REVIEW: Grigorovich Ballet less than “legendary”

As the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet from 1964 to 1994, Yuri Grigorovich was the dominant influence on Soviet ballet for a remarkable three decades. Ousted in 1995 after squabbling and accusations that he had allowed the company and its repertoire to stagnate, he created his own troupe, Grigorovich Ballet, the current incarnation of which passed through Sarasota Sunday night for the only Florida stop of its 2012 U.S. tour.

“Legends of Russian Ballet,” was promoted as a “carefully crafted ‘highlights’ program” of excerpts from classical favorites. Certainly it offered a diverse sampling of the standards, from “Sleeping Beauty” to “Don Quixote.” But if you are going to dance some of the best-known and loved variations in the classical lexicon (ones that have been performed by the most acclaimed dancers in ballet history) and charge up to three figures for tickets, it had better be legendary. And this simply was not.

Dancers from the Grigorovich Ballet performing the pas de deux from "Swan Lake."

Even before the ragged-sounding recorded music began, I had my doubts. For one thing, there was no printed program, only a glossy postcard full of typos and errors that identified neither the pieces to be performed nor the dancers performing them. Nor was there any welcome to the half-full auditorium other than a stentorian recorded voice that boomed “Ladies and gentleman, prepare yourselves for a once in a lifetime performance!” (It rather reminded me of the circus, which I’d been to two nights previous.)

Unfortunately, my reservations were only confirmed once the curtain opened. Not only were the excerpts old-school, everything from the sets to the costumes to the Grigorovich sections of the choreography looked dated and worn. And the dancers, while obviously an earnest, hard-working lot, lacked any semblance of virtuosity, vivacity or charm. I would have to say the pre-professional students I saw in the Youth America Grand Prix competition two weeks ago provided a lot more bang for a lot less bucks.

I kept searching my brain for a word to describe the dancers dogged efforts ( my neighbor to the left suggested “mechanical”) and finally settled on “workman-like.” The lifts and partnerings were full of strain, the miming was unconvincing and nearly the entire troupe needed some help with their hands, which looked stiff and unnatural. As my ex-husband used to say to me when I’d tell him I was trying:  ”Yes, you are. Very trying.”

A couple of the dancers also appeared to be doing something very strange with their mouths, opening and closing them as if gasping for air. In fact, I could have sworn the lead danseur in “Sleeping Beauty” was chewing gum, though I’m sure I must have been mistaken.

Moreover, with no written program to follow, no narration between numbers and next to no transition time between, for example, a languid pas de duet from “Swan Lake” and something I couldn’t identify done in 1920s flapper costumes,  there was neither any elucidation nor continuity. After some pieces the lead dancers took a bow, after others, for reasons inexplicable, they didn’t.

Many of the selections, including those from “Don Quixote” and “Scheherezade,” featured the elaborate costumes (wigs, capes and tambourines galore!), staged theatrics and “cast of thousands” (actually, about 50) Grigorovich has been known to favor. The large crowd scenes had a lot of Russian folkloric character steps, including the requisite squat jumps from first position plié of the men and heel-toe steps of the women, who were either in soft slippers or character shoes rather than on pointe.

Eight-five-year-old Yuri Grigorovich was director of the Bolshoi Ballet for 30 years.

I’d like to single out the few dancers who added a modicum of charge to an otherwise labored evening (only one of them in a principal role) but without a program I could not even identify the headliners touted on my postcard – Alexandra Sivtsova, Tatiana Vladirmirova, Anna Zhukova and Vladimir Morozov.

Rather than disappointed, the whole evening left me feeling sad – that the dancers appeared to be getting so little enjoyment from their hard work; that people seeing these iconic works for the first time would get such a poor introduction, and, most of all, that Grigorovich, who did indeed have some well-deserved glory days, has obviously held on a little too long.