DANCE REVIEW : VASYUCHENKO IN BOLSHOI’S ‘GOLDEN AGE’

A working-class hero is something to be. Especially, perhaps, in the repertory of the Bolshoi Ballet, where a humble stonecutter, painter or gladiator can become the dashing protagonist in a full-length work as easily as any prince or count.

In Yuri Grigorovich’s “The Golden Age,” the hero is a young fisherman named Boris who dabbles in political street theater--just an ordinary guy in a T-shirt and work pants who won’t let himself be pushed around.

In these proletarian terms, Yuri Vasyuchenko’s performance Thursday in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, was completely successful. He projected the proper brawny machismo , acted the role with an unassuming sincerity, partnered conscientiously and danced the basic choreographic text with workmanlike diligence.

Alas, the previous two performances of “The Golden Age” had featured the Boris of Irek Mukhamedov, a dancer of far-from-ordinary virtuosity who turned the ballet into a personal tour de force.

In the crucial bravura passages, Vasyuchenko simply wasn’t in the same league. Compared to his spectacular predecessor, he never got into the air very high or for very long. Some complex jumping steps that Mukhamedov had made into awesome feats were here merely approximated, smeared--or sometimes even fumbled.

In the finale, Vasyuchenko replaced Mukhamedov’s high-velocity combination of leaping, twisting and torso-contracting--a passage that had left audiences gasping and groaning in astonishment on Tuesday and Wednesday--with standard ballet turning-leaps.

Vasyuchenko executed these standard ballet turning-leaps very cleanly. He is a good dancer. But Mukhamedov is a phenomenon, and, even when the role is just a working-class hero, pride of place goes to the dancer who can fly.

Except for Vasyuchenko, the principals for this Thursday “Golden Age” were the same dancers reviewed on opening night.