gomes, Michele Wiles, Isaac Stappas
 
Nov. 8 Irina Dvorovenko, Maxim Beloserkovsky, Veronika Part, Jared Matthews


I have already 'Mentioned' Irina Dvorovenko and Veronika Part. All the other women I thought danced quite well with Gillian Murphy, Paloma Herrera and Michele Wiles perhaps being the most noticeable for their impressive abilities. Paloma Herrara did some fine jumps and Gillian Murphy did fine with that and
everything else. Michele Wiles was also very impressive. I felt that Maria Riccetto had a lovely softness in her legs and feet, perhaps the nicest such quality that I have seen. Stella Abrera had a wonderfully expressive articulation in her dancing.

Personality-wise I thought that Xiomara Reyes was truly lovable with her warm and smiling manner. She reminded me somewhat of the Mariinsky's vibrant, lovely dancer, Evgenia Obraztsova, who I like very much. I didn't recognize Paloma Herrera at first. I have only seen her in "Swan Lakes" mainly and here she was a different person, so vibrant and alive. Maria Riccetto I thought was most lovely when she was expressing a sense of wonderment in her portrayals. Gillian Murphy had a very fine sense of classical romanticism in her portrayal.

Of the men I thought that David Hallberg was noblesse personified as was Maxim Beloserkovsky with a fine dose of theatricality thrown in. Herman Cornejo was very charming and Marcelo 'The Man' Gomes as expected was the Elvis Presley crowd pleaser of the series with his wonderful theatricality and very fine technical feats (double jump turn landings in perfect fifth position and a nonstop rocketman series of entrechats ('flicking' his feet together in the air). David Hallberg also did the same series of entrechats extremely well. Maxim Beloserkovsky did the charging across the stage, feet forward entrechats towards the end of Act II with a wonderful gracefulness.

All the above Albrechts had the critical job of carrying the ballet to its exaulted Wagnerian conclusion by reaching out to whatever heavenly forces might be present at the moment as the curtain descended and they all did this magnificently. The audience roared out its loving approval after each of these performances.

All the Hilarions were very good in their portrayals. Jared Matthews, who performed it two times that I saw, was an extremely convincing, sensitive and sympathetic Hilarion, seemingly very concerned for the welfare of Giselle. Bravo to him for this.

Audience-wise the orchestra level seemed almost completely full for all of these four performances. I could only see the balconies on Sunday and they also looked quite full. The audience response was consistently warm and enthusiastic with three or four curtain calls after each performance.


PS -- One more name that should really be mentioned is that of Danil Simkin. He performed the Peasant Pas de Deux twice with a very fine Sarah Lane. His 'Space Age' dancing ignited the house resulting in thunderous applause. Another feature that I really appreciate in Danil Simkin's performances is that he seems to be getting more restrained and poetic in his overall presence. He has a very charming manner and generates a very nice feeling of warmth and modesty.

Getting back to Irina Dvorovenko for a moment. There is what I would call the 'Heart and Soul' factor at ABT. It is the ability to take 'hi tech' (virtuoso) dancing and combine it with deep inner expression in an almost transcendent combination. The virtuoso factor, highly impressive 'Wow!' dancing, is not just a thing in itself, but an attempt to elevate the total expression to another level, to the sublime, perhaps.

I would say that Gillian Murphy can be the most noticeable example that I have seen of this at ABT. Her portrayal can be starbound, while her physicality seems an attempt to somehow power the voyage.

The 'Wow!' factor of the dancing reinforces the longing for a gentle elevation of the entire being -- a 'breaking out' of the restrictions of the human body.

So while Irina Dvorovenko was holding me spellbound with her heavenly portrayal, her dancing, with the superb help of her partner-husband, Maxim Beloserkovsky, was both grace and 'hi tech' with biig jumps, impressive spins and held balances. These were not just impressive in themselves, they lifted the otherworldliness of the performance. (Interestingly this quality resembles her name, Dvorovenko, pronounced, I believe, dvah-rah-ven'-kah, a typically long and flamboyant Russian (Ukrainian) female name with a beautiful lilting feel.)

In her last gesture of the ballet she bends over to touch her partner and her back leg rises higher (3/4 up) than I have seen of any of the dancers in any of the four performances and yet it does not come across to me as an act of showmanship but rather a beautiful and touching accenting of a soulful journey.