bellawood

Also, Tiler Peck seems to be out all week too, still listed for the final week in 1 performance --

It would be fun, but I would guess if Unity only does one she would do Agon and Nadon the Brandenbug PDD she has already performed.

Chan sprained his ankle so I doubt we will see him.

Also, I notice that Miriam Miller is now out for the rest of this week in updated casting -- though she looked in good form Monday night! Hope its a speedy recovery. Chan is still out.

I was at the performance last night -- originally scheduled as Brandenburg, Agon, and Fancy Free, but actually performed Fancy Free, Agon, and Brandenburg. Beforehand I had the opportunity to hear Wendy Whelan, Gonzalo Garcia, Rebecca Krohn, and Christine Redpath talk about the restaging of Brandenburg. They talked about its history as Robbins' last piece, and Christine Redpath told an amusing story about how she had a young golden retriever at the time, and the pianist Nancy McDill would stick her head out the door of the rehearsal room to see if Christine and the dog were around, because the dog was the only thing that made Robbins cool off when he was in a state. He was very impatient with the young corps who have very complex choreography throughout. They restaged over about 6 weeks, and JP Frolich was the lead, though both Gonzalo and Rebecca Krohn had experience with the ballet, having danced the roles -- Gonzalo as his first big role at City Ballet with Ashley Bouder as his partner. As you might have read in the Times, Wendy was in the original cast, dancing with Peter Boal. Watching Indiana in the same role last night I was struck at how little of Wendy's movements I saw in the choreography, unlike when you see some Wheeldon or Ratmansky works that have been made on her. I had been planning on leaving after Agon when Brandenburg was first up, but I'm glad I saw Fancy Free. It was the A team, with Joe Gordon, Roman Mejia, and a very funny Andrew Veyette. He seems to have gotten past some of his injury and other issues and is enjoying being on stage -- kind of like Ask LaCour's stage presence before his retirement. Alexa Maxwell was the purple girl and she was very good, more confident than when I saw her in this in the fall. Agon was spectacular last night. Just mesmerizing. Taylor Stanley was a debut in the non-pdd male lead, and I am shocked he hasn't been doing this part for years. His particular genius of movement really comes through here. Unity and ADW danced the pdd. She was astonishingly good, the best I've ever seen her. They got an extra bow at the end of their pdd. Emilie Gerrity was the other female principal, in a role she's done a bunch but never really made much of an impression on me in. She's made strides but was overshadowed by Unity's dancing. (I also watch the Wendy-Albert Evans-Arch Higgins(?) video from when they danced this pas de trois from time to time and I miss that attack in Emilie's dancing.) Brandenburg I was very much looking forward to, and I enjoyed it, but didn't love it. I might have seen it in 2007-2008, but I didn't remember any of the choreography. The first section is quite sprawling, with a recurring theme of a triangle or wedge arrangement of dancers, with the point facing the audience. Indiana and Anthony Huxley dance in and out of the corps dancers and have a pdd of their own. This was my least favorite section. Then there's a pdd for Mira Nadon and Aaron Sanz which seems dropped from the sky -- quite beautiful and haunting, with lots of movements where they almost touch but don't. Aaron seemed a bit sidelined in his career but Mira's need for a tall partner might give him some momentum; they are very attractive together (as they were in another Robbins piece, Piano Pieces, last year). The third movement is a series of pdd for 4 corps couples, nicely danced. The finale is really fun with lots of humor, including a lengthy section where everyone jogs backwards for way longer than you expect. The house was quite full, including 3rd ring. Audience was quite engaged.

I saw last night’s performance. Emma VE was incredibly charming and musical in this role. Physically, she’s quite slight with long legs, more like a taller M Fairchild than an Ashley Bouder or Tiler Peck. She has a beautiful port de bras which she used to great effect in La Source last night. Technically she seemed quite secure except for a near disaster literally three seconds before the end of the ballet — a supported pirouette before the final shoulder lift was 45 degrees off perpendicular but Anthony Huxley muscled her upright and got her on his shoulder as the curtain came down (he was excellent, too). Baily Jones did double duty in La Source/Namouna last night and I preferred her to Olivia MacKinnon as the La Source soloist. The corps was much sharper this time around. Namouna was delightful and I particularly enjoyed Unity. I saw the other principals last week and I preferred Roman’s boyishness and huge jump to Taylor’s performance — I always find Taylor’s dancing interesting but this role (for Robert Fairchild originally I think) felt like an odd fit.

Thanks, going tonight. Was wondering if Joe Gordon would dance.

Chan (on insta stories) says he has COVID, so here's hoping that dancers out are not hurt but just under the weather.

Namouna reminds me of why I am so excited to see what Ratmansky does with this ballet company — Alexei Ratmansky and Mira Nadon in the same room?!? — it will be a blast. I love this ballet. Débuts for both Roman and KJ, and they had a dance-off. So much fun. Sara looked incredible. Ashley was extremely commendable in the Wendy role, though Ashley/Roman is not the most natural pairing. Mira is just a phenomenon; we are lucky to watch her trajectory. The whole company energized.

Back again tonight. This is certainly a good ballet season for Joseph Gordon — Raymonda, Donizetti and La Source are all in his wheelhouse. He tosses off the variations in La Source like they are no big deal. This is a ballet that really suits Indiana. I’ve become more and more invested in her development as an artist — no longer B cast Tiler and Megan but her own person. She really has beautiful feet and legs, a playful spirit and brings energy to the stage. The soloist role was Olivia MacKinnon, who acquitted herself well barring a little wandering turn moment. Is it wrong to think that Mary Thomas is maybe the more interesting MacKinnon? The corps in this ballet was very young and someone slipped, but not badly. I’m trying to figure out everyone’s faces!

Second intermission— Afternoon is a great ballet when it’s cast correctly — I think Christopher Grant and Dominika A. Did a wonderful job playing the roles, coltish, unsure, self-absorbed. Audience loved it. I’ve now seen Haieff four times over two years and I think that’s enough. (Amazingly it’s been four different casts.) It is a nice showcase for corps members and Alexa Maxwell, who has danced corps roles in two ballets tonight despite her promotion. Corps standouts to me in this are Andres Zuniga and Jacqueline Bologna.

I agree with BalanchineFan about the behind the music, particularly when they do Stravinsky! At the ballet tonight and there is a large gaggle of SAB students who were just greeted by Suki Schorer. Just watched Square Dance and reflecting on this afternoon’s discussion, I think Erica Pereira was technically secure in this shot-out-of-a-canon ballet. My hesitation is that she doesn’t play, and there are so many opportunities to play within the speed. She’s just hanging in there; there’s no confidence to give a wink to the audience. This could be that she doesn’t have the elite musicality we expect in principal roles. I can’t believe Tiler doesn’t dance this.

I am seeing Pereira tonight and am kind of astonished that she has gotten all of Megan’s shows of Square Dance instead of a debut in Megan’s place, plus La Source. Was it last year I saw her dance Rubies with Roman, with Mira as tall girl? In that cast she absolutely disappeared. I’ve liked her best when dancing with Daniel Ulbricht in 3 Movements, or in Brahms-Schoenberg 3rd movement. I do love Taylor Stanley in Square Dance though, I think Taylor was promoted directly after a performance of Square Dance.

I find it heartbreaking that he has to retire. So beautiful on stage. The stories in this article are hair raising! If he’s serious about writing that memoir I will read it!

Sorry! Ran into friends at the way end of the 1st intermission and spent the second yakking with them so did not report in. I really enjoyed Kammermusik. Harrison Coll was out (old-school paper slip in the program) and Peter Walker danced in his place. I always think this ballet should actually have Agon-style black and white costumes, the current ones being Opus 19-adjacent. I think it would make more sense that way. I hate the ponytails. I am not too objective about this performance because I basically watched Mira the whole time, but it was crisp and interesting. Raymonda was Tiler’s debut and she was wonderful. Just so in control, so nuanced — she just understands how to use her body so well. You would never know it was her debut. This is a great role for Joe Gordon, he makes these variations look so easy and relaxed. Their partnering looked secure and natural. The variations were well done by all: Olivia MacKinnon had the horrible hopping arabesque one, and looked as natural as one can look doing it. Other standouts were MT MacKinnon who has a big jump (I never noticed before) and Malorie Lundgren who was pretty wonderful in the last variation, quite self -assured and full of personality. The audience loved it.

Hi everyone, here this evening, first intermission. Dual debuts for Sara as 1st violin and Isabella as 2nd. I thought Isabella danced with a lot of energy and attack and had a very successful debut. Sara seemed a little muted and tentative (less so in the 3rd movement) and will need some time to get back to full “Sara” strength I think, but she had an enormous relieved smile during the curtain call (an enthusiastic reaction). The corps looked a little underpowered and under-rehearsed — somebody ran into Sara during one of what I think of as the “walk arounds”. But, so good to see this ballet live again and this spring gives them ample rehearsal for the 75th anniversary celebration in September.

Maybe KJ danced the Gonzalo role and Joe Gordon the Joaquin? Who ended up with the girl at the end? If it was KJ then he danced the Gonzalo role.

I was thinking about Cobweb's comments up thread about the relative wisdom of the promotions this winter. A few thoughts: KJ Takahashi is a very specific sort of dancer -- very small, very good jumps and turns -- and he's already been cast in many of the Daniel Ulbricht-style roles we see in the company (Faun in 4 Seasons, etc). I'm not suggesting that he will ever be a principal, but he fills a specific niche very well, and I don't think it's a niche where partnering is paramount. He has gotten some roles outside that corridor (the Huxley role in Justin Peck's ballet, the Joaquin role in DCSH) but to me he's too short to really fill those shoes entirely -- Roman is more a 1:1 replacement for Joaquin and has the hot-dog City Ballet DNA from Joaquin and Damien Woetzel. Thus, men who really need the time to learn how to partner wonderfully (in particular Gilbert Bolden) might find that their promotions are slower to come. Davide is gorgeous but has not had many featured roles, something you can't say of KJ. I think the women's promotions were dictated by the fact that there were so few female principals, and even fewer healthy ones. To me, there is one dancer who stands quite far out from the rest, Mira Nadon. Her promotion was inevitable and didn't seem rushed when you saw her work this winter (particularly her Violin Concerto debut, frankly astonishing). Isabella LaFreniere is a long-time favorite on this board; I loved her Firebird but otherwise have not yet had that "I can't take my eyes off her" moment. However, I am willing to defer to management's taste on this since they have huge experience. Emilie is just as Cobweb described her, a highly skilled dancer whose performances sometimes feel muted. I think without the many retirements her elevation may never have come. But -- though she may not be a legend like Maria, Sara or Wendy, there have been many principal dancers in my time watching NYCB that she's on par with -- Rebecca Krohn or Abi Stafford, to name two recent examples. I feel for Ashley Laracey but she's 40. The only real headscratcher for me is Olivia MacKinnon. To me her stage presence is unremarkable.

I’m sorry Mira is not cast in Barocco, frankly. She’s lower on the totem pole, I understand. But first violin would be a great role for her. Tiler/Joe Gordon in Raymonda is intriguing.

It's just unimaginable for Jovani and his poor sister's little girls. I remember that his mother also had a devastating health crisis in the last two years.

My pleasure to be of help! The three principals are colloquially known as the Waltz Girl; the Russian Girl, who does the famous 5-woman slide into splits (danced frequently right now by Tiler, Erica Pereira and Ashley Bouder) and the Dark Angel, whom you know as the dancer who leads the second principal man across the floor with his eyes covered (right now often Emilie Gerrity or Megan LeCrone). Also, fun fact, the boys who lift Waltz Girl up at the end are called "the blueberries" and aren't listed in the casting.

She's Waltz Girl -- the photos were from the final moments of the ballet --

The other day Jovani showed rehearsal footage of square dance, which would be a debut for him at nycb (not sure if he danced it in Miami).

Who has danced it in the company? Sara Mearns & Ashley Laracey? To me the obvious casting would be Unity/Sara and then Mira/Isabella --

Yes, Clara Miller has a lovely post on her Instagram about leaving -- injuries were just too much. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cocz4YkuHJQ/ Olivia MacKinnon did a q&a on her Insta stories and said that she will be dancing "as one of the Russian Girls" in Serenade--