Vegas meets the Volga in a show of high-kicking overkill

It seemed like the triathlon of Russian folk dancing: A marathon of Hopaks, astonishing barrel turns and frenzied squat plies turned into a night of overkill, albeit one teeming with technical brilliance, when the Moscow Dance Theatre Gzhel presented “Everlasting Russia” at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday.

This indefatigable company, founded in 1988 by Vladimir Zakharov, performed a mind-boggling 22 numbers -- all choreographed by Zakharov and with more false endings than a Beethoven symphony. The dizzying array of circle dances and precise line formations rivaled those of legwork from the Radio City Rockettes. Talk about high kicks and extensions.

But what peasants wear silver lame, towering headdresses and hot pink Cossack tunics splashed with sequins? Authenticity was sacrificed for the theatrical: It was Vegas meets the Volga in “Fairy Gzhel” as soloist Ludmila Korkina bared her gams in a diaphanous, bat-sleeved costume, a bevy of beauties preening -- and gliding with quick, tiny steps -- behind her.

This female gliding motif permeated much of the evening: “Geese-Swans” featured 16 women in gaudy gold and white, floating around as if in a beauty pageant, while “Kostromskaya Skan” offered 18 women clad in lilac and silver moving robotically around nine leaping men.

“Dance of Russian Gypsies” was notable for the women’s backbending shimmies, while Igor Smolnyakov brought “Vyatskaya’s Picture” to life, his jumps heavenly, his landings buttery. Circles within circles characterized “Khokhloma Merry-Go-Round” as tempos accelerated and no mishaps occurred.

Body-slapping punctuated “Our Katya,” while “A Loving Couple” featured soloists Aleksandr Kovtun and Korkina in Fred and Ginger mode: He, in white satin shirt and tux pants, partnered her elegantly, although Korkina’s strapless, butterfly-shaped top and orange chiffon skirt screamed “I Dream of Jeannie.”

The taped music was repetitive, loud and poorly arranged, and although the dancing was exhilarating, any soul seemed squashed under the weight of all those spangles.