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2004 SAB Workshop performances


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2004 Workshop Performances at the Juilliard Theater, Lincoln Center:

Saturday, June 5 at 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm

and

2004 Workshop Performance and Benefit

Monday, June 7 at 7:00 pm

P r o g r a m

Serenade

(Tschaikovsky/Balanchine)

Harlequinade

(Ballabile des Enfants)

(Drigo/Balanchine)

Le Tombeau de Couperin

(Ravel/Balanchine)

Union Jack (Royal Navy)

(Kay/Balanchine)

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FWIW, these people are staging the ballets:

Serenade: Suki Shorer

Harlequinade excerpt: Garielle Whittle

Tombeau: Richard Tanner

Union Jack excerpt: Susan Pilarre

Would it be fair to infer from this repertory that SAB does not happen to have any outstandingly strong dancers (at this point in their careers, anyway) among the current student body? I don't think there are any unusually demanding principal roles here.

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I was there on Saturday evening. After having been disappointed by a certain four-legged thoroughbred, the two-legged ones did not disappoint. It seems to me that the 2004 class is on a very, very high level. It was a beautiful, all-Balanchine (yippee!!) evening. Kudos to all the teachers!!

Since it was ensemble programing (Serenade, Tombeau de Couperin and Union Jack), I had not been expecting to see any one individual standout. But, look out folks, the names of Kaitlyn Gililand, Isobel Vondermuhll, William Lin-Yee and Lateef Williams will be coming up often. I first spotted Kaitlyn during Suki Schorer's master class at the Symphony Space Wall-to-Wall event. She's one of those tall ones that your eye just gravitates to because of her solid technique, high extensions and stage presence. She did Suzanne's role in the Wren section and had it down pat!! William Lin-Yee did Peter's role in the Royal Navy section and brought back the fun -- and he's tall! Lateef Williams -- who was also at the Wall-to-Wall event -- has one of the most elegant upper body placements I've seen in a long time. His carriage reminds me of Bronzino's Portrait of a Young Man (one of my most favorite paintings). Isobel in Serenade showed a solid sense of phrasing.

By the way, the kids in Harlequinade were their usual charming self.

Good class!!

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Jack, although it is true the Workshop has done Ballo, Stars, Divert, La Source, Rubies, and all kinds of other gutbusters, I wouldn't say the Russian Theme in Serenade is exactly a pushover. Actually, all the roles in Serenade are hard if they are danced well, and they have the added requirements of extreme subtlety and finesse-- and the history of so many great performances in them. I remember seeing Paloma Herrera, for example, in the Workshop performance of Raymonda Variations; excellent technique, no clue about the role. this can sometimes happen with talented fifteen-year-olds in huge virtuoso ballerina parts: the steps become the gig. I understand that Monique Meunier was unforgettable in HER workshop Serenade......

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I was there on Saturday night too, and had a great time. (I was waiting for Bobbi to go first because she's better at identifying the dancers.) As leader of the WRENS in "Union Jack" Kaitlyn Gilleland brought back memories of Suzanne to such an extent that I started feeling weepy. At the end, instead of spelling out "God Save the Queen" with their hand flags, the dancers spelled out "George Balanchine," and a blowup of the Cartier-Bresson photograph of Mr. B. descended yet again, to a mighty ovation.

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Since no one else has chimed in, I'll add that Tara Sorine and Isabella Tobias, who were so good this past winter in Susan Stroman's "Blue Necklace" at NYCB, were two of the four Pierrettes in the "Harlequinade" excerpts. The others were Ojela Burkhard and Beatriz Stix. But really, everyone in all four pieces deserves to be mentioned, except it would make for dull reading and difficult typing.

I felt the "Serenade" came off least well, perhaps because of nervousness. But everything after that was terrific. Even the printed program was better this year, a nicely-bound booklet that was much easier to handle. It had Balanchine's self-caricature on the cover. Inside were 1974 remarks by Lincoln Kirstein about student performances; a dedication by Peter Martins; and short articles about Nathalie Gleboff and Albert C. Bellas, to whom this year's workshop performances are dedicated. Ms. Gleboff is also the winner of the Mae L. Wien Award for Distinguished Service. Winners of this year's Wien Awards for Outstanding Promise are Kaitlyn Gilleland, Tiler Peck, Daniel Applebaum, and William Lin-Yee.

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Will Lin-Yee's a local boy from Oakland -- it's great to hear that he's a lot of fun on-stage. He's a great kid; he's taken class with us in Berkeley . For quite a while he was out with a foot injury that wouldn't heal, and he'd be in with his mom (who's a good dancer) doing stuff without releves......

His younger brother Max is a promising student at SFB school, also tall.

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I understand that Monique Meunier was unforgettable in HER workshop Serenade......

Missed her Serenade :clapping: , but Monique's Bizet, 2nd Mvt. still lingers in my memory. :thumbsup:

I'd bought my tkt for that workshop hoping to see Jenifer (then still "Jennifer") Ringer, whose Waltz Girl in Serenade (performed by SAB students during an NYCB perf earlier that year) took my breath away, but Ringer had injured herself prior to workshop. :innocent:

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Carbro, I saw Meunier in her workshop. Not only was her Symphony in C 2nd mvt. to die for, but she was excellent as the "Dark Angel" in Serenade and in the last movement of Episodes. Notable also was Stiefel in the 3rd movement of Bizet.

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I saw both Saturday night and Monday night's workshops, and it was a thrill .. especially Monday when the dancers had loosened up and were giving their all in a final fling. This was an emotional evening for them; for many, the end of their SAB years.

More than a few gave the performances of their young lives. Among them: Tiler Peck as the "Russian Girl" in Serenade, and the first girl sailor in Union Jack. She combines the pep of a 15-year-old with the polish of a performer twice her age.

Also performing beyond his years was Giovanni Villalobos, a danseur noble as the waltzing partner in Serenade on Saturday, and a hot-footed hoofer in the sailor's hornpipe on Monday. Troy Schumacher was just as salty and even more acrobatic in the sailor part on Saturday. Both these guys are pros already.

William Lin-yee could use a little more refinement, but he showed enormous talent and showmanship as the lecherous sailor in Union Jack, and the "dark angel" guy in Serenade. Lateef Williams did the "dark angel" part with power and compassion on Saturday; another impressive display of maturity in a young dancer.

Tombeau de Couperin is a corps ballet, but one that gives individuals a chance to shine. Sokvannara Sar caught my eye as the most expansive of the boys, joyous but at the same time courtly in his partnering. Sar came from Cambodia, where he danced as a child, bringing with him a regal, stylized form in the upper body. To this he has added a powerful turnout and a piercing point of the foot. Somehow it all fit in perfectly with this baroque-romantic-folk hybrid of a ballet.

Another standout was Olga Krochik in the Saturday cast; she's a Russian romantic with a steely back and long, driving steps. Adrianna de Svastich contributed a sure-footed, brief variation in the center on Monday. Erika Takakjian was vibrant and "in the music" every time I looked her way.

Harlequinade is silly stuff but the little kids made it charming. Emily Cardea was a perfect Polchinelle with an irresistible smile. The boys showed grownup sophistication and style in their partnering.

On the whole I found the program deeply moving, the best tribute to Balanchine I've seen to date in this centennial year. Serenade was the right opener. There is no better cast for this ballet than SAB students; it was made for them 70 years ago, and it's still made for them. And the ending of Union Jack, with the dancers saluting as a Balanchine banner unfolds from above, Mr. B. pointing this time not just to his battement tendu but to his next generation of performers, brought me close to tears both times. Thank you, Mr. B., and thank you, kids.

Edited by flipsy
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