On Sunday, the local professional ballet company, Ballet Ariel, performed their last show of their spring repertoire at the Lakewood Cultural Center. In this show, the company featured two short pieces, “Grand Pas Classique,” which is the third act of the romantic ballet “Paquita,” and “Firebird,” a modern ballet set to Stravinsky’s unsettling and dynamic score. 

At the beginning of “Grand Pas Classique,” excitement rose among the eager audience as dancers presented one-by-one on the stage to perform the 30-minute third act. This act takes place in Spain and is commonly performed by itself as the full-length ballet has fallen to the wayside.

“Paquita,” with music written by Ludwig Minkus and originally choreographed by French ballet master, Joseph Mazilier, in 1847 and then later refined by Marius Petipa in 1881, is a romantic era ballet that has survived centuries. Due to its long history and demanding technique, it is essential to do this ballet justice when performing it. Unfortunately, very few of the Ballet Ariel troupe were able to do so.

Of the troupe, the dancer with the best technique was Yoshiko Brunson, who played the role of Paquita. It was obvious why she was given this role as she was far more advanced than some of the other dancers that stood beside her. However, Brunson still struggled to do her 32 fouetté turns in the coda of the ballet, traveling downstage, and stage left as she battled to whip her way around.

Though Ballet Ariel has limited resources being that it is not as big of a company as other locally-based companies such as the Colorado Ballet, choosing to do such a famous ballet with many solo variations featuring difficult techniques such as hops en pointe, turns and partner work was definitely out of Ballet Ariel’s range.

After a 10-minute intermission, the company gathered again to showcase the 1910 ballet, “Firebird,” choreographed by Michael Fonkine for the Ballet Russes company in Paris. The performance was pleasantly surprising after the sub-par performance of “Paquita.”

The role of the firebird was given to none other than Marcelina Gaudini, who arguably had the best overall performance of the whole company. Between her acting, technical dancing, musicality and artistry, Gaudini did a fantastic job embodying the firebird. Unlike their performance of “Paquita,” the company did “Firebird” justice.

Another honorable mention would be the performance of Gregory Gonzales, who played the role of the evil magician, Kostcheï. Gonzales was also able to bring his character to life. The plotline of this ballet became evident due to the performances of the dancers, able to capture the audience and bring them to this fictional forest.

Dancers Alexandru Glusacov and Maya Vought played the roles of Prince Ivan and Princess Katerina, a prince and a princess who fall in love while Prince Ivan is plotting alongside the firebird to kill Kostcheï and gain back influence over the forest that has been cursed by him.

The only detractor from “Firebird” was the scenery, though it was largely out of the company’s hands. Without as many resources as bigger companies, it is probably a hassle to afford props that don’t look cheap. However, some of the set looked as if it was manufactured by elementary school students, a disappointing showing for a professional ballet company.

In the future, it would be great to see how Ballet Ariel lives up to their potential in a post-Covid era world. It has been a nightmare for ballet companies to survive through the pandemic, and  Ballet Ariel deserves applause for being able to stay afloat. With better props, and more attention to detail in technical ballets such as “Paquita,” the company could be really amazing.

If you’re looking for a professional ballet show and don’t want to break the bank, Ballet Ariel may be a viable option, just know that you are getting exactly what you’re paying for. If you’re looking for something more, it might be worthwhile to splurge the extra $20 to see the Colorado Ballet. That being said, Ballet Ariel is a good company with great dancers, though they may have been a bit in over their heads with “Paquita”. Their amazing performance of “Firebird” redeemed their reputation.