American Ballet Theatre’s production of Harlequinade, at the Kennedy Center through Sunday, transforms old-fashioned commedia dell’arte stock characters and situations into something elegant and beguiling.
That’s largely due to the sound judgement of the ballet company’s artist in residence, Alexei Ratmansky and his careful and charming reconstruction of this Marius Petipa ballet. Les Millions d’Arlequin, as it was then called, originally premiered in 1900 at the Hermitage Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia when Petipa, who almost singlehandedly created and shaped ballet’s canon, was 82 and nearing retirement.
The story itself is uncomplicated. Harlequin and Columbine are a young couple eager to marry. Harlequin is too poor to pass muster with Columbine’s sourpuss father, Cassandre. He’s having none of it and has already promised his daughter to the wealthy and foppish Léandre. Shenanigans ensue. There’s some madcap scheming and a murder. But with a little help from their friends, Pierrette and the Good Fairy, the couple’s love is victorious.
The ballet was performed until the 1920s and then mostly disappeared except for a couple of later iterations, most notably George Balanchine’s 1965 production for New York City Ballet.
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Ratmansky’s version is unique because he has reconstructed Petipa’s original choreography using Stepanov notations from the Harvard Theatre Collection, a rare archive of historical dance notations of many 19th and early 20th Century works from Russia’s Mariinsky Imperial Ballet repertory.
Reconstructions run the risk of simply mimicking the past, but Ratmansky’s Harlequinade doesn’t come off as some dusty old thing pulled from the attic. Instead he’s made it fresh and vivid. The brilliance of Petipa’s choreography shines like a diamond. Ratmansky has filled in the spaces in he ballet where steps may have been missing or unclear with his own intelligent and Petipa-based choreography. The effect is strangely memorable and completely unexpected, especially for a comedic ballet, which are so often boring and forgettable.
The skill and artistry of Ballet Theatre’s dancers helps too. James Whiteside and Isabella Boylston as the lovers Harlequin and Columbine danced with ease and good humor, and Whiteside in particular portrayed Harlequin with a vivacity that thankfully never stooped to foolishness. Stella Abrera as Pierette was another standout; her natural glamour commandeered nearly every move she made. Thomas Foster was superb as a perfectly impulsive Pierrot.
This production’s performances at the Kennedy Center also benefited from an outstanding and obviously very well-rehearsed brigade of 34 children who are students from the Washington School of Ballet. These charming young dancers nearly overshadowed their professional counterparts in Act II of the ballet as they swept across the stage like a tiny army of royals and mini Columbines, Harlequins, Pierrots, and Pierrettes.
The costumes, too, played a special part in the visual appeal of this production. Robert Perdziola’s creations are based on the original designs by Orest Allegri and Ivan Vsevolozhsky, and they speak to a time of unfettered luxury.
There are shimmering satin dresses in deep blues and greens, bright reds and sunny yellows, and light-as-air tulle skirts dyed with touches of gorgeous pinks, lavender, and a glittering gray. The black costumes worn by the children in Act II appeared so deeply saturated in a beautiful inkiness that one might suspect the artist Anish Kapoor may have sprinkled his exclusive “Blackest Black” pigment over the fabric.
The costumes, the excellent dancing and acting, and Ratmansky’s good taste are a revelation here, and his respect for ballet’s history is evident in the care he has taken in recreating a ballet from a bygone era for today’s audiences. But don’t just go for the history or the glitz. If you are inclined to think of comedic ballets as silly bits of frippery that are not worth the time, think again. Ratmanksy’s Harlequinade is a rare and distinguished jewel that will change your mind.
Harlequinade. Choreography by Marius Petipa with staging and additional choreography by Alexei Ratmansky. American Ballet Theatre; Kevin McKenzie, Artistic Director. Music by Riccardo Drigo. Scenery and costumes by Robert Perdziola based on the original designs by Orest Allegri and Ivan Vsevolozhsky. Presented at The Kennedy Center . Reviewed by Maria Di Mento.
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