Glorious Gala

By John T. Elson

In its checkered, financially precarious history, American Ballet Theater has probably had more downs than ups --but oh! is it up now. Last week, to celebrate its 35th anniversary year, Ballet Theater offered a glorious, fund-raising gala at the State Theater of Manhattan's Lincoln Center. No other company in the world could have brought together on one stage so many stars of so great a magnitude.

For nostalgia buffs, the evening's highlight was the return to the U.S. (after 15 years' absence) of a legendary ballerina from A.B.T.'s early days, Alicia Alonso, the founder and director of the National Ballet of Cuba. Now 53, Alonso provided more emotional than aesthetic delight by dancing the adagio from the second act of Swan Lake. It was a strained performance but also a tender portrayal of the Swan Queen, and the audience gave her nearly 20 minutes of cheers and bravas. For those in search of novelty, there was a first look at a potentially exciting new partnership. Gelsey Kirkland was dancing, for the first time ever, in a showy pas de deux from Le Corsaire, with that ubiquitous guest artist Rudolf Nureyev. All smoldering fire, Nureyev and the ethereal Gelsey, a lass with a very delicate air indeed, looked well together, and the audience loved them.

In fact, the audience loved everything--as well it might. What other troupe can offer not only Kirkland's gossamer softness but the grand, regal style of Cynthia Gregory; the quiet, understated eloquence of Martine van Hamel; the boyish, leaping lyricism of Fernando Bujones; the courtly, steadfast partnering of Ivan Nagy and Ted Kivitt?

Above all, what other company can display Mikhail Baryshnikov to better advantage? This incredible performer does things in ballet that have never been done before -- and does them with such transparent ease that audiences gasp in disbelief. There is obvious preparation and buildup before other dancers launch into a series of jumps or jetes; Baryshnikov will have finished a dazzling double or even triple air turn almost before viewers are ready for it.

Swirling Sequence. At the gala, he appeared twice, the first time in the Don Quixote pas de deux with Noella Pontois, a soubrette-style dancer from the Paris Opera Ballet. After one swirling sequence of pantherlike turns, he landed -- not just on one knee as most dancers would, but on one knee with the other leg fully extended. It was a daring variant on a familiar bit of acrobatics, since Baryshnikov is quite likely to break an ankle if his timing is a split second off.

Later in the program he was onstage alone in Vestris, a ballet created for him by Leningrad's Leonid Jacobson in 1969. The subject of this seven-minute solo is Auguste Vestris, a famous 18th century dancer and mime. In a powdered wig and white satin tunic, Baryshnikov went through a kaleidoscope of quicksilver impressions -- an old man dancing a minuet, a woman praying, a girl flirting. It was funny. It was sad. Then it was funny again. It was acting of the highest order.

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