'Push'ing My Opinion Around.

Reputation is a tricky thing. On one hand, having one means that there are expectations (whether good or bad) and an obvious buzz surrounding your presence. On the other hand it means that there are high standards to live up to. Sitting in the audience at City Center last night it was obvious that people were waiting with electrifying excitement for the chance to watch Sylvie Guillem in action. She has a reputation in the ballet world as being an otherworldly creature and a true artist in every sense of the word.

From the moment the curtain went up it was obvious, as if everyone didn’t already know, that this reputation was well deserved. Even from my seat in the back of the balcony her presence was radiant and mesmerizing even when doing the simplest movements. She possesses a control over her body unlike anyone I have ever seen with each arm and leg extension transfixing your eye. Gasps of shock arrived from the stunned audience the moment she lifted her leg.

It takes a true star to command an evening worth of works and in my opinion this evening had three. While the unrivaled star was inarguably Ms. Guillem, her choreographer and partner Russell Maliphant more than held his own next to the elongated goddess and in his own solo. The third star of the evening, and my biggest source of frustration/excitement, was the lighting. Each piece is a showcase for the production values and the dancing but sometimes the balance felt uneven to me. When lighting plays such an important part in the evening it begins to feel a little bit gimmicky to me. If the choreography cannot match the brilliance of the lighting I tend to get frustrated. I think this was also because the pieces tended to drag on a few minutes too long for my taste. Instead of leaving the audience wanting more, as they would have after a brief encounter, the first two solos (one for both Guillem and Maliphant) seemed a little overindulgent. It is an exciting idea to use something completely inhuman (i.e. lighting) as a key partner within the work but it just didn’t seem to live up to the reputation set by Ms. Guillem.

(The medical condition known as "Sylvie Shock" includes drooling and bug eyes.)

I really do admire her for coming to the city and doing something as unexpected as this. Part of the fun of having a reputation is to surprise people with transformation. In her second solo where she stays glued within the center of a square of light, she became a goddess of contortion and control; dripping like syrup one moment and sweeping her arms in a frenzied vortex of energy the next. Everyone was completely spellbound.

The final piece was the first time they shared the stage together. It contained some of the most effortless partnering that I have ever seen. As they swept each other across the space they were creating a horizon of shapes that rolled and cut through the air. Yet somehow there was still something missing for me.

Even as I write this I feel unable to really articulate my thoughts. Reminiscent of the way I felt after seeing the new Twyla show, I feel people are afraid NOT to like “Push.” As much as I admire someone like Twyla or Sylvie, it doesn’t mean that everything they do is brilliant. Reputation has a way of shaping people’s opinions and in this case I feel like people are unable to separate the work from the workers. It’s difficult being in the minority with something like this when I am at work trying to explain my reasons for NOT being blown away. Of course by aspects of it I was but the sum of the brilliant parts didn’t add up to a complete whole for me. Feeling a bit crazy now…time to relax for the weekend!