There is a fine line between vintage and dated. Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hats and pearls? Vintage. The 1980s day-glow power suits with the shoulder pads and perms and orange pantyhose? Dated. When presenting legacy works, ballet companies often have to roll the dice on whether audiences will find the works vintage or dated. American Ballet Theatre’s “A Retrospective of Master Choreographers” presented three legacy works on Friday night: Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides, Antony Tudor’s Gala Performance, and Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo. All three were important to the company's history. Were they vintage or dated?
Fokine’s Les Sylphides was on the very first program ABT ever put on in the 1940s. This abstract, plotless ballet set to different Chopin pieces was considered revolutionary back in the day. Today, it’s a ballet that can look dated without the right dancers. The cast on Friday night did not make a strong case for the ballet. Cory Stearns as the poet gave a dutiful but dull reading. He has gorgeous lines (his arabesque stretches for days), but no inner life. One has to remember that the original poet was Vaslav Nijinsky, who was renowned for his elevation.
On the other hand, Hee Seo was in her element in the Anna Pavlova role. Seo has a lyrical style that suits this ballet perfectly. I loved her backwards relevés with her arms in that perfectly sloping Romantic style. I also enjoyed Fangqi Li in the Mazurka. She was another one who has absorbed the style of this ballet with her light jumps and soft arms. On the other hand, Léa Fleytoux had a very rough outing in the Waltz. Low jumps, wobbly balances and a strained expression. Atypical for this usually stellar dancer.
The slowness of the tempo and the musty backdrop, as well as the rather ho-hum corps meant Les Sylphides looked more dated than vintage.
Next up was Anthony Tudor’s Gala Performance, a self-consciously retro parody of prima ballerina mannerisms. If you’ve seen the Trockaderos, you’ve basically seen Gala Performance. I’m not sure how well this ballet stands upon repeated viewings, but it was very funny.
My favorite part was seeing some of ABT’s most stately ballerinas parody themselves. Christine Shevchenko as the Russian ballerina milked her fouettés and curtain calls shamelessly. I loved how she alternated between coy glances at the audience and snapping her arms and hands out as if to say “look at me! Adore me!” Chloe Misseldine, who is often cast as the ingenue, hammed it up as the Italian ballerina. Stern face, effortless balances in absurd positions. What’s not to love? A friend told me that the Italian ballerina was often danced by Alicia Alonso, who actually was known for her sturdy balances and hard, mask-like face. Finally, Zimmi Coker was winning as the French ballerina who gradually becomes the diva, and by the end is shooing her partner offstage so she can bask in the curtain calls. Her partner was Takumi Miyake, who demanded the audience’s attention with perfectly executed jumps.
I’d say Gala Performance is vintage. I still laughed. You don’t laugh at dated works. Even the Prokofiev score had a wonderfully vintage feel.
The evening ended with Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo. This 1940s work was made with the Americana zeitgeist very much present: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, the John Wayne Westerns, Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring and George Balanchine’s Western Symphony are works under the same umbrella. Aaron Copland’s score is of course half the ballet’s success.
I saw the Martha Graham company do this earlier this year, and thought it was cute if twee. But last night’s performance was barnstorming fun. Skylar Brandt was adorable as the Cowgirl. Tiny and intense, she exuded real pathos as the tomboy whom the boys overlook. Jake Roxander had a star-making turn as the Champion Roper. He had swagger and charm in spades. His tap sequence at the end of the ballet? As Gen Z might say, sorry Jake I was not aware of your game! Jarod Curley was perfectly cast as the tall, vain Head Wrangler.
Everyone onstage looked like they believed in this ballet, and when dancers believe, the audience believes too. As a vertically challenged person, I also loved how this ballet takes a stand for short people. The short Cowgirl and Roper are ignored by the tall, lithe dancers onstage until the end, when they become the stars of the show. The performance was so joyous you just wanted to hit rewind as soon as it was over.
So was Rodeo vintage or dated? With a performance like last night’s, I’d say it’s both vintage and timeless.
