KVT – The Long and the Short of it

KVT has an invigorating night’s dance at Nha Hat Lon…….
………with two principal dancers from the Paris National Opera.

The capacity audience was there to see Dorothee Gilbert

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBGkWTMOME&feature=related[/youtube]

and Stephane Bullion

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfgMQqA9Yzc&feature=related [/youtube]

Both are tall and lithe dancers who towered over the Vietnamese dancers from the National Ballet who joined them on the night.
Bullion has sometimes been equated with Nijinsky and Patricia Boccadoro who writes on dance in Europe says of Bullion: ‘Bullion is a dancer of multiple talents, a rarity in any company…his powerful muscular frame has an ability to adapt and interpret almost any choreography with which he is confronted.‘

Gilbert has been a star with the company since she danced Clara in Nureyev’s ‘Nutcracker’ in 2007. She is equally at home classical and contemporary dance and has a star studded schedule with some world renowned ballet companies into 2012. To watch her en pointe is amazing….so graceful and seemingly effortless.

We saw them in classical style in a divertissement from Raymonda, which set our teeth on edge in anticipation of fireworks to come and we weren’t disappointed with their high-powered, full stage dance of Agropinna Vaganova’s ‘Diane and Aceton: Pas De Deux’ first danced by the Kirov Ballet in 1932. I’d say that given the stage conditions at Nha Hat Lon, the pair gave us the best performance that they were able to. Fabulous body lines as they danced together! Then solos to take your breath away!

It was interesting to see these two tall, muscular dancers against the petite-bodied Vietnamese dancers. Even my favorite local, Chi Thanh, as excellent as he always is, appears very slight in comparison to six-footer Bullion. It was a bit like the Sao Mai swimming pool last Monday afternoon when a gang of tall, young western males, all way over the sensible length limit for beds, were playing ball with some well-proportioned local youths whose noses were in line with the westerners’ sternums. It becomes a bit incongruous when your eyes are accustomed to small cum medium builds. But, like this generation of Chinese, I guess the locals will have it all over the westerners in 20 years or so and Vietnamese ballet dancers will be just as long and rangy, and their style of dance will change too.

For me the most interesting part of the dance program was to see the incredible leap forward the local ballet dancers had made under the six-week direction and tutelage of Jean-Paul Gravier and Bertrand d’At, Director of the France National du Rhin Theatre. The extract from the company’s store room, ‘les Sylphides’ was given a startlingly refreshing lift and became that beautiful, airy ballet that little girls (and their mothers) go into paroxysms of tulle-ed and frothy delight about when the curtain opens on the handsome poet and adoring sylphs posed in the forest glade. Chi Thanh had the chance to show us his leaps and the girls made me eat my words of a couple of years ago about their ability to en pointe.

The hot spot of the night for me was the all-male pas de quatre from The Firebird. Music by Stravinsky and a very athletic and contemporary choreography by Bertrand d’At. Stirring stuff !!

Tri Thanh and his bevy of six lovely vendors were also way above average with the intricate steps needed in the ‘La Vivandiere; Pas de Six’ which was first choreographed by Arthur St Leon in 1848 but gradually fell from popularity until it was revived in the 1970’s. The dips and quick steps and sprightly leaps really suited the females.

And the youngest of the corp de ballet were on track as they danced with the French stars in an excerpt from the pantomime ballet ‘Raymonda’ which is designed as a series of showcase dances to highlight the talents of the soloists…which it did to great audience approval. It was when the French were on stage with the young locals that the Sao Mai effect was really evident.

It was good to see a reprise of the marriage segment of last year’s “Love at the Citadel”. The pas de deux between the young betrothed couple is sensitive, playful, sensuous and, above all, joyous. It’s one of those ballets that the locals have given a distinct Vietnamese tone and you just can’t imagine those tall Europeans ever getting their limbs in sync with it.

In the late 1830’s August Bouronville visited Naples and in 1842 choreographed a ballet, about a fisherman finding his bride, for the Danish Royal ballet. It ends with a really celebratory tarantella and during this very fast and furious finale you nearly forgot about that height disparity.

Usually I like my dance to be fairly modern (hence the rave for the Firebird segment) and tutus and tulle leave me pretty cold, but on Monday Night at the Opera House a mostly classical program of well known pieces was certainly worth its 700 000 VND seat price.

Once again the French gave us top quality …not only on stage but in the vital area of sharing and teaching their expertise.

Photo by Angellittlefire