Winter 2018

[abatt]

15 hours ago, California said:

Mearns is injured, as per her Instagram

Not surprised she's injured.  She KILLED IT in Russian Seasons on Thursday.  It was a magnificent performance.  Wishing her well.   

 

Anyone know who will replace Mearns  tonight?

Edited February 3, 2018 by abatt

[yukionna4869]

On 2/1/2018 at 12:19 PM, abatt said:

Just noticed that next week's casting has been updated.  Veyette  is replaced in the Fall section of Four Seasons by Catazaro.  That part requires a virtuoso.  Catazaro is a fine dancer in many respects, but  he is no virtuoso.  They should give that part to Huxley.   The casting is particularly lopsided because the other leads in Fall are Bouder and Meija, both of whom are virtuosos. 

A few days ago he posted an instagram story of him practicing a la seconde turns. Maybe it’s for this role. He has his work cut out for him. 

Edited February 3, 2018 by yukionna4869

[nanushka]

Unity P danced a gorgeous, excellent Div 15 variation. Less impressive in the Andante (possibly in part due to partnering). Ashley B was of course delightful. Erica P dances beautifully but I wish she didn’t have such a child’s figure and such red lips. Cameron D was a disappointing sub for Aaron S. Chase F’s legs looked tired.

[vipa]

4 minutes ago, nanushka said:

Unity P danced a gorgeous, excellent Div 15 variation. Less impressive in the Andante (possibly in part due to partnering). Ashley B was of course delightful. Erica P dances beautifully but I wish she didn’t have such a child’s figure and such red lips. Cameron D was a disappointing sub for Aaron S. Chase F’s legs looked tired.

Thank you for that report nanushka. On thing about Erica P I've noticed is that, for me, she had a very immature stage presence.  To me she still looks like a talented student.

 

[nanushka]

Olivia Boisson had a rough night in Four Ts. She danced a good first theme duet until near the end when she kicked Lars Nelson in the back of the head. Then in Choleric she fell down practically on her face and later almost toppled out of a supported arabesque.

Savannah L switched to Sanguinic and I liked her better in that than in anything else I’ve seen her in before, including Choleric. Megan LeCrone stepped into that, decently. Russell J quite good. Sean S disappointing.

[yukionna4869]

That was a rough 4Ts. I hope Olivia isn’t injured because of the fall. 

[nanushka]

I’ve never seen the piece live before so I don’t really have a basis for comparison but that seemed like a pretty special Chaconne. Maria K luminous in first part, regal in second part. Adrian D-W quite excellent. 

[CharlieH]

What a wonderful day at NYCB! I caught both performances today.

I especially loved The new Walker/Davis work - dance odyssey - among the afternoon’s offerings. What a positive, uplifting ballet. Everything about it exuded light beauty - the music, steps, designs and, of course, the dancing. Ashley Laracey - a heroine of the day! - was magnificent in the final haunting pdd with Adrian Danchig-Waring. Tiler Peck & Zachary Catazaro also wonderful as the allegro couple. Roman Mejia a standout in the excellent ensemble.

As for the rest of the matinee...dark and dreary, despite great dancing. Martins’ Red Violin is hopefully on its last legs. Ratmamsky’s Russian Seasons is commendable as is castor oil that we must take for our health. Just as at the Bolshoi, I found myself asking: “Will it ever end? Bravo!” Kudos to Maria Kowroski in the role created on Whelan...and Emilie Gerrity substituting for Mearns as the girl in red.

Evening : Three extraordinary Balanchine ballets were balm for my soul. It’s hard to pick a favorite among Div 15 - Unity Phelan is Da Bomb! Make her a Principal now! - or Four Ts or the heavenly closing Chaconne starring Kowroski & Danchig-Waring. Lauren King also fantastic in the diverts pdd. Many budding stars spotted among the corps, including Mira Nadon...not yet graduated from SAB, I’m told. Sigh.

I’m not afraid for the future of NYCB.

Edited February 4, 2018 by CharlieH
Correcting names

[nanushka]

Completely agree with everything you say about tonight, CharlieH. It wasn’t a flawless night but the company felt very alive.

[CharlieH]

Nanushka, nothing beats a night of Mr. B’s masterpieces! NYCB should never forget its roots.

[fondoffouettes]

Maria was truly heaven on earth in Chaconne. Her arabesque...those extensions. She exuded such serenity and seemed to execute the steps with such ease. She looked so calm, as if the technical demands didn't faze her at all. I very much enjoyed D-W, who gave a taut performance and seemed an excellent partner. The part where he and Mearns had issues looked lovely tonight; I loved how Maria swung so far to the side, though I barely noticed that her leg was bent. Something looked funky to me in the move that occurs in this video from 3:03 to 3:07, but it was hard to judge from the angle I viewed it. Maria seemed perfectly comfortable with all the pirouettes, though maybe just a tad tentative in one or two.

4 Ts was great, though I agree I wasn't crazy about Suozzi (was he overdoing things a bit?). I thought Sanguinic suited Lowery much better than Choleric, and she looked better in this than in any other role I've seen her. Lecrone was fine in Choleric. Olivia Boisson had a nasty fall -- the type where it seemed like she fell forward and almost face-planted. She then had that other error following soon after. She seemed pretty uncomfortable, but I hope it was just frazzled nerves and not an injury. She was beautiful in the opening PDD. 

Woodward was gorgeous in Divertimento. There were two really dicey moments in the Andante pdd with Finlay, but they managed to somewhat save the moments. Finlay looked leaden in his jumps, and yes, it seemed that he was dancing on tired legs. He also seems so focused on getting through things that it left him without much stage presence. Bouder was in her element, dancing at lightning speed...just a blip in one of her turns. 

Edited February 4, 2018 by fondoffouettes

[nanushka]

12 hours ago, vipa said:

Thank you for that report nanushka. On thing about Erica P I've noticed is that, for me, she had a very immature stage presence.  To me she still looks like a talented student.

 

To me she comes across the same way, but my initial read was that it was more due to body type than stage presence — i.e. her instrument, not what she was doing with it. I'll be curious to see her again with your comment in mind, though, to judge whether you may in fact be right. She is certainly talented, regardless.

Edited February 4, 2018 by nanushka

[cobweb]

Aside from Boisson's fall, the performance of Four T's left me deeply, deeply impressed with what a masterpiece it is. The all-Balanchine programs have been deeply satisfying and as someone said above, balm for the soul. If they are still working on the programming for next year, I would suggest that in this time of transition, go heavy on the Balanchine. That is what (so I think) the audience really wants to see. What about bringing back Ballet Imperial, Ballo della Regina, and let's keep Divertimento #15. I have seen all four performances of the Divertimento-4 T's-Chaconne program, as two of these are pieces I have rarely seen. And I could not be happier.  

[cobweb]

... I'd add that when the batch of (mostly) new apprentices comes out for the big ensemble in Chaconne, I'm struck by how short a batch they are. Especially the men. This does not bode well for the current crop of up-and-coming tall women. I hope next year's class of apprentices includes a few promising, tall men. 

As for tall women, I'm in love with Isabella LaFreniere. She moves like velvet, and she radiates liveliness and intelligence. 

Edited February 4, 2018 by cobweb
grammar mishap

[canbelto]

There are currently several tall men in the corps however. Harrison Coll, Peter Walker, Silas Farley, Preston Chamblee, Alec Knight, Cameron Dieck are all tall. 

[cobweb]

So true, canbelto, and let's not forget Andrew Scordato and Daniel Applebaum who have been looking excellent this season. Somehow I don't think of Harrison Coll as tall, but maybe I'm wrong. How tall is Joseph Gordon relative to the others? What would be the tallest women Coll or Gordon could partner? I think I recall seeing Gordon once with Megan LeCrone, and that did not look like a good matchup. 

[canbelto]

15 minutes ago, cobweb said:

So true, canbelto, and let's not forget Andrew Scordato and Daniel Applebaum who have been looking excellent this season. Somehow I don't think of Harrison Coll as tall, but maybe I'm wrong. How tall is Joseph Gordon relative to the others? What would be the tallest women Coll or Gordon could partner? I think I recall seeing Gordon once with Megan LeCrone, and that did not look like a good matchup. 

Harrison Coll is pretty tall as has Mother Ginger in the repertoire and I read that for Mother Ginger you have to be between 6'1 and 6'3" to fit into the costume. I think he doesn't read as tall because his dancing style is more of an explosive demi-character dancer. In the picture I have of him from Four Seasons he looks to be about the same height as Adrian D-W.

I forgot that Aaron Sanz is also a pretty tall corps member. 

 

[nanushka]

I was sad to have missed Aaron Sanz in two scheduled good roles this year — La Valse in the fall and Divertimento this week. Wonder if he is particularly prone to injury.

[fondoffouettes]

2 hours ago, cobweb said:

Aside from Boisson's fall, the performance of Four T's left me deeply, deeply impressed with what a masterpiece it is. The all-Balanchine programs have been deeply satisfying and as someone said above, balm for the soul. If they are still working on the programming for next year, I would suggest that in this time of transition, go heavy on the Balanchine. That is what (so I think) the audience really wants to see. What about bringing back Ballet Imperial, Ballo della Regina, and let's keep Divertimento #15. I have seen all four performances of the Divertimento-4 T's-Chaconne program, as two of these are pieces I have rarely seen. And I could not be happier.  

I completely agree. Even in a less-than-perfect performance, I was so impressed and moved by Four Ts. And nothing felt more like "balm for the soul" than the Andante section of Divertimento ...

Does NYCB ever present Theme and Variations as a standalone piece? I appreciate Suite No. 3 as a sort of foil to the brilliant grandeur of T&V, but I feel T&V is more effective when presented on its own. It's a perfect ballet that needs no prelude. 

If they wanted to give Tchai Pas a rest (as wonderful as it is), how about Sylvia Pas de Deux? It's similar in length and filled with razzle-dazzle moments, if not as gasp-inducing as Tchai Pas. Does NYCB ever perform the work? Is there some problem with securing rights? 

Edited February 4, 2018 by fondoffouettes

[CharlieH]

2 hours ago, cobweb said:

Aside from Boisson's fall, the performance of Four T's left me deeply, deeply impressed with what a masterpiece it is. The all-Balanchine programs have been deeply satisfying and as someone said above, balm for the soul. If they are still working on the programming for next year, I would suggest that in this time of transition, go heavy on the Balanchine. That is what (so I think) the audience really wants to see. What about bringing back Ballet Imperial, Ballo della Regina, and let's keep Divertimento #15. I have seen all four performances of the Divertimento-4 T's-Chaconne program, as two of these are pieces I have rarely seen. And I could not be happier.  

I couldn’t have said it better myself, cobweb. As I sit at Penn Station awaiting the train back to DC, it’s the remembrance of last night’s all-Balanchine program that puts a smile on my lips. It’s the USA equivalent of seeing Swan Lake at the Bolshoi. I’m also grateful to have seen Peter Walker’s new ballet at the matinee. I could’ve taken a evening train and stayed for Spectral Evidence this afternoon, which I survived a couple of years ago.  Heck, no!  I would’ve stayed had it been another all-Balanchine program.

[nanushka]

11 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

Does NYCB ever present Theme and Variations as a standalone piece? I appreciate Suite No. 3 as a sort of foil to the brilliant grandeur of T&V, but I feel T&V is more effective when presented on its own. It's a perfect ballet that needs no prelude. 

If they wanted to give Tchai Pas a rest (as wonderful as it is), how about Sylvia Pas de Deux? It's similar in length and filled with razzle-dazzle moments, if not as gasp-inducing as Tchai Pas. Does NYCB ever perform the work? Is there some problem with securing rights? 

The NYCB repertory page for T&V says, "Balanchine created Theme and Variations in 1947 for Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre), and it briefly entered the NYCB repertory in 1960. In 1970 Balanchine used the complete orchestral suite to create Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3, and Theme and Variations, with a few minor revisions, returned to the repertory as the fourth and final movement of the ballet."

There's a page for Sylvia PDD as well, but it has the old b&w curtain image that seems to be used on rep pages for works no longer active.

[Royal Blue]

Not only is Ashley Bouder a magnificent ballerina (her achievements so far this season include a splendid debut in Cortège Hongrois last weekend, as was rightly mentioned earlier in the thread), but she is also apparently a gracious person.

Along the same lines, I am delighted to observe that Tiler Peck’s artistic clout is accompanied with evident modesty and generosity, and that the deserving Ashley Laracey is prominently featured in dance odyssey. 

[Emma]

4 hours ago, nanushka said:

To me she comes across the same way, but my initial read was that it was more due to body type than stage presence — i.e. her instrument, not what she was doing with it. I'll be curious to see her again with your comment in mind, though, to judge whether you may in fact be right. She is certainly talented, regardless.

I don't think it's her body type -- NYCB is stacked with talented shorter dances. Erica tends not to project or expand her limbs through space. Her arms are wispy rather than strong and lively. I saw her and Ashly Isaacs in the Thrid Movement of Symphony in C within a week: Erica blended in with the corps; Ashly, I knew a star was on stage.

[nanushka]

9 minutes ago, Emma said:

I don't think it's her body type -- NYCB is stacked with talented shorter dances. Erica tends not to project or expand her limbs through space. Her arms are wispy rather than strong and lively. I saw her and Ashly Isaacs in the Thrid Movement of Symphony in C within a week: Erica blended in with the corps; Ashly, I knew a star was on stage.

Good point. I wasn't so much thinking height, though, as the shape of shoulders and chest, which I noticed almost more when she wasn't doing expansive movements — something distinctly adolescent in her figure. Likely there are a few different factors at work, though, including what you mention.

[canbelto]

I think it's more the way she dances. It's somewhat floppy with no articulation of the shape of movement. For instance when she arabesques her leg shoots up quickly but she rarely holds or stretches that pose so as a result her dancing lacks amplitude. It's not a matter of being short -- NYCB right now actually skews shorter in terms of the female dancers. If you were to measure her actual height I don't think she's that much shorter than say Ashley Bouder. 

To see what I'm talking about watch Ashley Bouder (a dancer who does NOT have long legs or arms) at 6:18. The way she brings her leg down gives an articulation and amplitude to the step.