2014.2.22-23 Seoul Arts Center
When Universal Ballet presented their first performance
in 1984, they had to put a random tall guy on stage because they didn’t have
enough male dancers. After 30 years, this company has became a steady company
with 70 dancers came from all over the world. To celebrate their 30th year,
they held a 30th Anniversary Special Gala in Seoul Arts Center. They wanted to
show off everything they had; Russian style grand ballets (La Bayadere, Sleeping
Beauty), dramatic ballet (Onegin), contemporary ballets by renowned
choreographers (Works of Nacho Duato, William Forsythe, Hans van Manen and Ohad
Naharin), and their own creation (Love of Chunhyang) danced by all principals
and promising young dancers of the company. On top of that, they invited Hee
Seo, principal of American Ballet Theatre, and Hyo Jung Kang, principal of
Stuttgart Ballet, as alumni of their main school, Kirov Academy of Ballet. The
first half was consisted of classical pieces and the second half was consisted
of contemporary pieces. This gala took almost 3 hours including intermissions,
which was rarely long for galas presented in Korea.
It was clear that the company put so much effort to this
show, however, too many pieces were put into one show. Opening piece La Bayadere showed excerpts from 3rd act
scene 2; entrance of shades, Nikia and Solor’s adagio, and finale. It was a
long excerpt, almost half of the whole act. After that, they put 5 more pieces,
and the first half took about one and half hours. It was easy to be distracted
to watch different pieces for over an hour. If they wanted to present them all,
at least they should have organized the pieces in the right order. Right after the
happy wedding Pas de Deux from Don
Quixote, they put tragic love duet, Onegin 3rd act Pas de Deux. Then they showed Pas de Trois from Le Corsaire, which was a dance of a
happy couple (and their slave). It was hard to immerse into the tragedy of Onegin after such joyful piece like Don Quixote, but as the dancers showed
intense emotions, I felt heartbroken. Still with the sadness, I had to watch
another happy piece. Despite each piece was done excellently, I felt
emotionally exhausted.
On the other hand, the second half was organized well
enough, not losing the concentration of audience for a second. Opened with the
excerpts from company’s ambitious original work The Love of Chunhyang, they arrayed contemporary ballets which
displayed the beauty of dancers’ bodies. They showed most famous cherographers’
pieces; Nacho Duato’s Duende, William
Forsythe’s In the Middle, somewhat
Elevated, Hans van Manen’s Black Cake,
John Neumeir’s Nocturne. Guest
dancers Igor Kolb (principal of Mariinsky Ballet), Hee Seo, Hyo Jung Kang and
Alexander Jones (principal of Stuttgart Ballet), made the show even more
glamorous. The audience was most enthusiastic with the closing piece, Ohad
Naharin’s Minus 7. It started with dancers in black suit dancing randomly,
completely differently with previous pieces which brought interest to the
audience. Then dancers came down to the auditorium and invited audiences to
dance on the stage. It was delightful to see dancers' funny moves and
audiences' unskilled yet enjoying moves. It was a nice climax of the show.
Another highlight of the show was the excerpts from La Bayadere. Principal dancer of
Mariinsky Ballet Igor Kolb guested as Solor. He showed the beauty of pure
classical ballet. Even though this was an excerpt, not a full-length ballet, he
completely became Solor in every move, supporting his Nikia courteously.
Double casted as Solor, Dongtak Lee showed Solor’s regrets and remorse
gracefully as well. Rose Adagio of Sleeping
Beauty was performed alternately by Naeun Kim and Hyunhee Sim. Kim
effortlessly executed the signature move of this piece that she holds hand of
four suitors and keeps long balance in attitude. Sim was a very attractive
little princess. Misun Kang and Konstantin Novoselov showed solid technique in Don Quixote Pas de Deux. Novoselov
lifted Kang with ease-their partnership was at their best. Hyemin Hwang and
Jaeyong Ohm danced Onegin 3rd Act Pas
de Deux, showing another great partnership with intense emotions. In Le Corsaire Pas de Trois, Yongjung Rhee
executed multiple double fouettes with change of arms, wowing the audience.
Hyang-gee Hong's gorgeous arabesque and attitude was notable in Carnival in Venice.
Duende was one of the best pieces
of the show. With the music by Debussy, three male dancers Minwoo Kang, Hunjae
Jin, and Konstantin Novoselov performed humorous yet beautiful moves, which
made them look like mysterious elves. Misun Kang and Seunghyun Lee executed
edgy and strong moves in In the Middle,
somewhat Elevated. Hee Seo was scheduled to dance the Balcony Pas de Deux
from Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet,
but she had to change the program at the last minute due to injury of her
partner Ivan Putrov. She danced a solo from Nocturnes
of John Neumeier instead. It felt like watching a woman’s life seeing Seo
expressing both joys and sorrows. Igor Kolb’s Solo by Dmitry Pimonov was a sensual piece. With simple red tights,
his every move had a power to keep audience’s eyes. Hyojung Kang danced Fanfare LX by Douglas Lee with Alexander
Jones, principal dancer of Stuttgart Ballet. This piece displayed the extreme flexibility
of dancers.
It was a significant performance that Universal Ballet
showed present and future stars of the company along with international guests
for their 30th anniversary. Though the programme was not perfectly organized,
it did show the marvelous development of the company.
