Reviews: NYCB, Winter Week 6

[carbro]

Union Jack returns, Donizetti boasts a double debut, and Peter Martins' new ballet premieres this week.

What do we think of it all?

[oberon]

Wednesday 2/8/06

OCTET is one of Peter's most pleasing ballets. If you decide you don't like the choreography you can close your eyes and just listen to the beautiful Mendelssohn score, lovingly played tonight. But it's worth watching: non-stop dance. Megan Fairchild & Joaquin de Luz, as the allegro couple, were pretty extraordinary. Megan's pristine turns and Joaquin's high-flying leaps & sheer bravado are perfectly showcased here. In the adagio, which is rather long, Sara Mearns was lovely to watch, her physical appeal (and a very pretty back - how often do we notice a ballerina's back?) and flowing use of arms & hands very much to her advantage in this ballet. Jon Stafford has been doing some fine work this season, getting well-deserved opportunities and showing himself to be a dancer both elegant & masculine as well as a very attentive partner. The six demi boys are given really complex combinations, endlessly sailing across the stage in leaps & turns at breakneck speed. Antonio Carmena stood out for both his easy technique and his smiling presence. Adrian Danchig-Waring is a space-filling dancer; Sean Suozzi always spot-on and with that little extra touch of pizazz. Christian Tworzyanski and feather-weight Aaron Severini kept up the pace, and Tyler Angle kicked off his long evening (he danced in all 3 ballets) with a lively performance here.

Jenifer Ringer's performance in IN THE NIGHT was astonishing. I've seen her in this ballet many times, but she surpassed herself tonight. Her dancing becomes an expressive vehicle, her gestures so refined, the precarious mood-shifts of the woman are ideally articulated thru Ringer's musicality. I would rate this among the greatest dance portrayals I've ever encountered. Marcovici was her perfect match here: moody; tender & aloof by turns, and partnering her like a charm. Before that, Sylve made a very attractive impression in the second duet, dancing with Askegard. Rachel Rutherford & Tyler Angle repeated their success in the first nocturne; Rachel has never seemed so sublime as here, seemingly having found an ideal partner. Let's see them cast together often, please. Nancy McDill's quiet rapture from the keyboard underlined the magic of this unique piece.

I was at the premiere of UNION JACK many, many moons ago. Sometimes I like it, sometimes not. Tonight I enjoyed it, mainly because you get to see so many dancers in one fell swoop. I usually don't care for the Costermonger number but tonight Nilas & Jenifer Ringer made it very entertaining - Jeni uses her big extension and a couple balances to remind us it's still ballet. Reichlen had a super debut in the Farrell role, Damian was casually brilliant; Abi Stafford charming, Yvonne Borree relaxed and having fun, Wendy turning her solo into a small drama of her own. Philip Neal & Benjamin Millepied looked fine. Jason Fowler & Adam Hendrickson joined Wendy in the first pas de trois and they all seemed to be having a blast.

They need to bottle Faye Arthurs' extension and uncork it whenever things get gloomy. That girl is amazing.

[zerbinetta]

Big relief to hear a few bruises aren't keep Abi S off stage.

[bobbi]

A little word on Sofiane Sylve's Allegro Brillante on Tuesday. . . I find that ballet to be one where my eyes are text messaging, "Stop. Take a picture of that pose." However, my ears are saying "No, continue with the musical phrase." Over the years, I learned that the great dancers satisfy both eyes and ears. In other words, Sofiane on Tuesday gave us great snapshot moments (nano-second pauses?) but never violated the music line. There is one classic moment in Allegro Brillante which I always associate with those two All-Time Greats -- Peter and Suzanne -- when the ballerina with the help of the danseur goes into a very, very deep arabesque penche. (There is a great photo of this.) Well, Sofiane looked as gorgeous in that pose as Suzanne always did. Be still my heart. . . .

[jimmattimore]

Reporting from the 4th ring:

I don't love "Fancy Free," but what a flat and unexciting performance on Febraury 8. My God, I love Ringer and Woetzel, but there was no pizazz.

I love "In the Night" since I'm disposed toward the romantic, and yes, Wendy and Kyra and Rachel were grand; this is the first Kyra has danced this season. Why?

I watched a bit of "Fanfare," but I had to catch an early train.

JIM

[Majinsky]

OMG, tonight's premiere of Peter Martin's new ballet Friandises was phenomanol. It literally took my breath away.

It was a large corps ballet being led by two wonderful dancers, soloist Daniel Ulbricht and corps memeber Tiler Peck. And it was quite the show.

Tiler Peck, who is only 17 years old, is making a name for herself already. She was beautiful and poised during the adagio, and then fierce and fiery during the allegro. The amazing part are her turns, when she did triple freutees one after the other, pulling into a quadruple. Then she did double attitudes turns consecutively, first in the front then back then the front...........I'm speechless.

Daniel Ulbricht dazzled us all with his speed and the heighth of his jumps, even doing a triple sou de basc.

The audience couldn't get enough of it, especially the last movement when it was a free for all with all the ballet members going for their best to impress us.

They totally brought down the house.

It is a must see.

[carbro]

Well, Friday was a pretty satsifying night at the ballet.

Friandises, Peter Martins' new ballet to music by Christopher Rouse, was, IMO, the best thing he's done. Nobody gets strangled or dragged around. The leads, Tiler Peck and Daniel Ulbricht, took the roles which, 15 years ago, would have been danced by Heather Watts and some fusion of Ib Andersen and Jock Soto -- only Heather could never turn the way this gal does. Martins gives her several series of pirouettes (including triple fouettes) done from one-foot preparations. And while they're stunts, they're more than stunts.

Peck's turning is matched by Ulbricht's jumping, which threatens to devolve tothe purely gymnastic.

The ballet opens, reminiscent of the last section of Robbins' Glass Pieces, with the male ensemble energetically filling the stage to the strongly percussive music. They wear unitards (costumes credited to Yumiko) of dark steel blue, each a different colored belt with the same color trim around the neckline. The women join them, wearing a pale steel, each with the same color straps and trim as her partner. The short chiffon skirts are sheer, with the pale blue over an underskirt in the "special" color.

Martins corps is really an ensemble of demisoloists, listed in letters the same size as the leads: Arthurs, Dronova,, Hyltin, Laracey, LeCrone, Lowery, Mearns, Ricard, Sloan; T. Angle, Danchig-Waring, Hall, Laurent, Peiffer, Ramasar, J. Stafford and van der Sterre, who must be an apprentice, as his name is not on the company roster.

I especially liked the fourth section, the sarabande, for three couples, for its dreamy lyricism.

For the first time in history, I applauded Peter Martins for his choreography. Yes, I did! No one left the half-filled Fourth Ring until the fourth or fifth front-of-curtain call.

Megan Fairchild and Joaquin deLuz opened the evening in Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fee. Megan has come quite a long way in this role. It was delicately shaded but strongly danced performance, marred only by some out-of-sync partnering. Joaquin clearly wants to get to the essence of the role. He has toned down nicely the harder-sell approach he had. He still doesn't have the weight I'm accustomed to seeing here, and working his turnout would improve the look one hundred percent. I do not think he is well matched with Fairchild here. In some ballets they look fine together, but he is too slight for her in this one.

Union Jack was terrific. The company has never looked so disciplined. All those red pompoms atop their black berets stayed in perfectly straight lines. As a friend who'd seen an earlier performance this week noted, the vibrancy of the colors was spectacular as the dancers moved from formation to formation.

Special praise for Abi Stafford, who not only led the Green Mongomerie regiment, but later joined the RCAF (led by Tess Reichlen) as a fill in for someone who just didn't show. In the third section, she danced the section originated by Kay Mazzo, but did not fill out the one-short WRENS. And she did it all looking terrific. She is having a great season.

The Jenifer Ringer and Nilas Martins sold me -- almost -- on the Costermonger section. I liked Nilas' goofiness. Jeni, who is really too beautiful for this role, made the most of what always seemed to me the weakest role in the ballet, managing to highlight choreographic details while mugging and hamming it up -- within appropriate bounds.

In the Royal Navy Section, watching Reichlen strutting her stuff, a teasing sex kitten, I couldn't help but recall some of her early performances in Rubies, not so long ago, a little shy during passages that called for sexiness. Much of the change is, I'm sure, just a matter of maturity. But so nice to see the growth in confidence.

I remember UJ having one horny sailor joke, when the second group of women leaves the stage, the Peter Martins character (Philip Neal here) grabs one. Tonight, not only did he grab one, he went for a second and then, as the sailors were assembling for the grand finale, took the Suzanne Farrell character (Reichlen) into a passionate embrace. Once is cute. Thrice is, without question, overkill.

But kudos to the company for the precision they displayed in this ballet. It makes all the difference.

[oberon]

carbro, it is good to read a full-length review from you!

I'm glad you liked the new Martins as I have 3 performances of it coming up.

This season I also noted the vivid patches of costume-colour in the opening section of UNION JACK. Perhaps the lighting was spiffed up a little, as I've seen this ballet a dozen times (including the premiere) and I never really noticed this effect before.

The funniest ad-lib I ever saw at NYCB took place at Jock Soto's farewell when, during the finale of UNION JACK, Damian cut in on Jock and Maria K but instead of wisking Maria into the waltz step, Damian grabbed Jock and began a riotous jig.

[bobbi]

Carbro, I too thoroughly enjoyed Peter's new ballet. And thanks for specifically explaining those turns Tiler does -- they were jaw-dropping!! I don't ever remember anybody doing anything like them in any ballet I've ever seen. (Maybe Peter has extended the ballet vocabulary the way Balanchine did with many of the new pushed-to-the-limit steps in Ballo.) My only gripe (there has to be one of course) is that I would like it better lighted for the first few sections. What amazed me about both Tiler and Danny is that they were not at all winded after their incredible variations. And Tiler turned up in Union Jack giving it her all there too!! Wow!! Do we have another Ashley here?

Although De Luz has gotten over his "Bronze Idol" reading of Baiser de la Fe, he still has a way to go. That being said, Friday's performance was a marked improvement from his first time out in this exquisite little gem of a ballet. How about pairing him with Ana Sophia here? That pairing would look much better; Megan is still to big for him.

Union Jack was great fun, as it usually is. According to an article in the Sunday Times Art Section, Sofiane may have a go at Karin's role, but I don't see her cast for it yet. She would be great in it. It's hard to believe that the only remaining original cast member is the donkey (who behaved himself after all these years).

[beck_hen]

Thanks for summing up last night, carbro and bobbi. I'm mostly in agreement about the performances, although I enjoyed de Luz more.

I've just started to attend NYCB often, so almost all of the ballets are new to me. I used to feel sad I had missed the glory days, but now I feel lucky that I see a Balanchine or Robbins "premiere" at every performance.

What I enjoy about Balanchine's ballets is that they are so full of commentary and references. I understand the basic classical vocabulary better after seeing his variations on it. Divertimento #15 looked to me like an allegro ballet with adagio arms—so witty and beautiful and interestingly accented. And so difficult. Baiser de la Fee seemed to have a Bournonville look, with twinkling feet and soft arms, and shifting moods of lightness and menace. Union Jack was a demi-caractere ballet, with jigs on pointe! Balanchine's use of pointe work is incredible.

Martins' works don't have the same dimension for me. I don't see shifting emotional currents in his ballets; relationships between dancers are not created. Morgen compared most unfavorably in that regard to Robbins' In the Night (though both were danced well). The women weren't swooped aloft, they were flung like sacks of flour. It actually reminded me of the Bolshoi women in Spartacus (pique arabesque in nightgown; fall to the ground).

Peck, Ullbricht and all the other dancers in Friandises deserve their triumph. New ballets to new music with talented young dancers is the right idea. But I found this to be very much a youth ballet—amazing physical feats that don't ask ask for any characterization or emotion. It veered off a bit too much into soulless gymnastics for me. It should be enjoyed on its own merits, but it would make me uneasy to think that it summed up the priorities of ballet today.

The use of pointe work in it is less interesting than Balanchine's. I felt many of the partnering sections in Friandises could have been done with soft shoes. Martins' timing is also less interesting. Dancers were in unison or the lead couple anticipated the others by a few counts, but then waited in poses until the others caught up. I've seen Balanchine use the same strategies but more inventively. Part of the problem is the use of groups. Postmodern choreography seems to thrive on constantly shifting, disintegrating groups entering and exiting the stage rapidly (effective in Mark Morris' Gong and Tharp's In the Upper Room this fall at City Center with ABT). But much is gained from maintaining more stable groups and shifting their formation, or seeing the same steps done in unison by many people instead of a few. This was evident in Union Jack.

Now I understand why many on the board reacted favorably to Peter Quanz's Kaleidoscope for ABT (also known as the lost Jewels section Sapphires). He was engaging with the neoclassical vocabulary in the way he juxtaposed the corps and the principal couples. At the time my reaction was noncommital. I don't have an axe to grind against Peter Martins, who has many responsibilities besides his own choreography, but I prefer Quanz's or Wheeldon's ballets. And on the postmodern side, the Morris and the Tharp were more interesting.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but those were the impresions of a newbie.

[Helene]

beck_hen,

Please don't apologize. You are approaching these ballets from a different perspective than many long-time company watchers, for the very reason you noted: each Balanchine and Robbins ballet is new for you. Unlike many of us who saw different generations of dancers, you are comparing the Balanchine, Robbins, and Martins ballets danced by the same dancers. In that sense, everything you see is a premiere, and you are "stack-ranking" them with fresh eyes, without the long-term memory of other performers.

[kfw]

those were the impresions of a newbie.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A pretty darn perceptive newbie, it sounds like to me. Thanks for commenting.

[bart]

I've just started to attend NYCB often, so almost all of the ballets are new to me. I used to feel sad I had missed the glory days, but now I feel lucky that I see a Balanchine or Robbins "premiere" at every performance.

What good fortune! I hope your premieres are all fascinating and wonderful. You could not be in a better place or coing to a a better repertoire.

I partly identify with you, having returned a few years ago to serious ballet-watching after about 12 years off (mostly). I missed a generation of dancers, which is sad. But I also get the benefits of renewed enthusiasm and very interesting exploration and discovery.

[carbro]

Martins' works don't have the same dimension for me. I don't see shifting emotional currents in his ballets; relationships between dancers are not created.  . . . Peck, Ullbricht and all the other dancers in Friandises deserve their triumph. . . . I found this to be very much a youth ballet—amazing physical feats that don't ask ask for any characterization or emotion. It veered off a bit too much into soulless gymnastics for me.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry to neglect noting that Friandises was derivative (what isn't, these days?). And sorry if I implied that there was any emotional depth to it, but in the case of Martins, where the men are foils to three female types (treacly virgin, needy masochist, and dominatrix), this is a welcome lapse. I don't doubt that you and I saw the same ballet.

The women weren't swooped aloft, they were flung like sacks of flour.

What a perfectly observed and phrased distinction!

[oberon]

If you observe MORGEN carefully, you will find that the woman is not "flung" but rather flings herself at the various men. Only one of the women (the "janie taylor" role) does this - it is sort of a signature of the character she is playing, the youngest and most impetuous of the three females. The role was created on Taylor who brings a sort of recklessness to the part that Sterling Hyltin, for all her superb qualities, did not quite match.

Carbro, your generalization about the types of women in Peter's ballets is not quite accurate, though amusing. In which category would you place the women in HALLELUJAH JUNCTION, BURLESKE, CHICHESTER PSALMS, CONCERTI ARMONICI, or BACH CONCERTO V? Yes, he has stereotyped females quite often, but mostly in the more angst-ridden pieces, many of which have not survived (I'm thinking RIVER OF LIGHT or WALTON CELLO CONCERTO; or THEM TWOS, though in that case that was sort of the theme of the entire ballet). MORGEN is far more lyrical and appears to be about searching for an ideal romance.

[carbro]

Sat. Mat.: Donizetti Variations

Well, no one can say that Ashley Bouder's debut didn't start out with a bang. After the corps danced its introductory phase, Andrew Veyette entered with Ashley blazing behind. They took their spots on either side of center stage, hit their B-pluses, and Wham! Ashley appeared still, but the momentum continued to carry her, and with perhaps too little rosin on her shoes, her foot just slipped out from under her and in a most ungraceful moment, she was sitting on the stage. In a second, Ashley was back on her feet, her smile seeming to say, "That was really funny!"I couldnt' help but think that had Balanchine seen that, he would have said, "Keep that way." But I doubt it's replicable.

What's there to say about Ashley that hasn't already been said? The technique, the musicality, the personality -- all in huge doses. In her variations, she flirts with the audience, but never overdoing. Sharing the stage with others, she draws them all in, in a very openhearted way.

From there, the ballet continued smoothly without a hitch. Both dancers brought elan and effervescence to the roles. This is a very well-matched pair, both physically and temperamentally. The two dancing together carry on a conversation with their eyes and faces and bodies. While Ashley seems always to try for this, she doesn't always find it. Veyette's batterie is truly exceptional, and the one-footed pirouettes he pulled off effortlessly, ending with a quad. I am starting to think of him as the New and Improved Ben Millepied.

The three men in the ensemble, Antonio Carmena, Craig Hall and Amar Ramasar, were clean and bouyant. Among the women, Elizabeth Walker looked like every cell in her body was singing along with the orchestra.

[oberon]

Another legendary Bouder Fall! Nobody falls with the sheer authority of Ashley Bouder. It's just one more thing that makes her performances so fascinating.

Good to hear about Veyette's success.

In fairness to Benjamin Millepied (don't you hate it when I start sentences with "in fairness to..."?) he has never been quite the same since his injury. He gave some simply remarkable pre-injury performances in PRISM and HALLELUJAH JUNCTION and other virtuoso roles and one might have thought he'd be doing the same thing for several seasons. But no such luck. After coming back, he hasn't been as free or as high-flying, though still an appealing dancer and capable of considerable bravura on a good night.

[Michael]

Magnificent performance by Bouder in this role today actually. One of her best.

Unexpectedly, this afternoon's Fancy Free was one of the high points of the entire season for me. It's the most beautiful thing about a repertory piece (about any drama really) when a dramatization comes "to life" on the stage -- I mean when the dancers or the players are so "into" their roles, have the kind of immediacy, that something happens on the stage between them, and they seem to bring a play to life. In the audience you feel it and it happened today with Danny Ulbricht, Tyler Angle, Ben Millepied, Rachel Rutherford and Gina Pascoguin in this. Fancy Free all of a sudden seemed a very moving item, properly called a Masterpiece, a tribute to Hopefulness and Youth really, and to Spirit when the three boys hauled themselves up from behind the bar at the end to find the girls had gone, dusted themselves off and started shooting gum wrappers one more time . . .

Never mind that Ben Millepied doesn't dance the rhumba like Jose Manuel does (though Tyler Angle was absolutely the best "nice sailor" I've seen -- the role is perfect for him, the open and broad eyed expression peaking out from under that hat, the ample sweeping variation, the skids across the stage terminating in him stretched out with a sweet smile at Rachel's feet) -- He and they had the kind of immediacy and vitality that made the Ballet work.

[nysusan]

Sat night, Feb 11

Darci Kistler was just beautiful tonight in Duo Concertant. She danced with clean, clear simplicity channeling the music and the choreography. Martins rose to the occasion, and this time the lighting effects worked properly. It was the highlight of the evening for me, maybe even the highlight of the season.

Fairchild, de Luz & company danced a lovely Baiser, they seemed to have ironed out the partnering glitches. Fanfare was amusing and I even enjoyed American in Paris tonight. I must have been in a good mood.

[Drew]

A beautiful performance by Kistler tends to put one in a good mood...

[bobbi]

This is just to add my "me too" refrains to praises for Ashley's first outing in Donizetti at the Saturday matinee. Wow! Wow! Both she and Andrew deserved more than just one curtain call after this performance but I guess the audience was unnerved by the coming snow. The playfulness so essential to this ballet is back and in spades!! It's hard to believe that it was almost six years since these two were El Capitan and Liberty Bell at their graduation performance at the SAB workshop. They look really well together. And now that Andrew is coming into his own, I hope he gets to dance with her more. A terrific pairing!!

Sara Mearns looked lovely in the Darci role in Octet; however, she doesn't seem to be powerhouse technican. I'm not sure she will ever be of the Monique caliber, but she is lovely to look at.

[drb]

... Martins corps is really an ensemble of demisoloists, listed in letters the same size as the leads: Arthurs, Dronova,, Hyltin, Laracey, LeCrone, Lowery, Mearns, Ricard, Sloan; T. Angle, Danchig-Waring, Hall, Laurent, Peiffer, Ramasar, J. Stafford and van der Sterre...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Heroic dancer award to Kristen Sloan, vis. her full report in The Winger, including a photo:

http://www.phontographer.com/winger/archiv...01271.html#more

In part, she reports

"Last night, about two hours before the new Martins ballet was scheduled to premiere, I came down with either food poisoning or some evil stomach bug.

I hoped in vain that whatever was causing my body so much trouble would be fully ejected before showtime, but no such luck.

I managed to keep it together for the length of the ballet, with extra focusing help from Tommy, but once we were through, my body couldn't keep it in any more. I ended up spending the night and some of the morning getting rehydrated in the emergency room at Beth Israel....

The things we do for the art that we love!

In addition, it was great to see Friandises be so well received...."

[AmandaNYC]

I have so strongly come to expect a Bouder fall during debuts that I was relieved when she got it over with during her entrance! In her review yesterday, NY Times's Jennifer Dunning talked about it, and I found it quite amusing to read it. I guess many of us are Bouderites!

"Two of those young stars, Ashley Bouder and Andrew Veyette, were in exciting top form in role debuts in Balanchine's insouciant but challenging "Donizetti Variations" on Saturday afternoon. Bouderites cherish the young ballerina's habit of decisively falling in her first performances of a role, and here she not only fell but slid across the stage on her rump. What followed was just as remarkable: steely all-American technique and daring refined and made even more exciting by a look of almost Gallic ornamentation."

Links to the review are in the Links section and below:

NY Times review of Friandises and Donizetti

[oberon]

I get the feeling Dunning (and other dance writers) read Ballet Talk! How else would she know about us Bouderites??

[Michael]

The praise of Andy Veyette is mostly warranted. At 15, Andy had the body of a grownup and in some ways he is just now growing into his body as a dancer. He's progressed this season in his clarity and ability to finish steps and finish performances. He's got a nice line, tall, and particularly he's not -- like so many of the other men -- over muscled in the upper body. He's kept away from the weight room, thank God, and you can still see his neck and the sculptural way the head sits on his neck.

The biggest single thing he can do now in terms of his expression, artistry and indeed technique, is to keep his upper body calmer and more relaxed, his shoulders more down and to the sides. In Donizetti, where the Danish noble type demanded that, he got more and more tense as the difficult variations proceeded. And one would expect that -- he's young and gaining fast. But that's the thing nevertheless. (Compare Marcovici -- nobody more tense above the waist). One does like the idea of Veyette partnering Ashley Bouder more: he's the right age, the right American sensibility and a good emotional fit for her. He's not up to her chops right now, however.