Spring 2004 - Week 8

[bobbi]

This Saturday afternoon's matinee - Allegro Brillante, Mozartiana and Tschaikovsky Suite 3 -- has got to rank as one of the very best of the season. The Allegro Brillante cast was Jeny Ringer and Marcovici. Although there were a few places where the partnering was a little nerve-wracking, they both were enjoyable.

The Mozartiana cast was Wendy and Hubbe, who both gave absolutely top-notch performances. (Why did I get the feeling that Wendy was glad to be back dancing in a real ballet after last night's new offering?) Hubbe has done yeoman service this season, and has looked superb throughout, including this afternoon. Both were both bravura and playful.

The Suite 3 was excellent. Again, Korbes and Hanna made a little short story out of the first movement; the loud applause after this section showed that the audience was involved in the drama. James Fayette and Rachel Rutherford were also excellent in the Waltz. Ashley B. and Le Luz very debutantes in the Scherzo. Wow!!! (Already-- with only a few more performances to go and the long six-month dry spell -- I am having Ashley B. withdrawal symptoms.) Again, the audience "got" how special their performance was and roared its approval. And then it was on to T&V. Well, I am happy to report that Miranda and Angel "got their act together" (after Friday's lackluster showing). Although not well-matched size-wise, they were both gave T&V its due, showing excellent technique and elegant phrasing. The adagio was one of those "to die for" renditions. I was surprised by Angel's sort of thumping landings, but otherwise he was a very attentive partner.

Terrific afternoon!!

[GeorgeB fan]

bobbi your description of Saturday's afternoon performance was right on the money. I said it on an early post - NYCB is dancing this season better then they have been in a long time. All the dancers seem to be going above and beyond!

While their performance was not as sharp as it should be, it obvious with time Jenifer Ringer and Sebastien Marcovici will surely come into their own in Allegro Brillante.

I loved Veronika Part in Mozartiana so much at ABT I created a topic about ABT dancing in more Balanchine ballets, not realizing the strong debate I would create over it. But after seeing Wendy Whelan's brilliant performance in the ballet I'm beginning to have second thoughts. Whelan is clearly one of the cornerstones of the company. And let's not forget those four little girls - WOW! Alexandra Kassidis, Tara Sorine, Beatriz Stix and Isabella Tobias danced with speed, sharpness, clarity and their jumps was high. The SAB is doing a great job.

Miranda Weese. If I wasn't already in love with this ballerina, I surely would be know. For me this is her season. Every ballet I've seen her in from Who Cares, The Four Seasons, Symphony in 3 Movement to this afternoon performance in the Theme & Variations section of Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3, Weese has been down right flawless! Always a technically strong dancer, she seem to finally allow the music to take over her body as well as dancing with more abandon. In my eyes, she's easy one of the top ballerinas currently with the company.

[bobbi]

It was another All-Balanchine Sunday afternoon: Allegro Brillante, Scherazo a la Russe, Duo Concertant and Tschaikovsky Suite 3.

Let's hope that all the would-be ballerinas as NYCB were watching in the wings while Madame Nichols was dancing Allegro Brillante. Yes, of course, she's lost technique these last few years, but not her musicality and innate sense of phrasing. I am sure Mr. Balanchine smiled from above and said, yes, that's how this ballet should be danced. Her partner was Jared Angle, who was making his debut. He was an excellent and attentive partner, had good stage presence himself, and was technically secure. In the NYCB lotto for male promotions, let's hope he makes the cut. The male corps -- Arch Higgins, Edwaard Liang, Seth Orza and Andrew Veyette -- are also good candidates for climbing the latter.

The Scherzo a la Russe featured the first appearance of two SAB 2004 Workshop "Wienees" (i.e., recipients of the Mae L. Wien Award): The 15-year-old Tiler Peck and 17-year-old Kaitlyn Gilliland. Both will be a joy to watch in the coming years. The only hold-back for Kaitlyn will be finding a partner tall enough for her. Both of them have spectacular extensions and stage presence already.

The Duo Concertant is the role in which I most enjoy watching Yvonne Borree. She seems to relax in this role, is in command and has a good sense of drama. Her partner was the inestimable Peter Boal (and who I hope all the would-be cavaliers are watching from the wings). Terrific performance. A good portion of the Sunday matinee audience was apparently new to the ballet, as they kept wanting to clap before the ending, which actually marred the drama a bit.

The closing was another good performance of Suite 3. I must add that I really prefer the way NYCB does T&V rather than ABT. Not just the additions Balanchine made to the adagio, but the way the demi-solists (here, Dena Abergel, Pauline Golbin, Dana Hanson and Abi Stafford) dance seems to me at principal level. Special mention today to the expansive dancing of Dana Hanson and the joyous Dena Abergel. In addition to the repeat of outstanding performances by Carla Korbes and Stephen Hanna in the Elergie and Ashley B. and De Luz in the Scherzo, I especially liked Rachel Rutherford and James Fayette in the Valse section.

[carbro]

Thank you for that, Bobbi.

Just want to say that while I was not there on Sunday, I also hope that dancers were watching. I wish they would occasionally watch not from the wings or the orchestra level, though. I think it would do young (and experienced) dancers a world of good to watch from the top of the house from time to time. It would give them an opportunity to take in the forest and not just the trees. In some 30 years of serious ballet attendance, I have only once seen a dancer (Peter Frame) watching from upstairs.

[oberon]

Carbro, I've sat next to Mary Helen Bowers and Emily Coates in 4th Ring (not at the same performance!)...the dancers who are not dancing have free standing room space on the First Ring; I have often seen Daniel Ulbricht, Abi Stafford, Janie Taylor and others there. Merrill Ashley & Sean Lavery seem to have their own personal seats near the rear of the orchestra...they are there at almost every performance.

[Michael]

I am a dissenting voice as to this. By disagreeing I do not mean to say that I am right or that anyone else is wrong. But I have to say that, while I thought the Elegie of Tschai Suite was very well performed this weekend in all three performances by Steven Hanna and Carla Korbes; and while Bouder and De Luz were wonderful in the Scherzo in both Matinees and Tinsley and Gold were very fine Friday night -- I thought Theme quite flat and strangely quiet in all three performances. And while I wasn’t there Wednesday night for Wendy’s Theme, by all reliable reports that was even worse, with Wendy taking a bad spill towards the end and the corps de ballet being quite unrehearsed that evening.

I don’t think Angel Corella should have been cast opposite Miranda Weese. He’s not only too small for her. He neither moves on a big enough a scale for her, nor has the necessary muscle to handle her, particularly in the lifts, where the impression was one of strain – Corella laboring very hard to lift her for a moment before rather quickly and somewhat abruptly putting her down.

But even more seriously, as a partner Corella restricted Weese’s ability to move large and to cut loose and just dance. Besides the great pas de deux, there is a good deal of tandem dancing in Theme for the principal couple side by side, as well as choreography in which the boy catches up with the girl and just sweeps her along. Watching these passages this weekend, one came to appreciate the big scale on which the NYCB men partner in this area. The result of matching Corella’s rather small style of partnering with Weese’s need for a big, strong partner in these passages was, perhaps predictably, a series of very cautious and small performances on her part. She seemed, like a pro, to reduce herself to what was possible. She also seemed to enjoy and to relate to Corella (perhaps a little more than he related to her). What you had was, therefore, a series of Themes with a good deal of perfume at moments, Themes in which the quiet passages for Miranda and the other girls were quite regal and beautiful. But one expects so much more from a Theme by this particular Ballerina.

In his own two to three Bravura variations, Corella earned a great deal of applause but I really thought he seemed very sloppy with his feet, never really getting around on one of his double tours and faking it, and I also thought that he was often a little tilted towards stage left and involuntarily moving in that direction as the series of tours progressed. His brisee line, further, is not very brisee. He is a very handsome, a very winning dancer with a wonderful stage personality. On the other hand, he seems to have absolutely no pliee at the moment, even less than usual. He never has had much of a pliee to begin with, I’m quite familiar with him at ABT, but whatever he had has positively disappeared, particularly when coming down to the floor from his jumps. His pliee makes De Luz’s look positively deep and weighty.

As for Miranda on her own in the open floor, I’ve seen her dance her first variation in Theme much better in the past. All three days, that devilishly fast and tricky first solo with its super quick batterie, alternated with air turns in pas de chat where the Ballerina lands spotting to the corner, before another instantaneous quick escape into beats with one extended leg, were muddy and slurred, something you rarely see from Miranda Weese, whose gift it is usually to show each motion in a complex enchainement very clearly. On Friday I thought it was Andrea Quinn’s impossible tempo (and to be sure Quinn conducted Theme inconsistently and poorly all weekend) which was to blame, but this variation did not improve much over the two matinees. Saturday’s was her best in this regard.

Her second big solo, however – the one after the quiet bit with the girls, when she is left alone on stage and the music picks up into a fast little march, with the Ballerina finally launching into a diagonal of big flying pas de chats, landing in and escaping from fifth position for each phrase, was as usual unbelievably brilliant -- I also have seen Theme dozens of times over a score of years, and no one I know dances, has ever danced, or I think will ever dance that particular variation as well as she does. Bravo once again.

So Theme this year, performed for the first time in Three Seasons, was better than the last time around, which people will remember as a very difficult season when there was no experienced Ballerina to cast in Miranda’s absence, but no more than that. Mainly I think because I was expecting so much more -- Theme is, as Mary Cargill once put it, one of the Sacred Ballets, and Weese’s Theme has been sublime in the past -- I was disappointed. But as the audience reaction was quite positive, I’m pretty sure I am in a minority as to the disappointment, with the principals today receiving an ABT-like ovation at the end, and Miranda even being tossed two bouquets. She looked delighted.

[Leigh Witchel]

Heh. I think Corella was tossed the bouquets from his ABT fans and he's a gentleman.

I saw Sunday afternoon and my opinion overlaps Michael's though I think we'll cling to each other as a minority view. Corella sold the ballet too hard for my taste. He landed from his jumps with a crash. He popped Weese into the air, but just as you shouldn't jump higher than you can softly land, if you're going to toss the ballerina you had best not toss her farther than you can properly catch her. Weese was bobbling turns - it just looked like an off day for her.

Boal and Borree did a lovely, lovely Duo. I was glad to catch it, along with Scherzo a la Russe. I think Allegro is a little exposing to Nichols in a way that Mozartiana wasn't.

[bobjot52]

This is only my second posting to this board, but I just returned from my first trip to see NYCB (and ABT, Broadway, etc.) in 10 years, though I have loved the company for more than 30 years. The particular week was not flexible, so I wanted to see specifically Mozartiana, Allegro, and Suite 3. When I got to the theatre to get tickets I was thrilled beyond belief to see that Kyra Nichols would be dancing both Mozartiana and Allegro in the performances I was seeing. She is my absolute favorite ballerina of all time in my thirty years of going to the ballet, but I doubted I would ever see her dance again. Also, Mozartiana is one of the two ballets that I somehow never saw her dance (along with Diamonds) so I was over the moon.

I was thrilled with Mozartiana, both for the genius of the ballet and Kyra's performance. She demonstrated all the qualities that made me love her so much. Allegro was also great to see, though I did not think it showed her to such good advantage. The wonderful musicality, precision, epaulement, and communciation with her partner were there, but I thought she was dancing somewhat cautiously. Still, all in all it was a great thrill for me.

I saw Wendy Whelan in Agon at the Sat. matinee, and it was extraordinary! She is sublime, another of my all time favorites. I do feel however that Jock Soto is too old to be dancing this part. He seemed a shadow of his former self.

At the Sunday Matinee (along with Allegro), I was very pleased to see Duo Concertante with the wonderful Peter Boal, and vey pleasing Yvonnee Bourree, who I have never seen in person before (it's been a long time). I remember this ballet fondly as one of the first Balanchine ballets I even saw and loved in 1974 with Peter Martins and Kay Mazzo. No couple I have ever seen have captured the poignancy and emotional appeal of the original cast, but Peter and Yvonnee were really quite wonderful.

Now for the major disappointment. I was really looking forward to Theme and Variations, but this performance with Miranda Weese and Angel Corella was a major dud. The corps and soloists danced well but the leads gave a very flat performance. Corella is fun to watch and he seemed to be trying to put some spark and dazzle into the pas de deux, but he seemed way too rough for this ballet. He missed the refined elegance that this cavelier should display. Also, I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, but Miranda Weese was a huge disappointment. I have been reading such wonderful reports of her, but have only seen her in the televised Swan Lake. I was impressed with her Swan (though not compared to the unbelievable Odette/Odile the I saw from Gilliam Murphy at ABT on Monday night. That was the second greatest Swan, after Cynthia Gregory in 1975, that I ever saw!). Miranda's Theme was disappointing in every way. Though she looked beautiful in ballerina mode, nothing was special. The two variations were uninspired. Extension, footwork, turning, attack, and focus were all lackluster. My guest, who had never seen NYCB, was seriously underwhelmed. I guess I am spoiled by by memories of Kirkland, Kyra in her prime, and Cynthia Gregory, but this performance made Theme look like absolutely nothing special; a disappointment for me as it is one of my all time favorites.

Anyway, in spite of Theme, it was a great joy for me to see NYCB (and ABT too) after so many years away. I don't know if I will ever be able to make the trip again, but I am very happy to have done so one last time.

[Leigh Witchel]

Bobjot - thanks for reporting! That's a great summary. I'm a fan of Weese, but also saw that performance - to me, she was having an off day and I hope do get to comeback again and that you'll see her at a better performance!

[Alexandra]

Bobjot -- I'll echo Leigh's thanks. Thanks for taking the time to write in such detail. I'm glad, since you loved the company and hadn't seen it in such a long time, that you got, for the most part, what and who you wanted to see. If you're seeing ballet at home, please report on that, too!

[oberon]

Bobjot, I so enjoyed your remarks about Kyra Nichols...she is one heavenly dancer!

[oberon]

Wednesday = OPUS 19/THE DREAMER received a mesmerizing performance from Whelan & Boal. Boal to me is a perfect dancer, everything is so clean and precise yet it all flows...and dramatically the man gives and gives and gives...I was enthralled watching him.Wendy's mystery & clarity echo him perfectly. One of the highlights of the season. Excellent corps.

Otherwise it was not an especially good night, though fun to see CORTEGE HONGROIS again...Albert & Ringer were sensational gypsies and Abi Stafford and Dana Hanson fine in their solos...Cavallo was good if a bit stiff, Nilas gave it a go and in the final series of turns he was pretty good. They looked like they needed one more rehearsal.

VALSE-FANTAISIE, such a pretty ballet, seemed lacklustre tonight. Whenever I see Megan Fairchild I feel I am watching some high-school kid...I cannot see anything special in her dancing and would rather have seen Abi, Carrie Lee Riggins, Bouder or Mandradjieff. de Luz was de Luz...small, cute, buoyant. The four corps girls did well. Borree and Hubbe danced ZAKOUSKI perfectly well but is is not a very interesting ballet and I have always hated the dumb final pose of the woman's solo.

But OPUS 19 made the evening worthwhile.

[Dansuer85]

I too saw the Wednesday Evening show. I most enjoyed Opus 19/The Dreamer. I had never seen it before and I thought it was very nice. Peter Boal is so gorgeous and Wendy looked just fabulous. The corps too was very nice.

My main reason for going to the Ballet tonight, was to see Valse Fantaisie, as it is one of my favorite Balanchine ballets, but alas tonight was a dissapointment. The corps was ok, not as good as I had hoped. The leads? Sorry, I do not like either one of them, atleast not in this part, which is the only thing I've seen either of them do. She did not move enough, her movement was very small and conatained, which for this peice is not good. He, well, im not sure how to describe what I thought of him. He's very flashy, and he over did the part SO much. Sometimes bending to the ground, and it really bothered me. I did not like either one of them at ALL in this peice.

The last peice, of which it's name I forget, set to music from Raymonda, I enjoyed thourougly. The guest from Royal Danish was very nice. Very diffrent from City Ballet dancers, which was a good contrast. Nilas Martin, I did not enjoy at all. He danced so heavy and I thought was so sloppy in his variation, and at one point during the pas de duex almost pushed her over. I thought the pas de quate was very nice. I especially enjoyed Mandrijeff(sp?), she was a joy to watch as were the others.

The Martins peice,was ok, the dancers were very nice, Hubbe and Boree. Enjoyed them alot. The peice it's self was enjoyable, but not something I would want to see often!

Sorry for spelling of the names, I do not have my program infront of me. I leave from NYC tomorrow, so this was the last of the performances that I will get to see of ABT or NYCB, Very sad as it was very fun!

[Michael]

Thinking it over this week, it came to me what was wrong with Andrea Quinn's tempos in Theme and Variations -- Not only were the allegro variations too fast -- but the pas de deux was also much too slow. The super fast allegro you can live with. If the dancers keep up so much the better. But slowing the pas de deux down is a more serious problem because it takes the sparkle and pop right out of the Ballet.

Hugo Fiorato in these final years could be infuriating too at times -- But it seems that in the Themes I remember best, the pas de deux was let to flow along at a fairly brisk pace that let the Ballerina show a very strong legato flow. It was definetely not what you would strictly call an adagio tempo, clearly something faster. I have no idea what the signature in the score literally calls for, but I think it's better danced at a faster pace. It's very beautiful when you let it move like that. Andrea Quinn takes it to the opposite extreme.

[Leigh Witchel]

Thinking back on another aspect of the season, I'm really glad I got to see the infrequently revied Scherzo a la Russe and not just for the opportunity to see the SAB kids in it.

On first viewing, I didn't understand the casting of Peck and Gilliland together. They're both very good dancers, and they both won Wien awards, but don't pair well. When I looked up the original casting - Kay Mazzo and Karin von Aroldingen, I understood that they were just following it, only exaggerated.

Scherzo a la Russe was premiered in the 1972 Stravinsky Festival, three days after Stravinsky Violin Concerto, a ballet it took me a long time to "get". Scherzo a la Russe is a sort of priner to it. Same leads in both ballets. Corps de ballet as squadrons, even more formally in Scherzo - they are mirror images and that never changes. And finally, same folk vocabulary. They were premiered in reverse order, but Scherzo a la Russe shows us the source material that gets stripped of his costuming and transformed in Violin Concerto and incorporated into modern ballet.

[Michael]

Interesting. And re Violin Concerto, by the way, Ansanelli had an absolutely brilliant performance on the final Sunday of the Season. With La Sylve not being far behind. Sebastien Marcovici and Nikolai Hubbe were their partners.

[Balanchinomane]

I used my last ticket on Sat Afternoon. But on Sunday I wandered over

because I could not miss Sofiane's debut in Stravinsky VC. What a

terrific cast. I cannot get over how exquisite she is. For those of you

who havn't seen her yet she resembles Catherine Zeta Jones only

prettier. She has nailed the 3 most complex Stravinsky Ballets and

every thing she's done this season and she is just getting started with

the Company. With Ansanelli and Hubbe, she and Marcovici got that

elusive 3rd curtain call. The houselights had already been turned on.

The applause continued as they bowed in front of the curtain - the

whole theater ablaze. Viva La France !!!

[Colleen Boresta]

I attended the Sunday, June 27th matinee. I was really looking forward to the Tschiakovsky Suite #3, and was very disappointed when I got to the theater and saw the Tsch. had been replaced by a second Stravinsky ballet. I imagine I'm in the great minority of posters, but I really haven't liked most of the Stravinsky ballets I've seen (Agon, Apollo, etc.). Sunday I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed both "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" and "Symphony in Three Movements."

I was especially impressed by Ansanelli and Slyvie in the Violin Concerto, and Adam Hendrickson and Ashley Bouder in Symphony. I really got into the quirky pas de deux from "Symphony". Whelan was great (as always), and Jock Soto was the best I've seen him in a long time.

I liked "Cortege Hongrois" as well, though I thought it was miscast in parts. The leading role is a grand ballerina part, and I don't think Caroline Cavallo fit that at all. Nilas Martins was actually not bad for Nilas Martins, but I don't think he fit the part either. I'd love to see either Sofianne Sylvie or Miranda Weese in the lead ballerina role, and Edward Liang as her cavalier. The folk dancers were the best part of the ballet in my opinion. Jennifer Ringer can dance any kind of part. She and Albert Evans were really fun to watch.