Saturday May 26, 2012 evening – Following her memorable performance in SWAN LAKE last season at ABT, I was keen to see Polina Semionova (above) again. Tonight she danced Nikiya in LA BAYADERE with the Company for the first time, partnered by premier danseur David Hallberg. It was a performance I’d been anticipating for a long time and it was well worth the wait.
The House, though better-populated than at the week’s earlier performance, was far from full. Some idiot brought a baby…WTF? After some whimpering in Act I, the kid konked out for Act II; then she took him home. What was the point? People are so vain and thoughtless.
David Hallberg (above) now bestrides the dance world like a colossus – and a very elegant colossus at that. His dancing was splendid of course, with his stretched-out jetés and his imperial line. What struck me most about David’s performance tonight was the depth of poetic resonance that shone thru in his every moment onstage. He’s always had a beautiful presence onstage but it seemed to me that he’s now more intense in his emotional focus and superbly responsive to the dramatic nuances of the role.
Ms. Semionova is a thrilling Nikiya, her impeccable technique and supremely lissome physique investing her performance with a very personal radiance. From her first entrance it was clear we were in for a fascinating embodiment of the role. For all the inspired dancing that Semionova and Hallberg gave us tonight, it was the electrifying chemistry of their partnership that put the performance in that rare echelon of great evenings of dance. Right from their first encounter, the tenderness and steadfastness of their forbidden love gave the evening a vibrant romantic quality, reaching its apex in their reunion in the Kingdom of the Shades. The cares and concerns of the daily world fell away as we watched them dancing together.
Hee Seo, a lovely Nikiya earlier in the week, was tonight appearing as Gamzatti. She gave an impressive performance despite a momentary lapse at the end of the fouette passage. A great beauty, Seo held the stage well, uneclipsed by the star-power of the Semionova/Hallberg duo. Joseph Phillips danced brilliantly in the Bronze Idol solo, effortlessly filling the stage with his leaps and turns. In a particularly appealing trio of Shades, Luciana Paris, Maria Riccetto and Yuriko Kagiya danced superbly and were well-contrasted in personality, each exuding her own perfume. Bravissimi!
Oberon's Glade 