BWW Reviews: The Polish National Ballet

Having visited Poland at least 50 times in my life, you'd think I would have sampled some opera, dance or music recital in the country. I suppose I had to be back on American soil to finally catch up with the Polish National Ballet, now playing at the Joyce Theater, offering two works by Pastor and one by Israeli choreographer Emanuel Gat.

The Company dates back to the 18th century. It's had a number of ups and downs, with the country's intervening boundary shifts, wars and communist takeover. Now a free country (and will hopefully stay like that forever), it has looked to the west-and to its own--to expand it repertory. Krzysztof Pastor, the Company's Director, although beginning his career in Poland, spent most of his time performing with Le Ballet de l'opéra of Lyon and, later, the Dutch National Ballet, where he began choreographing. Pastor was invited back to take over the Company in 2009 and since that time has led the troupe to international success. In 2011, he was awarded the "Gloria Artis" Gold Medal for his choreographic work around the world and for his effort to raise the prestige of art in Poland.

The first thing I can say about the company is that the dancers are all outstanding: strong, limber, well trained. The other thing is that the choreography is not exactly overwhelming, but workmanlike, at time slow and not highly inventive. But-and I mean but-Mr. Pastor exhibits an agile mind and the ability bring out the best in his dancers, even if the choreography hampers them. This is the dilemma.

Pastor's "Adagio and Scherzo," set to the second and third movements of Schubert's String Quintet in C Major, presents us with four couples in complicated duets that seem to suggest unrest, yet without fulfillment or content. They shift patterns, but somehow the mood of the piece does not reflect any of this. Rather, it comments on the music and its subtlety and overwhelming melodic curve with sincerity, but without much conviction. Perhaps Mr. Pastor should look at this piece again to see what the music has to offer and how he might alter the choreography to reflect this.

"Moving Rooms," to music by Alfred Schnitke and Henryk Gorecki, was originally created for the Dutch National Ballet. According to the program notes, the piece tells us that space is not only physical but also emotionally significant, that if affects the relationships between the dancers, and creates their emotions. Unfortunately, the shifting patterns Pastor devised lead to mere confusion. What do they signify? It is rather murky and the music itself leads us nowhere. The only thing that is clear, again, is that he has a terrific group of dancers. Perhaps Mr. Pastor needs a dramaturge to help clarify his ideas. If so, he could have a number of wonderful works waiting for us.

Emanuel Gat's "Rite of Spring" is the most interesting of the works presented. Eschewing all references to any pre-historical kingdoms or tribes, he concentrates on three women and two men, in, what seems like a salsa dance bar. (What would Stravinsky say?) Since there is one male missing, the women keep shifting from one man to another in, what seems to me, a game of revolving love.

Gat states in the program: "I don't show a story in this ballet. I make a proposition which is quite open and can be understood in many ways." So I'll take that at face value. Make of it whatever you want. The idea of using Stravinsky as popular dance music is distorted, but it works. Now here was a modern idea that I had not even suspected. I don't know that much about Mr. Gat's work, but based on this one showing-I missed his company when it came to New York-- I would definitely like to see more.

Photograph: Ewa Krasucka

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