Friday night NYCB, 1/18

[Juliet]

Did anyone attend? I heard it was Quite Something......with La Stafford and La Bouder duking it out onstage,,,,,,

Also heard that Yvonne Borree looked beautiful, which is always cause for a sigh of relief.....

[Leigh Witchel]

It was fascinating to see Stafford and Bouder side-by-side. They are so tempermentally different, but both so technically formidable. Borree did look much calmer than she might at a debut, and Woetzel partnered her well.

Whelan did a very nice job with Mozartiana again, Hubbe was better than I expected as well, for him also it's against type. He's a very good turner, but I think of him as more erratic a dancer than can be put in this ballet. It's just so filled with turns it needs someone without good turning days and bad turning days. Also, (and this seems to connect to discussions on the teacher's forum) Hubbe doesn't really hit the sort of fifth position one expects in this ballet. It's a very "leggy" ballet and Hubbe isn't that "leggy" a dancer.

I can't express how wonderful it was to see Four Temperaments again after a year. Particularly fine performances were turned in by Boal in Melancholic and Somogyi in Sanguinic.

[Manhattnik]

It's just so filled with turns it needs someone without good turning days and bad turning days.

Good thing they never cast Philip Neal in it!

What? They do? Oh, nevermind...

Considering the dancer in question, "calmer than she might" could cover quite a lot of territory. I really do hope she's continuing to have a good season.

Can't wait to see La Stafford in Theme tonight, or Rutherford in the second movement, for that matter. Suite No. 3 has its silly moments, but that's no reason not to love it.

[ January 19, 2002: Message edited by: Manhattnik ]

[Farrell Fan]

It was a wonderful evening, and thankfully there were two intermissions. Andrea Quinn has come in for criticism by BalletAlerters for her supposedly too-fast tempos, but I thought she conducted Mozartiana and The Four T's brilliantly.

[liebs]

It was a wonderful evening and one of the reasons was the opportunity to get a look at the wide range of Balanchine's genius.

Raymonda Variations may not be a master piece but only a master craftsman could show us every possible variation on hops on pointe. Watching this ballet is, among other things, like taking a master class in pointe technique - something we don't see much of these days.

Bouree gave a nice performance, although I felt she was better in her first variation than in the second. Maybe she was tired but the end of the ballet didn't quite come off especially the final jump into Woetzel's arms which could have been better timed to the music. This is an interesting ballet as there are dances for the couple but no formal pas de deux.

The soloists' variations were well danced but I was lessed impressed by Edge and McBreaty than I thought I would be. I was impressed by Natanya, although I thought she was miscast. For me, that variation would look better on a smaller, less rangy dancer. Bouder was terrific, lots of elan and great musicality. Stafford gave an outstandingly clean performance of her variation but like Merrill Ashley when she was young, all we see from Stafford now are steps. But they are text book perfect steps and she doesn't give us mannerisms.

Seeing Whelan in Mozartiana we see a great dancer making a throughly unsuitable role her own. I think Whelan is miscast in this role but given that she makes a persuasive case for the part as an allegro role. There was little of the long, singing lines we saw from Farrell and the dancers who followed her such as Nichols and Kowroski, Whelan defines the role in short phrases and it is her footwork within those phrases that interests us.

I agree with Leigh that this isn't really the right role for Hubbe, the footwork and batterie and the closings into fifth aren't his strong suit. He and Whelan also don't make visual sense as a couple given the difference in their body types. Ib Andersen, who was medium sized, originated the part and I'd like to see some closer to his physique such as Millepied have a crack at it.

Four T's was a joy. Great casting except for Tracey who made a valiant but unsuccessful attempt at Choleric. It seems to me that Meunier is made for that role.

Jennie Somogyi was terrific but I'd like to see her get some new opportunities to stretch her talents. Although I'm happy to see Stafford get a chance at Theme and Variations, I'd also like to see Somogyi in the role. Her great allegro technique needs a work out in Balanchine's Tchaikovsky ballets to help her become a full fledged balllerina.

Even with this quibbles, it was one of those nights that convince that NYCB is a great company and one of those nights that make you glad you live in NYC.