ARMENIAN PAIR CARRIES THE DAY AT THE BALLET
Janos Gereben
San Francisco Examiner
ian-pair-carries-the-day-at-the-ballet-92788679.ht ml
May 5 2010
CA
SAN FRANCISCO — Whatever Helgi Tomasson’s classical and restrained
1994 "Romeo and Juliet" — onstage at the War Memorial — may lack in
passion is more than made up by San Francisco Ballet’s super-romantic
pair of Davit Karapetyan and Vanessa Zahorian.
Karapetyan, from Yerevan, Armenia’s largest city, and Zahorian,
from an Armenian family in Pennsylvania, portray Romeo and Juliet
with all the heartbreaking poignancy of Shakespeare’s original.
Zahorian’s journey from a shy young girl to an unconstrained lover
is seamless. Karapetyan moves between courtliness and ardor naturally.
The designation "dancer noble" fits him like a glove.
Prokofiev’s grand, familiar music (well performed under the baton of
Dmil De Cou, who returns to the company after too long an absence) and
Jens-Jacob Worsaae’s opulent costumes provide additional attraction.
As usual, the best of Tomasson’s choreography is for the men, and their
dancing is athletic and spectacular. Along with Karapetyan’s Romeo,
James Sofranko’s Mercutio and Jaime Garcia Castilla’s Benvolio truly
fly through the air. Their pas de trois is utterly charming.
Anthony Spaulding’s Tybalt is menacing and scary — his sword fights
are spectacular.
Company stars, past and present, were nice to see in minor roles in
Saturday’s matinee performance: Ricardo Bustamante and Sofiane Sylve
as Lord and Lady Capulet; Yuri Possokhov and Mariellen Olson as Lord
and Lady Montague; and Jorge Esquivel as Friar Laurence.
Even after 16 years since its introduction, Tomasson’s production still
has some puzzling elements. Some scenes are abbreviated to the point
of becoming unnecessary, such as the guests leaving the Capulet ball.
While that brevity may follow tradition of the ballet — which has been
in the hands of many choreographers since its 1935 Russian original —
its execution makes little dramatic or choreographic sense.
The balcony scene and the Capulets’ ball, two large components of the
ballet, are closest to the many classical realizations of the work,
and they are the most successful in this production.
DANCE REVIEW San Francisco Ballet Program 8
Where: War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco When:
7:30 p.m. today; 8 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 1 and 8 p.m. Saturday Contact:
(415) 865-2000,