The most luxurious exercise in Giselle compare and contrast since Natalia Makarova and Gelsey Kirkland danced the role at ABT on consecutive nights in 1977

Alastair Macaulay for the New York Times writes:

A double cli­max occurred on Fri­day and Sat­urday even­ings at the Met­ro­pol­itan Opera House when the two most idol­ized inter­pret­ers of the title role today, Diana Vish­neva (Rus­sian, from the Mari­in­sky bal­let of St. Peters­burg) and Alina Cojocaru (Romanian, from the Royal Bal­let of Lon­don) danced for Bal­let Theater.

Here was the most lux­uri­ous exer­cise in Gis­elle com­pare and con­trast by any West­ern com­pany since Nat­alia Makarova and Gel­sey Kirk­land danced the role at Bal­let Theater on con­sec­ut­ive nights in 1977.”

On Vish­neva:

… brings to the role great per­sonal beauty, has a full­ness to her dance tone and a lus­cious sheen that set her apart from almost every other baller­ina today. The float­ing buoy­ancy with which she deliv­ers the fam­ous hops on point in Giselle’s Act I solo causes one sensation.

On Cojocaru:

… a less full-toned dan­cer, seems non­ethe­less one of nature’s Gis­elles. Not since Ms. Kirk­land has the role had so spir­itu­ally right an incumbent.

On their partners:

Mar­celo Gomes for Ms. Vish­neva and David Hall­berg for Ms. Cojocaru, superb artists who do more than any­one else to bring glory to each Bal­let Theater season.

Mr. Hallberg’s Albrecht is the more youth­fully impetu­ous, the more car­ried away by the emo­tion of the moment; he and Ms. Cojocaru are alike in their humil­ity and at cur­tain calls seemed to share the same amazed grat­it­ude. No dan­cer today matches the noble per­fec­tion with which Mr. Hall­berg executes steps; the refine­ment of his line, the arch of his feet, the clar­ity of his deliv­ery are all miraculous.

Credit: Andrea Mohin/The New York Times — see all ten pho­tos here.

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