This weekend, Festival Ballet Providence performed "Schéhérazade" and "El Amor Brujo" - two sultry pieces about the passions and powers of love. The sets were relatively unadorned and the costumes simple - the dancing was the true decoration.
The show was performed Friday through Sunday at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium Arts and Cultural Center in downtown Providence.
For the Feb. 9 performance, choreographer Gianni Di Marco created dances involving harem girls, slaves, gypsies and soldiers. A beautiful visual array of movements, both on the floor and in the air, graced the stage with effortlessness and sizzled with seduction.
The first piece, "Schéhérazade," tells the story of a rich sultan's new young wife, Zobeide (Jennifer Ricci) and the slave (Alexander Akulov) with whom she falls in love. When the sultan leaves his palace for a hunting trip, Zobeide and the slave unite, and together have a passionate love affair.
The eight-minute love scene between Zobeide and the Golden Slave speaks to Di Marco and the lead dancers' talents. Ricci moved with both fluidity and strength while Akulov's athleticism dazzled as he simultaneously exuded dignity and grace. But it is the two together - their absorption in one another and their incredibly sensual movements - that made the audience members feel as if they were peeking in on an intimate moment between two lovers.
Not quite as sultry as "Schéhérazade" but just as visually appealing was Di Marco's adaptation of Spanish composer Manuel de Falla's 1915 work "El Amor Brujo." The story is the tale of a young gypsy girl (Leticia Guerrero) who desperately wants to devote herself to her lover (Gleb Lyamenkoff) but struggles to escape the ghost of a previous lover (Maxime Podshivalenko). When the comfort of friends proves insufficient to escape the ghost of her past, the couple eventually seeks the help of an older gypsy woman (Carolyn Dellinger) to get rid of the ghost.
Di Marco's choreography in the second piece was as complex as those in "Schéhérazade." Guerrero moved quickly and sharply when dancing with the ghost, while with her lover she danced tenderly and sensually - expressive of the different sentiments she has for these two figures. There is also an influence of traditional gypsy dancing, as Guerrero and her accompanying friends alluringly twisted their hands and arms in front of their faces.
Di Marco and the dancers he choreographed showed both talent and range, offering audience members the opportunity to experience an array of emotions, each a pleasure to watch.
