Baltimore ballet on pointe with recent performance

The somewhat light attendance at the Baltimore Museum of Art’s presentation of Ballet Baltimore’s ‘Paquita’ last Saturday was hardly unexpected. The majority of the Hopkins population was packed just a matter of yards away in Shriver Hall to watch the Quarterfinals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (the ICCAs). While, admittedly, the lure of cute boys singing in coordinated outfits can be strong, the strange 90s-esq boy band dance routines can leave something to be desired.

The ballet ‘Paquita’ is set in French-occupied Spain and follows the story of a noble girl who is abducted by gypsies in her youth. Of course, she ages into a beautiful young woman, desired by a number of men who proceed to make a complete mess of themselves and their country’s government as they attempt to kill each other for her hand (ok, so maybe 90-esq boy bands looks pretty good in comparison). Despite the drama of the man-children, the not only beautiful but clever Paquita manages to come out on top and save her one true love — a French nobleman. Conveniently, Paquita then discovers that she is actually of noble birth (and most likely relatives with her lover) and their marriage is actually endorsed rather than forbidden.

The ballet ends when the couple is wed and everyone lives happily ever after.

Well everyone except for Paquita’s other lovers, the couple’s sickly inbred children, and Napoleon — for whom, the Peninsular War (resulting from his invasion of Spain) is often cited as his greatest blunder.

Though luckily the entirety of the story was described in the show’s program, it was disappointing that much of the excitement of Paquita was left for the audience to imagine as the company was forced to perform a very abridged version. This was due to the fact that the entire first act of the show consisted of a showcase given by various students of the Baltimore Ballet School, as well as some of the company members and some guest performers.

The intended format of the dual function show was unclear at first, and members of the audience who might have been attempting to spot some semblance of a plot probably ended up hopelessly confused. The showcase varied greatly in style, with the dances presented ranging from excerpts of larger works (such as Carnival of the Animals) to original choreographed

modern dance pieces, to seemingly more culturally eclectic styles of dance. There was even a short piece performed to the tune of ‘Bella’s Lullaby’ from Twilight, which probably served to alert any previously unaware audience members that this was not meant to be part of Paquita.

Perhaps it could have been made clearer, both in the online advertising as well as in the incredibly short speech given prior to the show, that this show was not actually a performance of the ballet Paquita. Had the structure of the show been better articulated, it might have prevented the audience from feeling as though they had mistakenly stumbled into someone else’s ballet recital. Which, given the ticket prices (with no advertised student discount), it is hard to believe that anyone but a parent would have shelled out the $35 to attend the rather short production.

That said, some of the dancers were truly gifted, and many of the pieces in the showcase were moving. It was clear that a lot of hard work had gone into the production. In fact, were there a more reasonable student pricing option, Baltimore Ballet at the BMA would definitely be a perfectly viable option for students looking for some Saturday night, pre-party entertainment.