BALLET REVIEW : New Zealanders in U.S. Debut at El Camino

On its first visit to the United States, the Royal New Zealand Ballet seems devoted to the letter but not the spirit of British classical tradition.

As seen at El Camino College on Sunday, this 37-year-old company looks something like one of our own second-rank regional ensembles trying to make good intentions pass for high achievement.

Artistic director Harry Haythorne has reconstructed and even expanded the antique Cecchetti/Ivanov/Petipa version of “Coppelia” brought from Russia to England by Nicholas Sergeyev early in this century. Compared to the familiar American Ballet Theatre production (due to be restaged this season), there’s not only more dancing--especially in the festival pageant of the last act--but also a more distinctive style to the choreography.

Unfortunately, the company approaches the ballet with a kind of anonymous vivacity, and characterization becomes merely a matter of executing hand-me-down pantomime. It’s axiomatic that a genuine artist always reinterprets a role--but Haythorne’s dancers simply go through the motions. We watch the details of this “Coppelia” but never sense the impulse driving the work.

Danced to canned Delibes, the staging boasts an attractive gingerbread village set designed by Kenneth Rayner and three subsidiary characters (the Landlord, Eva and Sandor) who neatly parallel the roles of Coppelius, Swanilda and Franz. The level of dancing remains competent throughout and glints of authentic star power do occur in Anne Anderson’s powerful solo as Dawn. Generally, however, this is a company that seldom tries to rise above the likable.

Although she diligently works through the daunting technical hazards of the Wedding pas de deux (including sustained supported balances on pointe with the free foot tucked behind the ankle of the working leg), Karin Wakefield makes a bland Swanilda and only really comes alive in the make-believe divertissements of Act II. She is brilliant as a mechanical doll, vacant when depicting a girl of her own age.

As Franz, Brando Miranda partners Wakefield considerately, but he’s no actor and his solo falls victim to lapses of control--especially feet that won’t stay pointed. Lee Patrice makes the most of her long, lyrical arms in the Prayer solo and the Sandor/Eva passages gain a bouncy flair from Kim Broad and Mecaela Baird.

Jon Trimmer dodders engagingly as Coppelius but never decides whether this is a stock clown or a stock villain. The confusion may be partly built into the production: In Act II, we see Coppelius drugging Franz with a bottle marked with a skull-and-crossbones, yet later he’s waving streamers at Franz’s wedding.

This “Coppelia” badly needs rethinking and, while the company is in America, investing in some stellar coaching would also be wise. Madame Danilova, take it away.