The
Imperial Russian Ballet Company
Canberra
Playhouse – 17-19 September
Reviewed
by Bill Stephens
The
Imperial Russian Ballet is a large Moscow-based ballet company, under the
artistic directorship of Gediminas Taranda, which constantly tours the world,
offering lavish productions of the most popular ballets in the classical
repertoire.
This proved a winning recipe as the three scheduled
Canberra performances were sold out prior to the arrival of the company. Of
course, it may also have been due to the fact that the performances were
presented in the Playhouse rather than the much larger Canberra Theatre. If so,
it was a shame because in the event, the Playhouse stage proved too small for
several of the items, especially the Nutcracker excerpts that opened the
program.
Though
entitled “The Nutcracker”, all the excerpts were from Act 11 of the ballet. The
tedious first act being replaced with a voice-over explaining what went before,
while an amiable Drosselmeyer (ballet-master Vitautas Taranda) strode the stage
displaying a large nutcracker doll, before commanding the curtain to rise for
the “Waltz of the Snowflakes” which was danced among falling snow flakes. The
section featured the famous Spanish, Chinese and Russian dances, an excellent
way of introducing the various soloists of the company, as well as the lovely
“Waltz of the Flowers”, performed, unfortunately, in rather lumpy unflattering
costumes.
Clara
was danced enchantingly by Lina Seveliova, partnered by Nariman Bekzhanov.
Somehow though their grand Pas de Deux didn’t generate the excitement it should
have, possibly because of the limited stage space, which seemed to cramp
Bekzhanov in particular, and inhibit their timing. Elsewhere, the ensemble had
to compromise lines and spacing to move between positions resulting in an
untidy effect. Judging from the program photographs, the scenery for this segment also looked
seriously compromised to fit into the available space.
 |
| Lena Seveliova and Company |
Seveliova
had opportunity to display her versatility later in the program when she
appeared as a cheeky Kitri, partnered by the alarmingly athletic Constantine
Teaci, in an excerpt from next year’s program, the full-length “Don Quixote”.
She then danced the beautiful pas de deux from “Giselle”, for which she was
elegantly partnered by Alexandru Balan, often giving the impression of floating
ethereally above the stage. Hopefully, one day we’ll get to see her dance the
full-length ballet.
 |
| Russian Emperial Ballet perform "Bolero" |
The
other major work on the program was a dramatic version of “Bolero” danced to
the famous music of Ravel. For this ballet, both the men and women of the large
ensemble, were costumed in all-over black body suits, richly trimmed in gold,
over which they wore gold lame-lined black skirts. The choreography made much use
of these skirts to stunning visual effect.
Descending
from her position high above the rest of the dancers, Elena Colesnicenco,
dressed in a figure-hugging gold body- suit, was a striking figure dancing the
central role of the God Head, to Nariman Bekzhanov’s strongly realised Head
Priest.
 |
| Anna Pashkova in "Ne Me Quittes Pas" |
A
selection of divertissement made up the final act, which provided several
opportunities to enjoy the work of a stunning dancer, Anna Pashkova. Her first
solo, a demure and charming piece called, “Russian Dance” hinted at her strong
stage presence and impressive technique. She then danced a solo entitled “Ne Me
Quittes Pas” which was spoilt by the over-amplification of the familiar Jacques
Brel music. However, during “The Carmen Suite”, leading the female ensemble, she
dominated the stage, with her flirtatious sensuality and brilliant dancing.
Among
the other soloists Denys Simon impressed with his fire-cracker “Gopak”, and
ballerina, Anastasia Homitcaia contributed a beautifully realised “The Dying
Swan”. However her “La Corsaire Pas De Deux” danced with Nariman Bekzhanov,
failed to ignite, possibly because the lack of space appeared to upset the
timing. Or perhaps it was because Bekzhanov’s bare torso revealed a
distractingly obvious tattoo which seemed glaringly out of place on a tatar
warrior.
The
program contained two lightweight short works choreographed by Artistic
Director Taranda. The first, a prettily costumed piece, “The Dance of the
Horses”, inspired by the Melbourne Cup and performed to some jaunty music by
Rossini, in which the dancers pranced like horses and jockeys. The other was a
campy “Can Can Surprise”` which featured the female ensemble dancing
Offenbach’s familiar Can Can, while the heavily tattooed Dmitrii Popov, as Dame
Vitautas, cavorted with two diminutive cavaliers and the male ensemble to
provide a diverting, if slightly puzzling, finale to this Festival of Russian
Ballet.
