All-Fokine programme announced for May 2005 at ABT

[Katharine Kanter]

Extracts from a report by the American writer T. Tobias:

http://www.artsjournal.com/tobias/archives20041001.shtml#90399

On Le Spectre de la Rose this month at ABT:

“Everything mitigates against American Ballet Theatre’s achieving a production of this piece that will be viable today, though it has, in Herman Cornejo, a dancer clearly born for the leading role. Our contemporary culture scorns the innocence and ecstatic vision of the subject. The lyrical dancing style Fokine requires in his neo-Romantic vein is almost a foreign language to dancers bred to thrill audiences with their dazzling technical accomplishment, not to beguile the public by means of subtle evocation.

“(But) ...° If the piece is kept active in the repertory, continuing performance might allow it to spring back to life and provide the kind of ecstasy for which we addicts used to flock to the ballet.

“Postscript: At press time, ABT announced that it has slated a full program of Fokine ballets for its spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, May 23 – July 16.... This brave, admirable venture, clearly not driven by the commercial concerns that dominate arts management nowadays, looks like the impulse of an institution trying to retrieve its soul.“