Comme Ci, Comme Ca

EVERY BALLET THEATRE has its ups and downs, but it isn't expected in a national company like the American Ballet Theatre (ABT). The troupe's performance Tuesday night at the Wang Center for the performing Arts was very inconsistent beginning with a disappointingly, syrupy piece and then finishing with a brilliant, upbeat dance.

The company will be offering throughout the week "Graduation Ball", "Bach partita," "Miss Julie," "sinatra Suite," "Symphonie Concertante." "The Little Ballet," and tonight's world premiere of "Cinderella" Mikhail Baryshnikov choreographed the last ballet, which promises to be a very interesting performance.

Tuesday night's offering opened with "paquita," a revival of a ballet choreographed by Marius petipa, that was reinterpreted by Natalia Makareova. The dance tells the story of paquita. Who as a child was rescued from a massacre by gypsies, and who years later, while travelling and dancing with the gypsy band, returns to her home in the Spanish valley town of Sargossa and is reunited with her family. Although the plot sounds exciting the dance itself did not leave one enthused. The leading dancer, Martine van Hamel, displayed technical expertise although her partner, patrick Bissel, looked lost and confused. He did not dance energetically, which only served to dampen the dance's already slow-moving place.

"Paquita's" choreography was very traditional. In that the corps de ballet constantly returned to their two-line positions. Not only is the technique itself out of fashion and quite trite, but the actual dancing was careless. The dancers were not synchronized not did they seem confident in their movements and gestures. Only two dancers, Christine Spizzo and an inspiring Carla Stallings, altered the monotony of the sluggish variations the dancers performed. They were also the only two dancers who seemed to have the most challenging combination, which probably worked to their advantage.

Furthermore, whenever the dancers did perform a series of pirouettes or a long series of jumps, the movements looked more like acrobatic achievements than artistic expressions. The biggest flaw in this ballet was that the dancers did not dance to their fullest capacities. They did not seem to put any emotional intensity into their mechanical performances. Ludwig Minkus music also tended to move slowly, which only detracted from the piece.

THE PICTURE BEGAN to look brighter with "The Leaves Are Fading," a modern ballet choreographed by Antony Tudor with music by Antonin Dvorak. Gelsey Kirkland and Kevin Mckenzie were the leading dancers in this magnificent piece that combined amazing technical achievements with a tranquillizing, Swirling scene. The dance is plotless and merely alternates different couples dancing in pairs and in groups on stage in front of a new-green act. The dancers were all costumed in gauzy, chiffon material that increased the hazy, beautiful effect Kirkland and Mckenzie performed brilliantly. They seemed to be perfectly suited to each other and never seemed to exert any effects while turning or jumping. When Mckenzie would lift kirkland her body just seemed to rise in his hands naturally. She appeared fragile but danced with a strength and precision that few artists possess.

The rest of the 14 dancers that moved around and through Kirkland and Mckenzie, also seemed to be determined while dancing gently and effortlessly. The choreography supplied much of the wonder that the piece possessed. It allowed the dancers to appear as if they were really dancing, with heart and soul. While they were not really using very big, broad steps Instead, they confined their actions to subtle. Yet very intricate foot and arm movements. The entire 30-minute piece seemed to eclipse in about 15 seconds as the whole audience fell under the hushed, dream-like sequence of events. Although the entire cast deserved mention. Elaine Kudo should be singled out for her superlative technique and presence. Whenever she danced she seemed to cast a spell with her beautiful interpretation of the combinations.

ABT regained its national prestige with the last piece on the program. Twyla Tharp's "Push Comes to Shove." This ballet is a with, virtuosic, humorous dance that had its world premiere in 1976. This almost ultra modern dance takes classical ballet and turns it inside out. Twyla Tharp catches each tradition and turns it into a hilarious joke. With music by Fran, Joseph Hayden and Joseph Lamp and a confident, clever set of dancers. "Push Comes to Shove" was a smashing hit. Tuesday night Danilo Radojevic. Marianna Techerkasky and Susan Jaffe led the ballet although Cheryl Yeager and Clark Tippet each made substantial contributions to the dance's success.

This dance, like "The Leaves are Fading," has not plot. Its central them is a satire of classical dance. The prelude opened with the three leads tossing around a derby hat, alternation jazz and ballet, relaxed and tense positions, humorous and serious approaches to the ballet. The entire dance continued with this anti-traditional attitude and always seemed to have a surprise in store for the audience. In fact, three-quarters of the time, the audience either was laughing or snickering. Danilo Radojevic was superb in his characterization of the male lead. He acted and danced, poked fun and tried to be serious without displaying any conscious effort or strain. In past years, Mikhail Baryshnikov has danced this part, but Radojevic added his own spunk and cleverness that equally compare to Baryshnikov's dazzling reputation.

Tuesday night's performance seems to say that ABT is potentially still the same company of international acclaim as its dancers are masters of classical ballet and also versatile in other areas. However, in the future, it must filter out those pieces that detract, rather than heighten that impression.