An Evening With Paloma Herrera

My thoughts about the Paloma Herrera gala on 26 october 2009, as promised :)

A dance performance that I have seen recently would be A Ballet Gala Evening with Paloma Herrera on 26 October 2009. Besides Paloma Herrera herself, there were many other famous dancers from renowned companies such as New York City ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Berlin State Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, Houston Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.

I was very excited for the performance at first as Yuan Yuan Tan was scheduled to perform in the gala. She is one of my favourite dancers and I am very proud of her as she is the only Chinese ballerina attaining the rank of a principal dancer at a major international ballet company, San Francisco Ballet, one of the top ballet companies in the world. Much to my dismay, Yuan Yuan Tan was unable to perform at the gala due to an injury and Lorena Feijoo, also a principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet was scheduled to perform.

Opening the show was Paloma Herrera herself with a variation from Act III of the ballet Raymonda. I thought it was a rather disappointing opening number. The variation although technically simple, could be complicated and difficult in terms of musicality and performance and Paloma Herrera lacked the maturity to depict the refined and aristocratic beauty. She was graceful and elegant, but was unable to be versatile to show another side of Raymonda’s nature: brave and with a strong personality. This was shown through her rather soft and weak échappés which lacked the crisp and staccato when the music became faster towards the end.

My first impressions of the performance were repaired with the next item, which was the Giselle Act II Pas de Deux with Ashley Bouder and Simon Ball. Ashley Bouder and Simon Ball were both great performers and they were able to reach out to the audience with their strong emotions and expressions. Ashley was able to have that sense of longing and forgiveness that Giselle had, and you could see it in her eyes. Ashley, who is well known for her jumps, was able to awe the audience with her clean, light and yet willowy entrechats. This was possible due to her serenity, smooth arms and articulated footwork.

The Sleeping Beauty Act III Wedding Pas de Deux , performed by Mizuka Ueno and Naoki Takagishi, both principal dancers at Tokyo Ballet. The Wedding Pas de Deux is one of my favourite Pas de Deuxs, and hence, I was looking forward to this item. Naoki Takagishi was a noble and charming prince, but the performance was disappointing as they both lacked chemistry. Besides her turns, Mizuka Ueno executed every step perfectly, which was quite a feat as the Pas de Deux could be technically demanding at times. However, her emotions and expressions were inconsistent and she was unable to portray herself as the sweet and innocent Aurora who was about to get married.

Ballet aside, the next item was a contemporary piece, Just Us, performed and choreographed by Lorena Feijoo and Tiit Helimets. The duo had such chemistry and matching impeccable lines.

The Flower Festival in Genzano was definitely one of the audience’s favourite. Both Iana Salenko and Marian Walter were able to interpret August Bournonville’s choreography, technique and style which focused largely on musicality and showed off their nimble footwork. Iana and Marian was a perfect couple just like Rosa and Paolo. Marian was always cheerful and sincere while Iana was a little timid and naïve at first. Her shyness soon vanished and they both were lovers dancing together with sparkling joy.

Paloma Herrera and Sascha Radetsky were up next with the Sinatra Suite and it was yet another second rate performance by Paloma Herrera. The whole item seemed rehearsaed and it was pretty obvious that they were acting. By this time I was wondering if Paloma Herrera had “Captivating portrayals of ballet’s favourite heroines” (as quoted from page 5 of the programme booklet). I soon brushed that thought aside and chose to believe that it was just not her night. What a way of starting and ending the first half of the performance.

After that intermission was a refreshing performance by Mizuka Ueno and Naoki Takagishi in the Carmen Pas de Deux. Their movements were deformed and sometimes bizarre; this was obviously not classical ballet. Mizuka Ueno was able to seduce her partner and she was prepared to give herself up completely to him.

Not Anymore, a contemporary piece performed by Iana and Marian received the loudest applause of the night and it was pretty obvious why. They were both synchronized whenever necessary and their movements were absolutely fluid and adroit that it was almost impossible to peal your eyes away from them.

The famous classic, Swan Lake, was up next. Being a big fan of the Mariinsky Ballet in Russia, I have watched many of their performances online, especially Swan Lake. Maybe it was because of my high expectations that I became critical and found many faults with the Pas D’action. Conversely, my fellow balletomane who watched the Pas D’action found it to be melancholic and yet beautiful. In my opinion, Lorena Feijoo seemed to be too giving to Prince Siegfried, which was unlike Odette’s character who was reserved and timid.

I was delighted to find the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux in the programme as George Balanchine’s choreopgrahies could not be found online. The performance was stunning and remarkable as both Ashley Bouder and Simon Ball had explosive jumps which were exhilarating and breathtaking and Ashley’s pirouettes were equally exciting.

Last but not least, the Don Quixote Act III Pas de Deux performed by Paloma Herrera and Sascha Radetsky. Don Quixote is well known to be one of Paloma Herrera’s signature pieces and I definitely agree with that. All my previous impressions of her faded away andwere replaced with new and positive impressions from Don Quixote. Paloma was definitely Kitri (a flirty and playful one particularly) and Sascha Radetsky’s charm emerged and these qualities were able to capture the audience.

Overall, even though some pieces were not what I expected them to be, I did like A Ballet Gala Evening with Paloma Herrera. It gave me the chance to watch famous dancers live and their extraordinary talent.