James Fayette Retirement

[harpergroup]

As posted on NYCB's website on July 12:

"For Immediate Release - July 12, 2005

NEW YORK CITY BALLET ANNOUNCES FINAL PERFORMANCES OF PRINCIPAL DANCER JAMES FAYETTE

New York City Ballet has announced that principal dancer James Fayette will retire from the Company this summer, dancing his final performance at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Thursday, July 14 at 2:00 p.m. For this performance, Mr. Fayette will dance the second movement of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet with principal dancer Jenifer Ringer.

Following his retirement, Mr. Fayette will begin working for the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) as the New York Area Dance Executive. During his career with New York City Ballet, Mr. Fayette served as the Chairman of the Dancer’s Committee for AGMA, which is the labor organization that represents the dancers of the New York City Ballet.

Mr. Fayette was born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and studied dance at the School of American Ballet. In the spring of 1991, Mr. Fayette became a member of the NYCB corps de ballet and was promoted to soloist in the spring of 1997. Mr. Fayette was promoted to the rank of principal dancer in May of 2002. During his fifteen-year career, Mr. Fayette has danced featured roles in ballets choreographed by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins; including such memorable roles as Herr Drosselmeier in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ and Bernardo in Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite. He has originated roles in ballets choreographed by Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, Christopher Wheeldon, Richard Tanner, and Lynn Taylor-Corbett.

New York City Ballet is currently performing at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York through July 23, 2005. "

NYCB Press Release

[carbro]

Wow! Three male principals retiring in just over two months. Quite a blow for the company!

I wish James the very best in his new line of work, much personal satisfaction.

Thanks for posting this, HarperGroup! (I think.)

[oberon]

One of NYCB's finest partners! He was especially wonderful in SERENADE. I was looking forward to seeing him take over some of Jock's repertoire.

[TutuMaker]

I was so saddened to read this news. Not only is Mr. Fayette a wonderful dancer, but a true genleman. I was blessed to have met him and his dear wife a number of years ago, and was impressed by what down to earth people they both are. I am sure he will do a wonderful job as the New York Area Dance Executive for AGMA.

[rkoretzky]

Oh I was there!!!! It was bittersweet and a day to remember for many reasons.

SPAC Thursday matinee audiences are a strange sort. Tickets are discounted with special senior/children's prices so the house is usually close to full. We get BUSLOADS of summer camps, senior citizen centers and the like. The audience is generally not very familiar with the ballet, the dancers and the program--although there are pockets of the Ballet Obsessed who do take the afternoon off from work, especially if we catch wise that there is something special to occur. In this case, many of us had a heads-up about James, and since he and Jenifer are local favorites and many of us have had a chance to know them a bit it was a special performance. Thank you James for honoring us with your last performance and giving locals who weren't at the two retirements in June (I'm so lucky, I was at both) a chance to bid goodbye to one of our dancers.

In addition, there are oddities associated with outdoor performance--lighting at a matinee can look strange, and of course there is the weather which was a big story yesterday.

I'm not a Fanfare Fan--so after that little ditty the ballet began in earnest with a lovely first movement Barber vc with Kistler, Bouder, LaCour and Evans. At the beginning of the second movement, Jenifer and James came out (!) and danced for the ages. Tears- welling- up- beautiful. Heart-wrenching. Unforgettable. It was so intimate that it almost felt like eavesdropping. James, so attentive a partner, so gentle and sensitive--and Jenifer, so secure with him and so transparent a dancer--she lets you see into her soul. I can't even imagine her emotions yesterday.

After such beauty, I couldn't bear to watch the third movement of Barber, so I didn't. As much as I love the first and second mvts, both musically and choreographically, I am tepid about the third on a good day. Yesterday was not the day that I wanted to see it.

After intermission the announcement was made that Jenifer and James would be the principals in 2nd mvt BSQ, Jenifer replacing Miranda Weese so that she could be James' partner for his last time.

Throughout the first mvt (Kyra Nichols, Philip Neal, Ellen Bar--special mention to Ellen for a sweeping, luscious performance) the sky rumbled thunder and it became progressively darker. Exactly as the Intermezzo began, it began to teem rain. As James and Jenifer came out there was an ENORMOUS thunderclap and the power went out. Power was restored within moments, but it wouldn't have mattered, because those wonderful dancers didn't miss a step and the musicians didn't miss a note. Rain poured into the theater from both sides and the wind roared.

Their partnering in that final pas cannot be described so I will not even try. I believe that cosmic forces were at work, the heavens were angry that we are losing yet another NYCB treasure--a gallant and dependable partner, a kind man, an example. However I am so happy for James, that he is retiring in his prime and that he has such an exciting new opportunity.

In a break with the usual, the entire cast came out for curtain calls at the end of the Rondo. James and Jenifer were last--and even then he wanted his wife, partner and muse to be the one to receive the applause. But it was not to be--Peter Martins came out with flowers, Jenifer with another bouquet, flowers were tossed from the audience, and James Fayette stood in the center of the stage, with flowers in both arms, his wife at his side (and very slightly behind him), his colleagues applauding him and the audience standing and shouting--and for some of them, finally getting it, that it was a special performance.

I wish all of you who love NYCB as I do could have been there with me. If you happened to be--I was the one who was screaming "Bravo James!!" over and over. Pretty unlike me.

[TutuMaker]

Thank you rkoretzky for such a heartfelt post.

Your descriptions made me cry!

[carbro]

I wish all of you who love NYCB as I do could have been there with me. If you happened to be--I was the one who was screaming "Bravo James!!" over and over. Pretty unlike me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks to you, rkoretzky, writing with your heart on your sleeve , we can easily imagine it, even if we weren't actually there.

Amazing how, in real life, weather so often seems a literary reflection of our emotions!

[Farrell Fan]

Beautifully done, RK, thanks. However, the editor in me requires clarification of what happened in the Barber second movement. Did Jenifer and James dance in place of Darci and Albert? This must have confused the Thursday matinee audience even more than usual.

[rkoretzky]

That is exactly what happened. And even though my DD and constant companion, and I both knew what was happening that day, and indeed had been briefed that there might be "a surprise", it was still an initial shock to see Jeny emerge--a very wonderful shock but nevertheless....and the expression on her face is something I'll remember forever.

As for audience confusion, I suppose there was some. But most of the audience didn't know the ballet anyway, so I don't think it looked too weird to them, except of course there was no mention in the program.

At the curtain call, all six came out.

[oberon]

It must have been a memorable performance in so many ways, and thank you RK for the great description.

Has Ringer ever danced the BARBER before?

When I went to MIDSUMMER at NYCB in late June, I ran into a friend during the intermission who has been "away" from NYCB for a few seasons. He was thrilled with Kyra's Titania and then he asked: "Who was the guy partnering her in the pas de deux?" It was James Fayette, I replied. "What a perfect partnering job he did!"

my friend said.

Who'd have thought that would be the last time I'd see James onstage?

[Helene]

It was very generous of Martins to break the convention of his ballet to give Fayette the chance to dance his final performance with his wife, Jenifer Ringer.

[rkoretzky]

Oberon, I know she has done it, at least the 2nd mvt pas de deux, in gigs, because I have seen her do so, with James, at least twice.

[rkoretzky]

It was very generous of Martins to break the convention of his ballet to give Fayette the chance to dance his final performance with his wife, Jenifer Ringer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes indeed Helene--and also generous of Darci and Albert as well as Miranda, to give up their roles so that all of us could share those moments.

[zerbinetta]

Aw, fer cryin' out loud! Will these people stop with the retirements, already. Please!

[KayDenmark]

I'm quite surprised by Fayette's retirement, since he is relatively young, isn't he?

I will be interested to read the "story behind" whenever he chooses to tell it.

[Helene]

I'm quite surprised by Fayette's retirement, since he is relatively young, isn't he?

I will be interested to read the "story behind" whenever he chooses to tell it.

He hasn't spoken publicly yet, but if there's an article or interview, we'll be sure to post a link to it.

[britomart]

Fayette's not that young - he was born in 1970 - so while he certainly didn't have to retire yet, he must have been thinking his NYCB afterlife. I don't know, but it seems reasonable that he would retire b/c he was offered the job with AGMA, which is something he's been involved with for quite awhile as company rep.

[Majinsky]

I think it is quite an improvement to the ballet world thanks to his retirement. As a current student at SAB, my friends and I have seen him multiple times and have agreed that he was the worst principle in the company. Sure his partnering was good, but it lacked that fascinating feeling that people got from Jock's amazing partnering, and his actual dancing just wasn't that good. I feel it's best that he retired while he was still ahead, though it would have been best 5 years ago.

Edited July 29, 2005 by carbro

[carbro]

Well, someone has to be worst, right?

Actually, Fayette's roles tended not to require much dancing. And if his partnering didn't seem outstanding to you, it certainly seemed to give most of his ballerinas a sense of freedom that they didn't show with most other partners.

[oberon]

I don't think it's productive for students from SAB to be maligning dancers in the Company, or those who have recently retired.

I don't think anyone, including James Fayette, ever thought of James Fayette as a virtuoso dancer. He was rarely, if ever, cast in roles that called for lots of steps. He was a wonderful partner (as several of the ballerinas there have told me) and an intriguingly "American" presence.

SAB students, and everyone else, should know that several people who work at NYCB in various capacities read what is written here. It is perfectly fine if you can't find anything good to say about one of the dancers, but it might be more prudent to say nothing.

Besides, there are several people who would argue that Fayette was NOT the worst principal at NYCB!

[Helene]

Merrill Ashley, in describing her experience as a student during Nutcracker, wrote in Dancing for Balanchine

Every evening, however, two of us were allowed to watch Act I from the great vantage point of the wings.  Armed with a slightly inflated sense of our own knowledge, we were highly critical of the NYCB corps.  We loved leafing through the souvenir booklet picking out the dancers we thought were the least deserving, and we had no difficulty imagining ourselves replacing them in the very near future.

Given that description, it's not surprising that Principal dancers aren't immune from students' scorn.

One of the realities of the Internet is that one doesn't have to find a book publisher to immortalize one's youthful critiques -- they remain online in one shape or form indefinitely. And, students who are talented and lucky enough to make it to the stage will be subject to the same scrutiny by the next generations of students.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

Sigh ... I'd sell my soul to be the worst principal at NYCB instead of the expert spreadsheet jockey I inexplicably turned out to be. Heck, I'd probably sell my soul to be the worst dancer in the corps. As Toni Bentley pointed out in Winter Season, you may be one of eighty, but you're one of eighty in the world.

And no, Fayette most definitely was not the worst NYCB principal. He certainly had whatever genius it takes not to be miscast. I'll miss him.

[Balanchinomane]

I loved seeing him dance with Jenifer - Those are memories they will

treasure their whole lives and we were privileged to witness them.

And I'm with you, Kathleen - I would have given anything to be in the

Corps. Can you imagine learning Serenade? Well, our only hope is

Oprah's Wildest Dreams Contest!!!

[oberon]

Yes, Kathleen, you are right - I never saw Fayette miscast in anything. He was especially memorable in SERENADE, Intermezzo of BRAHMS-SCHOENBERG, in EPISODES, DANCES AT A GATHERING, first movement of VIENNA WALTZES, IN THE NIGHT, and as Titania's cavalier in MIDSUMMER. He was developing his acting abilities as Drosselmeyer, having started rather blandly - in the course of the run last year he was already finding the keys to his characterization. And he made an excellent impression in CHIAROSCURO. These roles will of course all be reassigned and I'm sure other people will do just fine in them, but images of Fayette in these ballets - and most especially in SERENADE - will remain vividly in the memory.

[paulofnyc]

I predict that NYCB will be inviting some male members of ABT to join them.