SWAPNA PRABHAKARAN saw the Bolshoi Ballet in action, and was not overawed
IT was only to be expected that the rich and famous would swoop down onto the Civic Theatre to attend the premiere of the Bolshoi Ballet. And they were there early, decked out in their finery and guzzling gin and tonics before the doors opened. Most seemed to be hardened veterans of dance- watching, chatting amicably about this or the other ballet they had seen, and the upcoming Dance Umbrella.
With tickets costing a lot, it was small wonder that only the very glittering of glitterati could afford to be there. Before the curtain rose, Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Nzo emerged from backstage, beaming at the audience. He said he was sure we would all enjoy the performance, and he believed it would ”undoubtedly inspire a lot of our youth out on to the stage”, which was ironic, considering precious few of the people there could be labelled youthful.
”I welcome you and you will have the opportunity to judge the ballet for yourself,” Nzo concluded before handing the microphone to a tall Russian man, who may have been the artistic director of the ballet, Vyatcheslav Gordeyev. He announced that this was the first Bolshoi performance ever in Africa. ”And it is here in the new democratic South Africa they will perform, for all the countries in Africa.” But around me all I heard was English and Afrikaans. There wasn’t a dark face in the audience that I could see, apart from the minister, and mine.
Soon the over-familiar strains of Act II of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake seeped out of the sound system, adding to a strange sensation of watching a simulacrum or a giant televised replay of the actual dance.
Perhaps this was because for the first few minutes all the dancers were just a few notes off-time with the music, giving their precision footing and dynamic grace a stilted and under-rehearsed feeling. The first natural musical pause happened and the dancers halted for a second, visibly disconcerted when no one applauded.
But then everything fell into place, almost by mutual agreement. The dancers settled into the performance and the audience suspended their disbelief.
After interval the enthusiastic academy graduates took the stage and their exuberance was infectious. These dancers were less experienced than the professionals of the first half, but decidedly more entertaining. Gentle dying swans had been replaced by high-kicking, wild and colourful adaptations of Eastern European folk dances, and the tannies in the front row were clapping along with the music.
Most popular item of the night was the rather sensual pas de deux – billed as ”brilliant and pure technical bravura” in the programme notes. These two got no less than six curtain calls by the end of the evening, when everyone rose to give the honorary standing ovation.
Long applause followed, with little girls carrying bouquets of flowers to the ballerinas and director, Sofia Golovkina. It was all lovely to look at, but not really a gesture of shared artistry between the two countries. Sadly, it was somewhat under-representative, hollow and insubstantial.
The Bolshoi Ballet will be performing at the Nico Malan Opera House in Cape Town from February 25 to 28