Paloma Herrera gave a very honest performance on the first night of ABT’s Sleeping Beauty run earlier this month. Without being rash, she used unsparingly all the physical resources she commands after twenty years in ABT.
There were inevitably some flubs, but much of the time she turned brilliantly, without that driven quality that used to mar her pirouettes. And in the Vision scene, you sensed an infusion of heart and soul. Almost oddly, but impressively, her Polonaise and Mazurka in act 3, while not as good as we see from the Russians, were nevertheless rhythmically and stylistically comprehending.
Alastair Macauley in The New York Times liked her performance but wanted her to “cut loose and show twice as much vitality at several points.” And, yes, in the final act I missed some of the exaltation of Irina Kolpakova in the 1976 Kirov performance filmed live.
I thought of Irina Baronova’s remarks to me three decades ago—she was one of my first interviews: “It must not be a cold pas de deux. When they walk apart and bow to each other from different sides of the stage, they don’t really want to walk apart, but one’s got to keep a decorum and you can’t just snuggle up in the bushes. There’s the King, the Queen, the whole court looking at you.”
You can still see Baronova in silent footage in this pas de deux. She dances in a heavier—both in physique and movement—and more sculptural key than we usually see today. And yes, she’s very sensuous and even a little sexual.