There are times, when watching a ballet, that one particular paring jumps out as especially noteworthy -- and even so exciting that hair stands up on the back of one's neck.
So it was the other day at Lincoln Center where the American Ballet Theater (ABT) was performing a new work by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky entitled "The Seasons." It's based on a score of the same name by Alexander Glazunov that was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa in 1900.
Although Ratmansky, the ABT's artist-in-residence for the past 10 years, re-choreographed the piece from scratch, it remains a plotless "divertissement" featuring Petipa's ideas of just which characters should represent the four seasons -- starting with winter and ending with a potpourri of weather.
The ballet, as New York Times dance critic Gia Kourlas put it, "overflows with steps" and as a result, in her words, gets choppy from time to time. That may be putting it kindly. It can also seem repetitive and boring.
But toward the end, out came ABT soloists Cassandra Trenary and Calvin Royal III, dancing characters identified as Bacchante and Bacchus, in the "Autumn" portion of the piece and one's attention -- and appreciation -- suddenly sharpened. They were wonderful individually, but even more important, exemplary as a couple, executing their routine with an exuberant mutual understanding that seamlessly integrated polished technique with vibrant aesthetic and emotional expression.
"More, more!" one wanted to shout.
By the way, Ms Kourlas, whose review I read only after I had seen the piece, labeled Trenary and Royal "excellent."
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