Music and Dance Reviews : American Ballet Theatre in ‘Grand Pas Classique’

American Ballet Theatre and “Raymonda” seem to have a long-term, if somewhat on-again-off-again, relationship. But Martine van Hamel remains a constant--rightly. She was gratifyingly visible for the latest incarnation of the excerpted Petipa-Glazunov staple, first danced in Costa Mesa in December and presented Thursday at the Shrine Auditorium.

In this suite, “Grand Pas Classique,” Van Hamel’s smoldering Magyar worldliness brought the one convincing element to Baryshnikov’s symmetrically elegant staging--all in crisp white-with-black accents and smart cocktail hats. The others hardly managed to be more than stiffly correct, except for a buoyant Alessandra Ferri, a soulful Christine Dunham and a meticulous Marianna Tcherkassky, who offset the blank-faced Ross Stretton and dutiful Amanda McKerrow.

Once into the alluringly romantic images of Tippet’s “Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1,” however, matters improved greatly. A swooning Shawn Black and Jeremy Collins brought voluptuous abandon to their pas de deux, while Tcherkassky and Ross Yearsley suggested exquisite containment in the alternate one. But Amy Rose with her pasted-on exuberance and a bland Robert Wallace didn’t quite get into the spirit. Capping it all, and partnered expertly by Ethan Brown, was Ferri, who captured the melancholy mystique of the adagio. In the relentless lifts she inhabited her space with a supple serenity, adding a new dimension with each grade of movement.

“Ballet Imperial,” previously reviewed, completed the program of plotless, formal ballets.