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Tuesday 2 December 2008

Cross-dressing Soviets

Created in 1936 to a bubbly score by Dmitri Shostakovich, the two-acter draws upon the most traditional elements of French farce: infidelity, cross-dressing and stock characters. The action, however, does not take place in a Parisian hotel, but in a Collective populated by law-abiding USSR citizens, who find solace and unlikely happiness in dancing at the end of a day’s hard work. The visit of the Ballerina and her partner — respected and respectable state artists with a slightly naughty sense of humour — causes some havoc in the little community. But after a second act, in which one finds traces of Feydeau’s farces, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Marriage of Figaro, all ends well, under a glittering sun and amid a wealth of allegorical images celebrating the rewards of hard, honest labour. When first performed, the ballet became an immediate success, even though it was heavily criticised by some representatives of the Soviet regime.

There is no doubt that Alexei Ratmansky, choreographer and artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, took a big gamble when he revived the ballet in 2003. But luck has been a lady to him. The success of his revival depends mainly on two factors: the dazzling choreography and the talent of the Bolshoi artists, who turn what is basically a feeble narrative into a thoroughly enjoyable dance-play.

Ratmansky has paid careful attention to the distinctive traits of what is known as the Soviet style, and which found its epitome in the Bolshoi school. His choreography is thus a highly entertaining combination of aptly revived traditional forms with the occasional modern twist. The action is poised throughout between sweet nostalgia and an affectionately ironic look at the past. I particularly liked the numerous quotations from other works of the same era, paying tribute to a choreographic epoch that is today too easily dismissed or looked down on as artistically sterile.

The Bolshoi dancers are totally up to the challenge, and sparkled in every section. Svetlana Lunkina as Zina, the Collective’s ‘morale officer’, and Maria Alexandrova, as the Ballerina and Zina’s old friend, brought down the house with their bravura contests. Sergei Filin, as the famous male dancer, was a real hoot, especially when he spent most of the second act dressed as a sylph and dancing like one. The success of The Bright Stream relies also on the work of numerous character artists, who need to appear credible. Luckily, the current members of the Bolshoi Ballet manage to inject believability into the comic parts without ever going over the top. Irina Zibrova, as the mature wife of the old dacha-dweller; Alexei Loparevich, as the old dacha-dweller; and Gennadi Yanin, as an oily but dashing accordion-player, stand out.

Comedy and fun were also the ingredients of the other ballet presented by the Bolshoi at Covent Garden last week. Yuri Possokhov’s Cinderella is a fairly quirky new reading of the Prokofiev classic, and provoked a mixed reaction. Choreographically, it is very weak, for the movement vocabulary lacks inventiveness. And yet the show succeeded for me because of its theatricality. Some might find the Roaring Twenties look and the presence of the fairy-godfather Prokofiev-like character irritatingly superfluous, but I found it amusing — the dance lesson performed by a splendidly camp teacher and two of the best Ugly Sisters I have ever seen were irresistible. All in all it is not something I would hurry back to, but it was a pleasant evening, even though Svetlana Zakharova could have injected more passion into the title role.

More articles from: Giannandrea Poesio | this section

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