Opening Night

[oberon]

OCTET is modestly attractive, the music pretty & danceable, the costumes simple, the ten dancers (2 couples each with 3 corps boys backing them) are sometimes seen to repeat sections of the choreography. Ashley Bouder & Benjamin Millepied are the bravura couple, their speedy & tricky partnering in the third movement quite exhilirating. Ben looks really good, has regained most of his pre-injury form and is light as a feather. Bouder slipped on an exit in the first movement but Benjamin caught her and swept her off. She danced impressively. Carmena & Suozzi were featured in the virtuoso segments. Darci is looking lovely as ever, and Stephen Hanna has become a very charismatic stage personality, with a fantastic body and rapidly developing skills as a partner. Their adagio was overly long for the choreographic content...very pleasant but unexceptional. I think adding some girls to the corps would make the piece more effective. Jon Stafford, Seth Orza and Andrew Veyette (with a neat new haircut) were fine as the "green" trio. I could see this ballet again...or not. I didn't feel strongly one way or the other.

Sofiane Sylve is one of the most strikingly beautiful ballerinas I have ever seen...her big-scale dancing was a pleasure to watch in Tchaikovsky PDD. Askegard was an amiable cavalier, his variation not quite sparkling.

Between these two pieces we had a mesmerizing performance of LITURGY...Jock Soto is the partner every ballerina must dream of: he gives Wendy the freedom to go beyond the boundries of what we might think the human body can do. Tonight, her other-worldly presence and uncanny elasticity aligned with her searching, dazzling eyes and her mystical expression put this performance way up at the top of my (huge) list of Wendy's most memorable evenings. The piece, with its achingly eerie lyricism, seemed to hold the audience in its thrall: totally attentive. But after the silent coda, in which the dancers seem to become automatons - endlessly repeating the series of gestures as the stage darkens - there ensued a roaring ovation from all parts of the house. Jock & Wendy drew the elusive 3rd call before the curtain...and this from a gala audience.

I didn't stay for I'M OLD FASHIONED...I would love to have seen the dancers, but the piece is not one I really enjoy.

[Farrell Fan]

For me, the evening was more enjoyable than I'd expected. Martins's "Octet" showed him in an usually benign mood -- soothed perhaps by the Mendelssohn music. It harked back to the ballets he choreographed for the company's young men a couple of decades ago. If you count the two soloists, there were eight male dancers, to match the eight musicians in the pit. I agree with Oberon that the pas de deux for Kistler and Hanna went on past the point of ennui.

I also agree that Wheeldon's "Liturgy" was the highlight of the night. Wendy's costume by Holly Hynes made her dancing seem even more stunning. Sylve and Askegard were beautifully elegant -- but elegance is not necessarily the quality one looks for in the Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux. I'm Old Fashioned got the standard performance from the usual recent suspects -- Kowroski, Ringer, Rutherford, Neal (nice to see him again), Marcovici, and Higgins. As usual, Fred Astaire was the audience favorite.

[paulofnyc]

I was just glad to see NYCB back at The New York State Theater.

It seems like such a long time since June.

I'm curious how they select who dances at the galas.

Do the principles who did not dance have injuries?

To me everyone looked in fine form.

I was trying to pick out celeberites in the audience but didn't see any. Does anyone know any household recognizable names who were there?

I did note a lot of security guarding the tables at intermission. What were they afraid of? On the other hand a friend of mine, who had a performance-only ticket, went early and innocently was able to be part of the pre-formance cocktail reception.

[Farrell Fan]

Since I always sit in the third ring for the NYCB opening, I'm glad to have a friend who has the unusual ability to recognize celebrities just from the tops of their heads. But he wasn't there last night. Check the back of the NY Times Style section on Sunday, where they have photos of socialites and others at various parties and benefits. They usually do a feature on the opening. As for the security guarding the tables, I think most of those guys were tall waiters.

[Dale]

paulofnyc, the gala is cast the same way as the rest of the season. NYCB rarely does one of those "let's get everyone on so their fans can see them" galas. As you can see from the Nutcracker casting, the principals who did not dance on Opening Night are not all injured. Is the cocktail hour only for dinner guests? I don't drink but several times I've been with performance-only people who did take the offered wine or something, so I'm not sure it was restricted.

[oberon]

I think the program was designed to feature works of NYCB's 4 main choreographers. It would be hard to come up with an evening in which all the principals could be seen...unless it were just snippets of several ballets.

Perhaps the security guards were there to be sure no terrorists poisoned the food. I saw a few dancers in the audience: Megan Fairchild, Daniel Ulbricht and the very chic Pauline Golbin. Do they count as celebrities?

[Balanchinomane]

I saw Merrill Ashley on the Promenade. She's beautiful.

And she looks so happy. For me, she's the quintessential

former Ballerina. She's like an Ambassador for the Company.

She took part in so many of the Centennial programs and

events this past year. I think I saw her imprint on Sofiane's

brilliant debut in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux - the use of her

head and upper body - coupled with Ashley's speed --Wow.

Octet was pleasant to watch. Very good dancing, a nice piece

of music and lovely costumes. Holly Hynes designed those

too - Raspberry for the allegro and Jade for the adagio.

Her designs always show off the work so well - she is

very talented.

Liturgy was the Best-In-Show. What are we going to do

without Jock? What is Wendy going to do without Jock?

They are sensational together.

We have a wonderful year to look forward to. :rolleyes:

[oberon]

Albert Evans is not a replacement for Jock but he & Wendy are superb together. And people are always clamouring to see Albert more frequently.

I also like the pairing of Wendy with James Fayette.

And she was forming a great alliance with Robert Tewsley who has unfortunately departed.

[Hal]

Spotted Allegra Kent on the promenade. Also, there is a gentelman who is always at the ballet but I don't know who he is. He always wears a leather jacket and baret. He used to sit next to Jerome Robbins in row c of the orchestra on the left site. He was there in a SUIT with his baret of course. Anyone know who he is?

[Leigh Witchel]

Sounds like you're referring to Aidan Mooney, who is one of the trustees of the Robbins Trust.