The Mariinksy Ballet marks its annual appearance at the Kennedy Center this week with an unusual offering: a full-length three-act Paquita, a ballet that is rarely performed in its entirety. While it is worth seeing for that reason alone, this production fuses new and historic choreography in interesting ways.
Most ballet audiences have seen the Grand Pas section of Act III. Ballet companies throughout the world often trot it out for opening night galas, and it was last seen in Washington when the Mariinsky performed it here in 2016. The version the company brings this time around, and which runs through Sunday, is a new production created in 2017 with choreography and a new libretto by Yuri Smekalov based on the novella La gitanilla (The Little Gypsy Girl) by Miguel de Cervantes.
Mariinsky Ballet’s Paquita closes October 13, 2019. Details and tickets
Paquita tells the story of a young Spanish woman who, as an infant, was kidnapped by gypsies from her noble family’s estate, and the love-struck caballero who leaves his luxurious life to run away with her as a way to win her love and her hand in marriage.
The opening night audience on Tuesday was treated to the glittering ballerina Viktoria Tereshkina in the role of Paquita, and Timur Askerov as Paquita’s devoted suitor, Andrés. Opening night for any touring ballet company can be hit or miss depending on how much rehearsal time a troupe has had beforehand and how much jet lag its dancers are battling. While there were some minor stumbles throughout the night, Tereshkina and Askerov led their colleagues through a mostly remarkable performance.
Tereshkina’s Paquita on Tuesday night was no shy little girl. She was a strong-willed young woman who even in her lowest moments appeared steady and sure of herself. This often steely and authoritative ballerina infused her dancing here with a gentleness that gave her Paquita a subtle, three-dimensional quality and made it hard to look away even if you were hankering to find out what was happening elsewhere on the stage.
Askerov’s portrayal of Andrés was joyful. His was a nobleman who was happy to be in love even if it meant giving up the comforts of home to run around in a raggedy gypsy caravan. Askerov’s dancing Tuesday was a little shaky here and there, but overall smooth and elegant.
Standouts among the cast included Yekaterina Chebykina as Cristina, Renata Shakirova as Carducha, and Roman Belyakov as the lead young gypsy man (who seemed to be channeling a kind of classical ballet version of the late Motörhead front-man, Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister).
Mariinsky officials have been careful to point out that this version of Paquita is not a revival or restoration of the original 1846 choreography created for the Paris Opera Ballet by Joseph Mazilier, or of later versions choreographed by Marius Petipa for the Mariinsky in 1847 and 1882.
While this Paquita might take inspiration from those early versions, Smekalov’s choreography is his own and, it must be said, is sometimes lackluster. Where Smekalov’s work excels, however, is in the dances he has created for both the lead men and those in the Corps de Ballet (especially the gypsy men and the officers in Acts I and II). There are nods here to the Royal Danish Ballet’s Bournonville style in the many precise, soft, and soaring jumps that permeate Smekalov’s choreography.
Smekalov was wise to preserve Petipa’s much beloved choreography in the Act III Grand Pas wedding scene, which is here reconstructed and staged by Yuri Burlaka, who used surviving records of Petipa’s choreography from the Mariinsky’s early 20th century production.
There is much to admire about Smekalov’s new full length Paquita, and the Grand Pas is truly the glittering jewel of this particular ballet. Petipa’s high classicism brings out the very best in these dancers. The female women of the Corps de Ballet dazzled here, as did the soloists who accompanied them.
May Nagahisa, who danced in the first variation of the Grand Pas section on Tuesday night, stood out for the liquidlike flow of her dancing, her generous and graceful port de bras, and her fleet and articulate footwork. Vlada Borodulina, Anastasia Nuikina, Daria Ionova, and Yekaterina Chebykina, who danced the variations that followed also deserve special praise for the affectionate care, beauty, and commitment they gave to their dancing in this section.
While Smekalov’s choreography may be lacking is some sections overall this full-length Paquita has much to be admired, and the Mariinsky’s dancers appear to embrace and give their all to what is both new and beautifully old in this latest production.
Paquita. Choreography and libretto by Yuri Smekalov. Reconstruction and staging of Marius Petipa’s choreography Act III Grand Pas) by Yuri Burlaka. The Mariinsky Ballet; Yuri Fateev, Acting Director and Ballet Master of the Mariinsky Ballet. Music by Édouard Deldevez, Ludwig Minkus and Riccardo Drigo. Production design by Andrei Sevbo. Costume design by Elena Zaitseva. Lighting design by Konstantin Binkin. Presented at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts through October 13, 2019. Reviewed by Maria Di Mento.
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