Review: ABT Introduces Ballet to Children

On Saturday morning, May 20, 2017, ABT gave an hour length performance designed to introduce children to the ballet, as they do every year. The Metropolitan Opera House was full of excited young ones. I had a running commentary from a boy of about 4 years old, sitting next to me on his father's lap. It is a performance composed of excerpts from several ballets.

Kate Lydon, director of The Studio Company (ABT's Second Company) hosted the performance, giving the young people information about seeing a ballet performance, like yelling Bravo, and introducing each ballet. She was not always heard over the din of the kids, but her dancer's calves spoke volumes.

First on the program was an excerpt from Act I of Le Corsaire: The Bazaar, the favorite of the little boy to my left. The music by Adolphe Adam, Cesar Pugni, Leo Delibes, Ricardo Drigo, and Prince Oldenbourg is engaging. The choice of leads Craig Salstein as Birbanto and Zhong-Jing Fang as the Lead Pirate Woman was great. These two dancers are particularly exuberant, conveying this excitement to the children.

Swan Lake was represented by the unison dance of the four little swans or Cygnettes from Act II. The four dancers interlace their arms and hold hands, so they must perform as a unit. After their dance, Lydon asked each of the young dancers to introduce themselves: Gemma Bond, Breanne Granlund, Betsy McBride, and Rachel Richardson.

Alexei Ratmansky's new, full length ballet Whipped Cream was represented by excerpts from Act I. Lydon introduced this piece with a couple of children wearing cupcake costumes, a worm that looked like a candy cane, and the big headEd White yak who appears in the advertisements for this ballet. They were well received. The extraordinary costumes were designed by Mark Ryden. After the introduction, they all left the stage and the dancers entered. The atmosphere changed. The costumes were phantasmagorical, although somewhat confusing as to who the characters were. The music of this excerpt was less melodic than the music of the other ballets. There was more yelling and crying from the children during this work. As we slowly exited the theater, at the end of the performance, I had the opportunity to ask a few parents about how their children reacted to Whipped Cream. The general consensus was boredom. Having seen the full ballet at the Gala performance, on May 22nd, it did not seem to me, despite the larger-than-life characters and sets, that it is a ballet for children.

Characters from Aurora's Wedding (excerpts), choreographed by Marius Petipa and Bronislava Nijinska, with additional staging and choreography by Ratmansky, to music of Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, was a hit with this audience. The corps de ballet members who danced the solo parts of The Porcelain Princesses and Mandarin (music of the Chinese Dance, from The Nutcracker), The White Cat and Puss-in-Boots, and Red Riding Hood and the Wolf did a good job, noted by their audience.

Last on the program was Don Quixote, with an excerpt from Act III: The Wedding. The choreography by Petipa and Alexander Gorsky was staged by ABT Director, Kevin Mckenzie and Ballet Mistress, Susan Jones. Kitri was danced by Christine Sevchenko, Basilio (her partner) by Alban Lendorf, both young in the roles. This was fun and a good ending for the show.

ABT's spring season will continue through July 8th, at the Metropolitan Opera House. I recommend you experience this leading American ballet company, giving us a variety of ballets to choose from.

Photo credit: Gene Schiavone

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