Le Corsaire
A Pirate Saga with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater Orchestra
April 15, 2016
by Roving Pittsburgher Reporter, Joshua Kurnot
My
love affair with ballet begins with Le Corsaire. Friday April 15, 2016 was my second,
live, full-scale, professional ballet theater experience. I was quickly seduced
with its dynamic and explosive character, movement, and scenery. In contrast, I
did not fall in love with ballet during my first experience during the
Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s season opening performances showcasing William
Forsythe’s work. That stuff was way over my head, too modern and stark for my
understanding as a novice ballet spectator. Le Corsairse’s classic themes made
it easy to sympathize with.
The
stunning sets for this performance were made in Germany and brought from
Uruguay after only their first use there. Most striking was the grotto where
the pirates hid out after stealing their prize girl and looting the village.
The rippling rocks of the cave walls sparkled with gem stones and the allure of
its hidden treasures within while the captain of pirates, his bare chested
slave, and his newly stolen beauty danced to entertain the troops, but mutiny
quickly ensued.
The
obvious crowd favorite that night was the bare-chested slave to the pirate
captain being
danced by Ruslan Mukhambetkaliyev. This guy was the muscle behind
stealing the prized beauty for the pirates and also stealing the entire show
that night. It was a shame that the ladies didn’t even have the chance to
really captivate the audience, but that’s because the ballet wasn’t created to
showcase the female dynamic. This Russian style ballet showed off the power and
strength of the male dancers. Ruslan’s training at the Almaty Ballet Academy in
Kazakhstan and later performances as a soloist with the Moscow City Ballet and
principle with the Russian National Ballet made him perfect for his role. His
jumps were the highest, his lines were the strongest, and his endurance was
obvious as he effortlessly performed big trick after big trick while being
fueled by the excitement and cheers from the audience. The coolest part of
having a live orchestra in the pit was that when Ruslan or any other dancer got
on a role breaking out the really impressive moves, the maestro could sense the
excitement from the audience and direct impromptu repetitions in the musical
arrangements to accommodate and accentuate their performances. The synergy
between the dancers, musicians, and audience was totally and completely
electrifying. 
Anna-Marie Holmes
was the night’s guest of honor. In some way she owns Le Corsaire legally, but
artistically she is the absolute authority on its creative subtleties.
Talk-back discussions after the performance revealed her humble dedication to
the original ideals of the ballet, but also highlighted her passion to perfect
it. Many questions were about the originality of the sets, music scores, and
choreography. Anna-Marie’s eloquent response to these prying questions was honest
statements that exemplified how many of the world’s greatest artistic
performances were conglomerations of artistic collaboration through many
decades of dedication and hard work.
Joshua Kurnot is a West Virginia University Graduate of the School of Engineering. He was also part of the student team of West Virginia University engineering students who won the 2014 24-hour innovation competition held by Ecole de Technologies Superieure in Montreal Canada. Joshua now makes his home in Pittsburgh and hopes to do his small part to reduce the brain drain in the Pittsburgh area by securing a job as a mechanical engineer. Contact Joshua
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