As was the case when I worked on the 1984 fundraiser, Ballet West showed its appreciation by presenting us with a pair of complimentary tickets to a ballet performance. This time, we were invited to see Abdallah, and attend a post-performance reception thrown in our honor.
DANCE: BALLET WEST REVIVES BOURNONVILLE’S 1855 ‘ABDALLAH’
By ANNA KISSELGOFF, Special to the New York Times
Published: May 3, 1985
WASHINGTON, May 2 - Thanks to Ballet West from Salt Lake City, a little-known Romantic ballet by the celebrated Danish choreographer August Bournonville has come to life for the first time since 1858.
Created for the Royal Danish Ballet in 1855, ''Abdallah'' is typically Bournonville in its charm and moral preaching but also a splendidly vivid example of 19th-century Orientalism - a European infatuation with the Near East.
In short, it is a fantasy - and it is as a fantasy that the newly reconstructed version of ''Abdallah'' emerged with delightful detail at its East Coast premiere Wednesday night at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Its prime interest is as a genre ballet, more to be enjoyed than pondered. The stage effects, with entire palaces going up in smoke, have a ''shazam!'' quality that are irresistible. Bournonville was a great entertainer and this tale of a magic candelabrum akin to Aladdin's lamp banks as much on spectacle as on choreography - a point that Ballet West's version brings out clearly.
If it seems odd that a ballet company from Utah would take the initiative in resuscitating a ''lost'' Danish ballet, such suppositions do not take into account the craze for Bournonville's choreography that has swept American ballet since the 1970's.
Moreover, Ballet West has been headed since the mid-1970's by Bruce Marks and Toni Lander, the Danish ballerina, who are Bournonville experts. Together, they set out to revive as much of the original choreography of ''Abdallah'' as possible. Mr. Marks purchased Bournonville's own copy of the scenario. Miss Lander, who is responsible for most of the choreography on view, with the help of Flemming Ryberg of the Royal Danish Ballet, consulted Bournonville's choreographic notes on a score of ''Abdallah.''
The result was the revival seen in Salt Lake City on Feb. 20 and Wednesday's gala, which attracted an international group of critics and dancers, including a past and future director of the Royal Danish Ballet - Flemming Flindt and Frank Andersen, respectively. The evening was dedicated to Miss Lander, who is seriously ill and who could not be present.
But certainly her sense of style was pervasive, and this was seen repeatedly in the women's choreography - in which technical precision was obvious but covered by the veneer of modesty and gracefulness that Bournonville contrasted with male bravura.
The story is not complicated. Abdallah, a cobbler under the Ottoman Empire, is considered too poor by Fatme, a rich widow, to wed her daughter, Irma. Irma is known as the Gazelle of the Basfora for her love of dance, and like Paris offering three goddesses a golden apple, Abdallah offers an orange to three girls for the best dancing. Naturally, Irma wins and she gives Abdallah a locket as a love token.
The deus ex machina is the local sheik, pursued by Turkish troops. Saved by Abdallah, he rewards the youth with the candelabrum. Each candle will grant a wish. But preaching moderation, he warns Abdallah not to be greedy - lighting the fifth and final candle will make him lose all.
The fantasy of Act II is the ballet's core. The exquisite harem scene, with the corps not sensual but suitably chaste in true Bournonville style, could come straight from his version of ''La Sylphide.''
Apparently, much of the choreography is by Miss Lander rather than really by Bournonville - although some dances closely follow the notes. In this respect, it is interesting that when Hans Beck, Bournonville's disciple, used music from Act I of ''Abdallah'' in ''Napoli,'' his dances looked more buoyant than those seen here to the same music. This raises the question whether the characteristics attributed to Bournonville should really be attributed to Beck.
''Abdallah'' reserves most of its classical dancing for the wedding of Abdallah and Irma in Act III, arranged by the sheik. The mime sometimes seems to coincide disconcertingly with dance music, and the dancing occasionally has a sameness about it. As for the beautiful sets and costumes by the Danish designer Jens-Jacob Worsaae, they range from pastel lyricism to Delacroix-style Orientalism.
Varujan Kojian's conducting made the thin and sentimental score by Holger Simon Paulli sound lively. But the evening belonged to the dancers. Miguel Garcia's Abdallah was appealingly acted and terrifically danced with the right Bournonville verve, especially in his high and precise leg beats. Lee Provancha Day's Irma was subdued but very cleanly danced and Odette Millner's harem favorite was pure in her dancing if a bit pale in her acting. Mr. Marks was a wonderful operetta sheik and the men, keeping their arms down, Bournonville fashion, were attentive to the niceties of the right style.
''Abdallah'' suggests the original had some flaws, and the current version has some dead spots and a notable lack of irony. Yet it was well worth the effort. Only a truly Classical company, which is what Ballet West has become, could carry this feat off.
