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Boston Globe
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Boston Ballet looks back and forward in ‘Spring Experience'
Advertisement Nissinen's solution condenses the first two acts into 30 minutes, during which time Raymonda celebrates her name day, her friends console her after Jean leaves, and she dances with Jean in a dream. The concluding Hungarian-themed wedding celebration expands to 40 minutes by borrowing some variations from the first two acts. The opening section still feels thin. Designer Robert Perdziola's color palette is austere to start, gold, silver, and white all edging into gray, and the costumes lack texture and dimension. The choreography is pleasing rather than exciting; music director Mischa Santora's adaptation seems to leach the sumptuousness out of Glazunov's score. The wedding celebration in "Raymonda" introduced a richer palette from designer Robert Perdziola. Theik Smith Kapitonova and Lee were a treat, however, her emotional effusiveness complementing his noble reserve. And the wedding celebration brought a richer palette from Perdziola and a more Glazunovian sound from the Boston Ballet Orchestra, especially in the Adagio of the Pas Classique Hongrois. A well-matched Lauren Herfindahl and Lasha Khozashvili led the Grand Csárdás with energy and precision; the expanded number of variations brought exquisite work from Seo Hye Han, Chenxin Liu, Courtney Nitting, Ji Young Chae, and, in two of the most demanding numbers, Lia Cirio. Lee added double cabrioles to his impressive double tours and tours à la seconde; Kapitonova teased out her variation (to a sympathetic piano solo from Alex Foaksman) and then, in the Coda, sustained her passé-relevé sequence at a daringly slow tempo. The closing Galop brought back the Csárdás contingent for a rousing finish. Related : Advertisement Kylián's '27′52″' debuted in 2002, the title referring to the piece's running time (closer to 31 minutes Thursday) and also to the birthdate — 20.07.1952 — of its dedicatee, former Nederlands Dans Theater member Gerald Tibbs. The curtain rises on the six dancers moving in silence, men bare-chested, women in different-colored sleeveless tops, a light bank dangling stage left. Either the piece has started or they're just warming up. Over the next half hour, descending panels of white fabric will encroach on the action. The flooring will come up in strips, and the dancers will take cover under it, or hold it at both ends and make it ripple. Dirk Haubrich's banging, booming score will be complemented by voice-overs reciting poetry by Baudelaire, Guillaume Depardieu, and Bruce Lee. Lia Cirio and Paul Craig are a focal point in Jiří Kylián's 27'52"," which is named for and dedicated to former Nederlands Dans Theater member Gerald Tibbs. Theik Smith The dancers form three couples, though at the outset, Lia Cirio has to extricate herself from Jeffrey Cirio (her real-life brother) to hook up with Paul Craig. He pushes her about; she responds with jittery gesticulation. Chyrstyn Mariah Fentroy and Ángel García Molinero follow, kickboxing at each other before declaring a unison truce. Chisako Oka enters and has a frenzied duet with Jeffrey Cirio. Advertisement But Craig and Lia Cirio are the focal point. She's lain down upstage; now she pulls off her red top and rises; now both bare-chested, they grow more intimate. Haubrich's score begins to obsess over a motif from the opening bars of Mahler's 10th Symphony. Craig and Cirio find accommodation, even equality, until her jittery gesticulation returns. She runs away; he overtakes her. He tries to wrap her in a strip of flooring; she escapes and runs to Jeffrey Cirio at the other end of the stage. She runs back to Craig, but he's now under that flooring. She returns to Jeffrey Cirio and lets him cover her. Three huge sheets crash down, as if the ceiling had fallen in. Perhaps the floor has provided protection. In Jiří Kylián's "Petite Mort," one set of dancers wield foils; the other, dresses. Theik Smith 'Petite Mort,' which Kylián created in 1991 for the bicentennial of Mozart's death, is simpler and more light-hearted. The title, 'Little Death,' is a French euphemism for 'orgasm'; the score pairs the Adagio from Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 and the 'Elvira Madigan' Andante from his Piano Concerto No. 21. Six men in gold corset briefs back toward us, each balancing a foil on his right index finger. Barely visible upstage are six women in gold tops and briefs, all hiding behind full-skirted black dresses hung on frameworks with rollers. The men roll the foils around on the floor, lift them with their toes, swish the air; the women embrace the dresses as if making love to them. Advertisement Couples eventually emerge. Liu gets temporary possession of Isaac Mueller's foil before the phallic symbols are put aside. Nitting and Sun Woo Lee follow, then Emily Aston and Yue Shi, Haley Schwan and Patrick Yocum, Herfindahl and Khozashvili, Sage Humphries and Sangmin Lee. A recurring pose has the women lying on their backs and supporting the men on their raised knees: simulated sex with an element of evasion. The foils never reappear; at the end of 'Petite Mort,' it's the dresses that are rolled from the wings to gather centerstage. Men may do the manipulating, but women have the power. SPRING EXPERIENCE Presented by Boston Ballet. At Citizens Opera House, through May 25. Tickets $32-$202. 617-695-6955, Jeffrey Gantz can be reached at Jeffrey Gantz can be reached at
Boston Globe
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Boston Ballet's ‘Swan Lake' flies higher than ever
'Swan Lake' premiered in 1877 with a libretto of uncertain authorship, a score by neophyte ballet composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and choreography, now lost, by the now forgotten Julius Reisinger. In 1895, two years after Tchaikovsky's death, the ballet got a complete overhaul, with new choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Neither production was a success. Flash forward almost 150 years and audiences can't get enough 'Swan Lake.' Perhaps it's the enigma of a universe where men turn women into swans and then hunt them. Perhaps it's the story of betrayal and redemption. Perhaps it's just the allure of the swan corps. Whatever, Boston Ballet presented the piece only three years ago, and now it's back at the Citizens Bank Opera House for an unusually extended run of 17 performances. Thursday's opening night, with Viktorina Kapitonova as Odette/Odile and Sangmin Lee as Prince Siegfried, attested to why 'Swan Lake' has become practically synonymous with ballet. The company continues to showcase the production that artistic director Mikko Nissinen and designer Robert Perdziola introduced in 2014. Perdziola's Act One castle-park backdrop sports a mazy river, the fortress-like mountaintop castle itself, a small village church, and, looming in the distance, a massive mossy structure that dwarfs the castle. The set for the swans' lake, midnight blue to better show them off, confirms your suspicion that this is sorcerer Rothbart's abode. Rothbart himself is not the owl-headed monster you see in many productions but an alluring prince of darkness. Perdziola's costuming throughout is light and airy; the red-and-white of the Polish flag for the mazurka is a particularly apt touch. Advertisement Nissinen's own additions to this 'Swan Lake' include a mimed prologue in which a group of picnickers pack up and exit, leaving one book-reading woman behind. That's when Rothbart strikes and casts his spell. This explanation of how he's enchanted so many swan maidens is helpful, and so is the brief passage Nissinen inserts into the finale, enabling Siegfried to dance his contrition and Odette her forgiveness. Thursday's performance began with beautifully phrased oboe and clarinet solos. The solo playing all evening was exemplary, and overall the Boston Ballet Orchestra, under music director Mischa Santora, sounded as sumptuous as I have heard it over the past 40 years. When the curtain rose for the prologue, Lasha Khozashvili's Rothbart proved a true spellbinder, commanding the stage and casting a shadow over the proceedings to come. His Act Two manège through a sea of dry-ice mist stamped him as a formidable opponent. Advertisement Boston Ballet in "Swan Lake," which opened Thursday for 17 performances at the Citizens Bank Opera House. Theik Smith Lee's Siegfried was up to the challenge; you would never think this was his debut in the role. Regal but collegial and full of wonder, he exuded a boyish confidence as he celebrated the eve of his 21st birthday with his peasant friends. Some Siegfrieds look sheepish when the Queen Mother's arrival is announced; Lee merely adjusted his jacket. Some Siegfrieds lose interest in Odette once they see Black Swan Odile; Lee, when Rothbart's deception was revealed, made it clear he'd thought Odile was Odette. He was able, at the end of Act One, to sustain the difficult line of Tchaikovsky's Andante sostenuto, making the progression from sissonnes to renversés to tours-jetés landed in arabesque seem inevitable. His Act Three variation included high-flying cabrioles and double tours turning in both directions. Kapitonova was the opening-night Odette/Odile in 2022; she looked better than ever this time out. Her Odette was wild and wary, a swan who's been shot at before and perhaps failed by previous princes. Here she was protective of Lee's Siegfried but also slow to warm to him, deep penchés and pliant backbends expressing a world of fear and longing. Her growing trust was reflected in the confidence of their partnering; big lifts were no problem. Neither, for Kapitonova, were the soft ronds de jambes and développés of Odette's variation, or the razor-sharp passé-relevé sequence. Her Odile was an entirely different creature, all teasing smiles and naughty promises, conspiratorial with Rothbart and in total control of Siegfried. She managed most of Odile's 32 fouettés; more important, she did them all on the beat. Advertisement The first-act pas de trois benefited from luxury casting, Yue Shi landing double tours in neat fifth position, Chisako Oga and Ji Young Chae contributing precise pointe work. All three principals are scheduled to dance Siegfried or Odette/Odile during the course of the run. Joan Boada was old school but not doddering as Siegfried's tutor. Lauren Herfindahl and Sage Humphries gave an easy volume to the big swans; Lia Cirio anchored a crisp pas de cinq at the outset of Act Three. The six prospective princess brides displayed six different shades of disappointment. And the company made the first act's waltz and polonaise and the third act's national dances look fresh and important. There's no easy resolution to this 'Swan Lake.' For the final act, Kapitonova gave us a troubled, emotionally exhausted Odette, and even though love conquers Rothbart, the lovers still have to throw themselves into the mist-shrouded lake, leaving the swans … still enchanted? Thursday's performance ran nearly three hours, and yet it seemed short measure. I could have sat through it again. SWAN LAKE Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, with additional choreography by Mikko Nissinen. Sets and costumes by Robert Perdziola. Presented by Boston Ballet. At Citizens Bank Opera House, through March 16. Tickets $40-$275. 617-695-6955, Jeffrey Gantz can be reached at
