Metropolitan Classical Ballet Recent Reviews

Metropolitan's best foot forward
Monday, June 28, 2004

By MARILYN BAILEY
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH--Metropolitan Classical Ballet, the new name of the former Ballet Arlington, is a mouthful. But by any name, the company showed Saturday night what co-artistic directors Paul Mejia and Alexander Vetrov do best: Combine great Balanchine with very good imitation Balanchine and a dash of undiluted Russian classical ballet.

The centerpiece of the Bass Performance Hall show was Mejia's staging of Mr. B's Firebird (1946). Guest artist Marianna Ryzhkina, a Bolshoi Ballet star, performed as the mysterious bird of Russian myth, and she was superb. The Texas Chamber Orchestra's performance of Stravinsky's score and the gorgeous crimson-lit sets (from the Kansas City Ballet) made for brilliant theater.

Another highlight was Eight by Adler, a jazzy piece choreographed by Mejia in the spirit of Balanchine's Who Cares? Backed by music director Ron Spigelman leading a band onstage, Olga Pavlova, in a black cocktail dress and toe shoes, danced to songs from the Richard Adler/Jerry Ross musicals The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees. Adler attended, adding to the evening's glamour.

Pavlova had solo numbers plus duets with Vetrov, Andre Prikhodko and Anatoly Emelianov. What a hoot it was to see all these Russian-born dancers gliding (and sometimes bumping and grinding) their way through a Broadway salute. Near the end, Pavlova let her hair down and changed into high heels and a shorter costume, and things got really vampy. Even Spigelman's hips were moving.

The men of this company are always outstanding. The group numbers in Eight by Adler let these smoldering, intense classical dancers show a suave, ironic side not often seen. In the Firebird monster scene and in Eight by Adler, they were joined by several men from Bruce Wood Dance Company and Texas Ballet Theater. The effect of a stage full of such male talent was exhilarating.

The rich program opened with a light appetizer, a little-known 19th-century Marius Petipa piece Naiad and the Fisherman. No other American company goes this deep into the vault of Russian ballet history, for whatever that's worth. Naiad, which aims at nothing higher than charm, mostly achieved that in Vetrov's staging, with arresting performances and a simple story of a fisherman and a lovely sea creature. Maria Kudyakova and Emelianov were fine in the title roles, and Sarah Marr and Emma Wheatcroft-Pardue ably led a cast of young villagers.
Marilyn Bailey, mbailey@star-telegram.com