At 6:11 am on Thursday, January 17, a magnitude 3.5 earthquake hit Oakland. I felt it, lying in bed a few miles away. But neither the quake nor the incessant rain stopped me from catching my flight to Costa Mesa, where I was going to see American Ballet Theatre in the West Coast premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s Harlequinade. Commenting on the earthquake to the server at lunch, he said that it was the 25th anniversary of the huge Northridge quake, which struck southern California in 1994. There was an unexpected poignancy in that.
It was raining in Costa Mesa as well, making it the perfect day to spend inside a theater! I had the good fortune to attend both the dress rehearsal and a performance, seeing two different casts in short order.
The dress rehearsal cast included Misty Copeland as Pierrette, which prompted me to reflect on the unique nature of ballet celebrity. There is no question that Misty is a celebrity, and one who has in many ways crossed over into the public sphere. And yet, there she was, onstage, calling out an apology as she contended with an ornery pocket on her partner’s costume. Most celebrities seem to exist “out there”—somewhere always beyond the realm of the population. You see them in pictures or on screens, which only enhances their untouchable aura. But with live theater stars you can actually see them, in person, on a stage. And those stages aren’t really all that far away. Afterward, you can probably meet them at the stage door. (And yes, I know that you can see pop stars live on stage too, at concerts, but let’s talk about scale.) Ballet stars may not be too much in evidence outside of ballet, but within their firmament, they’re huge.
Harlequinade premiered in 1900 in St. Petersburg with choreography by Marius Petipa. The ballet disappeared until Ratmansky resurrected it, using Stepanov notation to recreate the choreography and filling in the blanks himself. This new Harlequinade is fun and frothy, with wonderful costumes and plenty of charm. The plot is basically that of Don Quixote, swapping the Don Quixote character for the Good Fairy. Act I is almost entirely plot; Act II is almost entirely an extended divertissement that has nothing to do with the story at all. But that’s where all the significant dancing is.
If you’re expecting the virtuosity you’ve come to expect from current versions of Petipa ballets—32 fouettés, six o’clock penchés—you won’t find those here. The technical feats are of a slightly subtler variety. Take one of the hardest moments for Columbine: multiple relevés in arabesque, transitioning into toe hops in front attitude, the whole thing repeated three times. My favorite moment, which has remained clear in my mind, is when Harlequin, holding Columbine’s hand, helps her to soar around him in a grand jeté. I’m not sure that I’d seen that lift before, and it was a bright, weightless suspension that must have been a joy to dance.
A youth cast also pops up in Act II, extremely well-rehearsed in their pas de bourrées and prances. Seeing children in big professional productions like this, I find myself thinking how thrilled they must all be, feeling proud and grown up and no doubt every bit as professional as the adults onstage with them.
At the evening performance, Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside were replaced last minute due to illness. Instead, Skylar Brandt and Daniil Simkin brought an absolutely winning charm to their roles. Ms. Brandt in particular was right for Columbine, who can only be described as a soubrette. She hit every balance and seemed to enjoy the whole thing. In the supporting roles of Pierrot and Pierrette, Thomas Forster and Stella Abrera had a playful good time. I was sorry, though, that neither of them had more dancing to do. It seemed such a waste!
During the dress rehearsal, I suddenly recalled having read the review of Harlequinade in the New York Times last summer. The author’s essential sentiment was that the ballet was fun but unnecessary (“Harlequinade has charming baubles, but why do it?“). I couldn’t help agreeing. And yet, later that night, the woman next to me kept exclaiming, “Oh beautiful! Oh wonderful!,” telling her friend she was so glad they had come. That patron swept away my doubts because she had loved it, as had many others. If Harlequinade converts her and keeps her coming back for more, then it was absolutely necessary.
American Ballet Theatre: Harlequinade
January 17, 2019, at 7:30 pm at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts
Going to the Ballet 