THREE STARS
A classic for another classic. This was the exchange that Colon Theater offered to its subscribers and the general public to finish the 2023 season of its Stable Balletbefore the failed premiere of “The Bayadere”. Of course, the imbalance in the change was undeniable: the expectation to discover in our midst the luxurious and exquisite version of Rudolf Nureyev was not covered by a “Privateer” seen ad nauseam for ten years. But the participation of Natalia Osipova (from the Royal Ballet of London) and Daniel Camargo (from the American Ballet Theater) compensated for the gap. Well no: the impressive Russian dancer could not recover from an injury in time to travel to Buenos Aires, and our first dancers had to go out ‘on the bull’.
Thus, the pirate ship reached the shores of Turkey once again and Conrad fell in love with Medora again, in front of a packed room. Let us remember that Anne-Marie Holmes’ version is presented in a comedic tone, far from the refinement of Piotr Gusev’s (Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg) that the Colón staged in 1999. In both, almost nothing remains of Lord George Byron’s poem that inspired ballet.
In the function we discussed Federico Fernandez It was Conrad, the leader of the pirates. Happily recovered from the injury suffered last October, he looked splendid in his artistic maturity (beyond a stumble at the end of his variation of act II). With his usual confidence as a partner, the first dancer looked expressive and neat in jumps and turns. Camila Bocca adequately fulfilled her role as Medora, and Jiva Velázquez dazzled as the slave Ali. Gulnara had in Ayelén Sánchez an ideal performer, delicate and brilliant, with impeccable performance in the ‘pas de esclaves’.
These performances will involve the farewell from the stages of two beloved first dancers of the Teatro Colón: Carla Vincelli and Edgardo Trabalón. The latter was Birbanto, one of his most successful creations, a role for which the dancer combined his effective acting mask with his good technical performance.
The entire corps de ballet performed adequately in this massive work, along with students from the Higher Institute of Art. On a musical level, once again we ask ourselves about the need to summon a foreign conductor (the Spanish Manuel Coves) to conduct the Philharmonic Orchestra in six performances of El corsario, with the remaining five being musically directed by the maestro. Ezequiel Silberstein.
