Makarova: New Whirl in Town

By Paul Gray

A prima ballerina's company makes a Broadway debut

The monthlong Manhattan engagement of the new Makarova and Company ballet, which opened last week, gives dance on Broadway a slightly new turn. Rudolf Nureyev has frequently dropped in on the Great White Way, but always surrounded by a definitely subordinate cast of professionals. Natalia Makarova, probably the world's prima ballerina, aimed both higher and lower. She attracted a stunning array of top ballet stars: Fernando Bujones, Anthony Dowell, Cynthia Gregory, Denys Ganio, Elisabetta Terabust, Karen Kain and Peter Schaufuss. But to fill out the ranks, Makarova raided ballet schools for 29 youngsters, almost all lacking professional experience.

As might be expected, this unusual troupe's debut was an up-and-down affair. Makarova's restaging of the Petipa choreography for Paquita, Act II evoked a muscular, high-flying performance by Bujones and a precise, rather chilly one from Terabust; the intricate variations fell to baby ballerinas who were rarely up to their tasks. Makarova and Dowell danced Bejart's Sonata No. 5 as if blindingly fused together, down to the last sinuous contortion and arbitrary tic. The world premiere of Vendetta, created for Makarova by Choreographer Lorca Massine, gave her the chance to put on a gypsy costume and flirt and shimmy with Dowell, Bujones and Ganio, amid much running about by the corps. What was supposed to have been a crowd-pleaser proved chiefly a puzzler.

Such problematical openings are often fatal on Broadway, but Makarova and Company is hardly typical fare. For one thing, this program was only the first of four. Still to come are the world premiere of Barry Moreland's Ondine and the first performance outside the Soviet Union of Maya Murdma's Studies. Even balletomanes who were troubled by the uneven debut will probably be lured back by the curiosities ahead.

Makarova's venture is being backed (at an estimated cost of more than $250,000 a week) by James M. Nederlander, head of his family's large theatrical organization. Present plans call for a U.S. tour in the spring and a possible European junket after that. Makarova wanted to be artistic director of the American Ballet Theater, her main performing base since she defected from the Soviet Union ten years ago, but lost that post to fellow Emigre Mikhail Baryshnikov. Her new venture not only gives her control over a company but allows her to choose roles that she might otherwise not get. She also wants to pass on the training she received at Leningrad's fabled Kirov school to American dancers. The inexperience of her corps was intentional: "I just have a strong desire to build these girls into very interesting artists." First-night jitters not withstanding, questions about the company's permanence are staggeringly premature. So far, Makarova and Company has shown that Broadway is a tough place to try out and that all journeys, even by dancers, begin with a single step. --By Paul Gray

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