Imagine my disppointment when I arrived at the Met last night to find a program with a slip of paper in it. I gingerly took it out and saw that David was injured and would not be dancing. Well, crap. But it also announced that Marcelo Gomes would be taking his place, along with Daniil Simkin as the best friend, Benno. Oh, well, ok. I do love me some Marcelo Gomes. I tried not to let my disappointment color my enjoyment early on.
No need to have worried. From the start, I was entranced. Marcelo Gomes is truly a danseur noble, a charming and charismatic performer, and a generous partner. I was happy to see Susan Jaffe play the Queen Mother - I enjoyed seeing her perform many times before she retired a few years ago. Her Queen was beautiful and regal, but no nonsense. You could see Marcelo really struggle to accept the demands his mother was placing on him. In fact, their acting was so good, I found myself watching them on the side, instead of watching the corps do the dancing center stage. Which is probably a positive and a negative.
Polina was a magical Odette--lyrical and sad, with beautiful positions. You could see her melt and fall in love with Marcelo (who wouldn't?!), and their pas de deux were gorgeous. The gals dancing the swans were also quite good, as were the cygnets doing the famous quartet. So many dancers were different than who were listed in the program, I'm afraid I can't remember which four gals played the cygnets. Sorry. But they were lovely and completely in unison.
Sascha Radetsky, who I loved in the movie Center Stage several years ago, played the human form of Rothbart (the lizard Rothbart was played by Roman Zhurbin, god love him). I haven't seen Sascha dance in several years. He was again quite good, but not great. He just doesn't have 'it' for me. He doesn't fill the stage with charisma the way I like my dancers. I guess that's not his problem but mine. But oh.my.god, the Black Swan pas de deux was rocking! Polina was an AMAZING Odile!! She was imperious and seductive, doing the Odette movements with a mocking edge, and she had amazing energy and verve. It was so incredible. The joy Marcelo danced with, thinking he was showing his beloved Odette to his mother, was palpable. I can't describe how moved and excited I was watching. The ending was magical--the way they both leapt to their death was gorgeous. The audience pretty much started screaming and leaping to their feet the instant the music stopped. I think we all felt we had seen something pretty special.
I do hope David feels better by next week, when I have tickets to see him dance Sleeping Beauty, my last ballet of the summer. :( But, if he still doesn't dance, I'm sure I'll enjoy his replacement just as much. I wonder who it will be???
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