School of American Ballet. - Julliard Theater, New York, New York - dance reviews

Dance Magazine, Oct, 1995 by Lynn Garafola

June 3 & 5,1995 Reviewed by Lynn Garafola

The School of American Ballet's annual workshop is more than a graduation performance or a showcase for the talents of tomorrow. It is also one of the best places to see Balanchine ballets danced with a freshness and conviction not always evident at New York City Ballet. Happily, this year was no exception. With La Source and The Four Temperaments on the program, the thirty-first workshop featured two of the choreographer's finest ballets, along with another tiny gem, Bournonville's Napoli: Pas de Six and Tarantella.

Choreographed in 1965 to music by Leo Delibes, La Source is all froth and spun sugar, a vision in pink displaying Balanchine's mastery of classical language. As staged by Suki Schorer, who danced in the original production, the ballet remains a living work. The corps is full of bounce; the allegro is clean and crisp; the jumps fly; the adagio breathes; even Balanchine's special brand of epaulement is there.

As the leading ballerina, Eva Natanya commands the stage like a professional. She has finesse, precision, speed, beautiful feet, and a musicality that links the steps of an adagio into a continuous melody. As her partner, Benjamin Millepied displayed the wonderful jumps and beats that also served him well in Napoli, while Anne Milewski, as the second soloist in the alternate cast, sparkled in the petit allegro as the very personification of youth.

The Four Temperaments, staged by Susan Pilarre, also bristles with life. Moreover, the size of the Juilliard stage (smaller than that of the New York State Theater) intensifies the drama of contained space, a theme of the ballet, and the claustrophobia of its human entanglements. Among the men, there were fine performances by Hiroki Kubota, who brought to "Melancholic" the anguish of a wounded Pierrot, and Henry Seth, who infused both the "Sanguinic" and "Phlegmatic" variations (which he danced at alternate performances) with tenderness and classical grace. In the third theme, Liz Miner underscored the lyricism of the choreography rather than its more obvious angularity, as did Eleena Melamed and Shane Hogan in the second theme, Cara Copeland in "Choleric," and the exceptionally musical Kyle Froman in "Sanguinic." Sky-high extensions and excessively distorted angles were an occasionally jarring note.

With its gaiety and charm, Bournonville's Napoli: Pas de Six and Tarantella brought the program to a lighthearted close. Staged by Stanley Williams, assisted by Michael Byars, the ballet is both a suite of classical variations and a character divertissement, with opportunities galore for dancers to shine. And shine the SAB youngsters did, stepping lively in the Tarantella with their streamered tambourines and showing their classical mettle in the seven solos.

I recall with special pleasure Anton Pankevich's marvelously stretched feet in petit allegro; Natanya's skimming lightness; Sara De Gennaro's spirited jetes; Milewski's fleetness and the exuberance of her duet with Stephen Hanna, leading the Tarantella. Napoli would be a fine addition to the repertoire of just about any ballet company.