Week 3

[oberon]

Thursday 1/20

Over the years, I have had mixed feelings about GOLDBERG VARIATIONS...sometimes I feel it is a veritable treasure chest filled with dance goodies...other times it seems overly long and not especially inventive choreographically. Tonight, I felt both ways at times but in the end a very strong cast prevailed and left me feeling satisfied. Miranda Weese was on sparkling form, particularly her climactic solo passage which starts off with a couple signature Miranda-balances and evolves into a series of whirlwind pirouettes. Peter Boal seemed to be really enjoying dancing with her. Kowroski was at her most lyrical and serene, and Neal has a very good role here, both as her partner and in his solo with its humorous winding-down conclusion. Wendy Whelan articulates everything to perfection, meanwhile allowing herself to stretched and manipulated by the cool and sexy Albert Evans, who also danced his solo passages with a flair that makes me regret he is not often cast in more bravura parts. The earlier group of soloists was highlighted by Joaquin de Luz in a role that might have been created for him, and by the excellent performances of Janie Taylor and Ashley Bouder. Seeing these two girls together, both clearly headed to the upper echelon, made me feel good about the future of NYCB. Likewise, Steve Hanna is

heir apparent to the cavalier roles and Jared Angle was having an especially fine night - both here and in the Waltz of SUITE #3. Arch Higgins completed a strong roster, and corps standouts were too numerous to mention. Teresa Reichlin & Jason Fowler were ideally matched in the Theme. The boys look great in their elegant costumes at the end.

The opening Elegie of SUITE #3 received an engrossing performance from Ellen Bar (replacing Korbes...what has become of her?) and Ask LaCour. Bar's glamourous face & figure simply radiate star quality while LaCour was an ardent partner and facially able to project the dreamy, and later the bereft, qualities of the role. Jennier Tinsley in the Waltz (with Jared A) again raised the question: why is she not cast more often and in a wide variety of roles? Tonight she was just wonderful. Then came Ashley Bouder's electrifying performance of the Scherzo...she might have been born to dance this part...I was aware of Tom Gold leaping and spinning his way thru the steps but Bouder just mesmerized me. Brava! Despite one tiny miscalculation at the end of her solo, Sylve was the T & V ballerina deluxe...grand-scale dancing and simply radiant. Askegard took care of her nicely. I was especially glad to see Rebecca Krohn in the corps, she has been absent for a while...I realized what it is that I like about her: she looks like a ballerina should look...if that makes any sense.

I dd notice tonight that some of the girls seem to be over-doing the makeup and false eyelashes...perhaps Sylve could give a masterclass in stage make-up...her's was just right.

[Michael]

Goldberg Variations was indeed delightful. The casting was exquisite – I can’t imagine better at the moment. The Ballet as a whole looks good or better than good. It’s destined, I think, to maintain or enhance Robbins reputation. The choreography lets you see the dancers. It’s “dancer – based,” so to speak. I can’t think of another Ballet where you can less unravel the proverbial “dancer from the dance.” It’s freer in form, more original, less cloying and less treacley than “Dances at a Gathering” (although with DAAG Robbins seems to have invented an entire genre of Ballet Performance at a stroke and Goldberg derives from DAAG in this way).

Watching Goldberg last night, one realized how the passage of time provides perspective and changes reputations. Seen at this remove from 1970, the spare ness of the conception clearly relates to the artistic minimalism of the post-New York School period, when visual artists were paring things down to pure line and eliminating everything extraneous and which eventually generated things, in painting, like the linear work of Robert Mangold and Sol Lewitt. And in fact, looking back now, you can see how, with Ballets like his very early “Interplay” Robbins even anticipated this movement.

Yes, Goldberg is extravagantly long. But I think if you love this company you have to love seeing this Ballet. The level of performance was extraordinarily high and the commitment by the company to polishing it up to this degree is admirable.

[oberon]

Friday 1/21

Wonderful DIVERTIMENTO #15...the cast remained unchanged from the first week, with the exception of Jennifer Tinsley replacing Megan Fairchild. Tinsley is a dancer I always enjoy and here she fit in perfectly with the other women: Weese, Bouder, Rutherford and Taylor. Jared Angle is looking good since he returned from injury. In the corps, I am finding Sarah Ricard irresistable this year.

POLYPHONIA is for me the most impressive of the Wheeldon ballets to date. He uses the music so well. Jock & Wendy's two duets remain the high points, but there is much to appreciate from the other couples as well, and Alexandra Ansanelli - who has really the only solo passage in the piece - danced with great clarity. Seth Orza partnered her, replacing Craig Hall. Miranda Weese and Edwaard Liang are interestingly paired, and again Tinsley made a vivid impression, dancing with Jason Fowler who has been taking advantage of his opportunities this season with some stage-filling dance.

STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO seemed remarkably fresh & was very stronlgy cast, Alexandra & Nikolaj Hubbe bringing a kind of offbeat lyricism while Sylve & Albert Evans were expansive and sexy. The corps, notably Reichlin, Arthurs, Ricard & Amar Ramasar, provided plenty of eye-catching vignettes.

[oberon]

Saturday 1/22 matinee & evening

Happy Birthday Mr. B!!

Matinee: an all-Balanchine birthday cake served to an intrepid gathering of fans who braved the blizzard. Anyone feeling a chill was instantly warmed when Jenifer Ringer and Philip Neal appeared at the beginning of LA SOURCE. Ringer gave just such a beautiful performance...other adjectives could describe her dancing but "beautiful" says it all. She is the kind of dancer you want to send a Valentine to, along with roses and champagne...bravissima! She and Neal reached a rapport within seconds; Neal, who has understandably been dancing a bit cautiously since his injury, here seemed to cast off his reserve...his smile lit up, and the two dancers created a fine romantic atmosphere. Ashley Bouder was on top form and transported the audience with her virtuosity. Beautiful bevy of corps girls, again Ricard capturing my attention...

Coming out to the Promenade at intermission, the outdoor view was a wall of white snow...some people packed up & left but they missed a splendid AGON in which Teresa Reichlin paralyzed my opera glasses with her leggy presence, and the great Peter Boal danced one of his signature roles. Wendy & Jock have danced many AGON duets over the years and today they again captivated the audience with their uncanny strength, stretch and daring. Dana Hanson, Jennifer Tinsley, Jason Fowler & Steve Hanna completed the cast and showed AGON afresh as the great masterpiece it is.

Sylve repeated her dazzling performance in CORTEGE HONGROIS, this time with the affable Nilas Martins. A treat today was the fresh casting of Melissa Barak and Eddie Liang leading the czardas brigade. Articulating the tricky steps with precision, Barak & Liang seemed to be having a grand time...few dancers project the sheer joy of what they are doing like Ed Liang. His irrepresible grin says it all. It is so good to see Barak stepping out more this season. The big corps, with the Glenn Keenan and Dana Hanson doing the two solos, were exciting.

Evening: OCTET, Peter Martins' latest, is a pleasant ballet...the pas de deux for Darci & Steve Hanna, while very nicely danced, is just a bit too long for its content. Bouder and Millepied turned on the fireworks...Benjamin sometimes literally seemed to be flying. I half expect that one day he will simply go up and never come down...amazing! The six corps boys are given more work in this ballet than you would normally expect in a full-length classic. To really see what they are doing, you have to pick one and follow him...so tonight I watched Andrew Veyette and, my God, what a workout! In the full-stage picture you note that the boys are doing lots of jumping and turning, but when you really focus on a single dancer, you are just knocked out.

Wheeldon's IN THE RAIN drew a huge reception, much deserved by the excellent dancers...but I was a little mystified by the piece. Aside from the music all being by Part, the two sections really seemed like 2 totally different ballets. After the darkish opening segment, beautifully danced by Kowroski with Ask LaCour, Sylve with Edwaard Liang, and Jock & Wendy, the stage brightens somewhat...the orchestra in the pit is replaced by solo violin & piano onstage, and Jock and Wendy reappear. They have shed their blue body tights and Wendy wears a plain pink leotard and Jock wears baby-blue pajama bottoms. Wendy, in soft slippers, no tights and with her hair down looks incredibly vulnerable. They dance a slow, hypnotic duet which revels in Wendy's uncanny flexibility and fluidity and Jock's strength...in the end they slowly collapse on one another and seem to go to sleep. This was, of course, fascinating to watch and won an enormous ovation but I was not sure how it related to the opening section. I'll have to see it again.

In a birthday-capping performance of spectacular bravura, Janie Taylor danced SQUARE DANCE with revelatory clarity and brilliance. I'm sure Mr. B, watching from the heavens, would have been more than pleased. Nilas may not be a virtuoso but he knows how to show off his ballerina and he gave Taylor the kind of support that allowed her to dance with real freedom. Taylor received an enthusiastic reception, much deserved. The corps again did some fine work, and I love watching Amanda Edge, here paired with Sean Suozzi.

During the intermission at the matinee, I overheard a young man ask one of the volunteers at the information table: "How old is Balanchine?" The woman replied, "He would be one hundred and one if he were still alive..." There was a pause and then she said, "Well, he IS still alive..." How very true.

[perky]

Matinee and evening........during a blizzard! Oberon you're a prince! Thanks for your posts!

[paulofnyc]

At the Saturday evening and Sunday performances I sensed a good deal of the dancers interacting with smiles to each other and giving the sense that they were really enjoying what they were doing. Was it due to the snow and they knew that only the die-hard fans would be in the audience, or were they glad with the promotions, did they get a good pep talk just before curtain or was it Mr. B's birthday grace pouring down on them?

[oberon]

I think the dancers smiling at one another and a sense of camaraderie onstage are genuine. NYCB, probably more than ABT, seems like a family to me (one in which I like to think of myself as a very distant cousin)...I often see the dancers trekking up and down Broadway in groups or sitting outside the stage door in nice weather, having a cigarette or walking their dogs (everyone seems to have a dog). There doesn't seem to be any rank discrimination; principals, soloists and corps dancers mix and mingle.

It was kind of sweet, on Friday night in DIVERT 15, Bouder & Taylor - both brand new principals - were thrown together is several courtly passages and were beaming at one another.

Only once did I see a dancer pointedly ignore a colleague onstage; I thought it was kind of blatant but no one else seemed to notice.

[AmandaNYC]

I'm glad you noticed that, too, oberon! I was sitting very close, so I thought others might not see it.

I have noticed on numerous occasions that Bouder very much interacts (with her eyes) with others on the stage and often gets great smiles back from them. She seems to bring out the best in others with whom she dances. And, it was wonderful to see that happen with Taylor. Taylor often does not look happy on stage, which is a shame since there's a such a vibrancy to her dancing when she does look like she's enjoying herself. She did react to Bouder with a big smile and seemed to enjoy the next passages much more. And, so I enjoyed her much more.

It was kind of sweet, on Friday night in DIVERT 15, Bouder & Taylor - both brand new principals - were thrown together is several courtly passages and were beaming at one another.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Farrell Fan]

I think the dancers smiling at one another and a sense of camaraderie onstage are genuine. NYCB, probably more than ABT, seems like a family to me (one in which I like to think of myself as a very distant cousin)...

Oberon, I know how you feel. Enough time has passed since I got the following note so that I can safely share it now without dissolving into tears.

"April 4, 1995

Dear Mr. D'Angelo,

The SAB/NYCB family is a large and very extended connection of many varied people, but it is a family nonetheless. And when one of our family members dies, it's a loss for all the rest of us.

I was deeply sorry to learn of your wife's death and, on behalf of all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws, extend my deepest sympathies. We shall all miss her. Please accept our heartfelt condolences.

Sincerely,

Peter Martins"

[Dale]

Farrell Fan, that is a lovely letter to receive. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[oberon]

Farrell Fan, the letter made ME dissolve in tears! It is very nice of you to share this personal message with all of us...

Oberon

[Michael]

The highlight of last week for me was Saturday Afternoon and Jock Soto and Wendy Whelan dancing the pas de deux in Agon.

It's nearly a week later and still with me and may always be.

Jock has never had a totally classical body. Neither has Wendy. In his case, it's the twilight of a career, and My Gosh will he be missed. Yes, if he had to perform a classical pas de deux with an adagio variation he would mark the steps and he hasn't had to do one in years. The Pas in Agon, however, is another story. One cannot imagine this being danced better.

As Soto and Whelan perform it, this Pas has legato flow amounting to a sense of inevitability. Each motion is "just so", going to the proper place with a minimum of gesture, the two of them so perfectly in sync. The moment when he bends over, modestly and just so, and takes her leg and gently lifts it up. The ease and, again, quiet modesty of it. The other moment when she is in arabesque and he sinks to the floor on his back -- Whelan maitained such a quiet balance here. The distortions, so to speak, involved in both their native lines are very well coordinated, or something more.

The lines, both his and hers are to Picasso, what? -- The Boucher or Fragonard which the draftsmanship of the Classical age of Ballet sought to embody?

But also they both move with such a "spacey" kind of slowed down ease, even within fairly brisk movements -- It's truly the kind of modernism which I think Balanchine was trying to sum up in Agon. It's not only a distortion of the pose one ends with, but a distortion of the style of movement itself and of course that's very difficult to explain.

I left the theater astonished and a little hypnotized by the Pas -- and also a little sad. I think that Soto will be quite irreplaceable in this. After thinking it over for nearly a week now, I can't imagine anyone inside or outside of this company who will be able to step in and partner Whelan in this. I know who will try but I also know that it just cannot be the same.