DANCE REVIEW : Even Bolshoi Farm Team Sows Magic

The dancers were only the farm team for the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet. The choreography was conservative. But the mystique that surrounds one of the world’s leading bastions of dance worked its magic on San Diego balletomanes Tuesday night when the Bolshoi Ballet Academy made its local debut at the Civic Theatre.

Billed as “65 stars of today and tomorrow,” the group of students and recent alumni of the Bolshoi’s 200-year-old school were well-drilled and eager to please as they gave the first of seven performances in town. And, despite their youth (some of the dancers are only 16), they displayed a stage presence and amplitude of attack that glossed over many of the rough spots in the performance.

In keeping with the school’s emphasis on the classics, Tuesday’s performance included excerpts from some of the oldest balletic masterworks in the popular repertory. Unfortunately, it was impossible to rely on the program distributed by the ushers or the slick souvenir version sold in the lobby to follow the action.

A company spokeswoman blamed the botched programs on a clerical error, but that did not explain why there were no pre-curtain announcements to signal the changes or credit the replacements in the cast.

The classic showpieces of the evening were the second act of “Swan Lake” (1895), excerpts from “La Fille Mal Gardee” (1789), a fleeting solo from “Coppelia” (1870) and “Le Corsaire” pas de deux (1899). Most of these crowd pleasers will be recycled during at least two of the three separate programs scheduled for San Diego.

Some 20th-Century repertory works showed up along with the old war horses on the eight-piece program, but they hardly qualified as contemporary: “Adagio,” an ensemble work by the group’s longtime director, Madame Sofia Golovkina, and “Narcissus,” the solo recently turned over to Vladimir Malakhov (the sensation of the Moscow Classical Ballet during its stint in Boston last year and a gold medalist at the Moscow International Ballet Competition in June) were on the program.

A handful of rising stars are among the ranks of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, including Michael Shannon, 19, of Los Angeles, who talked his way into a spot in the celebrated Soviet school. Although Shannon was expected to be partner to Galina Stepanyenko, 21, (another gold medalist at the Moscow competition) in the “Le Corsaire” pas de deux at Tuesday’s performance, his only appearance was in a brief solo spot from “Coppelia.”

Shannon burst on stage with gusto as Franz, displaying the kind of performing brio and physical abandon that have become hallmarks of Soviet ballet. The only American in the troupe proved quite convincingly that classical dancing prowess and a bravura presence are not exclusively Russian traits.

The real superstar in the company, however, is Malakhov. This 22-year-old wunderkind has already reached world-class stature, and he flaunted that star quality in the pas de deux from “Flower Festival at Genzano.” His easy elevations, virtuosic turns in the air, long leaps and general buoyancy in the sunny phrases of the Bournonville classic evoked a well-deserved chorus of bravos.

Malakhov’s solo, “Narcissus,” was more introspective (evoking shades of Nijinsky’s “Faun”) and less of a showcase for his sheer bravado. But the charismatic performer kept the audience entranced with small nuances, such as the flick of his head as he sleeked the movements.

The biggest rafter raiser of the evening was “Septet,” a dance that abounds with invigorating macho moves and breathtaking pyrotechnics. Danced to Ukrainian folk music, the flamboyant folk dance--performed in blazing Cossack-style costumes--sent the fleet-footed dancers into a series of gravity-defying jumps and those punishing squat kicks rarely seen on American stages. “Septet” was buried in the middle of the program, but it was the hit of the evening with the first-nighters.

The best corps dancing was seen in the clockwork precision of “Swan Lake.” Stepanyenko (a dancer with the Stanislavsky Theatre Ballet) stole the spotlight as Odette. The frightened, bird-like flutter of her expressive ports de bras and those deep back bends lifted her performance well above the average. She was impressive in “Le Corsaire” as well, partnered with the dynamic (but sadly uncredited) Bolshoi Ballet soloist Yuri Klevtsov.

Klevtsov made quick work of the dazzling feats of virtuosity Marius Petipa designed for the bare-chested spectacle, but he was replaced in the closing work (excerpts from “La Fille Mal Gardee”) by Aleksei Musatov.

Although Ekaterina Besergani was a standout in the cast of “Adagio,” there was nothing memorable about the choreography. Besergani will get a better shot at the limelight when she alternates with Stepanyenko in “Swan Lake” at subsequent performances.

There was no shortage of kitsch in Tuesday’s mixed bag. Heading the list was the hyperactive “Sabre Dance.” Aram Khachaturian’s lightning-quick score whipped the saber-wielding dancers into such a frenzy that they could hardly maintain their equilibrium, but the audience was not taken in by its fury.

There was no live music, and the taped accompaniment to many of the dances was scratchy and over-amplified, but the lavish costumes and decor for “Swan Lake” were up to traditional standards.

The Bolshoi Ballet Academy will continue its run at the Civic Theatre tonight through Saturday at 8 o’clock, with weekend matinees (Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 3). The programs will feature Alexander Gorsky’s version of “Coppelia” (Act III), “The Girl and the Deer,” “Sleeping Beauty’s” bluebird pas de deux, “Spring Waters,” the Grand Pas from “Don Quixote,” Act III of “Swan Lake” and other repertory pieces.