Reception Speaks Kirov’s Language

It was an Orange County first: a crib sheet on every party table.

Guests at Tuesday night’s bash for members of the fabled Kirov Ballet found roses and a list of phonetic Russian phrases on their tables at Birraporetti’s in Costa Mesa.

You want to say “hello” in Russian? Pronounce it “ZDRASS-vwee-tya,” the hot-pink missive told the ballet buffs who’d watched “Romeo and Juliet” at Segerstrom Hall.

How about “Welcome to Orange County”? “Do-BRO po-ZHA-lo-vat v Orange County,” it advised.

“Please”? “Pa-ZHOW-sta!” “Thank you”? “Spa-SEE-ba!”

Where was “bravo”? That was the word on everybody’s lips at midnight when stars Altynai Assylmuratova and Konstantin Zaklinsky--she, the fragile, willful Juliet, he the adoring Romeo--swept into the roaring party after leaving the cocoon of a sleek, white Cadillac limo.

The couple, who are married (a consoling fact, considering the show’s devastating ending), stood calmly before the 100-strong crowd, letting the collective flash of the paparazzi explode in their fairy-tale faces.

“She was so beautiful,” party-goer Zee Allred said with a deep sigh.

“And the music ,” gushed Jerrel Richards, Allred’s escort. “So lovely. Musicologists call Prokofiev the Mozart of the 20th Century.”

On hand to help guests extend congratulations to the troupe were language translators such as Sam Jenniches, a senior in comparative literature at UC Irvine. “I’m prepared to help,” said Jenniches, who volunteered his services for the night. “For example, I know how to say: ‘I really enjoyed your performance tonight.’ ”

Mostly, guests let their applauding hands do the talking. And when they weren’t admiring the lithe dancers, they were sipping vodka “neat,” guzzling Russian beer and cruising a buffet loaded with pizzas and pastas. There was even a party cake, a creamy white concoction filled with strawberries.

“This is a heavy beer,” observed Harry Esayian, sipping Moscova from a goblet. “There is nothing in America like it. It’s a heavy stout beer.”

After dining, the troupe hit the dance floor and boogied until 2 a.m. On Sunday, the Center’s board of directors will stage a fiesta-themed party at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel to bid the troupe farewell.

“Well, they’re not really going that far away,” said Center manager Judy Morr. “Just up the road to L.A.”

* BALLET REVIEW. F1