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Recent Review

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

By Leonard Eureka / Fort Worth Weekly

FORT WORTH - If anyone doubted that Metropolitan Classical Ballet could mount a credible full-length Russian ballet other than The Nutcracker, the idea was laid to rest last week by The Creation of the World. Sumptuous scenery, dazzling costumes, and, most importantly, world-class dancing made the Soviet-era extravaganza a welcome revival in Bass Performance Hall.

More entertainment than art, the ballet translates the Book of Genesis into human comedy. God is a well-meaning, bumbling old man, the devil’s all bluster but not very evil, and Adam and Eve are a young couple in love. All of which opens the door for high-flying horseplay in the grand Bolshoi tradition, with breathtaking leaps, lifts, and rapid-fire turns. Russian dancers letting loose is MCB’s forte.

Certainly ballerina Olga Pavlova and dancer Anatoly Emelianov, the evening’s Adam and Eve, are in a league of their own. The two use their dramatic skills to personalize their dancing, expertly drawing the viewer into the performance. Emelianov was all innocence and wonder during his character’s creation, awkwardly flexing his limbs, stretching and grabbing his toes, and rolling around on his back. Pavlova was at her best as the young lover in their rapturous final duet. As a mature, compelling artist, she has no equal in this part of the world.

Her real-life husband, Yevgeni Anfinogenov, played God, and he had a lot of superfluous jumping around to do in the role. But he broke your heart, as his own seemed to crack, at the expulsion of his favorite creations from the Garden of Eden.

Trading in his usual role as the handsome cavalier, Andrei Prikhodko danced the devil here, with good-natured menace and remarkable presence, showing another facet of his personality. He was joined by Mariya Kudyakova, as the “devilesse,” according to the program, and she did a wonderful job as a nice girl trying to look bad.

Andrei Petrov, well known in Russia for his film scores and show tunes, provided the ballet music, combining symphony orchestra with electronic sounds (some of it deafening) and chorus. The piece is so complex, it was danced to tape rather than live music.

The production was staged by company co-director Alexander Vetrov, who danced both God and the devil in his younger days. The piece typically demands a huge corps of angels, demons, and whatnot, which can put pressure on a small troupe. Guest dancers and students were pressed into service, and the opening angels’ ensemble was a bit ragtag. Amazingly, however, with more than 20 dancers on stage during the finale, it all held together. The audience responded with an impressively long ovation. No one seemed to want to leave. Chalk up another success for MCB. — Leonard Eureka

© 2006 Fort Worth Weekly

Anatoly Emelianov and Olga Pavlova
Photo by Marty Sohl