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2018 Spring Season


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Thank you so much, CTballetfan!  I live in Texas and don't get to see NYCB very often, so I appreciate your report and those of others as well.  I am determined to get there in fall to see "Jewels" in the afternoon and at night, "Barocco," "Tchai Pas" and "Symphony in C" (plus Stravinsky).  That seems like an epic day at NYCB and a good use of my travel $!

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13 minutes ago, Jacqueline said:

Thank you so much, CTballetfan!  I live in Texas and don't get to see NYCB very often, so I appreciate your report and those of others as well.  I am determined to get there in fall to see "Jewels" in the afternoon and at night, "Barocco," "Tchai Pas" and "Symphony in C" (plus Stravinsky).  That seems like an epic day at NYCB and a good use of my travel $!

Ooohh -- what a pair of shows!

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2 hours ago, CTballetfan said:

Fabulous! Tremendous energy, speed and verve. Of course they are always great together and complement each other well. Mearns was electric and dazzling. Despite needing to lose a few pounds, Tyler hit every jump easily and was fluid and made his solos look easy. He's still got it, in my opinion. The highlight was the end--two glorious fish dives that left the audience gasping. I was sitting in row B of the orchestra and Sarah's face was luminous, while dancing and in multiple curtain calls. The audience did not want to stop clapping. And she looked so incredibly happy with their performance. Btw, the rest of the program was terrific too. Will post on this later.

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I agree completely about Mearns, though I didn't expect anything less from her, as she often goes for broke, and Tchai Pas was a perfect vehicle for that quality in her. She was bubbling over with energy, and beaming with happiness. T. Angle was a great partner for her, as always, though he's no virtuoso, and this is a piece that really calls for virtuosic dancing. In the manège of jetés, his back leg was hanging down so low. His turns a la seconde looked slow and underpowered, much like they did last year in Diamonds, when he had to end them very early. Overall, his solo dancing had a heavy quality. I expected as much, based on what I've seen in the past, but it was still disappointing that Mearns didn't have a partner who could match her energy and eclat. But Angle is one of a very large number of leading men in the company who are excellent partners, but often lackluster solo dancers. 

Symphony in Three Movements was fantastic, and Tiler Peck and Taylor Stanley were just as fabulous as everyone has said they are. 

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Just to finish my report on the Sunday April 29 matinee which I started yesterday, I enjoyed both Le Tombeau de Couperin and Symphony in Three Movements, neither of which I remember seeing before. I think I would have appreciated them even more had I sat somewhere above the stage rather than at stage level, so I could have seen the dance patterns better. In Symphony, Tiler Peck and Taylor Stanley were outstanding, especially the section where they crossed arms. Lauren King and Troy Schumacher were outstanding as well, very well matched, and each a whirlwind of power, he in his energetic, beautifully executed jumps and she in her speed, agility, and grace, ponytail whipping around her. I hope to see more of her. 

What to say of the choreographic perfection  and execution of Apollo? I hadn't seen it in years and this time paid close attention to the narrative arc, which drew me in and built to its exquisite end and final pose. Bravo to Balanchine, who lives in this ballet. Bravo to the muses--Sterling Hyltin, Ashley Bouder, and Lauren Lovett--in sync and individually expressive, and to Zach Catazaro for his beautiful line, dancing, and partnering. It's not fair to compare his performance with the great Apollos of Jacques d'Amboise and Mikhail Baryshnikov, both of which I saw when I was a teenager, and I hope Zach's command of the role will only grow as he matures. He is a beautiful dancer. 

 

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Sara Mearns in Tchaikovsky pas de deux was her inimitable Sara Mearns self. I had trouble picturing her in this role, but the minute she came on stage you could see what a great fit it is for her. I immediately wondered - wow, why has she not done this before? She threw herself into it with incredible gusto, delighting herself and the audience. Sure, at times it may have been overdone - but being as this is an individual role (ie., not having to fit in or interact with others), there was room for her to put her mark on it. Tyler Angle played it safe, musical and solid, pleasing but not virtuosic. The audience went nuts for them. 

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Mearns mentioned on instagram that she had been scheduled to dance Tchai pas several years ago, but was injured.  I liked her in the ballet, but Tiler Peck is more of a virtuoso.  Both Mearns and Bouder did the final solo variation by taking small steps between each fouette for most of the variation.  Tiler Peck was the only one who did the fouettes without steps between.  and she also did arm variations while spinning.    Sara Mearns lost control on her final spin, and tried to cover up the error. 

As for the men, although DeLuz did change some of the traditional variations in his Tchai pas solos, I thought he was spectacular in both his solo work and his partnering.  His speed and the height of his jumps still amaze.  Tyler Angle is no virtuoso and I though his solo variations were completely ordinary. 

Tchai pas is one ballet in which the performers must dazzle.  It is a showpiece of bravura fireworks.  I wish they would give the role to Mejia, Huxley or J. Gordon.  They are all much stronger technically than Tyler Angle, although none would have been a suitable partner for Mearns.

Edited by abatt
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1 hour ago, abatt said:

Both Mearns and Bouder did the final solo variation by taking small steps between each fouette for most of the variation.

Exactly as it should be done, in my opinion, given the quality of the music at that moment, and given the overall cohesive tone of the piece. The fouettés with steps fit the more graceful, nimble virtuosity of this ballerina's role.

Edited by nanushka
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I cannot join all the hurrahs for Mearnes  in the Tchai PDD---she did manage to 'bring down the house' at the very end with her leaps into the fish dives, and being carried off---she did not nail what went before!  but,  I guess not bad for a non-Balanchine dancer......

The best part of my weekend viewing was the divine Maria Koworski in the Agon PDD...she continues to amaze me....her technique was so strong...the years melted away......

 

 

Edited by atm711
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2 hours ago, nanushka said:

Exactly as it should be done, in my opinion, given the quality of the music at that moment, and given the overall cohesive tone of the piece. The fouettés with steps fit the more graceful, nimble virtuosity of this ballerina's role.

I agree! The music at that particular point in the piece, with its plucked strings and silvery little bells, has a kind of delicate sparkle that, to my eye at least, is beautifully captured by interleaving the fouettés with those quick little steps on pointe. It makes me think of embroidery. 

That being said, Peck's fouettés are undeniably thrilling and a legitimate option, given that the variation was sometimes performed that way when Balanchine was alive. (By Melissa Hayden, for instance, in this 1960 telecast. Patricia McBride did the version with the little steps in the Choreography by Balanchine broadcast.)

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5 hours ago, cobweb said:

 I immediately wondered - wow, why has she not done this before? 

Tchai Pas has a tendency to be cast with smaller dancers. Mearns is one of the bigger principal women and with the flying fish dives, you need a really strong, tall male to catch a dancer of bigger proportions. Of course, that is not the rule as Kowroski and Reichlen have danced Tchai Pas. But I think Reichlen only recently debuted in this as well?

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7 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Marcelo Gomes.

LOL! Definitely for the partnering, but I think he'd lag on the dancing at this stage in his career. But, his partnering and charisma would probably make up for it.

Didn't he do Tschai Pas a year or two ago w/ Tiler Peck in Vail?*

*Edit: nevermind. It was Allegro Brilliante.

Edited by ABT Fan
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1 hour ago, ABT Fan said:

LOL! Definitely for the partnering, but I think he'd lag on the dancing at this stage in his career. But, his partnering and charisma would probably make up for it.

Didn't he do Tschai Pas a year or two ago w/ Tiler Peck in Vail?*

*Edit: nevermind. It was Allegro Brilliante.

He did Tchai pas several years ago at a gala with Sofiane Sylve. Utterly thrilling.

Edited by nysusan
have to change "several" to "many". I googled it and it was at a 2006 YAGP Gala!
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With all due respect to Marcelo who is a wonderful partner, he would not be up to the technical demands of this role, and hasn't been for a few years. And with all due respect to Tyler Angle, he was pretty terrific in it yesterday. 

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6 hours ago, abatt said:

Sara Mearns lost control on her final spin, and tried to cover up the error. 

Abatt, I noticed this too but for me it worked! It might have looked like she was losing a bit of control (that's her m.o. isn't it - dancing on the edge of control?) but then swung the final spin into, well I don't even know what to call it - a very fast spin throwing herself into a backbend with her head thrown back. I found it thrilling! Wish this had been filmed so we could see that bit again.

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6 hours ago, abatt said:

 Both Mearns and Bouder did the final solo variation by taking small steps between each fouette for most of the variation. 

 

6 hours ago, nanushka said:

Exactly as it should be done, in my opinion, given the quality of the music at that moment, and given the overall cohesive tone of the piece. The fouettés with steps fit the more graceful, nimble virtuosity of this ballerina's role.

I think McBride does this in the Dance in America video with Baryshnikov -- it seems like the inevitable musical choice there, as does so much of Balanchine.

 

(and Kathleen O'Connell has said this earlier in this thread -- I have to learn to read to the end before I post...)

Edited by sandik
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3 hours ago, mille-feuille said:

I think the little steps between fouettes are more musical, but I will never begrudge Tiler the thrill and adrenaline her fouette choice in Tschai Pas provides.

I agree. I love the little steps - something different. I never assume a that dancer who does the version with the steps in between can't do straight fouettes. Certainly Bouder can, and we are not talking about 32. I always assume it's a choice. 

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