A ballet tour, minus the force

The gala-style ballet program is an audience favorite, its cast packed with stars. Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa opened its dance season Saturday with such a night, “Tour de Force III,” produced by Sergei Danilian, with works by two up-and-coming Russian dance-makers and veterans Marcelo Gomes of American Ballet Theatre and Russell Maliphant.

Maxim Petrov’s “Le Divertissement du Roi” was an odd but entertaining curtain-opener. He presented a fanciful theatrical at the court of Louis XIV, which celebrated the glory of the small detail and refined dancing. Philipp Stepin was the regal Sun King, even when pretending to be drunk and off balance.

Vladimir Varnava’s “Clay,” danced to composer Darius Milhaud’s “The Creation of the World,” presented a view of nascent humanity. But the solos and group dances were cutesy and tedious.

Gomes’ “Tristesse” suffered from a similar malady. Gomes, a dancer, presented scenes of companionship, love and abandonment, but with a choreographic touch. It was all the more unfortunate given that he was using the lovely Chopin Etudes, played with passion by pianist Dimitri Dover.

Maliphant’s “Silent Echo” and its fireworks came at the end, so its being a dud was all the more crushing. Solos for the gifted duo of Natalia Osipova and Sergei Polunin were tantalizingly brief. A pounding score added to the discomfort. Here were the stars, but the “tour de force” was missing. Maybe next time.