Opening the show is the Boston Ballet Premiere
of choreographer August Bournonville's Bournonville Divertissements. It features three
selections from his vast work. Following intermission is the full length
production of La Sylphide.
It all begins with an ethereal Pas de Deux from Flower Festival in
Genzano danced by Seo Hye Han and Junxiong Zhao. They are a well matched
pair who danced to the music of Edvard Helsted with ease. The upbeat Jockey Dance from From
Siberia to Moscow featured fast footwork from soloists Isaac Akiba and
Irlan Silva. The pair was playful and comedic in their interactions with one
another as they portrayed jockeys at a horse race. While their piece was fun
and engaging for the audience to watch, it was also sharply danced by the pair
to the music of C.C. Møller.
Thirdly came Pas
de Six and Tarantella from Napoli.
Both were stylistically
very similar to the earlier Pas de Deux
with light, elevating movement. The upbeat group sections were reminiscent of the
local Italian folk dancing Bournonville was inspired by. This selection
featured Kathleen Breen Combes, Ji Young Chae, Lia Cirio, Ashley Ellis, Paul
Craig, Patric Palkens and Lawrence Rines. The talent of the individual dancers
was highlighted throughout the piece with each having their own solo moments.
It was seamlessly performed with the dancers switching partners and various
small group combinations throughout. They all seemed to be thoroughly enjoying
themselves. Even more so when tambourines were brought on and the dancers added
percussion to the music of Holger Simon Paulli being played by the orchestra.
This fun addition brought youthful energy and exuberance to the dancing. It was
less “dancers performing on stage for an audience of hundreds” and more “a
group of young people dancing with their friends, keeping tempo by hitting
their tambourines.”
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| Boston Ballet Dancers. Photo Courtesy Boston Ballet |
Following intermission the curtain rises on an
immensely striking stone home where the tale begins. A story ballet from start
to finish, La Sylphide is full of
romance, sorcery and tragedy. Set in the Scottish Highlands, the scenic and
costume design by Peter Cazalet and lighting design by John Cuff quickly
transported the audience back in time and amplified the atmosphere surrounding
the story. Bournonville's La Sylphide is one of the world's oldest
surviving ballets. It is the story of James, a young Scotsman, who is set to
marry Effie, but on the eve of their wedding he dreams of a beautiful sylph
whom he, upon awakening, briefly sees before she mysteriously disappears. His
friend Gurn has also fallen for Effie, but believes he'll never have the chance
to be with her. That is until the village sorceress Madge tells Effie that it
is Gurn she'll marry, not James. James is outraged and sends Madge away, but
his outrage is quickly diminished when he sees the sylph playfully dancing around
the room, apparently unseen by his other guests. When she leaves, James follows
her, leaving Effie confused and crushed. Act two takes place in the forest,
where witches dance around a cauldron, sylph's float through the trees and
tragedy befalls James and his beautiful woodland fairy.
Patrick Yocum dances the role of James while
Misa Kuranaga dances the role of the Sylph. He is strong and adventurous
throughout with hints of boyish innocence. She, as always, is stunning and
graceful. She’s the perfect embodiment of the playful fairy. When tragedy
strikes, her body language completely changes and she crumbles as if merely
standing is torture. The contrast between how she danced at the start and how
she moved at the end was fantastic.
Derek Dunn portrayed Gurn, friend of James, and
seemingly the comedic character within the ballet. The humorous elements of his
role were strongly and clearly executed and received numerous chuckles from the
audience. His soaring jumps make him a dancer to keep our eyes on in future
Boston Ballet productions. The sorceress Madge is cunningly portrayed by Maria
Alvarez who, from the way she walks to her facial expressions, fully embodies
the darkness and conniving evil within her character.
This ballet features intricate footwork as well
as dreamy and flowing romantic movement. It is playful and flirty with
extensive character and acting moments. My one critique is that there were
moments when certain hand gestures were barely visible and could have been
easily missed had an audience member not been watching carefully. While we
don’t want the acting and hand or arm motions to come across as forced, we also
want them to be big enough and sustained long enough for the audience to see
them.
Beautiful dancing and charismatic characters
make this production an enjoyable evening of classical ballet. © Boston Ballet's La
Sylphide plays at the Boston Opera House from May 24th- June 10th. The
Boston Ballet Orchestra is conducted by Beatrice Jona Affron. Though the
production runs 2 and a half hours including 2 intermissions, time flies just
as quickly as the dancers fly across the stage. For tickets and
more information visit www.bostonballet.org
