2/28 Matinee

[Helene]

I was visiting NYC, mainly to see the opera, and when I looked at the cast list for the only performance for which I had time (Sat, 28 Feb matinee), I almost passed. I don't boycott Borree automatically like Gottlieb does -- I save that for my least favorite Pacific Northwest Ballet ballerina -- but I wasn't jumping for joy, like I would have had Bouder been cast. However the pull of the score and the opportunity to see some of the young 'uns that the NYCB crowd has been describing all season were irresistable, and I did something uncharacteristic for a Seattle dweller: I shut myself inside a dark theater on a beautiful, sunny day.

Borree played a young Aurora, a little boy crazy among the handsome riches of the suitors. In the Vision Scene, I thought she portrayed the Aurora as she would have been when she awoke. (At least the Prince knew what he was getting!) Although they were rather small-scaled, I liked each of Borree's solos. Hubbe's partnering looked expert and sensitive to me, but she seemed diminished in the pas de deux.

I like the structure of the Rose Adagio, because I don't think Aurora's "coming out" party is all about young spontenaiety; the interactions with the suitors and the technical difficulty are, to me, the equivalent of the bows that debutantes practice for months on end, before the ball starts. There is a social obligation to perform as Princess, even if she is the center of attention at her debut. But I find it painful to watch dancers try not to fail in the part, because, as I was dismayed to read about Bouder's fall off pointe, it's a zero sum game, like the rest of the performance doesn't count if there's a bobble. Borree acquitted herself in the Rose Adagio, but I was glad when it was over, and not because she was the one dancing it.

I had forgotten how visually stunning the costumes were, and I've always liked the transitional slides on the front scrim. The Garland Dance is a dream of ever-expanding invention; it feels perpetual, like a double helix, and it was performed beautifully, even at the end of a looooong season.

I was in the last row of theater, and Hubbe's and Reichlen's mime carried to the back of the house clearly, without fuss. Ashley was a towering Carabosse, yet the unperturbable Reichlen swept her menace away with a gentle, but firm sweep. This reminded me of an example in the book Emotional Intelligence, where Bill Gates was throwing a tantrum in a meeting, and the only one who could get him to stop was a young woman who refused to be bullied, looked him in the eye, and quietly stated her case. Likewise, Carabosse's volcanic tantrum was disspelled by the quietness and merciful reason of Reichlen's Lilac Fairy. After that, she didn't even have to dance, but when she did, she was lovely, with long, articulate legs.

The fairies variations are taken with such breakneck speed, and they practically push each other out the door in succession, with not a moment to breathe in what they've just offered. Dana Hanson ended her variation with an attitude pirouette to her knee that looked like she had landed on a cloud. The rest was so fast that I felt like I had just gotten a glance at Glenn Keenan and Rachel Rutherford, whom I loved as Calliope at the beginning of the season.

The jewels section also went over my head, as it always has. I never had a good sense of Ruby and Emerald, and at rapid pace, I didn't "get" either Madradjieff's Ruby or Edge's Emerald. Riggins was very crisp as Diamond, which is the only variation that, to me, reflects its name; especially impressive were the sparkling jetes into perfect arabesque plie landings.

Sterling Hyltin was delightful as Puss in Boots, with her clear, incisive leg work and impeccable comic timing. Isabella DeVivo was a big presence of Little Red Riding Hood; I suspect that the Wolf didn't know what hit him once he got her home and she took over his house.

I thought Megan Fairchild was spectacular as Process Florine; I thought it the most defined and full performance of the afternoon, aside from Hubbe's. This was the first time I've seen the Bluebird pas de deux where it was not at all about Bluebird. When Fairchild danced with DeLuz, I didn't pay attention to him at all. When he was dancing, I was waiting for her. Even though he didn't show the starry flash that others have described in earlier performances, he was just plain sloppy: after each wonderful high brise in the opening sequence, he let his back leg collapse, and he had to regroup after all of the big effects. I didn't see any phrasing in his dancing, just photo highlights.

I know that matinees are full of children, and that quiet can't be expected, but it's the parents I'm concerned about. There were times during this performance that I thought I was at the circus. We had the very tall man who got up to stretch from the cramped seats during the orchestral interludes, the full out conversations whenever there wasn't dancing onstage, and complete picnic lunches consumed during the performance, and not just to keep the kids happy. The final score was: Shushers: 2; Coughers 175; Candy/Danish/Peanut-butter Sandwich/Danish/Juice unwrappers: 0000005 (the odometer turned over).

[oberon]

Hockeyfan,

Thanks for writing about this BEAUTY cast, which I missed. There is always alot of Borree-Bashing going on (even in my own household) so it was nice to read your reasonable account. And your description of the audience was hilarious!

Ob

[Juliet]

I enjoyed it very much, too. Thank you for writing!!!!

I was one of those who was out and about the greenmarkets, and everywhere else I could roam to take advantage of the weather.

Happy that you enjoyed it--how was the opera?

[Helene]

Momentarily off topic, I saw three operas, and there were magnificent performances in all three: Cynthia Lawrence's nuanced Tosca was the best I've heard: every phrase -- words and music -- was imbued with meaning; Dmitri Hvorostovky's rendition of Prince Yeletsky's aria in Queen of Spades was soft, seamless, and achingly sad; and Renee Fleming sang a rich and unique Violetta -- it was like seeing the character through a prism. Ramon Vargas has a wonderful voice and easy technique: his voice bloomed in Alfredo's music; in contrast to Fleming, his interpretation sounded very traditional, which worked dramatically. Samuel Ramey was quite the Scarpia, with his combination of menace and lust and that powerful bass voice. It was a great weekend packed with music and dance.