Round 3 Session 2 June 26

Session Two displayed a dozen finalists, six Juniors, six Seniors, with three pas de deux, three candidates for prizes. As in all previous evenings the program started at 7:30, ending just after 10:00. The three final sessions require two intermissions, adding an extra ten minutes to the evening.

I should also mention that the students in the balcony this Competition have become so accustomed to tricks and sensation that usually only the flashy elicited their appreciation. The minute a pop-based contemporary piece was announced one could almost sense the preparation for yells, screams and a monetary display of utter approval. Sometimes what we saw was worthy of such audience response.

Melissa Hough, U.S.A. chose variations from Le Corsaire and Esmeralda for her classical examples and the pop music of Stevie Wonder You Haven’t Done Nothin’ for a chair-based display of youthful tantrum choreographed by Mia Michaels. Corsaire displayed her great shoulders and beautiful port de bras, and particularly brilliant circle turns and pirouettes. Equally clear was her Esmeralda variation with its precise use of the tambourine. Why she chose to give us the 23 skiddoo head band and a small black choker on Her relatively short neck eludes me. The black tunic with red tutu, studded with gold sequins, did not add to the picture. Hough’s contemporary solo left us with a minted version of petulance, tantrum and adolescent attitude verging on the delinquent. Dancing in a slouch hat, lengthy trousers and black tee-shirt, En pointe, Hough was as mercifully garbed as she was revealed in her earlier variation. She is a clear contender for a junior award.

Keiko Fukuda, Japan, elected to give us Le Corsaire and Siegfried’s variation from Swan Lake Act III.
Keiko Yagami mixed Echo Park’s Needled and a Bach Minuet from Suite 2 in C Minor for his contemporary piece, aptly titled Agitation.

Fukuda’s perhaps diminished the effect of his jumps in Corsaire, but his Siegfried variation was clean and stylish, set off by elaborate gold embroidery on his black tunic. His contemporary solo, Agitation, saw Fukuda with whitened hair, white pajamas and a long sleeved tunic, which left his midriff bare. The solo ran the gamut of jerks, fits, starts, stops, and isolation gestures from shoulders to feet, along with somersaults, sautes, and occasional displays from the classical vocabulary. Designed to display his virtuosity, we got the picture if the overall impression left me with an agitated blur, to marvel at and to forget.

Yun Kyung Shin, South Korea, is a round-faced, sweetly expressioned young dancer dancing clearly and without affectation. Her variation from La Fill Mal Gardee was modestly presented and her variation from La Bayadere as one of the three shades displayed her musical balances and arabesques admirably. The contemporary solo was danced in bare feet and displayed her liquid movement, flexibility and floor work. Cha Jin-Yeob chose Kim Yu-na’s Blue Bird for a russet dressed dance called Humming Bird.
The anomaly is the Shin was not asked to dart physically from flower to flower to the legato line of a beautiful, full-throated voice singing in Korean.

Joseph Phillips, US.A., gave us Solor’s variation from Bayadere and Flames of Paris and another Mark Diamond solo to Bach’s Magnificat titled Exalted Justice. Smallish, Phillips is a secure performer, happily exact. The Bayadere variation gave us a singular display of multiple pirouette, passe finish, pause and balance before the next phrase. The air was genuinely electric. Diamond’s solo was, again, a well crafted piece, if it stretched credibility a bit with affirmative gestures heavenward. Phillips danced it with a convincing, earnest belief.

Ashley Canterna and Danny Tidwell, U.S.A., chose the Corsaire pas de deux. Tidwell’s variation provided us with some beautiful, rhythmic tour jetes and ease in presentation. Canterna’s size requires her to be extremely careful, but she tends to force her emphasis and has a ducking head movement in preparation for some supported turns which either forces her head forward or just looks peculiar. In her final fouettes, with one or two triples, she had a noticeable flub but recovered to finish nicely.

Robert Nicholson borrowed Once Upon A Time from Cirque de Soleil to create Pas de Quatre for the pair,
meaning they had masks at the back of their heads to create number two and four. In long black costumes
with two rose and teal at the chest and pajama trousers cut in strips from the knee down, their partnership is quite expert, easily equal to the demands of lifts and trick movements of the head to enforce the title of the piece. It was sufficient sensational to get a roar of approval from the balcony.

Yaroslav Salenko, Ukraine, executed three breathtaking revoltads in his Flames of Paris variation, finishing with an impassioned hand to the breast. His Bayadere was distinguished with six turns to a pirouette and a revoltad for a finish.

Salenko’s contemporary, created by Luis Serrano, Franz Danzi’s Minuetto, was a white costumed study in classical technique, rendered with Salenko’s elegant technique, but the major impression in the classical variations leveled off in this solo, and Salenko seemed tired.

Dugarai Altankhuyag, Mongolia, gave us disparate style in his variations, Vaganova’s Diana and Acteon
And Desire’s variation from the Wedding pas de deux in Sleeping Beauty. Demonstrating his grasp of the different style, Dugarai danced well, though with leaning moments in the Vaganova and in one or two turning finishes in his second variation.

Beilgee, Dugarai’s contemporary selection was created by Dugarai’s brother, Dugarai Bolorerden, to traditional Mongolian music. It is an excellent show piece, well performed, conveying wild energy, well harnessed, and an impression more lively than the Polovetsian dances from Prince Igor..

Cristian Laverde Konig, Columbia, danced a difficult male variation from Raymonda and the Flames of Paris for his variation. While he moved well in Flames of Paris, a variation which covers and criss crosses the stage, the sur la place Raymonda required ball bearings in the feet and Konig seemed rooted to the floor, and the touches of Hungarian dash seemed forced.

David Fernandez choreographed a solo for Konig called The Red Violin from the movie score of the same name. Konig danced this number with conviction and energy, as if saving his final impression for this piece.

I will treat the two senior pas de deux separately, but a final impression is that motion picture scores might rightfully be banned from the Competition in Jackson. Some restrictions on pop tunes might also be considered, for they are no guarantors of seeing either decent choreography or dancing by their interpreters.

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:
Jackson Reports index page