Paris Opera Ballet, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, CA
La Bayadère
April 30, May 1, May 3

On Monday night, as I sat in the War Memorial Opera House I fantasized about what it would be like to have the Paris Opera Ballet as my "home" company. What if I were able to see them every week, to watch them in contemporary and in classical rep? To be able to track as this coryphée got their first shot at a particular role, or that sujet tried out a variation? It seems unfair to see them only as a taste. It seems unfair to see any company that way. What if the dancer was executing sloppy pirouettes that night? Is he a bad turner or is he having an "off" night? One wishes for the luxury of seeing them week after week, but just one week will have to suffice.

But first, let's get this out of the way. Everyone in the Paris Opera is gorgeous, from the étoiles to the quadrilles. Even covered in muddy makeup, there was an undeniable elegance to their movements that could only be the product of fine schooling and it is honestly difficult to get over the rows of gorgeous feet and the perfectly tilted heads of the line of bayadères. The Paris Opera Ballet has been one of the most highly anticipated guest companies this year. The three hundred forty-year old company is wrapped in a kind of mystique and so expectations were set astronomically high before the company even left the shores of France. But the dancers arrived over the weekend, and were performing on Monday a day after getting off the plane. Even worse, they clearly had no time to get used to the War Memorial's smaller, somewhat hard-floored stage, which is not raked, as most European stages are. Despite some courageous dancing and an impeccable performance from Manuel Legris on opening night, the company was visibly tired and dancing at less than their peak. I am glad I waited to write until I had seen Tuesday's performance.

For their American tour, the POB has brought Rudolf Nureyev's lavish staging of La Bayadère, a version that he created for them in 1992, and which was inspired by his memory of the Kirov Ballet's production. It differs in flavor from Natalia Makarova's staging, which is the one favored by many critics and performed by American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Ballet, Boston Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. Nureyev's vision is perhaps more grandiose and visual where Makarova's is distilled to an elegant summation. Nevertheless, the Paris staging offers ample opportunity to see a major company tested in a classical crucible of Petipa's choreography.

Monday's opening was taken by Manuel Legris as Solor, the faithless warrior prince, Fanny Gaïda as Nikiya, the doomed temple dancer who loves him and Aurélie Dupont as Gamzatti, the daughter of the rajah and Nikiya's rival for Solor's affections. From the first moment of his entrance, Manuel Legris was soulful and yet commanding. His polished mime was clearly understood all the way to, well, to where I was in the last row of the balcony. He has a way of completing his motions with a full stop, for instance in his gesture of dismissal to the warriors, which allows you to fully register the position before he continues to the next movement.

Jean-Guillaume Bart, who danced Solor on Tuesday, is much younger than Legris and has not yet refined his portrayal, but he was no less exciting. His length complemented both Agnès Letestu's (Nikiya) and Marie-Agnès Gillot's (Gamzatti) heights lending an added elegance to the adagio work and the making the manèges breathtaking.

The first act mainly sets the stage for the successive ones and there is less bravura dancing here. The bayadères dance around the sacred fire was the first chance to really see the technique of the dancers in full, and to admire the security of the pointe work. While there were a few wobbly penchées on Monday, every dancer had that neat controlled "roll" through the foot in the pas marché step coming forward.

Nureyev's version very clearly extends the dancing for the men, and the dance of the Hindus showed the coryphées and quadrilles off nicely. Their work in three trios was exact and musical on both nights, which only served to emphasize how closely they must have been rehearsed. It was also notable that no matter what the level of dancer, all of them attack their movements vigorously and they never look as if they are only "marking". The quick double ronds de jambe en l'air were precise and always completed with two clean passes at the knees, no matter how fast the music might be.

What we really want to see though is Nikiya, and she makes her entrance in a grand theatrical manner. From the balcony, you are tantalized by the advent of her shadow across the floor before you actually see her. Fanny Gaïda on Monday replaced an injured Isabelle Guérin and proved to be a beautiful, serene Nikiya. Throughout her first solo, she gave a quick impulse to her arms and wrists, followed by an extension of the line that made her seem to flicker and then glow. Her musical phrasing, too, tends to be on the late side, but this leaves you with a sense of anticipation. Agnès Letestu was, by contrast, not so sinuous or enticing in the upper body, but the drawing out of her line in arabesque was in itself a kind of tease. She is also not a particularly dramatic ballerina facially. In her interactions with the High Brahmin, played by Laurent Queval on Tuesday, it was hard to tell what she felt. Scorn? Disgust? Pity?

Her pas de deux with Bart later in the scene was more expressive. This couple seemed more playful than Gaïda and Legris, and they melted into one another appealingly, from the promenades in arabesque to the impressive flight into a bluebird lift on Bart's shoulder. On the first night, Gaïda was a little harsher in her attack into the movements, seeming to force some of the steps, although Legris partnered her effortlessly and fluidly. His sensitivity worked to soften her slightly aggressive tendencies, particularly in the tricky pirouettes en dehors in attitude, which flowed right into the succeeding promenade.

In the second scene at the rajah's palace, wherein Solor is betrothed to Gamzatti, there is again little dancing and more plot exposition. However, the quick "djampo", in which the corps of eight women dance with long scarves was notable for its cleanliness. Tuesday night's sujets, Fanny Fiat and Mélanie Hurel were perhaps slightly more energetic, but it would be hard to be less than energetic in this piece.

As Gamzatti, Aurélie Dupont launched into the role with zest. Her Gamzatti was clever and yet had a suitable hauteur. From the very beginning, with the little sideways glances at Solor, she seemed to sense that something was up. Marie-Agnès Gillot's Gamzatti seemed more vain and perhaps a little spoiled, which was wholly appropriate.

For his part, Bart was rather sympathetic in this scene. He appeared to be dizzied by the suddenness of the betrothal and dazzled by Gamzatti. Then when the bayadère brought in to bless the couple was unveiled as Nikiya, he was not a little abashed and there was a pleasure to watching him skulk off to the sidelines. His Solor was obviously torn between watching his beloved and getting caught.

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This review initially appeared on Voiceofdance.com, May 5, 2001.

For questions or comments, please contact maryellenhunt@yahoo.com.