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Alexandra Tomalonis
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Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Second Program

Suzanne Farrell Ballet
By Alexandra Tomalonis
Special to The Washington Post
October 1, 2001

After a shaky opener, the Suzanne Farrell Ballet started to find its stage legs Friday night at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater. The program’s center--three of Balanchine’s beautifully austere Stravinsky ballets--was especially well-danced.

Jennifer Fournier and Runqiao Du led the calm and courtly “Monumentum Pro Gesualdo” and the more tense and dissonant “Movements for Piano and Orchestra”--two ballets created three years apart that are now almost invariably paired. Fournier is a clear and determined dancer, if a bit bland, but for a few moments in “Movements” she danced on the edge, taking risks, shattering her shell and revealing more than just the steps.

Following “Monumentum/Movements,” “Duo Concertant” seemed positively lush. Natalia Magnicaballi and Ben Huys were completely comfortable in this complex duet with its strands of love and trust, as well as, perhaps, an artist’s attempt to tame the ever-elusive muse. Magnicaballi, small and frisky, was both playful and vulnerable; Huys, her master and servant. The two had an exquisite rapport that made the ballet very much alive.

The program’s one misfire was “La Sonnambula,” one of Balanchine’s most European ballets (it was created for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1946). Chan Hon Goh, as the mysterious Sleepwalker who seduces the Poet (Huys) and unwittingly causes his death, was as ineffable as one could wish, but the ballet as a whole lacked atmosphere. The low budget sets don’t help, but more importantly, “La Sonnambula” needs romanticism, mystery and an uneasy undertone of decadence as much as “Swan Lake” needs its swans.

“Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” Balanchine’s comic murder mystery set in a sleazy speakeasy, was more within the company’s range. Fournier was a spirited, if wholesome, Strip Tease Girl; Huys, the company’s work horse this week, a quick-witted, quick-footed Hoofer.

One of Farrell’s great gifts as a director is the way she stretches and inspires dancers. The results can be unpredictable and uneven, but that’s part of what makes watching this experiment unfold so exciting.

The company continues through October 6th, with two alternating programs. New York City Ballet’s Peter Boal, one of the finest dancers of our age, joins it this week.