SFB 2016: Program 2

[pherank]

Rubies - Balanchine
Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes - Mark Morris
Fearful Symmetries (World Premiere) - Liam Scarlett

I'd especially like to hear from anyone that has seen Scarlett's Fearful Symmetries. Due to illness, I was only able to see Rubies and Drink to Me, and then had to leave and put myself to bed. Mostly a disaster for me.

I went on Wednesday, Jan. 27th and saw Kochetkova/Walsh/Sylve in Rubies. Personally, I would rather have seen Zahorian in the McBride role as I don't feel it really suits Masha, yet. This was the first time that she actually looked really small to me on the stage, like a 12 year old girl, and didn't display her usual power. But she is a trooper, and tried to make it work. Walsh is a good choice for the Villella role, but he's not quite there yet - he needs to embody the role in a more obvious way - he's still doing steps at this point. Sylve was riveting as the Tall Girl: she has the unique ability to lock eyes with the audience and make each person think she happens to be looking at them.

The Morris piece went well - I was glad to see Vanessa Zahorian looking sharp and elegant as ever. And I got to see new Corp member Jahna Frantziskonis dance in both Drink to Me and Rubies, though I can't say I have a deep impression yet from these Corp parts. I can say that she fit in well in appearance and movement quality with the other Corp members (that's important). She's quite small though, and there are quite a few small dancers at SFB, so long limbs and tall bodies tend to stand out more in solo roles. I didn't love the Drink to Me costumes though, the floppy blouses and loose skirts, though perhaps very Morris-ish, tended to obscure the clarity of the dancer's movements - rounding and blurring the visuals.

Can anyone tell us about Fearful Symmetries?

[choriamb]

I attended on Friday.

Rubies didn't feel quite right on Friday to me either. Partly because the tempo was a bit slow to start, which sapped some energy. Partly because the casting lacked texture.

I think Rubies works best when it reads like a reworking of On Your Toes: roughneck guy, naive playful girl, worldly exotic Tall Girl (like the Veyette/Hyltin/Mearns cast at NYCB). Sylve commanded the stage exactly as you describe. But Domitro never felt dangerous enough to make the sections with Zahorian feel fraught...and without that Rubies loses much of its oomph. It just becomes a series of dances based around two (albeit very nuanced and commanding) female allegro specialists.

Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes was primarily cast with very young corps dancers. A mistake: even at ABT, I've only seen Marcelo Gomes and Marian Butler look really good in it. It was built to display huge personalities from different traditions playing together, and without that it can be bland. Of the corps, the new woman from Brazil and Wei Wang registered the most (partly, I think, because of their different training). Doris Andre was the only one who really made the dance come alive.

Fearful Symmetries is not a mature work. It's of the "humans as twitching, thoughtless, sexual beasts in dramatic lighting and flesh-baring clothing" genre and adds nothing to my understanding of life. However, it uses John Adams' score (the best ballet score of the past 30 years) more effectively than Peter Martins' original, Scarlett composes the stage patterns/exits very effectively, each solo was distinct to its performer (one didn't feel like one was watching the same idea ad nauseum), and every single dancer performed with total commitment. It was the success of the night and inspired my interest in every dancer on stage (Joseph Walsh was nothing short of magnificent).

[pherank]

I attended on Friday.

Rubies didn't feel quite right on Friday to me either. Partly because the tempo was a bit slow to start, which sapped some energy. Partly because the casting lacked texture.

I think Rubies works best when it reads like a reworking of On Your Toes: roughneck guy, naive playful girl, worldly exotic Tall Girl (like the Veyette/Hyltin/Mearns cast at NYCB). Sylve commanded the stage exactly as you describe. But Domitro never felt dangerous enough to make the sections with Zahorian feel fraught...and without that Rubies loses much of its oomph. It just becomes a series of dances based around two (albeit very nuanced and commanding) female allegro specialists.

Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes was primarily cast with very young corps dancers. A mistake: even at ABT, I've only seen Marcelo Gomes and Marian Butler look really good in it. It was built to display huge personalities from different traditions playing together, and without that it can be bland. Of the corps, the new woman from Brazil and Wei Wang registered the most (partly, I think, because of their different training). Doris Andre was the only one who really made the dance come alive.

Fearful Symmetries is not a mature work. It's of the "humans as twitching, thoughtless, sexual beasts in dramatic lighting and flesh-baring clothing" genre and adds nothing to my understanding of life. However, it uses John Adams' score (the best ballet score of the past 30 years) more effectively than Peter Martins' original, Scarlett composes the stage patterns/exits very effectively, each solo was distinct to its performer (one didn't feel like one was watching the same idea ad nauseum), and every single dancer performed with total commitment. It was the success of the night and inspired my interest in every dancer on stage (Joseph Walsh was nothing short of magnificent).

Great points, Choriamb. Others, who are familiar with Rubies from NYCB performances, have said that there needs to be more sexual menace to the performance, to give it the edge it needs, but most companies portray it as just fun and breezy. I think Sylve understands that aspect of Rubies from her time at NYCB, but I don't think she's dancing the McBride role these days, so she imparts that feel into the Tall Girl.

I'm not familiar enough with Drink to Me, and so your statement, "It was built to display huge personalities from different traditions playing together, and without that it can be bland" was really telling. Tomasson cast mostly young dancers on the night I attended as well. Zahorian looked lovely, but she's not someone who dances with big personality - she's quieter, and more elegant in her approach. It was, I believe, Norika Matsuyama, and Gennadi Nedvigin who provided most of the energy in the piece, but otherwise it was all ensemble in feel, not individual personalities.

I like what you say about Mr. Walsh - he was a great find by Tomasson, and I'll echo what the recent show reviews have been saying: the SFB men can be stellar, both as individuals and in group dances.

[seattle_dancer]

I went on Wednesday, Jan. 27th and saw Kochetkova/Walsh/Sylve in Rubies. Personally, I would rather have seen Zahorian in the McBride role as I don't feel it really suits Masha, yet. This was the first time that she actually looked really small to me on the stage, like a 12 year old girl, and didn't display her usual power. But she is a trooper, and tried to make it work.

Can anyone tell us about Fearful Symmetries?

I attended both shows last Saturday, At the matinee subs were announced for Maria due to illness. So it sounds like she was falling ill on Wednesday, The evening announcement also said she would be replaced, but she actually did dance after all, in Pas/Parts. I was really glad, since I have never seen her in such a modern piece. I thought she was fantastic. Funny thing though, she was smiling the whole time, while everyone else had a serious demeanor.

Thoughts on Friday Program 2: Loved the black background, really sets of the red well. Taras seemed lackluster to me. Sofiane and Vanessa really outshone him, not sure if he had an off night. I'm used to seeing that role done in a more playful way. Drink to Me: someone said they didn't like the women's costumes and I agree, but it was made in the '80s when dolman sleeves were popular, kind of like how we have to deal with In the Upper Room costumes.

I loved the music, choreography, and costumes of Fearful Symmetries. It was very intense, especially Jahna Frantziskonis in her mini solo. Don't judge her by her size - she dances BIG and can transmit energy beyond her own body. She also has a special way of using her eyes. Somebody said something about twitching, I'd call it isolations and I think it's a good change for the dancers and helps them to understand their bodies better. Many different groups one after another, then all come together at the end. I liked it so much I pushed my flight back on Sunday so I could see it again, and so I could see Jahna in Drink To Me, The part I didn't like is the dark lighting with really bright lights above the dancers. I think the lights are distracting and make the area below seem even darker; it brought back bad memories of Caprice. The costumes are incredible - lots of asymmetry, individuality, and use of leather - very edgy. Will have to make it back for Frankenstein next year...

[Dreamer]

I attended both shows last Saturday, At the matinee subs were announced for Maria due to illness. So it sounds like she was falling ill on Wednesday, The evening announcement also said she would be replaced, but she actually did dance after all, in Pas/Parts. I was really glad, since I have never seen her in such a modern piece. I thought she was fantastic. Funny thing though, she was smiling the whole time, while everyone else had a serious demeanor.

I was at the evening performance of January 30 and Maria Kochetkova did not dance in Pas/Parts. She was replaced by Dores Andre. It led to a lot of confusion about the cast since Dores was scheduled to dance her own part but moved into Maria's role, someone else took over Dores's part, and yet another dancer (I believe it might have been Isabella DeVivo) filled in the remaining spot. The duet marked in the casting sheet as Maria Kochetkova/Francisco Mungamba was performed by Dores Andre and Henry Sidford.

[Terez]

Thanks so much, all of you, for these thoughtful, insightful reviews. I gobbled up every word. (Didn't get to see Program 2 myself, alas.)

[PeggyTulle]

Any news on Sasha De Sola? She danced during Nutcracker, but so far I haven't seen her cast in programs 1 or 2...?

[pherank]

Any news on Sasha De Sola? She danced during Nutcracker, but so far I haven't seen her cast in programs 1 or 2...?

I've seen no specifics, but it does seem that she is on the sidelines, as it were. The question is whether this is the same injury from last season, that is dragging on, or if there is a new issue. SFB, and most companies, are respectful of the dancer's personal issues, and don't make any public announcements regarding injuries.

I know that she gave a ballet master class in San Jose at the end of January.

I'm looking forward to seeing her smiling face again on the stage.

[Jayne]

I wish ballet companies would list an "injured reserve" roster, just so we as balletomanes know that ADs are not holding back capable dancers. I realize there are healthcare privacy issues, but with a dancer's permission, some basic information would be useful.

[pherank]

Kochetkova posted a photo captioned, "8pm Dancers at a Gathering after endless runs off Swan Lake", and De Sola is one of the tired dancers in the rehearsal room:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BB9LawPEUbv/?taken-by=balletrusse

So keep your fingers crossed that she will eventually be appearing on stage.

[Terez]

Jayne, I love your idea. I just saw a Silicon Valley Ballet (rebranded Ballet San Jose) program on Saturday night and they had an asterisk by some of the names and a "leave of absence" explanation down below. I appreciated that. And it left things vague enough that it protected the dancer's privacy at the same time.