DANCE REVIEW : BOLSHOI MATINEE: REVEALING MOMENTS

The Bolshoi matinee on Saturday revealed new facets of several important artists seen earlier in the current Music Center engagement and confirmed the achievements of some others.

The “Black Swan” pas de deux, for instance, definitively established that Alexei Fadeyechev is more than just a noble partner and stylish soloist. It proved him the master of effortless stratospheric jumps--a quietly serene virtuoso.

In a sinewy adagio from Yuri Grigorovich’s pseudo-exotic “Legend of Love” (opposite the sturdy Andrei Shakhin), Maria Bilova again displayed her ability to focus imposing dramatic and technical resources and bring even the tawdriest choreography to a boil.

The sequence from the last act of Alexander Gorsky’s “Don Quixote” found Nina Semizorova glorying in high-speed multiple turns and perfect freeze-frame balances on pointe. Her partner, Yuri Vasyuchenko worked hard, with occasional success, at reaching a comparable level of razzle-dazzle.

Divertissement disappointments included the forceful but strangely fitful (stop-and-go) Odile of Alla Khaniashvili-Artyushkina and the promising but uneven (often underpowered) lyric dancing of Yuri Posokhov in the “Chopiniana” duet opposite Natalia Bessmertnova.

Casting for Grigorovich’s “Romeo and Juliet” and “Spartacus” duplicated the Friday lineups--with two major exceptions. As Mercutio in the Shakespearean ballet, Andrei Buravtsev nimbly incorporated comic and bravura steps into a sweetly antic portrayal.

Buravtsev even ventured something that his Friday and Saturday evening counterpart didn’t attempt: the kind of powerhouse leap ornamented with a torso-contraction that, up to now, has been Irek Mukhamedov’s exclusive property.

In “Spartacus,” Alla Mikhalchenko made an aloof, glamorous Aegina, but her skillful dancing never approached the sizzling bravura of her predecessor.