Uneven ‘Virtuosity’ Spotlights the ABT

Into a dutiful performance of the Polonaise from “Sleeping Beauty” strides Natalia Makarova, wearing a dramatic gown by Gianfranco Ferre and a diamond choker thick enough to overwhelm even her celebrated neck.

Serving as guest host for “Variety and Virtuosity: American Ballet Theatre Now,” tonight on PBS, Makarova promises the audience “a new generation of talented dancers,” though most of the stars on view came to prominence during the Baryshnikov directorship that ended in 1990.

However, some of those stars now dance for ABT only in New York, so this uneven, eight-part compendium of highlights offers glimpses of artists that Southern California never sees anymore: Alessandra Ferri and Julio Bocca in a passionate, mercurial performance of the balcony duet from “Romeo and Juliet,” and Vladimir Malakhov in the only complete work on the 90-minute telecast: Nacho Duato’s male trio “Remanso” to music by Granados.

Also featuring Keith Roberts and Parrish Maynard, “Remanso” provides an unusual context for both adagio partnering and modernistic bravura: Watch Malakhov contort and tangle his limbs, then suddenly--brilliantly--emerge with perfect classical placement.

The rest of the grab bag proves more variable. The Black Swan pas de deux pairs an underpowered Susan Jaffe with a noble, faultless Jose Manuel Carren~o. A lyrical “Leaves Are Fading” duet turns flat with Amanda McKerrow and John Gardner. A lift-laden “Cruel World” excerpt displays the sensitivity of Julie Kent and Robert Hill. A “Don Quixote” showpiece supplies the maximum technique and minimum style of Paloma Herrera and Angel Corella. The finale from “Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1” features a wan Ashley Tuttle and ABT’s newest star: the authoritative Ethan Stiefel.

Punctuating the dances: infomercial-style interview segments touting the company’s “unique” repertory and multinational teamwork--at a time when the major regional ensembles never shown on PBS match ABT in eclecticism and star power. Thomas Grimm directed the dance sequences, Judy Kinberg, the promotional chatter.

* “Variety and Virtuosity: American Ballet Theatre Now” airs at 8:30 tonight on KCET-TV Channel 28.