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Recent Review

Metropolitan Classical Ballet delivers a strong 'Spartacus'

Posted on Wednesday, October 29, 2008

By Margaret Putnam
Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH – Metropolitan Classical Ballet dared to take on that Bolshoi warhorse, Spartacus, Monday at Bass Performance Hall, and came up with a riveting performance.

Because the Bolshoi has more than 100 dancers for the ballet, Metropolitan, with only 18 dancers, had to truncate the work to two acts and five scenes. We should be grateful that co-artistic director Alexander Vetrov, a former Bolshoi star who played the role of the Roman commander Crassus many times, brought this masterpiece to our attention.

Crassus (played with fervor by Andrey Prikhodko) and the Greek slave Spartacus (brilliantly performed by Shea Johnson) dominate the action.

The ballet opens with Crassus on his throne, torches flaring, as courtesans and mimes entertain the guests in what soon becomes a Bacchanalian orgy.

Two blindfolded gladiators are forced to fight, and when the blindfolds come off, Spartacus discovers he killed his fellow slave.

Olga Pavlova and Andrey Prikhodko in Eight by Adler
Photo by Marty Sohl

The dancing is full-out, with Mr. Johnson (who turned 22 the next day) ripping through the stage with soaring jumps, frantic turns and a look of sheer desperation.

When his beloved Phrygia (Olga Pavlova) appears, he tenderly lifts her with one arm, her body a perfect vertical line. It serves as a great contrast to the torrid connection between Crassus and his conniving Aegina (Marina Goshko), whose relationship is sheer lust.

The program also included co-artistic director Paul Mejia's jaunty Eight by Adler, set to eight tunes, from "You Gotta Have Heart" to "Whatever Lola Wants," by composer Richard Adler.

With a band at the back of the stage, Ms. Pavlova turns to the front, exuding a sexy, slinky allure, with man after man falling for her and being summarily dismissed.

It's Ms. Pavlova's show, and she makes the best of it.

Margaret Putnam is a Richardson writer who covers dance.

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