University of Virginia Library

Well-Deserved Ovation

The pas de deux performed by
Villella and Edra Toth as Apollo
and Terpsichore was lovely. And
the selection's ending was quite
dramatic with Apollo leading the
Muses up a starkly constructed
staircase to Mount Olympus.

Villella displayed phenomenal
control and quickness throughout
the evening, leading renewed
substance to the traditional myth
of ballet that all is effortless.

"The Dolly Suite," a composition
by Gabriel Faure was an
extraordinarily pretty presentation.
The costumes by John Brayden
received a well-deserved special
note in the program. The ballerinas'
floating waltz-length gowns gave me
the distinct impression that I had
been given a key-hole view of a
nursery full of porcelain dolls
performing a midnight dance. John
Taras' choreography made "Dolly
Suite" a whimsical and charming
interlude.

Of course, the height of the
performance was the magnificent
"Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux",
choreographed, as was "Apollo",
by George Balanchine. Villella's
first solo received a well-deserved
ovation from the University Hall
patrons. Each successive sequence
of leaps and turns was even more
beautiful and more unbelievable
than that which preceded it.