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Spring 2015


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NYCB just posted on Facebook:

FLASH FOOTAGE: Raymonda Variations

Big props to Erica Periera for stepping into Raymonda Variations last Friday night after learning the ballet in just one day. ‪#‎EmergencyCasting‬ She'll be back on the stage in the role this evening and on Sunday afternoon. goo.gl/9rk8EP

I did not see her perform, so I don't have any judgment on the quality of her performance, but one day!!??**@!!

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Shocked that no understudy was prepared. With 1 day's notice, they could have flown in an MCB dancer, who performed Raymonda Variations just a few weeks ago, with plenty of preparation.

Tiler Peck was 2nd cast. I still don't understand why she didn't perform it Friday and has been taken out from Sunday's matinee.
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Shocked that no understudy was prepared. With 1 day's notice, they could have flown in an MCB dancer, who performed Raymonda Variations just a few weeks ago, with plenty of preparation.

That's the ABT way. I'm sure this was stressful for her but better they gave her a cram course than import someone else. Kudos to her!

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NYCB just posted on Facebook:

I did not see her perform, so I don't have any judgment on the quality of her performance, but one day!!??**@!!

Good for Erica Pereira and I wish her well with her next performances. I did see her perform on Friday and while I give her credit for learning so quickly, I stand by my criticism of her performance because I had the same problems with her dancing that I almost always have, even in roles she's done many times. I've said what they are and I don't want to reiterate.

I also want to give credit to DeLuz for his beautiful, generous and gallant partnering of Pereira. I don't think he's danced with her often.

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One day is rough, but it's not the worst that dancers who've been grabbed at dinnertime to learn a role for that evening's performance have described. End of the season is a tough time, injury wise.

When Peter Gelb makes an announcement saying that Divo X has graciously consented to sing despite being ill or Diva Y took the red-eye after performing in London the night before and asks the audience to take that into consideration, that is a request, and each audience member decides for him- or herself whether to grant that request. The same is true for a last-minute substitution in ballet: it's up to the viewer, whose ticket cost the same, whose babysitter cost the same, and whose time investment doesn't change, to decide whether to cut a dancer slack either while watching or in retrospect, depending on when the viewer learns of what can be a mitigating circumstance. The performance itself, however, doesn't change: what was onstage was onstage, sometimes for better, and sometimes for worse.

What the performance most often does not indicate is how the dancer will perform the role in the future, when he or she has time to absorb it, whether that is two days or two months later.

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Just came back from a wonderful night at NYCB. I decided to see this program, which repeated a lot of the highlights of the Fall season.

There was some new casting for some of the pieces like Liam Scarlett's Funerailles, Troy Schumacher's Clearing Dawn and This Bitter Earth. I thought the new casts worked quite well in the first 2 pieces (though losing Ashley Bouder in Clearing Dawn is definitely hard). Funerailles, danced by Gretchen Smith and Zach Catazaro did exceptionally well in this over wrought Macmillan type of piece. (It reminds me in parts of Mayerling). The only thing missing is some bodice ripping (I'm joking). Clearing Dawn looked like Troy might have changed it a little bit. Now the dancers walk around a bit before the coats fly up to the ceiling. However, while I didn't especially like the piece in the fall, I really liked it tonight. Very playful with lots of jumping. They seem to be passing an object around or, later, playing something like " tag you're it". I think it helped me that one of the city ballet reality show segments was on Troy and choreographing the piece. Andie Vyette and Harrison Coll really danced their hearts out, so much so that Andie was visibly winded during the curtain calls. Anyway very enjoyable.

The next piece was Jean Pierre Frohlich's "Varied Trio (in four)". I don't remember seeing this piece before. It was set to Balinese type of music and the choreography made reference to some types of traditional Indian dance. Dressed only in blue leotards, Sterling and Amar danced this piece beautifully. Their partnering was seamless (he is getting to be a great partner!) and Sterling looked both light and very flexible. I thought the piece was kind of dull but the dancing wonderful.

Then This Bitter Earth. It breaks my heart to say this but I HATED it. This is one of those iconic PDD that Wheeldon made on and for Wendy and it is difficult for me to see anyone else in her roles. But Tiler Peck seems like the anti Wendy. She is pretty, dances in a very pleasing, generous way and is well proportioned. Wendy was angular, unique and very individual in the way she danced. Not that this ballet was badly danced; it most certainly wasn't. But it was about as far from how Wendy would have danced it as possible. Maybe Sara Mearns, who has her own type of individuality, would do better. IMO,Peter should really think about recasting Wendy's old roles very carefully.

It's too late to write a detailed review of the Goldberg Variations but suffice to say it was exquisitely danced. Perhaps it's because I sat close (row K orchestra) or doing the Bournonville stuff has really improved the technique of so many of the dancers but I loved every minute of it, especially Part 1. No feeling that the ballet is endless or a chore tonight. It was the highlight of my evening. But more details on it tomorrow.

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Finally getting to finish my post on Friday's Goldberg Variations. The work was led off with great panache by Faye Arthurs and Zach Catazaro in the Theme. Then Part 1. Wow, I don't think I've ever seen it this well performed. Danny Applebaum, Joseph Gordon, Taylor Stanley, Anthony Huxley, Emilie Gerrity and Ashley Laracy performed the variations. Such clarity in the steps and footwork. All the men looked terrific and Ashley Laracy, just WOW! A real Balanchine ballerina (though this was Robbins) from the top of her head to the way she held her hands. Beautiful arabesque line. Goldberg is very long (about 1 hour) and has sometimes seemed like a chore to sit through. But not on Friday. It helped to sit close (row K in the orchestra) and to have the work so beautifully performed. Imagine my surprise when, talking to some of these dancers last night, they were unhappy with their performance. Just goes to show you how hard dancers are on themselves.

Part 2 was danced by Tiler Peck, Gonzalo Garcia, Rebecca Krohn, Jared Angle, Maria Kowrowski and Tyler Angle. Tiler was stupendous! Some of the balances she held (in second position on pointe) were amazing. Maria was also gorgeous. Her long limbs showed off her beautiful lines. No signs of any weakness due to pregnancy. Rebecca was also very good. She has improved SO much since being named principal. She, too, is tall and long limbed. Not quite as strong as Maria or Tiler but she's getting there. And I love Tyler Angle. He's probably the best partner at NYCB right now and also a terrific dancer in his own right. His brother Jared is not quite as good and I thought Garcia was the weak link among these 6. Kind of messy tours and pirouettes. Also, after the perfection of Act 1, Act 2 was a bit of a letdown, despite the fact that this is when the principals dance. Not so much the performances but I think the choreography is just not as good as in Act 1.

So for me, Friday night at NYCB, especially Goldberg Variations, was a resounding success.

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I saw Raymonda Variations on Wednesday and again this afternoon. The first time out I thought Pereira was a bit tight and displayed her usual lightweight approach to the steps (limited phrasing, throwaway arms, sorely lacking epaulmant and stiff upper body) with the exception of 1 solo -I think the 2nd - where she seemed to relax and luxuriate a bit in the music.

Todays performance was completely different and a huge step forward for her. She was just lovely. She danced with a beautiful lightness, displaying lingering balances with trailing romantic arms and playing with the music. What a difference! Her approach was completely from Bouder's (naturally)but this performance was beautiful.

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I too was there yesterday afternoon and I'm glad to hear that others noted Erica's improvement in Raymonda, a role requiring all the great ballerina ball of wax (super technique, musicality, phrasing, lyricism, and charm). The obvious tension was gone and the whole performance was so much better. I'd like to add that I stayed for the second ballet on the program, Morgen, because of the cast: Ashly Isaacs, Rebecca Krohn, Teresa Reichlen, Zachary Catanzaro, Preston Chamblee and Russell Janzen. Maybe it was because of the singing by the soprano Marjorie Owens was so wonderful -- or maybe because of the ardent dancing of the newcomers to this ballet -- but this was the first time I have ever really enjoyed this ballet. The debut dancers, Tess, Ashly, Zach, Preston and Russell, were astounding. Peter Martins, a great partner in his dancing days, devised some very intricate partnering for this piece. The men here stepped up to the plate and made smooth and elegant partners, and the ladies were wonderful too. The audience reacted very positively.

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The debut dancers, Tess, Ashly, Zach, Preston and Russell, were astounding. Peter Martins, a great partner in his dancing days, devised some very intricate partnering for this piece. The men here stepped up to the plate and made smooth and elegant partners, and the ladies were wonderful too. The audience reacted very positively.

The performance sounds wonderful. I think that several of those dancers have danced in Morgen before--I remember seeing Reichlen, Isaacs, and Catazaro dance the ballet in the Fall; don't know about the others.

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The only new recent addition to the Morgen cast was Preston Chamblee. Everyone else had danced it in the fall season. Chamblee did a good job, especially considering it was a debut. He needs to look more relaxed on stage. You could see his intense concentration on the difficult partnering. This will probably come with more experience. Can't believe this is the last week of the season already.

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Tonight was the opening Midsummer. Maria was Titania, Joaquin was Oberon while Puck was Antonio Carmena. The couples were:

Helena: Rebecca Krohn, Hermia:Sterling Hyltin, Lysander: Jared Angle, and Demetrius: Amar Ramasar. Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons was Savannah Lowery, Theseus: Joshua Thew, Titantia's suitor: Ask la Cour and Bottom: Adrian Danchig-Waring. The Divertissement is Act 2 was danced by Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle.

I thought Maria and Joaquin did well if not special. IMO, he is looking a bit long in the tooth (he's 39) while Maria struggled a bit in her partnering. She tried to be imperious but somehow with short Joaquin it read a bit humorous instead like a couple really arguing. I think it's the height difference. Actually, with the exception of Sara (Andie Vyette is her Oberon) most of the Titantia's have short Oberon's. I thought the humor should come from Puck and the situation, not the casting of Titania/Oberon. Still, Joaquin dancing was great: his petit batterie and jumps excellent. But the grandeur in the finale was kind of lacking because of the height. Maria had better luck in her PDD with Ask La Cour (who is quite tall) she was able to still stretch and unfurl her long limbs but I also saw a lot of shaking (I sat in orchestra row P) in her penchee balances. It could be the pregnancy is finally affecting her dancing. The couples threw themselves into their who is in love with who mix up pretty well. I liked Rebecca the best. She really threw herself around, taking risks and helping make the situation come alive. Sterling was too small and bland for my taste and both Amar and Jared wore ridiculous looking wigs. They need better ones. I thought Antonio Carmena did an excellent job as Puck, especially considering this was . his debut. The attack of all his gestures was great and his grand jetes flew high and fast over the stage. No he is not Cornejo (Puck, in Ashton's The Dream) or Ulbricht, but he did a very nice job. The little kids were sweet and very talented and there were clearly lots of parents in the audience. Savannah Lowery was a strong Hippolyta. She has a Sara Mearns type of body which I don't really find attractive unless you're as talented as Sara. And Savannnah is not. Still, both her dancing and acting were strong. So Act 1 went off without a hitch. A little unspectacular but serviceable.

My favorite part of the ballet is actually Act 2. Not much story but lots of dancing. Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle did the divertissement and they were exquisite, just perfect. Tiler is so musical and, as is becoming frequent with her, played with the music. Her arms and upper body are so expressive and her dancing so open, generous and inviting, it's a pleasure. She did multiple, multiple pirouettes, her arms floating from first to fifth position. Also, though she kept her arabesque leg low (maybe 80 degrees) those numerous promenades went so smoothly, without a hitch. And with the best partner in the company -Tyler Angle- she had every reason to feel safe extending herself. In contrast, when I saw Oxana Skorik (Mariinsky) dance the divertissement in London last summer she struggled mightily. Skorik kept her arabesque leg high (like 120 degrees) but you could see how hard she was working in the PDD, all the shaking during the promenades and turns. I was afraid she was going to fall off pointe (she didn't). Having seen a less assured divertissement makes you realize just how hard the choreography is and we are blessed to have some very special ballerinas like Tiler and danseurs like Tyler who can pull it off. Extraordinary. I also have to give a shoutout to Andrew Scordato, Danny Applebaum and especially Devin Alberda for their great work as demis in the divertissement. Devin is especially elegant and charming and his partnering has really improved this year. He deserves a promotion to soloist.

So overall, a wonderful Midsummer. I'm seeing 2 more, on Saturday evening and Sunday matinee. I'll be curious how they compare.

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Shakespeare describes Oberon as an elf and Titania as a fairy and Balanchine always specifically wanted there to be a height disparity in the casting to match that. Martins has carried on that tradition. These are not human lovers or a couple IMO. They are forces of nature.

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From Nancy Reynolds' 1977 work Repertory in Review:

"Incidentally, the choice of the small Villella fit in with Balanchine's conception of the character, which was based on a German source in which Oberon is an elf and Titania very tall. All subsequent Oberons have been small men." (p. 218)

In a 2014 New York Observer review, "Springtime for City Ballet," Robert Gottlieb (a NYCB board member when Balanchine was alive) quotes Reynolds and adds his own observations about the height disparity:

"We were given three casts, the first one familiar and time-proven. In the second, Sara Mearns made her debut as Titania, an appealing and persuasive performance; when she’s anchored by having to dance a specific character (she’s at her finest in Swan Lake), she keeps her sometimes indiscriminate exuberance from getting in the way. Her Oberon was Andrew Veyette, always expanding artistically, but as a couple these two are mismatched: from the start, Balanchine envisioned a short Oberon and a tall Titania. (Nancy Reynolds, in Repertory in Review, remarks, 'The choice of the small Villella fit in with Balanchine’s conception of the character, which was based on a German source in which Oberon is an elf and Titania very tall.') When they’re more or less the same size, something basic in their relationship is lost."

Most casts that I have seen have paired a shorter Oberon with a taller Titania. I always assumed that the height disparity was one of the reasons Titania has a Cavalier to partner her.

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Last night the highlight for me was the Act II Divert. w. Tiler and Tyler. Peck was ethereal. It was breathtaking. A very impressive cast overall. DeLuz is pumping out a lot more effort to get through the killer variation of Oberon, but he still looks good in the role. Maria is definitely filling out now, so I suspect the extra weight is a factor in her wobble.

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I was just happy to see Kowroski no matter what. Want to enjoy her while I can! I thought she looked more secure last night than she did last week in Goldberg Variations, and the costume hid whatever extra weight there was. De Luz is showing effort but is still spectacular, and the air of nobility and generosity that he brings to the stage is really unparalleled. I loved the scherzo. I skipped out at intermission. I'll be seeing this several more times this week, including the same cast, and while I enjoy the second act, for me it's really about the first act. I love the air of nighttime in the forest, mystery and fairies; I love the children; and I love the comedy, including (especially including!) the comically silly pageboy wigs. I look forward to seeing all the casts.

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New casting is up for tonight. Garcia out, Ulbricht in as Oberon. Glad I'll be seeing Ulbricht's debut! I was also there last night. Mearns and Veyette wonderful. Taylor Stanley was a hilarious Bottom. That moment where he has the ballerina in his arms and turns and looks out at the audience was priceless. The comedy of the lovers (Erica Pereira, Aaron Sanz in debut, Lauren King, and Ask LaCour), however, was not as spot-on as it was the night before (with Krohn, a wonderful Amar Ramasar, Sterling Hyltin, and Jared Angle). Megan LeCrone (Hippolyta) is an interesting dancer. She and Silas Farley (Theseus) made one of the tallest pairs I've ever seen. On to tonight!

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Ulbricht was fantastic last night. His solos were breathtaking. It was as though the stage was too small to contain him. In the scene where is moving backwards while doing jumps, I wanted to warn the kids in the back to get out of the way. No problem, Ultbricht was very aware of his spatial limitations. I haven't seen an Oberon do such terrific leg beats since Peter Boal left. No cheating, no fudging. Just flat out brilliant dancing. Amazing elevation and speed. Why oh why has Martins denied him this role for so many years? Goodbye Puck, hello Oberon! I was very torn about missing Veronika's Bayadere across the plaza, but with the good fortune of having Ulbricht in as a last minute replacement for Garcia, no regrets here. (Nothing against Garcia, but I think he needs to retire certain roles, and this is one.) Reichlin doesn't really have much in the way of comedic timing or sensibility, so in that respect her performance was weak. However, her dancing was lovely. Nice to see Ashley Laracey back on stage as one of the lovers. Janzen and Catazaro were good, but oh what a shame to have such good looking men dressed in such silly wigs. I didn't care for Pollack as Helena. I never feel any emotion from her in roles where acting is required. Oh, and did I mention that Ashly Isaacs was awesome as Hypolita. She was in complete control and command, with great fouettes that never traveled. Act II was disappointing. Sterling and Amar are still figuring this pdd out, and it showed. The phrasing was choppy instead of flowing gracefully. Also, Amar slightly tripped over Hyltin's foot, which didn't help matters.

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I just came back from tonight's performance of Midsummer and I agree totally with abatt about Ulbricht. Fabulous. His solos were amazing. The way he covered space in his split jumps was astounding. All beats, turns, everything wonderful. He flew through all his solos seemingly without effort! His acting and stage presence perfect for the role. I hope he will finally start getting more opportunities.

Reichlin was lovely and charming. I know she is tall and super leggy, but I wish her lines would gel a little sooner. Overall a very enjoyable performance.

Claire Von Enck was a captivating butterfly. She's musical and has energy to spare. She had some outstanding moments, no bad moments and she is still a fairly new corps member. Seems like she is fast track to soloist.

Gina Pazcoguin was Hipolita. She was strong and authoritative. Her jumps looked great. Her fouette turns traveled a lot and I think she came off point once or twice but she continued to go at it with strength and confidence. I also feel that she seems uncomfortable being partnered. I've noticed this before.

Laracey, Pollack, Jansen and Catazaro were all fine as the lovers. There was a little girl sitting near me who laughed delightfully at their mishaps!

I didn't expect to like Hyltin and Ramasar in the diverstissement but I did. First of all I believe this is one of the most beautiful pas de deux ever created. It's a masterpiece. As soon as Hyltin came on stage she moved so musically and did such beautiful things with her arms and head that I relaxed and knew it would be good. Some of the supported pirouettes were heart stoppingly beautiful with Ramasar turning her multiple times allowing her the freedom to expressively use her arms and head while turning. There were many magical moments.

All in all however, for me it was Ulbricht's night.

Sorry this season is ending. What a great company.

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