Metropolitan Classical Ballet New & Reviews

The ballet, set to 19th-century French romantic Camille Saint-Saens' flashy, melodic Violin Sonata No. 1, may be Mejia's greatest choreographic creation. Conservative and romantic in vocabulary, D Minor Sonata features three dancers (Marina Goshko, Maria Kudyakova and Andre Prikhodko, all products of stringent training in the Russian tradition) in constant exuberant interaction with one another -- and, on a subtle level, with the music and the musicians.

As a choreographer, Mejia achieves an ideal combination of abstract expression, emotion and virtuosity. In the final moments, the abstraction evaporates as the stage becomes a salon and the dancers become listeners.

By the way, the pianist joining violinist Eric Grossman, was none other than Lowell Liebermann, one of the leading American composers of our day.

Among other significant personalities who have taken an interest in the company is Haitian-Canadian choreographer Eddy Toussaint, who was represented by the premiere of his La Mome Piaf (The Little Sparrow), a darkly dramatic narrative tribute to chanteuse Edith Piaf. Accompanied by heart-rending, world-weary recordings of Piaf and appropriate contemporaries, the ballet told the story of her life and loves, with Olga Pavlova in the title role, shadowed by a dark entourage as she moved from one agonized pas de deux to another.

Accompanied by a quartet of violin, piano, bass and percussion rather than the usual orchestra, Balanchine's 1970 Gershwin setting Who Cares? looked more like a masterpiece than ever. The sheer energy of the music, the urgent expressiveness of the Russian dancers and Mejia's expertise in teaching the Balanchine repertoire made for a particularly intoxicating performance of this always fascinating piece.

GRADE: A+

Posted Tue., Oct. 12, 2004

Dancers, musicians create a spectacular premiere

By Wayne Lee Gay
Star-Telegram Classical Music Critic

FORT WORTH - Two great musicians, three great dancers -- and offstage, one great choreographer -- added up to a spectacular night of ballet Monday with the premiere of Paul Mejia's D Minor Sonata by the Metropolitan Classical Ballet at Bass Hall.