The Kirov Ballet
New York City Center
New York, New York
April 1 - 10, 2008
Copyright 2008 by Michael Popkin
New York City Center may not be the "house that Balanchine built" (the Shriners enjoy that distinction) but it's certainly a house deeply associated with his work; and seeing the Kirov's Petipa programs on that stage thus has been extraordinarily interesting. It's an intimate theater, with the orchestra only nineteen rows deep, the stage shallow, and little room in the wings. The Kirov's core repertory, great Nineteenth Century ballets like Raymonda, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote and La Bayadere, won't fit very well into that space and so for the New York season the company pared it down to present only portions of each ballet: Act 3 from Raymonda; the Grand Pas de Deux from both Paquita and Don Q; The Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadere; and the pas de deux from Diana and Acteon.