BALLET REVIEW : New ‘Swan’ Dancer Moves Cautiously

Since Yuri Vasyuchenko last danced with the Bolshoi Ballet in Southern California three years ago, his hair has grown dramatically lighter and longer--but his jump hasn’t. And, since Siegfried’s jete is virtually the first thing you see in the Bolshoi “Swan Lake,” Vasyuchenko’s new look matters far less than his old leap.

On Wednesday, at the Civic Theatre (second night of the local Bolshoi engagement), this earthbound, peroxided principal acted the role with greater intensity than his colleagues had managed to do in their most recent performances. And it helped, drawing a more emotional portrayal from Nina Semizorova than she had ventured opposite either Alexander Vetrov or Mark Peretokin in Los Angeles last week.

However, Vasyuchenko’s histrionic boldness and partnering suavity somehow made his modest, cautious and often labored solo dancing seem even more disappointing. After all, this was no self-effacing cavalier; he had established a distinctively hot-blooded characterization--why couldn’t he dance it?

Happily, Semizorova remained a wonder, dancing certain passages (the lakeside solos in the first half, for instance) as perfectly as one could imagine and always making it look easy. Small, slender and bird-like in her quickness, she traced severe, faultlessly sculpted classical shapes as Odette, then added overtones of self-aggrandizement as Odile, smiling coldly through the blur of multiple turns.

If her performance Wednesday proved much clearer in intention during the final scene, this Swan Queen was still memorable chiefly for the nobility of her line, the musicality of her phrasing and the polish of every technical detail. A dancer’s dancer.

Vetrov again played Rothbart, and this time his remarkable jumps commanded extra attention--though, ideally, this character should shadow Siegfried, not literally rise above him. Alexander Kedrov made a typically flamboyant, yet unusually mercurial Jester.