Mary Ellen Hunt
San Francisco
Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, CA
The Sleeping Beauty
March 16, 20, 2001
In The Sleeping Beauty Helgi Tomasson has created an immensely saleable production of one of the great classics of ballet, complete with glittering tutus and elegant dancing. In the end though, such classics are only as strong as their principal dancers, and Friday's opening cast was peppered with some of San Francisco Ballet's finest principals and soloists.
Lucia Lacarra and Cyril Pierre took on the roles of Princess Aurora and Prince but if we were to say the cast were "led" by anyone, that person would have to be Muriel Maffre, in the role of the Lilac Fairy. Maffre's authority is enhanced by her height, but it is her dignified and commanding presence that draws the eye. She is a dancer that pulls your attention, from her grand arabesques down to the gestures of her fingertips. No matter what else may be going on onstage, you are drawn back to her simply to see what she is going to do next. While the court was in a hysterical frenzy downstage, Aurora having just pricked her finger, I found myself watching Maffre make an assured and serene entrance in the dark, upstage right.
Among the other fairies of the Christening scene, it was a pleasure to see Julia Adam and Katita Waldo in purely classical variations as the Fairies of Tenderness and Generosity, also called the Fairy of the Crystal Fountain and the Fairy of the Enchanted Garden. Vanessa Zahorian, as the Fairy of Playfulness (sometimes called the Fairy of the Songbirds) managed well with the choreography, but I missed the details of arm positioning. Her fingers, which should give the sense of lightness of song and the beating of bird wings, instead looked to me to more like thumbing of one's nose. It was Lorena Feijoo, in the notoriously difficult "Finger Fairy" variation, who really stole the act. Her sharp, clear movement was accentuated by an easy, impish attitude. Of the many fine dancers who populated the stage, she (and Maffre) most clearly exemplified what it means to be a "ballerina": to have a special attractive quality that is yours alone. I hadn't intended to see her perform as Aurora, but after thirty seconds of her Fairy of Courage and with one flirtatious glance tossed over her shoulder, I was sold on coming back to see her again.
Tomasson has mercifully pared down the lengthy ballet by including only the most famous bits and pieces. There's a definite sense of loss of grandeur, but on the other hand, we get the best of the show. Thus, the Christening is over in almost a blink and we're flashed forward to Aurora's sixteenth birthday, with only one Garland Dance between the story and the good stuff, namely the Rose Adagio.
Lacarra looks like she's just turned sixteen. Her Aurora is innocent yet poised, just slightly coquettish without ever forgetting that she is a princess. Then too, there is something a little pensive about her, as befits a princess with a curse hanging over her head. I would not say that she navigates through the Rose Adagio with aplomb. There were some questionable moments in the promenades and a bit of wobbliness in the rolls through the foot from arabesque to penchée. Nevertheless, the role of Aurora suits her perfectly, and it is tastefully executed when she resists the impulse to let her développé à la seconde fly past her ear.
Of the four princes (Damian Smith, Michael Eaton, Jason Davis, and Peter Brandenhoff), the real standout was Jason Davis. His unusual flexibility (for a man) gives his jumps a little more loft at the top where he tends to push his line in arabesque or seconde further in order to eke the most out of it. It could be vulgar, but it works for him because he never betrays any strain for his efforts.
Act II, the vision sequence, is set 100 years after Aurora's slumber has begun, and opens at the court of Prince Desiré, played on Friday by Cyril Pierre. The mazurka and farandole pass quickly enough and then there is the interpolated solo variation for the prince, created by Tomasson for this production. The choreography is unfortunate, but I was frankly disappointed by Pierre's performance. This variation may have been a dull and unmusical one, but his technique lacked the kind cleanliness that should be a matter of course for a principal at a company of this level.
The real strength of Pierre came out only when he partnered Lacarra. He is obviously sensitive to her timing and the vicissitudes of supporting someone with such extreme hyperextension. Their interaction in the vision scene took on a wistful quality that made this sometimes flat (though musically gorgeous) pas d'action more compelling to watch.
The last act, or Wedding Act is often performed on its own as it offers a nice variety of pas de deux and variations. Here too, Tomasson has cut judiciously to include only the most popular: the pas de quatre of Jewel Fairies, which has become a pas de six to include two cavaliers (Tomasson intentionally expanded male roles in this staging); Puss-in-Boots; the Bluebird pas de deux and the grand pas de deux.
In the pas de six, the two men, Guennadi Nedviguine and Gonzalo Garcia, stood out for their austerely clean technique. Nedviguine's beats in his entrechats in particular had a precision that made them eye-catching.
Joan Boada and Kristin Long performed as the Bluebird and his Enchanted Princess. Long's portrayal in this showstopper pas de deux was utterly charming. Her piqué fouettés to arabesque and her échappés were crisp and clean without ever looking jerky, a hazard in this sprightly variation. Boada by contrast seemed to be fighting the music at times. He may have gotten a late start into a couple of his diagonals which necessitated lower jumps, a pity considering his elevation. Nevertheless, the famous diagonal of brisés volés from the coda went more smoothly. He has a nice trick of showing the second brisé position clearly before the beat occurs, which gives a kind of sparkle to the step.
The supported adagio of the grand pas de deux was immaculately realized by Lacarra and Pierre. It is in moments like these that her physicality is a pleasure to watch. From the first élevé to sous-sus, and développé en avant, there was something breathtaking about the simplicity and articulation of her legs. She doesn't seem strong when dancing alone, but with her partner behind her, she is free to work a little further than her normal limits. Pierre also looked his best partnering her, although he fared better in his solo variation than in the Act II solo. It seems that with Lacarra and Pierre, as indeed might be said of the entire ballet, the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts.
This review initially appeared on Voiceofdance.com, March 25, 2001.
For questions or comments, please contact maryellenhunt@yahoo.com.