| The Bolshoi
Ballet, which this summer returned to the Metropolitan
Opera House of New York for the first time in eighteen
years, brought four grand ballets suitable to this grand
house. Among them, Spartacus, choreographed
by Yuri Grigorovich to Aram Khachaturian's music, is
a classic or typical work of 20th-century ballet.
In the first century B.C., Crassus, the leader of the
Roman army, invades neighboring countries and enslaves
their inhabitants, among them Spartacus and his wife
Phrygia. Phrygia is taken as Crassus's slave, while
Spartacus, for entertainment at a party at Crassus's
palace, is forced to kill a fellow slave. Spartacus
decides to stand up in protest with the other slaves,
and he regains both his freedom and Phrygia by inciting
a rebellion. The defeated Crassus, escaping death through
the nobility of Spartacus, runs away, but his mistress
Aegina persuades him to seek revenge and a return to
power. Aegina leads a group of courtesans to Spartacus's
camp, where they seduce the men with wine and sex, leaving
the slave army vulnerable. The ploy succeeds, and Spartacus
is defeated and killed. The grief-stricken Phrygia laments
his death and praises her husband's bravery.
One of the rare ballets to center around a male character,
Spartacus is representative of the Bolshoi's repertoire.
Grigorovich's choreography, into which he inserts monologues
for the main characters to express their feelings, is
very easy to follow. It is typical of 20th-century ballet
in that it contains no “vision” of the corps de ballet
in white tutus, so often seen in the 19th-century romantic
ballets. This heroic ballet is filled with big, risky
lifts, rather than with flowing steps to music. Perhaps
this is one reason that the company possesses so many
male dancers with powerful physiques.
Yury Klevtsov, who danced Spartacus, is a perfect specimen
of this type of dancer, and performed with thrilling
bravery and power. On the other hand, Alexander Volchkov,
who danced Crassus, is a rather modern-looking dancer
with graceful long lines and a forceless, refined technique.
Anna Antonicheva, as the fragile, lovely Phrygia, has
long limbs, strong technique, and beautiful lines. The
key role of Aegina was danced by Maria Allash, a dancer
both coquettish and filled with dignity. Her cleverly
vicious dancing depicted this character wonderfully.
My only complaint might be that a few of the costumes
didn't seem exactly suited to the roles. However, overall
it was a precious performance that allowed us to observe
a classic 20th-century work. Pavel Sorokin conducted
the Bolshoi Orchestra.
Artistic excellence? ****
Was it entertaining? *****
Was it inventive? ***
Was it healing? ****
(Updated on 7/25/05)
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