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Spectacularly disappointing

Giannandrea Poesio

Wednesday, 30th July 2008

Mikhailovsky Ballet
London Coliseum

Yet the major problem about this Spartacus is not, in my view, the excessively over-the-top quality of the whole, but rather the new choreographic and dramaturgic approach to this quintessentially Soviet work. Originally permeated by not so subtle Soviet propaganda, the ballet drew upon the political ideology of the time. The new version dispenses with all that, trying to focus more on pure story-telling. Alas, the story is not a strong one, and its choreographic narration, devoid of any political metaphor, slips too frequently into the ridiculous — someone should have taken more care of the dance movements of the singing chorus, who danced in the Roman orgy scene as though they were moving to an ABBA song. The often uninventive choreography, in which traces of almost every ballet from the Russian repertoire are to be found, does not enrich the psychological palette of the main characters either. It is also true that the handsome Denis Matvienko lacks the stereotypical beefiness required by the main part, as well as technical flashiness. Similarly, Irina Perren, as his beloved, took little or no care in portraying the inner turmoil of the ‘poor’ oppressed woman.

Interestingly, neither artist managed to shine in a completely different context, that of the Romantic ballet Giselle, a few nights later. Perren’s portrayal of the weak-hearted, 1841 heroine was anything but memorable, and so was that of Demetvienko as her philandering lover. I must admit that this was one of the worst performances of Giselle I have ever seen, with no respect whatsoever for style, history and tradition.