Kind Words for Darci

[erpollock]

I regret that I had some harsh words for Darci Kistler in a previous post about her role in Stabat Mater. I saw Darci last week in Davidsbundlertanze and she was quite lovely, and within her comfort level in terms of technique. There are certain Balanchine roles that seem to be made for the mature dancer, such as Davidsbundlertanze and Vienna Waltzes. I remember Kira Nichols graduated to those types of ballets at the end of her tenure with NYCB, when she had retired the more exacting roles. I think a lot of the criticism of Darci, both my own and that of others, stems from our perception that there is nepotism involved. There is an apt saying, "A favorite has no friends." We might have let Kira's long and extended tenure pass, as we loved her for her past achievements. But Darci is not given the same benefit. I was very touched by her dancing last week in the Schumann, and did not want my previous criticism to be my last word.

[FauxPas]

Last month, I saw Darci in a piece called "Papillons" a minor piece by Peter Martins and Darci still had wonderful traveling piques tournants. However, she looked distinctly tired and matronly next to Sterling Hyltin and there was a stiffness to her upper body. It was part of a strange evening where each ballet looked like it was danced by a different company. The Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet that ended the evening was hot stuff - Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar burned up the stage in the Gypsy section. And Sterling Hyltin who looked shaky in places in "Papillons" (she was replacing Megan Fairchild on short notice) was lovely like a different dancer in the Brahms-Schoenberg. I suspect that the repertory suffers from some ballets being in good shape due to being well-coached and set by the regisseurs and ballet masters and others are kind of thrown up there.

I am glad that Darci is retiring though I know that an era is ending with her. I have seen some decent outings in simple things like "Songs of the Auvergne" or "Morgen" where she still had a freshness and lyrical charm and still looked youthfully pretty. The "Papillons" performance showed a ballerina I didn't want to see again. However, Kyra Nichols always danced roles well within her powers and still looked in top shape right up to her early fifties. I was never embarassed for Kyra ever when I saw her in her late appearances with the company. She also knew to stay away from certain roles that were central to her repertory in her early career where invidious comparisons would be inevitable. Kyra was in better shape and had very few serious injuries during her career.

So I will second your love for Darci, but Kyra really isn't an appropriate comparison.

[Alexandra]

Just a friendly warning -- please be careful on this thread. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE DANCERS READ THIS BOARD.

A great dancer is retiring. Appreciations are welcome. But let's leave it at that.

____________________

Alexandra, in Board Founder mode

[Helene]

Darci Kistler was the first NYCB dancer that I saw live, on a Saturday matinee performance of "Irish Fantasy". What struck me from her very first entrance was her warmth: she had such a sunny, enveloping, inclusive quality. I'm a grump, but resistance was futile. Sadly, she was injured soon after, and I saw her less frequently than other dancers, but my spirits lifted each time I saw her name in the program, until I left NYC in 1994. She danced a luminous Titania in the performance of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" the night that Joseph Duell died, a time of sorrow, and she danced a transcendent "Theme and Variations" pas de deux in the 1993 Balanchine Celebration, and I've never lost the feeling that she was dancing for Balanchine directly.

I've written this before, but I once watched Stanley Williams' boys class at SAB, and I felt extremely self-conscious. Over in the corner, Kistler was warming up at the barre. I must have stared at her in my embarrassment, and she gave me the kindest smile to put me at ease. I recognized it as the generous quality she showed onstage before and after that day.

I understand that time takes it toll, and that I've only seen her since I moved on the rare TV broadcast, but watching her dance, for me, has been a blessing.

[bart]

Helene and others, what do you think Balanchine might have written if he had been asked to explain what attracted him to the Darci Kistler that HE knew.

In other words, what did he see in the young dancer that moved him so much at the end of his life?

[Helene]

I remember reading in a book about SAB that Kistler once fell over in class, because she had thrown herself into the movement so forcefully and with such conviction. Because she was the clear favorite, this caused the other girls in class to laugh -- clearly, they couldn't tell the difference between a class rival and a dancer who was completely out of their league* -- but I can imagine that her full commitment and passion for movement was one of the things that attracted her to him, enough that he cast her in "Swan Lake" at 15 in the SAB performance and in the Company performance soon after she joined the company, and enough that he spoke about staging "Sleeping Beauty" for her.

*Dancing well is the best revenge.

[bart]

Thank you, Helene. "Passion for movement." Kistler, whom I saw most before her injury and layoff, was one of those dancers who internalize this passion. With young Kistler, as with Farrell, the energy and feeling seemed to come from deep inside, something she released into the air -- set free, as it were -- when she went on stage.

This topic got me to turn to Arlene Croce's 1986 essay, "Hard Facts," reprinted in Writing in the Dark.

Croce says the following about Kistler, after her return to the stage following serious injury. Remember, this is 1986, 22 years ago:

Now that she is back, she hadlly ever performs, although she is scheduled frequently enough. And she is missed. It's my impression that her cancellations are the most deeply felt and hungrily discussed by the subscribers. To this large andloyal audience, Kistler's absences really matter.

And:

I have the feeling that for Kistler a performance is a precariously held-together illusion each separate second of which must be predetermined and delivered in a set form. Performance than becomes something to be endured, a pleasasnt ordeal like holding your breath underwater. Yet when Kistler dances she looks utterly spontaneous. Is this, too, a dreamed-up effect?

Gelsey Kirkland had the same look of sponteaneity, and she held to the same overfastidious metehods of preparation, and her career, the single most promising one of the seventies, was over before the end of the decade.

I don't say that Kistler is Kirkland all over again; I say that a provably bad method cannot be made good even if every other factor in the equation is different. One would prefer that, with the repertory she stands to inherit, Kistler spent more time in the world where it was made.

Is the comparison to Kistler valid? If so, Kistler's ability to sustain such a long career seems to have been both a miracle and a triuimph.

[printscess]

Is the comparison to Kistler valid? If so, Kistler's ability to sustain such a long career seems to have been both a miracle and a triuimph.

Did you mean is the camparsion to Kirkland valid? In a word: no.

As her ability to sustain a long career: I think being married to the Dance Master in Chief had a lot to do with it, as with Nilas. I think that with all due respect, Darci should have retired a few years ago.

[ViolinConcerto]

Helene and others, what do you think Balanchine might have written if he had been asked to explain what attracted him to the Darci Kistler that HE knew.

In other words, what did he see in the young dancer that moved him so much at the end of his life?

Words I remember most from that era (not from GB) were "coltish" and "fearless."

Her best qualities now might be "warmth" and "tenderness."