LINCOLN CENTER

Metropolitan Opera House
American Ballet Theater - Otello

"Shakespeare's gripping tale of jealousy and betrayal provides the inspiration for this immensely theatrical spectacle. Featuring Lar Lubovitch's whirlpool of passionate choreography and Academy Award-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal's dramatic score, this psychological thriller reaches its inevitable, heartbreaking climax as the brooding commander Othello succumbs to the sinister Iago's machinations and tragedy befalls the palace."

"Originating as a story in the Hecatommithi (Hundred Tales) of Giraldi Cintio published in Venice in 1566, the characters and basic plot were subsequently adapted by William Shakespeare into his play, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, around 1602."

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/arts/dance/24othe.html?_r=0

With the Handkerchief, a Hint of Ice Capades

Lar Lubovitch’s “Othello,” a full-length ballet from 1997, calls to mind an anguished line from that Shakespeare tragedy: “O heavens forfend!”

The dance, a co-production of the American Ballet Theater and San Francisco Ballet in collaboration with the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and performed Tuesday by the Ballet Theater at the Metropolitan Opera House, isn’t particularly strong on choreography. The music by Elliot Goldenthal is all over the map, more like a scattered film score than anything suited to the emotional gradations of a story ballet. And the drama — because so much of the movement is simplistic and repetitive — is fraught with histrionics. Writhing on the floor is a common sight, leading to the biggest frustration of all: “Othello” gives modern dance a bad (as in dull) name.

The stellar Marcelo Gomes as Othello and Julie Kent as Desdemona deliver finely nuanced performances that grow in depth during the three-act ballet. Mr. Gomes, painted a striking bronze with body makeup, cuts a fervent figure as the general betrayed by the conniving Iago (Sascha Radetsky) and who destroys the loyal Cassio (Herman Cornejo). As Desdemona Ms. Kent is gentle and pure; her dewy innocence is radiant. 

The ballet opens at the wedding of Othello and Desdemona as a scowling Iago watches, angrily plotting his next move. It hardly helps that Mr. Radetsky, slighter in stature than Mr. Gomes, is like a juvenile delinquent in his generic approach to brutality. As Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s handmaiden, Stella Abrera is as luminous as ever, but her role is pretty much reserved to that of Iago’s punching bag. Adrienne Schulte as Bianca, who leads the corps de ballet in a wild tarantella, could do with more projection and abandon. 

“Othello” is lighted with moody shadows by Pat Collins and features something resembling Lucite scenery by George Tsypin with projections of Venice and slow-moving clouds by Wendall K. Harrington. Mr. Lubovitch, a modern dance choreographer who has also created ice dances, seems to want to echo the sweeping sensation of figure skating throughout “Othello,” especially the lead couple’s pas de deux.  

Ms. Kent, draped on Mr. Gomes’s shoulder or hoisted across his body in any old shape, is seldom in control. Instead of imparting a sense of freedom, her soaring (or spinning) form makes it clear that she is a helpless damsel in distress. Such a cartoon mentality lends clarity to certain details of the story, like the passing of the handkerchief in the second act, but it also stunts the work’s subtlety.

Tonight Mr. Gomes reprises his role opposite Alessandra Ferri, the dramatic ballerina who, to the distress of many, will retire from the company at the end of the season. “Othello” is not the best material, but Ms. Ferri should have some bright ideas about what to do with it.