Technical, Artistic Flaws Hamstring St. Petersburg Ballet

The goodwill that Americans bring to a performance advertised as Russian ballet is bound to wear thin after a while. You can tell it’s still there by the cheers that followed a pasted-together program of “ballet’s greatest hits” by the St. Petersburg Ballet at Pepperdine Center for the Arts in Malibu on Friday night. But how long can it last?

Like the lamentable “Swan Lake” by the Russian National Ballet in Thousand Oaks and Cerritos last week, the St. Petersburg Ballet program featured some flashes of fine training and bravura technique (hence the knee-jerk goodwill), but the core qualities of good ballet--its soul, attention to detail and well-tempered styles--were overwhelmingly absent.

The exception was ex-Kirov luminary Galina Mezentseva, as delicate and steely a swan as you’d ever want to see. With impeccable line and nuance in the “white swan” pas de deux from “Swan Lake,” and in her transcendent “Dying Swan” solo, Mezentseva was every inch the queenly Russian ballerina.

Elsewhere, there were many technical insufficiencies in the dancing as well as the costuming. A pas de six from “La Vivandiere” was sunk by both--primarily the inability of dancers to grasp the swift, modest ease needed for the style of 19th century choreographer Saint-Leon; but also the unsightly smudges on tutus and ill-fitting bodices. Here and in the equally disastrous “Chopiniana” waltz, a stilted quality replaced the required subtlety and lush phrasing.

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Poor choices of taped scores did not help--who knew the oboes could stage a coup and take over Tchaikovsky’s “Black Swan” pas de deux? As the imperious black swan, Maria Yakshanova seemed more huffy than authoritative, partnered by a likable but inconsistent Azimat Nabuillin. Oddly, she did not do the famous 32 fouettes, but took an elaborate bow as if she had. In a “Paquita” excerpt, one of the relatively few smooth classical moments, she did do the impressive turns--as did Nathalia Bashkirtseva in the “Don Quixote” pas de deux, an otherwise choppy rendition.

Two more contemporary, lighthearted pieces--Leonid Jakobsen’s “Tango” and Ditmar Sieffert’s “Passione”--were mildly amusing but inconsequential. With artistic directorship by Askold Makarov, the St. Petersburg Ballet seems to be one of several signs that Russian ballet is sinking slowly in the West.