HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn graciously presided over Belarussian National Ballet Theatre's performance of "Romeo and Juliet" last Tuesday, raising the curtain on part two of the second phase of Bangkok's eighth International Festival of Dance and Music, the country's grandest showcase of international high-brow performing arts.

This production of the world's most famous romantic tragedy was hailed as Belarussia's best ballet in 1998, and a few reasons for this praise showed in the company's Bangkok debut.

As Juliet, Lyudmila Kudrjavtseva exuded a youthful freshness and passion. Blessed with beautiful and shapely long legs, she moved lucidly, with commendable precision and grace. Had Igor Artamonov's Romeo matched her ardour, their pas de deux would have been more heartrending.

Alexander Buber, as Mercutio, was the star of the evening, receiving the loudest and longest applause. Though his legs were not as long as Artamonov's, their strength and agility were second to none, as displayed in his effortless solo. His arch-rival Tybalt was played with intense menace by Yury Kovalev.

Unfortunately, their fine dancing made the second act, rather than the third act's heartbreaking climax, the highlight. When they took a bow before the last intermission, some audiences even thought the show was over.

Elements of romance and discord were well-honed in Ernst Geidebecht's set and costume designs. In many crowd scenes, chorus dancers in greyish tights with eerie paint, mingle in with those in Italian Renaissance costumes.

On Thursday night, when the seats were a little more than half filled, the scene shifted from the 14th-century Verona to 1st century BC Rome as the same company showed their range in "Spartacus". The production was claimed as the best in 1980, and that, too, was evident.

For instance, the march of Roman soldiers that filled the first act was lacklustre and felt so repetitious that one wondered whether it actually took them 26 years to walk from Southern Europe to Southeast Asia.

In addition, the two male leads Yury Kovalev, as the Roman general Crassus, and Anton Krauchanka, as the title character, couldn't balance power and flair.

Kovalev displayed his vice through his static facial expression rather than in his jumps and turns. And while Fadzeva Katsaryna's Phrygia was filled with panache, her love duets with Spartacus didn't illustrate fine coordination and natural chemistry.

The corps de ballet women playing the slaves overshadowed their men with tasteful sensuality, and momentarily saved the show. The problem is the ballet was "Spartacus", not "Swan Lake".

The scale of the production design gave the impression of a spectacle, but it was simply too by-the-book to pull it off. Also, the lighting design was too generic in many scenes, providing illumination without enhancing the atmosphere. This is probably due to limited set-up time in between shows (less than 24 hours) - a note to the organiser.

Both productions were accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the National Opera House of Belarus. While chief conductor Andrei Galanov showed great command and captured the spirit of Sergey Prokofiev's composition in "Romeo and Juliet", Nikolay Kolyadko's baton didn't enable Aram Ilich Khachaturyan's brazen score to fill the house in "Spartacus".

The festival continues at Thailand Cultural Centre's Main Hall through October 7, with performances starting at 7.30pm.

On Thursday, classical music aficionados may not want to miss 'Mozart Symphony Concert', performed by the Symphony Orchestra of the National Opera House of Belarus. Next Monday, the Embassy of Portugal presents 'Mariza, the World's Leading Fado Singer'.

On September 26, Holland's troupe Introdans takes the stage for 'Dutch Dance Design'.

The Kalakshetra Theatre's 'Ramayana', a full-scale Indian traditional dance theatre, hits the stage on October 1.

Tickets cost between Bt300 and Bt4,000 and are available at www.thaiticketmaster.com. Call (02) 262 3456, (02) 661 6835-7 or visit www.bangkokfestivals.com.

The writer can be contacted at Pawit.M@chula.ac.th.

Pawit Mahasarinand

The Nation