NYCB performances in Southern California

[art076]

Thursday night –

“Concerto Barocco” is a very satisfying piece choreographically, with the way it sits so perfectly on Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. There’s a swingy undertone to the concerto that Balanchine captures perfectly while at the same time capturing the lyricism of the score on the surface. On Thursday night, it took a bit of time to warm up, but it was again quite satisfying to watch. Yvonne Borree in the principal role was a bit mechanical and cold, but serviceable. Rachel Rutherford was much more alive and was more interesting to watch, especially in the first movement, and James Fayette partnered Boree assuredly. The corps was great in the final movement: there is some great imagery here, including unison hops on point, and traveling patterns, and when done correctly it is wonderful – which it was Thursday. The momentum built to a great conclusion, and again, quite satisfying if not the best performance of the piece. (Looking forward to seeing Kowroski take the lead role on Saturday afternoon).

“Hallelujah Junction” is just very fast, and features a lot of great dancing – if not a lot of great dances. I’m not completely sure what I think of the ballet itself yet; it was interesting, but I don’t instantly like it. However, the dancers in this piece – Jamie Taylor, Sebastien Marcovici, and Benjamin Millepied in the leads, with Ashley Bouder and Megan Fairchild among the ensemble standouts – dance it far more energetically and interestingly than they have danced any other piece through this entire run. Its an interesting conundrum that the best dancing comes out of this piece instead of the more revered Balanchine all over the other programs – perhaps the dancers enjoy having the new work to dance instead of, for NYCB, what would be the same old Balanchine?

Alexandra Ansanelli and Stephen Hanna did “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux.” Ansanelli is wonderful – great snaps in arabesque to key points in the music, an easy ability to do pirouettes and look like a serenely spinning top, and a relaxed but assured stage presence. Stephen Hanna partnered very well in the adagio, then showed off some great tricks of his own in the variation & coda. The audience ate up this display of virtuosity from both of them.

“I’m Old Fashioned” started off as a crowd pleaser (people enjoyed seeing Fred Astaire up there in an old fashioned movie), but the ballet began to bore me later on. Some quaint humor here and there, but the dancing all moves rather slowly, especially in comparison to the three other pieces on tonight’s program. Serviceable dancing all around, though nothing too spectacular to mention: Maria Kowroski, Rachel Rutherford, Jenifer Ringer, Jared Angle, Arch Higgins, and Nikolaj Hubbe were the principals.

[Maxi3D]

Does anyone know the names of both the music and the composer that were performed for Hallelujah Junction? The dueling pianists performances were outstanding, they almost overshadowed the dancers on stage.

Also I would highly recommend everyone who are going to the L.A's performances to attend the ballet preview talk before the performance. Former NYCB soloist Zippora Karz was at the Music Center on Wednesday and Thursday, she shared with us about her experiences dancing with the NYCB, she also went into detail on the finer points of apperciating Balanchine's choreographs.

[oberon]

HALLELUJAH JUNCTION is by John Adams and I think it is the name of the musical piece as well as of the ballet. I seem to recall that it is named after a town in California. I think it is one of Peter's finest ballets, maybe the best of them all.

[carbro]

Former NYCB soloist Zippora Karz was at the Music Center on Wednesday and Thursday, she shared with us about her experiences dancing with the NYCB, she also went into detail on the finer points of apperciating Balanchine's choreographs. 

Any amplification of this would be enormously appreciated, Maxi.

[Maxi3D]

Sure Carbro I will amplify it for you Sorry about being thin on the details, it was very late last night when I wrote it. Ms. Karz talked about how she started ballet when her mother took her sister and her to a ballet school in the valley. At first, she didn't understand ballet and had only saw ballet performance once on T.V. and was bored by it. In ballet school she had to played catch up with her sister.

Ms. Karz's ballet teacher encouraged her to audition for the major companies around the country, especially SAB. She was accepted into the SAB in 1980 at an age of fifteen. Ms. Karz join the NYCB in 1983, the year when Mr. Balanchine passed away. She was greatly sadden by Mr. B's death but also felt excited to be dancing for the ballet company of her dream.

Ms. Karz's first major role was to dance Sugar Plum(sp?) fairy while she was with the corps. She also told us that while at the age of 21 she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetic. She said it was great honor to be able to dance Mr. Balanchine's ballets and also to pass the ballets on to other ballet companies around the world as a repetiteur for the Balanchine's trust.

Of the ballets that were performed on Wedensday and Thursday Ms. Karz told us on how to watch out on how the dancers move, especially at the beganning and at the end of a movement. For example, on how the emphasises were placed on how dancer brings her leg up and lower her leg to the floor so as not to plunk her feet.

Ms. Karz also told us to watch out for on how the dancer's port-de-bras, she wanted us to see how the dancers hold their hands and other small but yet improtant details.

This is as about as much as amplification as I can do and thank you Oberon for the John Adams info.

[carbro]

Thanks for the notes, Maxi!

I remember Zip Karz's debut as Sugar Plum quite fondly. You could really see the promise behind those nerves.

[Maxi3D]

On Saturday evening's ballet preview talk Christopher Wheeldon was at the Music Center along with Zippora Karz. I was only able to catch the tail end of the lecture

[art076]

Ashley Bouder debuted in "Serenade" on Saturday night, in the role of the Russain girl. It was a wonderful performance, with her dancing so effortlessly musical, assured, and secure. She was light as a feather, and the music really did seem to carry her along as though she were a sail in the wind. But what was also remarkable was how she snapped into every pose fully and with great detail; it wasn't a half arabesque because the music was so fast, it was a complete picture and it looked so effortless. Her two other principals on Saturday, Darci Kistler and Sofiane Sylve, looked a bit less effortless. Kistler, as the girl who falls down, seems to be reaching many limitations as her career grows longer, and though she had the right temperment for "Serenade" - something which I noted last week - on second viewing, her technical limitations looked odd in comparison to everyone around her. Sylve, in the Dark Angel role, doesn't seem right for "Serenade." Her eternally cool demeanor fights against the effortlessness of the choreography, and in her dancing, you can definetly see her preparations for each step - they don't flow quickly and easily as, say, Bouder's for example. While Sylve is able to incorporate this into other ballets such as "Agon," it works to her disadvantage here. On the whole, however, a decent "Serenade" from the corps, but of course Ashely Bouder was the highlight.

"Stravinsky Violin Concerto" was the same cast as last week, and a similarly fun performance.

"Carnival of the Animals" was cute, but I didn't take to it. Some interesting choreography here and there from Wheeldon, e.g. the pas de deux for the boy's mother, and the dance for the fossil ballerinas. On the whole, however, I found the narrative a stretch, and the set up distracting and cumbersome. I should note I've never seen a "Carnival of the Animals" before, so maybe the ballet itself is like this - there doesn't seem to be too much in the score to provide transitions between the various animals that come and go in the ballet.

[Maxi3D]

Thus ends a wonderful two weeks of NYCB season in Southern California. Now I have to wait another four years for the company to come back again.

[pj]

We really enjoyed seeing NYCB last night in L.A.. Our family really liked Carnival, and after hearing Chris Wheeldon speak about his "vision" for the ballet during the pre-performance lecture, we felt that he had accomplished his goal with the piece. It had to be a really fun for the dancers, because it is so different from what they're used to. I really enjoyed Christine Redpath's "Swan." We all thought that John Lithgow's participation really made it special. He is one of the "good guys" for the classical arts that is in our area, and we appreciate all he does for the arts in L.A.

I liked Serenade and felt that Bouder had the finest performance, and we all, unfortunately, agree with art076 about Kistler's performance.

In Violin Concerto, the younger men were very good as an ensemble, and the more mature men looked as though they were having the time of their lives -- which is a good thing to see in any performance. My daughter, the classics purist, really liked Violin Concerto the best (as long as someone other than mom calls it "ballet," she will like it (even if most people agree that it is rather contemporary in nature). She generally turns her nose up at anything she considers too contemporary. Go figure!

We did get a bit of a treat -- Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck (I don't know if I spelled that correctly) were in the audience, not far from where we were sitting. I noticed that they didn't come back after the second intermission, but I suspect they may have gotten out of the theatre when they saw a large group of young girls waiting to ask them for autographs. It's too bad that some people just can't leave a celebrity alone to enjoy a night out and be a normal person.

[aigle]

Since some of you knocked Darci Kistler I would like to report that Lewis Segal wrote in the Los Angeles Times on 11 October "Balanchine's "Serenade" (1934) and "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" (1972) each boasted great performances on Saturday evening: a sublimely sensitive one by Darci Kistler in the former..."

[Leigh Witchel]

[moderator beanie on]

Aigle -

People need to be able to report what they saw, whether they liked it or not and whether their views match the reviewers, as long as the comments don't turn into personal attacks.

If you saw the performance and thought differently, by all means report in. If you question it, fine as well, but kindly do it in a way that doesn't read as an attempt to squelch disagreement. There will always be differing viewpoints.

[moderator beanie off]

[Andre Yew]

I'm not sure what happened to Darci over the week, but I saw her dance in Orange County the week before in the same role, and she was really excellent. I preferred Jennifer Ringer's more intense performance the next day in OC, but Darci's performance was not technically weak in the Oct. 2, Saturday night performance. I don't doubt what Art saw --- perhaps she tired out at the end of a long tour. I didn't see the Saturday night LA performance, so I can't give a first hand report of it.

--Andre

[art076]

I must say - and I did say this when I posted about Orange County - that I did find Darci Kistler's performance in "Serenade" to be quite good when I saw it last week. And she kept that same temperament that I liked so much when I saw it on Saturday in Los Angeles, but on the second viewing, I also noticed how she lacked a certain ease and freedom of movement that the younger dancers had. This just looked odd to me in comparison to the others, especially when Bouder was doing wonderfully on Saturday night. Not to say that Bouder has reached the same level of achievement that Kistler has, but on a purely technical viewpoint, I found Kistler's Saturday night "Serenade" problematic.

[dewdrop]

Go Ashley!