Senior Pas de Deux, Round 3, Session 1, June 25

The two Estonians, Eve Andre and Sergei Upkin, were one of the two sets of partners appearing in the first session of the final round of the Jackson Competition. They chose the Gorski/Nijinska/Romanoff version of La Fille Mal Gardee. Where the original choreographer Dauberval fits in is lost in the mists of ballet history I guess. The Estonian choice for the contemporary round was Russell Adamson’s choreography to Ryo Kawasaki’s At The Still Point.

Those following my comments on the 2002 Jackson Competition will know the Estonians gave us Bournonville for their First Round. This was a particularly fetching rendition of a bucolic ballet staple, and showed Upkin’s beautiful epaulement and placement and Andre’s thistledown ballon. One could scarcely ask for a better exposition. But, and to me, strategically, it is a big qualifier, these two choices did not display enough stylistic contrast in the classical vocabulary. While I cannot see Andre as Odile, I could see her as a diminutive Aurora.

At The Still Point displayed the couple in the regulation white unitard for Andre and Upkin stripped to the waist and also in white tights. The Adamson choreography included nearly regulation used of splits and open crotch movements, assignments of flexibility and an occasional demonstration of skill in syncopated phrasing. I feel the Estonians might well get the prize for Best Couple.

Katia Carranza, Mexico and Mikhail Ilyn, Russia, both dancing with Miami City Ballet, gave us a particularly stylish Gvosky Grand Pas Classique. Edward Villella’s Yes Sir, That’s My Baby, the Gus Kahn, was their contemporary selection.

Carranza’s balances in the pas de deux were rock steady, the port de bras understated, low and authoritative. Small, like Carranza, Ilyn’s variation was equally amazing, and I found myself particularly Entranced with the clarity of his small changements before a fouette turn or pirouettes. Carranza had one off balance problem at the end of her fouettes, but recovered to finish with her otherwise consistent aplomb.

The Villella piece was a skillful tour de force of popularity, the more amazing because it is such American show biz in its style. Carranza looked saucy and provocative in a lavender fringed costume and Ilyn has some approximation of a zoot suit from the Twenties. I would hope to see this on the Gala, for it is one of the genuinely ‘fun’ pieces in the Competition and displayed some intricate extensions and turns I’d love to see again. These Miami City Ballet dancers are definitely headed for some individual or collective prizes.

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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