Review: Festival Ballet's Underwhelming BALLET RUSSES REINVENTED

Festival Ballet Providence kicks off their 2015-2016 season with a somewhat underwhelming Ballet Russes Reinvented. The program, which features three shorter pieces and a longer section from The Firebird focuses on classical pieces from Russian ballet, particularly the work of Nijinsky and tries to put a modern spin on old favorites.

The program begins with a bit of a twist in that the first two pieces really showcase male dancers. "Le Spectre de la Rose" and "Afternoon of a Faun" give the men time to shine, and bring in female dancers almost as set pieces. "Le Spectre de la Rose" features the incredible grace and talent of Vilia Putrius and Mindaugas Bauzys (Friday night and Sunday matinee performances). It's a subtle and technically perfect performance that really drives home just how satisfying it is to watch this couple dance together. This short piece is the story of a rose, played by Bauzys that comes to life while a young girl sleeps. The program notes that Bauzys is retiring at the end of the season, so it's worth attending this performance just to see he and his wife dance together one last time. Bauzys is graceful and so light on his feet he appears to be floating for much of the performance, and when the character of the young girl starts to wake up, he supports her effortlessly.

"Afternoon of a Faun" is a very spare, but well-executed performance beautifully carried by Ty Parmenter. It's very satisfying to see such emphasis on male dancers at the beginning of this program and this was an excellent choice. It's a sexy and risque performance and made even more so by the fact that another male dancer Alex Lantz takes the female part of Orefaun and the two male leads have an erotic tussle in the forestage while the female nymphs hover in the background.

The final and longest piece of the evening was an excerpt from "The Firebird". This is a bold and exciting choice as this piece is known for requiring a high level of technical ability, bright costumes and decor and vibrant, high-energy dancing. While the costume for the firebird, danced by Ruth Whitney was beautiful and shimmering--catching the light with every fouette, it didn't make up for an overall performance that felt slightly out of sync and lumbering. Whitney's performance as the firebird was well executed, but not quite as thrilling as it should have been. She executed well, but there wasn't a lot of joy in the performance, and she seemed strangely earthbound rather than ready to take flight.

The weakest link was Alex Lantz as Koschei, the Immortal, and it seemed to be mostly an issue of timing. He was slightly off in his performance, and there were moments when that seemed to also affect members of the corps. Koschei's cadre of monsters are genuinely scary without coming off as cartoonish, and they seem to take over the stage in huge numbers, which heightens the drama, but then the threat of menace never seems fully realized. Kirsten Evans is luminous as The Beautiful Tsarevna and gives a performance that you can't tear your eyes off of, and she's supported by an equally strong Alan Alberto as Prince Ivan Tsarevich. Most of the dancers gave very good performances, but unfortunately for an art form so precise, small mistakes take away from the awe and drama of the show as a whole.

Ballet Russes Reinvented is a solid effort which just winds up missing the mark. The shorter pieces, which are thrilling in the Up Close on Hope performances, seem overly short when performed on such a large stage in The Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Fans of ballet will find something to love in each of these performances because it is always exciting to see a fresh take on old favorites, and fans of Festival Ballet in particular should take advantage of every chance to see Mindaugas Bauzys one last time before he retires.

Ballet Russes Reinvented runs October 23-25. Friday, Oct. 23; 8pm, Saturday, Oct. 24; 7:30pm, Sunday, Oct. 25; 2pm. Tickets $23-$85 are available at: thevetsri.com

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