NYCB Spring 2007 Week 1

[perky]

Thank you drb for the post. And am I mistaken in thinking that it has been awhile since Maria danced Terpsichore?

[Dale]

Kowroski hadn't performed it with nycb since Igor Zelensky left. She performed it with Zelensky in London a few years ago (and I believe she's performed the pas de deux on gigs).

[FauxPas]

Through the generosity of a friend I had excellent seats for the Friday evening and Saturday afternoon programs at NYCB.

First Friday night which overall I enjoyed:

FRI., April 27, 2007 at 8 pm

Square Dance: M. FAIRCHILD, HÜBBE

FP: This was divine. I love the sparkling, effortless detail and concentration Megan Fairchild brings to her dancing. There is a certain freshness to her work that is perfect for a spare yet detailed work like this - it has to look simple even though it is complicated. Hubbe was a paragon of line and control. Very fine.

Pavane: NICHOLS

FP: Kyra danced this simple piece created for Patricia McBride in 1975. Very beautiful music gorgeously played by the orchestra. In many ways this was like Balanchine doing a tribute to the kind of work that Anna Pavlova might have programmed on her tours. A solo to classical music that combines (rather simple) classical footwork with expressionistic and expressive use of the upper body. Very uncharacteristic. Kyra was revealed totally covered in a translucent white veil which she then unfurled and did a lot of bourrees while it flew in the wind behind her. Kyra now has the stage presence and warmth to pull off this type of piece which requires huge amounts of personality and projection from the performer. She really looked lovely and ageless up there. Brava.

Episodes:

Symphony: A. STAFFORD, NEAL

5 Pieces: REICHLEN, la COUR

Concerto: WHELAN, EVANS

Bach: KOWROSKI, ASKEGARD

FP: This is a tough work with very interesting choreography to music by Anton Webern. Initially I found it hard to get into because the music is totally unmelodic. The entrance of Teresa Reichlen and Ask la Cour as mysterious figures in black and white colliding in a dark shadow world in the second movement drew me in. The complexity and brilliance of the intertwining of the soloists and corps in the third movement drew me in further. This was abetted by Wendy Whelan's authority and depth as partnered by Albert Evans. Kowroski is a favorite and the music after Gesualdo is much more melodic, so I liked the last movement very much. Not a piece I will want to see often but definitely top drawer Balanchine beautifully remounted.

Symphony In C:

1st Movement: SCHELLER (replacing RINGER), J. STAFFORD

2nd Movement: SYLVE, ASKEGARD

3rd Movement: BOUDER, DE LUZ

4th Movement: PECK, T. ANGLE

FP: Scheller was technically fine but needed a touch more projection and joy in movement to register as a ballerina up there. Sylve was glamorous but lacked that dreamy quality in her movement (look at some of what Lopatkina and other Russians have done in this second movement - practically the Kingdom of the Shades). Her strength and brilliant technique gave her a dominating presence but she seemed to smile a lot and I think she should be pensive in this section. Ashley Bouder and an ebullient, flashy Joaquin de Luz lit up the stage in the third movement. Superb technicians who radiate propulsive forward-moving energy that can't lose in this choreography. The fourth movement was Tiler and Tyler - both projecting great joy in being up there and inviting everyone on for a joyous close.

Saturday afternoon I was a bit tired and the program was all leotard ballets to modern music lacking the variety of Friday evening.

SAT., April 28, 2007 at 2 pm [KAROUI]

Apollo: HÜBBE, BORREE, BOUDER, *M. FAIRCHILD

FP: It has been a while since I have seen the NYCB shortened version without the birth scene and the stairs. (Kirov, ABT and Suzanne Farrell's company all do the Prologue). There are gains and losses. You don't see the god maturing from infancy and innocence to mastery and knowledge. He seems to start out in control of his art and his muses. Nicolaj Hubbe has a very god-like presence and great authority in this role. However, age and injuries limit his elevation in jumps and some of the characteristic jumps with hip swivels barely registered due to his technical limitations. In general he was fine but he also had to pace himself. Yvonne Borree has a lack of authority and did not dominate over the other muses as Terpsichore. Her dancing seemed to be broken up into steps and looked calculated. This was made clearer in contrast by the strength and talent of Megan Fairchild and Ashley Bouder as Calliope and Polyhymnia.

Episodes:

Symphony: A. STAFFORD, NEAL

5 Pieces: REICHLEN, la COUR

Concerto: WHELAN, EVANS

Bach: KOWROSKI, ASKEGARD

Same cast and same impression as Friday night.

The Four

Temperaments: ARTHURS, DANCHIG-WARING, HANKES, HALL,

LeCRONE, ORZA, SUOZZI, SYLVE,

ASKEGARD, la COUR, REICHLEN (replacing BAR) Moredock

FP: I was quite tired at this point but the genius of this work revived my interest and enthusiasm. Two of my favorite ballerinas - Teresa Reichlen as Choleric and Sofiane Sylve in Sanguinic dominated the stage. Sean Suozzi impressed me with Villella-like intensity in Melancholic. Ask la Cour just needed a bit more physical control to project the Phlegmatic section. Wonderful work by Seth Orza in the beginning, he always stands out in ensemble.