Round 3 Session 1, June 25

The excitement and energy level has risen palpably with international visitors arriving to see the final round. Sony Lopes Gonzales, Mme Ballet of Metro Manila, arrived on Monday via Vancouver where her ballerina daughter Tony had just given birth to the next generation of dancers. Cyril Lafaurie, recently retired from the Paris Festival and the Paris Concours, arrived on Tuesday, apparently deep in preparation for a new competition in Prague.

I may repeat but dancers are required to dance one classical and one contemporary pas de deux and if soloists, two classical variations and one contemporary. Tuesday night we had eleven, two sets of senior pas de deux and one junior with a non-competing partner. We had two Intermissions, one between the classical variations and to mark the shift to contemporary works. Now I think I can make some educated guesses regarding the prizes, which will be announced on Friday morning..

Yudai Fukuoka, Japan, danced Siegfried’s variation in Swan Lake, Act III and the male variation of Vaganova’s Diana and Acteon Pas de Deux. For his contemporary work we got Witz, choreography by Keiko Yagami to Fall Sunken Breaks/Beat Box. A small, tidy sized dancer who has hennaed his hair, Fukuoka dances cleanly and precisely, arms unaffected but sometimes obvious in his pirouette preparations, the number and clarity of which are near mind boggling. He did hop a bit unnecessarily in his final forward advance in the Swan Lake variation. His Vaganova variation was particularly good with a rare elegance, if his turnout is inconsistent.

The contemporary piece utilized purple and green lighting, which echoed tights and tee shirt respectively. The piece seemed to progress in three sections, any one of which would have been convincing demonstration of Fukuoka’s command of isolations, phrasing, fall body rolls and ballet based ability to move. But we got the three and he got an ovation, particularly from the balcony. He seems headed for an award, what I cannot predict.

Next came two junior contestants from South Korea, Eun Ji Ha and Sang Yi Han. Let me mention that Sarah Kathryn Lane, who is number 11 to Sang Yi Han’s number 17, has been assigned to Thursday night because she was scheduled to dance in what is probably the Junior Achievement Awards in the Arts in Washington, D.C. I hope the honor does not provide her with further privileges.

Back to the South Koreans. Eun Ji Ha elected the women’s variation from Gvosky’s Grand Pas Classique and the Variation from Esmeralda for her classical demonstration and White Night to the vocal Lascia Ch’io Pianga by George Fredick Handel, choreography by Min Jung Kim.

Those Koreans are so correct! Ha was steady as a rock in Gvosky’s variation. Her Esmeralda followed another Junior’s and while strong, gave us less emphasis on the tambourine, but more movement inflection and her opening battement balances closing via passe were given an extra inflection to demonstrate her balance. For a junior, the torso inflection and presence gave promise of continued excitement as she matures.

The sensual quality of Ha’s movement was more pronounced in her contemporary variation where the liquid nature of her port de bras was emphasis. Dancing in a white tunic on pointe, the number was designed to demonstrate her flexibility, pointe work and ability to move effectively on the floor. I might add such intent was repeated by most choreography in the contemporary round.

Sang Yi Han, who has been a finalist in this year’s Prix de Lausanne, danced Aurora’s wedding variation in Sleeping Beauty and a variation from Le Corsaire for the classical selections. And Ju-Hyun Jo’s solo If with Paul Pavey’s Bird in the Hand. Aurora’s variation was like icicles in its clarity, very much the aristocratic young lady about to marry, with singularly beautiful hands and port de bras. The Corsaire possessed sparkling exactitude, minus the hard sell. Her contemporary solo in a two-toned orange trouser outfit, gave her the opportunity to roll on the floor, show she could achieve a total split, jump, phrase and possessed a flexible body, but made no particular comment and Han did not try to sell it.

Courtney Clarkson, U.S.A. danced the Esmeralda pas de deux with non-competing partner Christopher Rendall-Jackson. She looked very stylish in a kelly green tutu well outlined with gold sequences on the tutu and torso. In the pas de deux she was correct her balances were steady with one slight flub in her initial pirouettes. She was very clear and correct in her variation, hitting every beat requiring the tambourine with a resounding whack. Courtney flubbed in one of her final fouettes, but her highly competent dancing possessed little gestural nuance and only once did the ghost of pleasure seem to waft over her face.

Her partnered contemporary work, Ave Maria, choreographed by Dwight Rhoden to Giulio Caccini’s song of the same name, was an anomaly of title, costume and choreography. The costuming, black figuring on claret cloth, provided Rendall-Jackson with a lengthy G-string and Courtney with a bra and short-skirted trunks. With extensive frontal supported grand jetes and a grand plie on pointe as well as the pincer movement around her partner’s hips, Courtney’s title and the movement were at polar opposites. If they were supposed to be tribal primitives getting converted to the Madonna, their bodywork could scarcely have indicated the modesty most Christians associate with conversion. Until this round I had her high on the list, but I feel her choices were unwise. She is likely to receive some sort of citation.

Sarah Lamb, U.S.A. started the batterie of senior variations, with Aurora’s variation in Sleeping Beauty followed by Vaganova’s Diana display and then for her contemporary number Gianni Di Marco’s essay to J.S. Bach’s Prelude for Cello, No. I, titled The Cello.

Lamb’s Aurora was executed as if she had stepped out of The Winter Palace to acknowledge her courtiers. The port de bras was perfection of the Kirov style, thanks to her coach Tatiana Legat, and her Diana looked as if it had been created for her, though there was an unnecessary hop in the backward moving arabesques.

Lamb danced The Cello in a cream-colored body skin, which displayed her small rounded figure to perfection, and showed her technique with equal clarity. With the two Mexican dancers and the senior competitor from China, she is definitely on the medal list.

Agnieszka Szymanska, Poland, gave us first the Diana and Acteon variation followed by the sparkling little Vasili Vainonen variation from Flames of Paris. Emil Wesotowski’s Homecoming was her contemporary solo danced to Zbinieuw Preisner’s music of the same name. I felt her aim with the bow was perfunctory, and she fell noticeably in her final pose. The Flames of Paris sparkled, but also possessed a faltering step or two.

Symanska’s Homecoming was notably garbed in full-length dark brown and long sleeved costume with a black bandanna. As in the contemporary round, her theme dealt with some intense version of angst, the range of which was purportedly conveyed by her body. In the style of Kurt Joss’s Partisan Woman in The Green Table, the choreography possessed none of that economy. The most notable and convincing moment in this earnest artist’s piece came at the end when she tore off the black bandanna and raised her arms in supplication.

Joel Prouty, U.S.A. gave us the famous variation Chakubiani danced in Flames of Paris and choreographed for Le Corsaire for his classical variations and a Thelonius Monk-based solo Light Blue titled After Midnight as choreographed by Gianni DiMarco.

We got seven pirouettes and a clean rendition for Flames and a near brilliant and equally clean Corsaire variation, with suitable drama and a well executed shimmering blue costume. After Midnight Might almost be considered a stock piece – man balancing jacket over one shoulder, setting it aside, Dancing with loose shirt and dark trousers, elegant tour jetes sliding into the floor, a few excellent travelling jetes. Monk’s music made a considerable difference to complete the evening and its structure permitted Prouty to pick up his jacket and stroll off stage. Prouty should garner some sort of prize.

I will treat the two senior pas de deux in a separate comment.

This piece is part of Ballet.co's overall Jackson Competition coverage. The competition runs from the 15th to the 30th June 2002 and we plan daily reports to keep you in touch:
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