Aeolian Ballet Aims High in Wordless ‘Shakespeare’

A few capable soloists do not a ballet company make--especially when the choreography on view overreaches for an international standard that leaves most everyone cruelly exposed. The proof: “Shakespeare Without Words,” a three-part program by the locally based Aeolian Ballet Theatre at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre on Friday.

In “Scenes From ‘Romeo and Juliet,”’ 15 mismatched and often raggedly synchronized dancers sank under the weight of Patricia Stander’s traditional-style ballroom and balcony choreography to the familiar score by Prokofiev. Cindy Ricalde and Gregg Engle gave everything they had in the final duet, but even when their dancing remained technically faultless, the struggle to execute showpiece steps and lifts dominated any sense of love in bloom.

Bernie Delgado had been a clumsy Paris, but he strongly partnered Lara Ramirez in the uneven but entertaining “‘Taming of the Shrew’ Duet” by Josie Walsh. Set to contemporary vocal music by Ani DiFranco, it gained from its modernity, freeing Ramirez and Delgado to find their way into the roles. Development of the relationship may have been confused and the ending not really there, but Walsh never gave the dancers anything they couldn’t deliver effectively. In contrast, Charles Maple needed a much stronger ensemble to sustain his version of “The Tempest” (music by Sibelius, Chihara and Purcell). But he displayed true originality in his storm scene and in intense passages at the beginning and end that treated Ariel and Caliban (both danced by women) as the bright and dark angels of Prospero’s psyche.

Otherwise, he offered a bland summary of Shakespeare’s action-plan, with the revenge plot unclear and the Miranda/Ferdinand relationship turned into an empty-headed balletic cliche by Helena Pokorny and Brett Weidlich.

The only performance of Shakespearean depth: Adonis Daukayev as a remarkably young, passionate Prospero, a driven artist-figure in Maple’s best moments, a nonentity in his worst, but always made watchable by Daukayev’s involvement and technical flair.