You can opt out anytime. It is quite old. Petersburg in , and then revived by Petipa in For some world premieres, it is best to come into the theater with no expectations, mind clean-slated. But for this one, it helps to come armed with some history and context, as Paquita is steeped in both. In , Marius Petipa brought the crowd-pleasing ballet to Russia. This time he danced Lucien, and Yelena Andreyanova danced Paquita.
And then it quietly disappeared. In the early s, interest in Paquita resurfaced. Pierre Lacotte did a revival for the Paris Opera Ballet in In , Ratmansky created a deeply-researched reconstruction of Paquita for the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich. Then the short solos and duets begin, all combining fast footwork, jumps and turns.
The piece is very much a product of its time, and by that, I mean both and The nods to Spanish and Romani dance have been all but stripped away. There is no more narrative. It is pure entertainment and technically magnificent. Before you know it, the Minkus Pas de Trois is over, and the stage refills with dancers for the Grand Pas โfirst the corps de ballet, then the soloists, then Paquita here Sara Mearns.
While the six variations were all danced wonderfully especially by Unity Phelan , Indiana Woodward and Chun Wai Chan , it was the corps de ballet that impressed me most. Their choreography was intricate, highly demanding, at times impossibly fast. While the unison was sometimes imperfect, you can see how exhilarating it will be once it works its way into their bodies. The soloists and the corps, while fantastic, are all just setting the scene for the main attraction: Paquita. Mearns is a queen of adagio and a perfect match for the lyrical, stretching movements.
No one arches like Mearnsโher chest shining up, her neck gently arcingโand Ratmansky highlights this throughout. It is quiet and supple and uniquely hers. It is classical and rooted in a history Balanchine wished to leave behind. But this is a good thing. World premieres can be fresh and tenderโtaking their first breaths, still growingโand this one was, but it is already evident that this piece is stretching the dancers, pulling them in new directions.
