I saw Rudolf Nureyev dance only once and, alas, it was too
late in his career; he was not the athletic god he had been. I was luckier with
Misha, Mikhail Baryshnikov. Him I saw a couple times, though, in truth, the
best dancing I ever saw him do was on TV or in the movies (White Night; The
Turning Point – a film I love).
I was luckier still with Angel Corella, the Spanish dancer
who graced the Met stage for the last seventeen years with ABT. He joined
American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in April 1995 and was promoted to
Principal Dancer in August 1996. I saw him at least eleven times; the first
Playbill I’ve found dates to 1996.
Last night Angel leapt his final leaps for ABT as Prince
Siegfried in Swan Lake. That would not have been my choice for his swan song,
but I was of course there to see it. He was gorgeous and elegant throughout,
and wowed us in the third act with his amazing, high-energy technique.
I am not sure I have ever seen a better dancer.
The emotions crescendoed during his curtain call. It lasted
twenty minutes; I do not exaggerate. First the twenty-six swans from the
corps de ballet took their bows to thunderous applause. Then Vitali Krauchenka
and Jared Matthews as the two incarnations of von Rothbart. Finally Angel and
his Odette, Paloma Herrera, took their bows -- and pandemonium broke loose.
After several bows together the stage was given over to a
procession of ABT principal dancers who entered one at a time, bearing bouquets
of flowers. Other ABT dignitaries followed. The entire time the audience was on
its feet, applauding madly. Finally the curtain closed, but then parted for a
front-of-the-curtain solo bow. More flowers, this time tossed by audience
members.
Then another front-of-the-curtain bow for Angel and his
Swan.
And another solo bow.
And another.
OK, you get the idea. I have never, ever seen anything like
it. Even Barbra Streisand’s bows at Madison Square Garden while the Gay Games
were in town in 1994 didn’t go on this long.
My eyes were moist, my breath short. This is one night I
will never forget.
Angel in Fancy Free
In Tchaikovsky Pas de deux
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