FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2002

CONTACT: Mark Fleisher:

Festival Ballet Providence, 401-353-1129
Melanie Gendreau, RDW, 401.521.2700 ext 134

Gypsy twins - Festival dances Esmeralda like two different ballets
BY CHANNING GRAY
Journal Arts Writer

Festival Ballet is presenting two Esmeraldas in one package this weekend. One composed of classic but familiar pas de deux and solid corps work; the other a striking piece of theater, with inventive choreography, bold dancing and dramatic lighting.

The production's second half, when all the elements jell, is some of the most exciting works to come from Festival in a while, a must for dance fans.

Watching Gleb Lyamenkoff's torturous solo as the murderous priest, Claude Frollo, is well worth the price of admission.

But no one deserves a bigger hand than guest dancer Cornel Crabtree for drawing such grace from the deformed body of Quazimodo.

Esmeralda, which takes place tonight and tomorrow afternoon at Veterans Auditorium, is the story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame seen from the vantage of the fetching gypsy with whom Quazimodo falls in love. But Esmeralda has many suitors, and that makes for a good old-fashioned tragedy.

Russian-born choreographer George Lyssenko was brought in to create this stunning story ballet.

He'd danced in several productions based on Hunchback and decided to put together his own version with a score by Cesare Pugni, an early 19th-century Italian who became ballet composer at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg.

Pugni's Esmeralda remains popular in the Russia repertoire, but not here. Lyssenko had to make his own recording of the music for this production.

At yesterday morning's student show, the opening scenes of frolicking gypsies seem dated and predictable, even with the presence of such an exquisite artist as Aleksandra Koltun, Festival's star talent and the lead in this show.

Company director Mischa Djuric has made great strides in tightening Festival's ranks. But when Koltun steps on stage, you're talking dance at another level. It's not just her dead-on technique (those gravity-defying lifts), but her attention to every gesture, the way she uses each movement to create a mood, tell a story.

After intermission, Esmeralda takes off. The plot picks up and the choreography is more inspired and tailored to the story line. Even the set of a few stark columns and arches went from appearing drab to creating strong visual statements.

The first hint of Lyssenko's true talent comes when Father Frollo, who in a jealous rage has just slit the throat of the captain of the guards, prays in the cathedral.

A rose window is projected on the rear of the stage, organ music soars, and Lyamenkoff, clad in red vestments, lies on the stage with his arms outstretched like a crucifix. He rises and whirls about the stage in movements that convey only anguish and torment.

While Koltun's first-act pas de deux with Alex Lapshin, as the guard captain, was a classic gem, her partnering with Crabtree as the Hunchback added rawness to the elegance.

In the end, a distraught Crabtree, left alone in his garret atop Notre Dame, delivered some of the most arresting dancing of all, as he tumbled about on the furniture and swung from the massive ropes dangling from the bell tower.

Esmeralda takes place tonight at 7 and tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 at Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Tickets are $12 to $40. Call 272-4862.