cobweb

I had mixed feelings about last night. Symphony in C was great. Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle and the entire cast of demisoloists and corps, made the second movement sublime. Emma Von Enck and Roman Mejia were a tremendous blast of fresh air in the 3rd. I would LOVE to see this pairing in Theme & Variations, or in most anything. Overall the entire piece was sparkling. Orpheus is an intriguing piece, but there's not enough dancing to stand up to repeat (like, more than one) viewing. I found Concerto Barocco fine but lacking in some sparkle. I really didn't like the film they showed beforehand. It was like a commercial, selling the company to people who don't need to be sold on it, this audience is obviously already bought into NYCB! I found it slick and overproduced. Toward the end someone said something like, NYCB will continue to be creative and innovative, and all I could think was this film is not creative or innovative AT ALL. My partner told me not to be so negative, that they must have felt they had to do a special something to mark the 75th anniversary performance, but I wish they could have come up with something a little fresher and/or more interesting.

I would be thrilled to see someone new in Symphony in C. Von Enck, LaFreniere, Gerrity?

I came home from last night thinking I must be pretty spoiled to be disappointed in Serenade or have complaints about Anthony Huxley or Megan Fairchild. Glad to hear it's not just me! Overall I found last night underwhelming, and I too noticed the bloopers mentioned by @abatt. Most surprised by Huxley's bailing out of the double tour-pirouettes, especially since it seemed intentional -- it's not like he couldn't finish and filled in the music, instead he filled in the early part of the music before beginning the sequence.

I too bailed out of today's matinee before La Sonnambula. One thing I wanted to mention from last night's performance of Sonnambula was Cainan Weber in the Harlequin role -- fantastic. He has impressed in a number of virtuoso roles over the past few years and is ready for bigger opportunities. Also Rommie Tomasini was sparkling, and David Gabriel was elegant. Last night and today, I liked Olivia MacKinnon, in the soloist role of Ballet Imperial, more than I have liked her before. Buoyant and expansive. Her facial expression often looks tense and dour, and she can appear effortful. Still, it was good to see her looking better, and like @vipa said, this gave me the first sense of what they were seeing in her to promote her to soloist. Ballet Imperial was just so stunning. Tiler and Joseph Gordon of course, but also the corps de ballet seems to relish the challenge, and the piano playing was thunderously rich. Please please bring this back regularly!!

I wonder who else might be rehearsing Theme & Variations. Indiana Woodward?

Wondering what the program order will be this afternoon. Hope they put Apollo second and Sonnambula last...

I got an email from NYCB about today's performance -- Tschai PC#2 (Ballet Imperial is such an easier name!) will be performed first on the program rather than last. I wonder why?? Also, what will the order of the remaining two pieces be?

I loved the all-debut Apollo this afternoon. Maybe because it was all debuts, maybe because it's all dancers I love, or just that they're all dancers with a star presence, but I found it far more affecting than I usually do. I loved Chan, who I found very dramatic, showing an internal narrative and thought process, in a way that I found more clear than I have in the past. When he hears the call (not sure how else to put that, you know the moment I'm talking about), it was a moment of great drama as he hears, wonders, and registers what it means for him. Like the reverberations of a bell sounding, you could see his demeanor and bearing gain grandeur and godlike as he walks toward his destiny. FWIW, my partner was not as enthusiastic as I am about Chan's interpretation. According to him, Chan did not clearly enough distinguish his initial isolated state, from the later one of finding a way to coexist with others, with the muses. Anyway, that's my understanding of his objection. He says that the last person we saw (he's not sure who, but I think Adrian Danchig-Waring) had a more coherent interpretation. Ballet Imperial was again stunning. Tiler is incredible. Joseph Gordon is beautiful. The corps is incredible! And I absolutely loved the piano. Alternating tenderness with thundering along, it is irresistible.

Okay, I see what you're saying. Glad you made that point, helping me to think about who or what she is. She's not a normal human woman, but not a sprite or wili either. And definitely there's awareness, as demonstrated when she evades the Poet's embrace and steps over his hands. Also when she returns, it's clear she's seeking him, or something -- she's on a dreadful mission.

James Whiteside was in the audience at NYCB tonight. Hope he was taking notes! ABT has a lot to live up to after NYCB's recent performances of Ballet Imperial.

Couldn't agree more. That was the first thing I checked when I got home. Disappointing!! Whatever my previous favorite ballet was (in truth, it shifts), all I want to see now is Ballet Imperial.

Interesting comment, Dale. I guess, since she's called the Sleepwalker, that does imply she's a real woman, just very very asleep. But don't you think that, given the intensity of the sleep, not to mention her return to find and carry away the Poet, she seems to be supernatural? Curious if you are making this comment based on a reading or understanding of what Balanchine intended, or your own interpretation. I am very intrigued by the question of her nature. She doesn't seem human to me, but I don't really know how to understand her.

AGREE. Whatever ballet is supposed to be, this is it at its glorious best.

Casting updates from the lobby. Unless I’m missing something it looks like Furlan is out for the remaining performances. He is replaced in the first movement of Symphony in C by Chan, and Chan is replaced in the 4th movement by Peter Walker. Lars Nelson is out of his assignments. Pollack replaced by Woodward in Symphony in C but still in for Orpheus.

Kikta is very tall, Miller is taller. Surely Peter Walker can partner Kikta, but not sure about Bolden. No doubt that is a limiting factor, but given that they promoted so many tall women to soloist, I assume that means they're prepared to have at least one very tall principal. Right?? In any case, I find Kikta a far, far more intriguing dancer than Miriam Miller.

No reports on the gala and dancing?

I look forward to any reports from tonight's gala. Especially interested to hear about the excerpts from Who Cares? They haven't brought this piece back in awhile; I'd be eager to see it again. I attended last night. Agree that La Sonnambula is largely a snooze. I wish they had put in La Valse instead, there's more dancing, the costumes are mesmerizing, and I like the music a lot more. Taylor Stanley was fine, but I missed Harrison Ball, who was the Poet last time I saw it, and was insanely beautiful. Unity Phelan was also fine, but I couldn't help but think they should have given that role to Ashley Laracey, who would elevate it to another level of mystery entirely. It will be interesting to see Alexa Maxwell in the role, as @GB1216 said, I would not have pegged her for a role of mystery. On the other hand, she is always intense and dramatic. I enjoyed Apollo. Adrian Danchig-Waring etches the shapes so clearly, he just gets there so fast and looks great. I found Phelan and Gerrity both lovely but especially liked Sara Adams. Interesting that Taylor Stanley is not doing Apollo this time, I wonder why. I cannot WAIT to see the dynamite cast of Chan with Nadon, Kikta, and LaFreniere on Saturday!! Finally Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 2 -- wow, what a great, grand piece! I wish they did this more often, it should be in the regular rotation like Symphony in C and Serenade. Emily Kikta was commanding and totally scintillating. (IMHO she should have been promoted instead of Emilie Gerrity.) More please. Sara Mearns is also commanding and has the innate sense of drama needed for this piece, and as noted above Tyler Angle was better than expected. All in all, such a GREAT PIECE!!

I was also there last night and like @deanofdance had a great time. For me I especially loved Stars & Stripes. It is irresistible. I never would have thought to put Nadon and Walker in the pas de deux but both looked more comfortable with the choreography than they did on the first night, and both are very appealing. Emma Von Enck again dazzled in Tarantella - so responsive to the music! Sebastian Villarini-Velez did well and was extremely genial.

Thanks for your comments, deanofdance! (love the handle!) I too have noticed Ava Sautter, from when she was one of the Tall Ladies of Phlegmatic a year or so back (two years?) I look forward to when she gets a more featured role.

I too was wondering if Mearns and Woodward were going to go through class with loose hair, then I looked away and suddenly their hair was up! Fairchild was really there to work, you could see her serious approach. Also interesting that Gilbert Bolden put himself front and center again and again. I would probably resent that if I were one of his peers, but since I'm just an audience member, I enjoyed seeing him. I also thought Alexa Maxwell looked very, very sharp, and that LaFreniere looked more comfortable than she does onstage sometimes. Jovani Furlan seemed to be having a good time.

I was at the open company class this morning, which was fun to see. Wouldn't class usually be 1.5 hours? Gonzalo Garcia was a lot more positive than I remember the teachers being when I was a teenager. Garcia was constantly like "Good, Jovani!" "Looking good, Andres!" "Beautiful, Mira!" and few if any individual corrections. Or is that the difference between being a teenage ballet student versus a professional dancer? Due to schedule conflicts and my disinterest in Slaughter on 10th Ave, I didn't get to anything else today, and probably won't get to Borree Fantasque till it reappears in the Spring. I'm very interested in hearing reports on this, however -- it's a Balanchine piece that I have heard almost nothing about!

They are using Villarini-Velez a lot, but IMHO he's not always looking so great. I would be surprised if he got promoted. Bolden and Riccardo on the other hand, YES. Also, PLEASE put Alexa Maxwell in charge of the first regiment in Stars & Stripes for Winter!

Hope you made it, abatt! Look forward to hearing your report. I finally made it home on the D train. Never have I been so happy to see the D train!!

I sit here trapped at work, was unable to find a way home -- subway barely running, buses cancelled, Metro-North not running from Grand Central... so picked up dinner and eating at my desk. Will try again soon. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the Western Symphony-Stars & Stripes program again last night. The program mentioned above by @abatt, of these two with Who Cares? sounds great! However, that's probably a much more complicated program to put on, as opposed to having Unanswered Question and Tarantella in the middle of the program. For The Unanswered Question, I wonder if they considered putting Dominika Afanesenkov in there. I didn't see her in Afternoon of a Faun, but everyone said she looked just like Janie Taylor, so this would seem a natural fit for her as well. In Tarantella, Daniel Ulbricht charmed and delighted the audience with the ease of a confident, seasoned performer. In Western Symphony, Gilbert Bolden again impressed with his elegance and sunny smile, while Jovani Furlan is a wonderful, aw-shucks Rhinestone Cowboy. Emily Kikta absolutely sizzled in the final section - so much authority it's dazzling! Andrew Veyette gave it his all, not exactly a paragon of exactitude or form, but with great energy and charm. Stars & Stripes was also great fun. I look forward to seeing this again in Winter. I believe this was a pretty last-minute change, not only of cast but of programming. I can't recall why the change was made, someone must have been injured. Claire no doubt didn't have much time to prepare for this high-profile opportunity (with Joaquin de Luz, not sure I'm remembering that right?). Unfortunately that may be a painful memory for her.

Interesting discussion about the changing interpretations of Liberty Bell, and/or our changing attitudes towards patriotism. Nadon definitely brought elegance and glamour.