REVIEWS: NYCB Spring 2007, Weeks 2-3

[Dale]

Robert+Robert on Romeo+Juliet.

Two distinctive voices chime in on NYCB's new production.

Robert Greskovic in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal (subscription required):

"Romeo + Juliet"'s lack of dramatic depth is an especially sad comment on Mr. Martins, who was schooled in the extraordinary storytelling traditions of the Royal Danish Ballet, his alma mater. During his own dancing days with NYCB, his mimetic ability far surpassed that of most of his colleagues. His sly Frantz in "Coppelia" and his cameo as a cigarette-chewing Jack tar in "Union Jack" are among NYCB's most memorable portrayals. Here, in lieu of human behavior and dramatic gesture arranged to set off individual dance passages, we have dancers, nearly none of whom have the background in dramatic ballet that Mr. Martins does, left by him to their own misguided devices.

www.wsj.com

And Robert Gottlieb in this week's New York Observer:

The Martins Romeo + Juliet just doesn’t add up. It’s lacking in passion and tragedy; there’s no sense of period or place; the poetry and color of the play aren’t even suggested. However, the bottom line of all Romeos is the bottom line: Like Swan Lake, it’s a sure-fire box-office winner. When A.B.T.’s overstuffed, overheated MacMillan version turns up soon at the Met, you’ll be able to compare it to this thin, cool new one. I myself prefer whichever one I’m not seeing at the moment.

http://www.observer.com/2007/romeo-juliet-stripped-clean

[drb]

By chance I purchased a copy of the WSJ today and found the review of R + J. Nearly all of it seemed about the two creative artists, with the slap of Juliet's face and Romeo's stabbing Tybalt in the back listed as "high points." While not seeming to admire the decision to cast young dancers, Mr. Greskovic, apparently having seen all four casts, did single out two couples for relative praise:

...the least seasoned of these seemed to offer the most depth--not because of their youth, but because of their own inherent distinction.

He went on to identify them:

...Kathryn Morgan, opposite confident Romeo of Seth Orza...had a luminous quality that at times burnished the tinny aspects of Mr. Martins's choreography to a precious metal sheen.

...Erica Pereira and a most dignified and elegant, if not physically secure, Allen Peiffer...likewise brought personal resonance to their one-dimensional roles.

[Farrell Fan]

Robert Gottlieb in the NY Observer also praised those two couples.

[drb]

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Sean+Tiler

Finally completed my Juliet Cycle last night. By now this thread has SanderO's review of the performance starring Tiler, with more S'O specifics about Ms. Peck's dancing on her thread under dancers. So I'll just fill in a few impressions, and then get controversial.

All four couples had different takes on the pair, presumably created by the couples themselves. This task, depending on the couple, must have been an added burden to the dancers. It is like asking them to be like Vishneva and Malakhov, who make a point to rehearse from scratch before each performance, creating a new story each time. Well, not quite that hard, but at least once. This could be valuable experience, especially for when they go out guesting. And it may have been Peter's way to create rapport between the R's and the J's.

Tiler Peck, of course the allegra virtuosa of the four (and almost of the Company), could have probably put on a show even if she ignored the story. In the ballroom she was, of the four, the least overwhelmed by her Romeo (really well danced and intensely partnered by Sean Suozzi), requiring great emotion on his part to convince her in the Balcony Scene. I felt she was finally completely won in the upside-down kiss! These two used their very precise skills to connect hands for this kiss in a flowing of graceful movement which gave the sense of moving as one.

In the Bedroom PdD she awoke as an adult, her visage completely transformed. Yet, as the memory part of the duet began, her faced transformed back to the smiling child at the Ball and Balcony. The ballet must have been a growing experience in dance-acting for Tiler, so different to the sorts of acting required earlier in the life of this Broadway and Film Starlette, as she now continues her growth from Ballet Starlette to Star.

THANK YOU'S

How difficult this run must be on the dancers who have to perform every day. Thank you, the soloists and principals too, deeply, each and every one. Moreover, next winter when R+J has an 8-week run after the Nutcracker season (after all, it sells out), they'll be exhausted into retirement. To help avoid this catastrophe, Balanchine's ballets need to be brought back to life, and audiences back to see them. So selfishly, instead of flowers and not really just to save $'s (I paid for my tix), I'd like to thank each Juliet with a specially chosen Balanchine, together with a special coach. Since each ballerina is of a different rank in the company heirachy I'll start at the Principal Level, in full confidence that all four will be there together soon.

Sterling Hyltin: Theme and Variations, Altynai Asylmuratova. I think she's the former dancer of this ballet to maximise Sterling's airy and graceful pure (pre-Guillem) Mariinsky sensibilty and line.

Tiler Peck: Liebeslieder, Kyra Nichols. Tiler, a vituosa at Kyra's early technical level, should have the teacher who made the transition from virtuosity to inner profundity.

Kathryn Morgan: Chaconne, Suzanne Farrell. Why this sacred pairing for Katie? It is as when Baryshnikov, when asked Why Gelsey?, answered: Just look at her. As Juliet, seeing her dead Romeo, leans back for her silient shriek, Katie's wasn't just a lover's scream at loss. It seemed a release of both their Souls, coming from someplace so deep inside it probably wasn't just inside but more a burst from some Black Hole in a higher space. No, not in any sense overacting, Ms. Morgan brought herself and Romeo together. The lovers, and perhaps some in the audience, left in total peace.

Erica Pereira: Act II PdD from Midsummer Night's Dream, Darcey Bussell. Of course we'll give her her Romeo, Allen Peiffer, as partner. This monumental dance of mature love, will get a giant dose of love from this partnership. Darcey can coach mature. Properly advertised, Mr. B's masterpiece could join lesser works on the best-seller list.

[Farrell Fan]

Moreover, next winter when R+J has an 8-week run after the Nutcracker season (after all, it sells out)

WHAAT? Not even in jest, DRB

[drb]

In today's Times Mr. Macauly writes a review on a single moment in R + J, The Slap. Surely it will be posted on today's links. Here is some rough stuff from his review:

...For the next aspect of the gasp factor at City Ballet, you must speak of offstage matters, notably the 1992 incident in which Mr. Martins was arrested on charges of assaulting his wife, the ballerina Darci Kistler. The charges against him were dropped, and I would hesitate to raise this ghost had it not recently been resurrected by Martin Duberman’s new biography of Lincoln Kirstein, which reveals how Mr. Martins nearly lost his job, and how Kirstein, City Ballet’s co-founder, telephoned Mr. Martins “to say that if there was ever again such an incident, he’d never again speak to him.” And I don’t doubt that some people in the City Ballet audience assume that history is repeating itself when Lord Capulet hits his daughter center-stage.

How do you feel about the slap?

Are you surprised that Mr. Macaulay would spend an entire review on this matter?

[Farrell Fan]

I was frankly flabbergasted that Mr. Macaulay devoted all that space to the slap, and with his appalling attempt to somehow tie it to Mr. Martins's alleged history as a wife-beater. I was one of those who welcomed Macaulay's arrival as chief dance critic, but this latest screed shows him to have the instincts of a host on talk radio. Thanks for raising the question, DRB.

[drb]

Helene has now posted the Times article on Links, with the very valid point that it should be read in whole as opposed to an excerpt. Of course I knew I couldn't post the link here, and that others post links on Links. It is a complex article, and not, perhaps, possessing quite the lucidity we've come to welcome from the new Chief Critic. The excerpt quoted was a surprise, even a shock, not exactly what one might have expected in a review. Of course I've read many reviews in the Brit press, by exceptional critics, and realise that restraint regarding personal matters is not the same there as here.

[zerbinetta]

My feeling is that this airing of very ancient dirty laundry is inappropriate, misguided and better fodder for Page Six. . In a book, perhaps, and in context, there may be a valid reason to do so but in the context of a ballet thought piece it seems egregious and the first inelegant step from Mr Macauley.

If memory serves, the 1992 incident involved a shove, not a slap. Neither is acceptable behavior, but a shove presumes a certain amount of control; a slap does not. A shove reads "watch it!"; a slap is a blow.

Mr Martins & Ms Kistler have been married about twenty years and have a young daughter who may be the one to suffer most from this report which could be news to her and will be news to her friends, schoolmates, companions. This is needlessly and thoughtlessly hurtful. It may also come as news to many younger members of the company Mr Martins runs.

Macauley makes a great many assumptions in the heart of the article when referring to Martins "being aware of his reputation" & his further assumption as to the reason for the slap in the R+J scene.

And what is the purpose of writing this? It seems pointless to me. And very disappointing.

[BW]

Just read the article and I agree with you, Farrell Fan.

I was frankly flabbergasted that Mr. Macaulay devoted all that space to the slap, and with his appalling attempt to somehow tie it to Mr. Martins's alleged history as a wife-beater.

I thought it was inappropriate to say the least. As I kept reading I couldn't help but wonder if Macauly had some sort of vendetta with Peter Martins...then I wondered if he'd succumbed to the ever bubbling blood feud depicted in R & J...then I wondered if he thought he was in the House of Lords...or that he'd been hired by Rupert Murdoch to infiltrate the NY Times???

drb, it's true in some spheres of British life they do seem to thrive on airing dirty laundry but this seemed to be a real grasping at straws kind of attempt to "understand" the meaning behind the real slap used in this production.

Honestly, there were a number of things in the production that I didn't like, but as I said in my earlier gushing post - they fell by the wayside when Romeo and Juliet danced together...

I wonder why this critic appears to need to dwell upon this so much? Me thinks he protests too much.

P.S. zerbinetta, we must have been posting at the same time... Great minds and all that.

Edited May 12, 2007 by BW

[Buddy]

Did the actor in Romeo and Juliet actually hit the ballerina ?

[Mel Johnson]

Now keep in mind that I haven't seen this ballet yet, but there are tens of old theater tricks to make it look like you've actually hit somebody hard, produced a resounding "slap" sound, some of them even involving a hand contacting a face! You don't have to hit somebody very hard to produce a loud sound. You can cup your hand, and/or make sure that you hit only flesh and not cheekbone or jawbone. It helps if the slappee drops his/her jaw to make a bigger target a split-second before the blow lands.

But even if I haven't seen the ballet, something fairly uniform jumps out at me from practically every review I've seen. The slap. It seems to be one of the few theatrically clear gestures in this work. An astonishing majority of what I'm reading about this production talks about that distinguished old law firm of Fudge, Muddle, and Gross. Rather than trying to kill the messenger (Mr. Macaulay), why not consider the message?

And remember, this is not just any actor; this is stagewise former premier danseur Jock Soto.

[drb]

Did the actor in Romeo and Juliet actually hit the ballerina ?

Yes, on her left cheek, the sound especially loud for Ms. Peck.

[edited for memory correction and after reading Major Mel's semi-simultaneous post]

Indeed, especially noticed after slapping Ms. Morgan, Jock showed deep remorse. It called to mind the story of the time the very loving father Robert Schumann slapped one of his daughters. Fearing that might happen again, he walked into the sea, but I believe was rescued against his wishes by a man who was fishing. Rather than expose his children to risk, I gather he feigned being catatonic in order to be placed in an institution. The walk into water was represented in the finale of my favorite dramatic Balanchine ballet, Schumann....

[Buddy]

Did the actor in Romeo and Juliet actually hit the ballerina ?

Yes, on her left cheek, the sound especially loud for Ms. Pereira.

Thanks drb,

I first intend to contact the NYCB and hear what their response is.

Thanks very much, Mel, for your insight as to how slaps can be faked. This must be considered. I have to say that in one very popular movie from several years ago, the 'actor' (male or female, I'm not saying) stated that a strong slap was involved. How well it was 'cushioned' I'm not certain. A good look at the ballerinas' faces could quickly solve this mystery.

If this wasn't very well planned 'stagework' in Romeo and Juliet, I personally feel that this or anything like it should never happen again. Mr. Macaulay's article will probably go a long way to see to this--for the time being anyway.

[last sentence of paragraph two was added several minutes later]

[carbro]

drb saw four of these; I saw only one -- with Tiler Peck as Juliet. I would not be able to testify under oath that Jock's hand made contact. She was upstage of him and invisible from my seat in the Fourth Ring.

As to Macaulay's review, yes, dedicating a whole article to the slap vis-a-vis The Saratoga Incident may have been a bit much. But my take differs somewhat from zerbinetta's and BW's. I definitely concur with zerbinetta's concern for how this affects the Martins child.

This may have been the first expression of overt violence in a PM ballet, but the catalog as a whole is full of works that brim with aggression and rage. If there are no actual slaps, it's because there is no narrative. In Guide to Strange Places, Kistler's partner wraps her costume around her throat and chokes her, so apparently Mr. Macaulay isnt' the only one lacking adequate concern for young Ms. Martins.

We often try to understand an artist's work by learning about their lives and personalities. Macaulay's doing so here in the way that he did may be a case of taking two incidents removed by almost 20 years. Linking them as being part and parcel of the same thing is stretching things a bit far. Taking a tour through Peter Martins' oeuvre would make more sense, allow the readers to draw a similar conclusion.

And it's worth remembering that although he works for the Gray Lady now, the journalistic world from which Macaulay comes is much less restrictive than ours. I, for one, hope he can influence ours before it drums the spunk out of him.

[vipa]

And it's worth remembering that although he works for the Gray Lady now, the journalistic world from which Macaulay comes is much less restrictive than ours. I, for one, hope he can influence ours before it drums the spunk out of him.

I agree. Let's have reviews that are llive, controvertial and generators of discussion.

[bart]

We often try to understand an artist's work by learning about their lives and personalities. Macaulay's doing so here in the way that he did may be a case of taking two incidents removed by almost 20 years. Linking them as being part and parcel of the same thing is stretching things a bit far. Taking a tour through Peter Martins' oeuvre would make more sense, allow the readers to draw a similar conclusion.

Very well put, though it's possible that Macaulay may not have a lot of experience with Martins' work, which hasn't travelled very far or well.

Macaulay certainly didn't need to give such a detailed summary of the incident. Nor did he need to name names. A general reference to charges in the past would have been enough.

As one who has followed and been quite impressed by Macaulay's London-based writing , this seems an odd way to introduce yourself to New York readers, and a fairly serious career misstep at least.

Have there been any published or broadcast reactions in New York?

[nysusan]

Regarding the slap – I saw it twice from the right side of the house and it really did look like Soto struck the ballerina, but I also saw it once from the extreme left side arm and from that vantage point it was clear that what he actually did was hold his other hand in front of her face and slap his own hand. In any case it was a very effective gesture!

I was on vacation when NYCB opened their season so I missed the early performances of R+J but now that I’ve seen it a few times I have to say that I like the production WAY more than I thought I would. I see and agree with most of the complaints voiced here and in the papers – Martins sure lets some dramatic possibilities pass and this production doesn’t always flow logically. It doesn’t have the dramatic impact that MacMillan’s version has, either – but I think it succeeds in what Martins was trying to accomplish. It certainly succeeded in filling the house and bringing in a new audience – and that’s quite an accomplishment. The house was 90-95% full for all of the performances I went to, and there were lots and lots of teenagers and people in their 20's and 30's. Not your typical grey haired ballet audience.

I didn’t like the costumes but I only hated a few of them, and I actually liked the scenery and sets. In fact I thought that modular set piece worked wonderfully. Maybe it helps that I’m less invested in Romeo & Juliet as a ballet than I am in Swan Lake or Sleeping Beauty, but I was able to accept the modern adaptation that Martins put forth without any problem. Even his choice to use very young dancers made more sense in light of the production – his conception of Juliet seemed very childish to me and his staging really doesn’t demand that the main characters grow up and take control of their destiny the way other productions do, here it seems more a case of circumstances spinning way out of control. Of course that made it less of a tragedy than it should be, but I still found it very entertaining and an interesting, modern adaptation.

I saw 3 casts – Hyltin/Fairchild, Morgan/Orza and Periera/Peiffer. I loved Hyltin and Fairchild, in many ways I think theirs was the most complete performance. Fairchild was a romantic dreamer, and Sterling was just brimming with life and spontaneity. Her technique seems so secure and yet her dancing has a very off balance unstudied quality that worked well in this.

I liked Orza ’s Romeo but I didn’t like Morgan and I didn’t think they worked well together at all. She is a beautiful dancer and I look forward to watching her work her way through the Balanchine rep but as far as I’m concerned she’s the poster child for why you don’t cast inexperienced kids in major roles in story ballets. I didn’t think she was able to integrate acting into her performance, and while that’s not a problem with plotless ballets it is a major problem in story ballets. Her acting seemed very melodramatic and very blocked, it felt to me like she did things because she was coached to do them a certain way and not due to any dramatic impetus. I also thought she and Orza had zero chemistry. I didn’t like her approach to Juliet either. A recent review in the paper referred to her Juliet as self absorbed, and that’s exactly what I saw – a pretty girl who was totally self absorbed and barely aware of anything except as it related to her. At times, during some of the scenes with her girlfriends she almost seemed like a valley girl at the mall and at the end her desperation seemed way out of proportion to what we had seen develop and was totally unbelievable.

The flip side was the Pereira/Peiffer cast – WOW. I have to second everything drb, sz and BW said about them – and thank you for your posts – they’re what made me decide that I had to get a ticket to today’s performance. I don’t know Ms. Pereira, in fact if I’d ever seen her or Peiffer before I took no notice of them. That will never be possible again. They gave an incredibly moving, riveting performance. Pereira’s dancing especially was so smooth and lyrical that it made Martins choreographic choices look inevitable, and her acting was every bit as good as her dancing. Peiffer was also a revelation – where did he come from? As wonderful as they each were, the amazing thing was what an incredible, natural partnership they have. That has become so rare these days; I hope Martins nurtures it, because they are very, very special together. I’m one of the people who think Martins promotes young dancers too soon, but in this case I think I might have to petition him to promote Pereira straight from apprentice to soloist. Now!

[BW]

We often try to understand an artist's work by learning about their lives and personalities. Macaulay's doing so here in the way that he did may be a case of taking two incidents removed by almost 20 years. Linking them as being part and parcel of the same thing is stretching things a bit far. Taking a tour through Peter Martins' oeuvre would make more sense, allow the readers to draw a similar conclusion.

Carbo, thank you for putting it this way. I couldn't agree more.

[Mel Johnson]

Regarding the slap – I saw it twice from the right side of the house and it really did look like Soto struck the ballerina, but I also saw it once from the extreme left side arm and from that vantage point it was clear that what he actually did was hold his other hand in front of her face and slap his own hand. In any case it was a very effective gesture!

Ah, an oldie - but a goodie!

I think it depends on how Freudian you want to get in analyzing Macaulay's criticism. Sigmund himself fainted when passing graveyards. He developed his theories of psychiatry in great part to explain to himself why HE was so messed up! He may have missed the actual source of trauma, but was probably correct in thinking that it came from many years before he started fainting.

[drb]

Perhaps adding support to NYSusan's suggestion, the slap of Ms. Peck was so alarming that I quickly picked up my binocs to see her face close-up, and was surprised that I saw no redness.

[Mel Johnson]

A many years ago, when I was young and charming...

I choreographed a ballet to Darius Milhaud's "Suite Provençale" in which I was the slappee. It was a pas de deux turned into a freestyle fight, which would be familiar to many a dancing couple. My partner missed my cheek, caught me on the jaw, I lost a tooth, saw stars. Effective, though!

[Klavier]

Perhaps adding support to NYSusan's suggestion, the slap of Ms. Peck was so alarming that I quickly picked up my binocs to see her face close-up, and was surprised that I saw no redness.

Just back from the Saturday matinee with Pereira and Peiffer, and a few words from me:

1) P+P were an entirely convincing pair of young lovers. She is a tiny little thing, innocence personified; he a gangling, ardent youth (and far better looking in person than his web site photo).

2) I believe the slap was a stage slap. Soto turned his back to the audience when he "slapped" Juliet, and I saw no welts or other marks on her skin. A real slap by Jock Soto would have sent tiny little Erica flying into the orchestra pit.

3) As seen today from orchestra row D center rather than second ring row E, the set fills the stage space better. But seen close up it's if anything uglier.

4) Tybalt's costume still makes him look like a Colorado potato beetle.

5) The Capulet's ball scene today felt long and tedious.

6) The best thing in the whole ballet is the Act One PDD for R+J. The part near the end when R is balancing J on his shoulders, then letting her down, is beautifully imagined.

7) Gwyneth Muller (replacing Dena Abergel) was more convincing as the Nurse than Gina Pazgoquin, perhaps because she looks more mature and Erica even younger than Sterling.

8) Martins seems to have forgotten that Mercutio is not a Montague but the Prince's kinsman. Albert Evans shows no interest in Mercutio on his second entrance, whereas doing so would have given some dimension to what is a stick figure in Martins's version.

9) Martins's bedroom scene for the lovers is a bad mistake, as Juliet shows no reaction to Romeo having killed her cousin. In the play, Juliet hears the news from the nurse and reacts by speaking of Romeo with such oxymoronic epithets as "Beautiful tyrant! fiend angelical! . . . a damned saint, an honorable villain!" Working some of this emotion into the second PDD would have deepened the tragic irony of the lovers' impossible situation. Instead Martins just settles for more indiscriminate lyricism.

10) I was less annoyed by the 5 little kids than on opening night. At intermission, this being a beautiful spring day, I walked outside and looked down Columbus towards the stage entrance, to see 5 young boys emerge from the stage door, wiping off their makeup. I got a chuckle out of that.

11) This time, the "slap" scene was not so much shocking to me as (frankly) close to farcical. All the mimed gestures reminded me of a silent movie starring the Maiden in Distress. I wasn't convinced at all (especially following point 9).

12) Early in Act I during the duel, Tybalt tosses Mercutio a sword (which on opening night Danny caught but today had to let drop before picking it up). But why on earth would someone toss their unarmed opponent a weapon?

13) Craig Hall was good as Tybalt, but Joaquin snarled far better. (See also point 4 above.)

14) The events of Part II move too quickly in Martins's version, just like too much time is spent on inessential stuff in Part I (see point 10 above). Of important events in Shakespeare, we are given nothing to match Juliet's rejection of the Nurse, Friar Laurence's attempt to get a message to Romeo, Friar John's inability to deliver said message, Romeo's macabre scene with the apothecary who sells him poison, Romeo's failure to check his voice mail or e-mail before offing himself.

15) I'm still a sucker for just about anything Daniel Ulbricht does.

16) Ask LaCour looks even more ridiculous as a Jesuit friar than did Nikolai Hubbe.

17) Poor Jonathan Stafford's Paris is another character Martins treats as little more than one-dimensional.

18) Yes, Macaulay should have not gotten into the Martins/Kistler domestic dispute today.

19) Macaulay would have had a field day had Martins choreographed Othello, as in that play Othello strikes Desdemona, and Iago stabs Emilia to death.

20) Despite all, I was very moved by today's performance. Whether was was due to Pereira, Peiffer, Prokofiev, or all three I can't say.

[drb]

Thanx nysusan and klavier for bringing us back to the dancers. To hopefully give another break from the angst: from the sublime of the dancers to the ridiculous of the opening night ball, reviewed for its fashion. But if you go all the way to the bottom of the photos, you'll find Sterling and Robert, and in the penultimate paragraph info about their dressers:

http://www.fashionweekdaily.com/Scene/full...&itype=8488

[drb]

More photos, but it is worth a click if only to see a pair identified as Talicia Martin and Peter Martin, who don't look at all related to (also pictured) Steve Martin. Seriously, father and daughter look great together!

It is the 12th photo. Further on down, Bill, and Chelsea. And further still, in separate photos, Robert and Sterling.

http://www.papermag.com/?section=album&albid=139