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Winter 2018


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35 minutes ago, Drew said:

No...I was referring only to the reports in this thread of her dancing in Chaconne this season and really more particularly to reports of her being visibly upset with her partner in a less than professional way. I personally have never seen Mearns act unprofessionally onstage even the one time I saw her have a mishap.

I'm not challenging anyone else's perception, but I honestly didn't detect anything untoward in Mearns' demeanor towards Danchig-Waring. The whole incident was over in under a minute and I read it as a mishap that generated a fumbled step or two followed by an attempt to get the ship righted and back under control. I was relieved that no one had been injured and just put the whole thing out of mind until I read this thread. 

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2 hours ago, abatt said:

In another thread, we discussed a NY Times article in which a dancer alleged that Martins sexually harassed her because she asked Martins what she needed to do in order to get promoted. His reply was that she had to make him notice her.  The dancer took that as a sexual proposition. I bring it up here because Mearns' approach is exactly the type of approach that Martins always rewarded.  You notice Mearns, even if you don't always agree with what she's doing.  Risk taking and giving 1000 percent every second, although sometimes overkill, is exactly what Martins referred to when he urges a dancer to make him notice her.

 

 

I won't comment on a dancer's belief that  Martins' comment was a sexual proposition. One would have had to have been in the room to make that judgement. However, dancing in a way that makes the AD notice you, is how anyone gets promoted in any company.  An AD notices something special about you. That doesn't necessarily mean being over the top. Rebecca Krohn, Jennifer Ringer, Miranda Weese, Stirling Hyltin, Lauren Lovette and others became principal dancers because of qualities they had that were noticed by the AD. 

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2 minutes ago, vipa said:

  However, dancing in a way that makes the AD notice you, is how anyone gets promoted in any company.  An AD notices something special about you. That doesn't necessarily mean being over the top. Rebecca Krohn, Jennifer Ringer, Miranda Weese, Stirling Hyltin, Lauren Lovette and others became principal dancers because of qualities they had that were noticed by the AD. 

Agree with you 100 percent.

Edited by abatt
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Partnering mishaps (and dancers not being able to keep a poker face about it) are more common than you'd think especially in Balanchine where there's such an emphasis on tricky handholds and off-balance positions. One of the most obvious partnering mishaps occurred between then-husband-and-wife Tiler Peck and Robbie Fairchild during a Nutcracker. He couldn't hold her up in the final fishdive so she quickly put her foot down and stepped out of the fishdive. She looked visibly upset. 

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8 hours ago, meliodori said:

How is it known that this is what Martins meant? Did he say so directly somewhere? 

 Abatt: I bring it up here because Mearns' approach is exactly the type of approach that Martins always rewarded.  You notice Mearns, even if you don't always agree with what she's doing.  Risk taking and giving 1000 percent every second, although sometimes overkill, is exactly what Martins referred to when he urges a dancer to make him notice her.

//

I don't have a record of what Martins meant, but there is a NYTimes interview with Balanchine where he praises Darci Kistler in class for throwing herself into the movement so much that she falls over. There's a long tradition of rewarding physical risk taking at NYCB.

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While I'm often tempted to think that I wished Balanchine was alive to see this or that dancer, because I think he would have liked her or him, Balanchine broke his own rules when he found a talent that appealed to him, and sometimes, like in the case of Farrell, that dancer caused him to branch out in a different direction.

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Maybe it doesn’t help that there are memories of Farrell for many of the roles Mearns dances. I’ve only seen Farrell in videos but she has a sometimes chilly aloofness that I actually find very appealing (it creates a sort of mystique). Mearns of course wears her heart on her sleeve much more often. But I’ve found her very satisfying in roles such as Piano Concerto No. 2 and Diamonds. I feel a dash of glamour and drama goes a long way in those roles.

A friend of mine, who was lucky enough to go to NYCB in the 70s and 80s (and a was a full-blown Farrell devotee), has told me that, for him, Mearns is the one current dancer that brings back feelings of the “good old days,” particular when it comes to her sense of risk-taking. He’s found other dancers too safe. So, just one person’s opinion, for what it’s worth.

Edited by fondoffouettes
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57 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

Maybe it doesn’t help that there are memories of Farrell for many of the roles Mearns dances. I’ve only seen Farrell in videos but she has a sometimes chilly aloofness that I actually find very appealing (it creates a sort of mystique). Mearns of course wears her heart on her sleeve much more often. But I’ve found her very satisfying in roles such as Piano Concerto No. 2 and Diamonds. I feel a dash of glamour and drama goes a long way in those roles.

A friend of mine, who was lucky enough to go to NYCB in the 70s and 80s (and a was a full-blown Farrell devotee), has told me that, for him, Mearns is the one current dancer that brings back feelings of the “good old days,” particular when it comes to her sense of risk-taking. He’s found other dancers too safe. So, just one person’s opinion, for what it’s worth.

I saw Farrell in the 70s and 80s and I'm still completely besotted by her!  The quality you called chilly aloofness strikes me more as ethereal or aloof. I agree that it's mysterious.  I haven't seen that much of Mearns. I like her very much, but she doesn't remind me of Farrell except that she "lives dangerously".  But then, nobody does.   Maria Kowroski is the dancer I love in former Farrell roles.

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I was at this afternoon's performance of Apollo, Mozartiana, and Cortege Hongrois. I didn't think this was the best performance I ever saw of Mozartiana. Sara Mearns was over-energetic to the point of sloppy. Chase Finlay is very easy on the eyes, and a genuine pleasure when his form is good, but he had some difficulties with the choreography and or the pace, and seemed to be struggling with his stamina. I didn't get any sense of a rapport between them. The Preghiera was beautiful, though, and so prayerful it felt wrong to applaud. On the other hand, the performance of Apollo left me with a deep respect for what a great, great piece that is. Cortege Hongrois is still relatively new to me, it's fun, and I love the solo, but it does get long. Unity Phelan in her debut in the folk section looked more ballet-y than folk-y, but nonetheless very committed and very beautiful. Ashley Bouder was a marvel. She didn't over-act or go for the cute look, and her total command of timing and technique is breathtaking. Russell Janzen subbed for Andrew Veyette (who IMHO looked sluggish and heavy when I saw him a few nights ago) and was impressive. 

I don't know if I'm hyper-attuned to any problems the company may be having, but I get the feeling they're running on the professionalism of the dancers, especially the principals and soloists, and the fact that a lot of this rep is very familiar to the dancers. Otherwise - again maybe I'm reading into it - I'm starting to get a sense of a lack of leadership and or discipline. Formations are ragged and sometimes timing visibly off. Over three performances the past week, I've noticed dancers drop pose too early during their exit into the wings (and I'm not sitting on the extreme sides) and tonight one of the corps ladies in Mozartiana made it halfway onto the stage way ahead of her cue, before beating a hasty retreat. 

Finally - isn't it about time for the Janice Levin Dancer Honoree? Surely they won't skip this year because of the interim leadership. If anyone has (official, of course!!) intel, please report. I would vote for Isabella LaFreniere, followed closely by Emily Kikta. 

Edited by cobweb
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I had different impressions of today's performance. I did not care for Mearns in the prayer section of Mozartiana - it seemed too brittle and not lush enough. And I actually thought Chase Finlay looked in better form than I've seen him in the past. Cortege is fun and I agree, Ashley Bouder was stellar! I really want to like Russell Jantzen more as I like the look of a tall dancer and I have been moved in some of his performances, but to me he often looks very tense in the neck/shoulders and I find myself worrying that he won't have a successful solo. 

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I was also at today's matinee. I've happened to see more of Apollo and Mozartiana at ABT than at NYCB, so I don't feel as qualified as others on here to judge the works' nuances. I really enjoyed the Apollo performance, without being thrilled by it. It seemed good in a textbook sort of way. The three muses were beautifully matched in the opening section. Woodward made a very strong debut, and I enjoyed her more than Ashly Isaacs, who was good, but perhaps a little tentative in her turns. Also, that final moment of Isaacs' variation -- the "oops I spoke" gesture -- wasn't articulated effectively. I haven't seen Danchig-Waring in this role pre-injury, but I certainly think he did it justice, without perhaps being very exciting. He dances the role as if he's already a very refined man-god, not an adolescent finding his legs and truly searching for his muse. Maybe I was looking for more oomph and intensity. Peck's dancing was as beautiful and musical as ever, but Terpsichore isn't a natural fit for her. She doesn't feel like the preeminent muse among the three. I love her dancing, but her persona is sunny -- maybe even a bit basic -- and that doesn't really work for me here. 

Minor quibble -- but have the muses' attributes (the props) always looked like shiny flimsy plastic? They looked like they could have been purchased at Party City.

In terms of Mozartiana, I agree with what Barbara has said. I was underwhelmed by the Preghiera, the section in which I expected to enjoy Mearns the most. As Barbara said -- not lush enough. Is it possible the NYCB orchestra plays this section a hair too quickly? I felt like the section moved quickly and there wasn't enough time for Mearns to luxuriate in the music. Like Barbara, I was impressed with Finlay, especially after others have expressed how hit-or-miss he can be. I thought he was certainly on in this afternoon's performance and didn't seem fazed by the intense demands of his variations.

Mearns was on the music and didn't deviate for the sake of drama (as has been described in posts above.) Maybe it's just the ABT performances clouding my judgment, but I felt there were parts of the Theme and Variations section that were played too quickly, forcing Mearns to rush the choreography. One particular moment I'm thinking of is this one, which usually gives me goosebumps:

I'm talking about the part where Farrell walks forward and extends her arms. Mearns seemed to have to do it so quickly to stay on the music. I know NYCB prides itself on speed, but there were sections like this that just felt rushed.

I'm not a huge fan of Cortege Hongrois. There are just SO many ensemble sections, but being choreographed by Balanchine, they are of course much more interesting than what ensemble dances normally look like in a 19th-century full-length ballet. I agree with others that Bouder was pretty fierce in her debut. There was a bit too much of "ta-da" in the way she presented herself in the first part of the pas de deux for my taste, but she didn't continue that through the rest of the ballet. I was glad that Veyette was replaced (it sounds like he's dancing worse than ever). Janzen danced very well, but I can understand what others mean about him not exuding confidence. Sean Suozzi ate up the stage, but Unity Phelan was perhaps a bit too pretty and reserved.

 

 

Edited by fondoffouettes
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Ok I was at the performance tonight and can pinpoint the partnering blooper between Sara and Adrian because it happened tonight here. It's the moment when the ballerina does a series of supported pirouettes while nearly squatting on the ground. 

Here's the Suzanne/Peter video. Go to 3:01:

 

Tonight Mearns simply put her hand on the ground to prevent falling but didn't actually break the flow of the choreography. 

Andrew Veyette is definitely injured as he was replaced both in the afternoon matinee (Cortege) and tonight in Divertimento.

Edited by canbelto
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Yes, it was like deja vu all over again in Chaconne.  The blooper was at almost the same spot as earlier in the week, as discussed with canbelto.   Nevertheless, an exquisite program with almost uniformly wonderful dancing. 

Edited by abatt
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I just saw Mearns in today's matinee in Mozartiana. Ethereal and beautifully musical. I found Adrian Danschig-Waring strong as Apollo, still the women commanded my attention a bit more. NYCB is casting the three women's roles equally strong. Sometimes you see a stellar Terpsichore and the other two are lower ranked dancers. I was blown away by Indiana Woodward and Ashly Isaacs. Loved Tiler's Terpsichore, too, but I never realized the other two women have a duet. They were so in sync, so well matched. In the lecture dem earlier Sterling Hyltin, Lauren Lovette and Ashly Isaacs danced with Zachary Catanzaro as Apollo. He had some really strong moments. There are some seriously good looking men in NYCB. :wub:

In response to the Mearns discussion, she posted on Instagram that today's performance was "literally brought to you by Tiger Balm." And a video of the Mozartiana bows "what to do when you have no legs left." It makes me wonder if she didn't misstep in performance, wince or grunt, and try to get back into the show. During bows for Chaconne tonight (yes, I went to both performances today and the Apollo lec-dem) she and Adrian seemed to be exchanging looks, totally on the same side of whatever it was, not antagonistic at all. I imagined I saw her telling him, "see, I told you it's ff'd up." and he seemed to respond, "definitely. let's talk later." No words were spoken, of course.

It's interesting to me that the performance level can be really high quality, but you can still tell something is going on. They're all dancing a lot. They must be dead tired. I know I am.

In other news, Andrew Veyette was replaced in both the matinee and evening shows. I hope he's ok.

Is the Janice Levin honoree always a corps member?

Edited by BalanchineFan
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I'm wondering if the patron's dress rehearsal is considered public enough to comment on in this forum? I suppose this can be edited if it's not.

Music Director Andrew Litton still seems new to me. In the Apollo lec-dem he mentioned that he "got the music two weeks ago." (or perhaps he said "we started on it two weeks ago.") He was of course familiar with the score, but I'm not sure he had conducted it before, and certainly not for these dancers. He was a knowlegable speaker. He said there are four Stravinsky pieces that are done everywhere (Firebird, Petrushka, Sacre and maybe L'Histoire du Soldat). NYCB on the other hand has 21 Stravinsky pieces in the current rep and 37 (THIRTY SEVEN!) of Stravinsky's works have been used for ballets over the course of NYCB's existence. No wonder Balanchine said "If you don't like the ballets, just close your eyes," or something to that effect. They dance to music of the highest quality and sophistication.

In Friday's rehearsal they spent a lot of time getting tempi right for Cortege and for Red Violin. They changed the music cue for Meagan Mann who was dancing the first variation. It was a simple change, but it was weird to me that they hadn't worked that out before. Hasn't Cortège already been performed this week? It doesn't seem like the sort of thing that you'd do differently for different dancers. The first time, the music started when Mann was in the wings, then Rosemary had her run out in silence and stop as a cue for the music to begin. in Merrill Ashley's book she writes of an instance where something like that had been overlooked in her stage rehearsal. She and her partner were supposed to enter from opposite sides of the stage. In performance she realized she couldn't see her partner in the wings because of the set. Her husband said she had a strange and unnattractive look on her face at the start of the pas de deux (she hadn't recalled the incident until then) and she realized she must have been the picture of consternation at that moment.

They were talking a lot about tempi for the Red Violin rehearsal, too. All this is to say that I wouldn't be surprised if the dancers were responding to unexpected tempi onstage in performance. The wonders of a live orchestra.

Edited by BalanchineFan
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Furthher to BalanchineFan’s comments, tempo issues seem to come up a lot in rehearsals. I remember one Midsummer Rehearsal in which Tiler and Tyler were basically talking (frustratedly) to Litton from the stage and telling him to look at them. I think it was last season that Justin finally told him and I quote “they can’t dance that slowly.” Martins frequently beat out the tempo with his hands to show the conductor. I think Balanchine’s excellent and trained conductors were a factor in how musical the dancers were. 

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9 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

In response to the Mearns discussion, she posted on Instagram that today's performance was "literally brought to you by Tiger Balm." And a video of the Mozartiana bows "what to do when you have no legs left." It makes me wonder if she didn't misstep in performance, wince or grunt, and try to get back into the show. During bows for Chaconne tonight (yes, I went to both performances today and the Apollo lec-dem) she and Adrian seemed to be exchanging looks, totally on the same side of whatever it was, not antagonistic at all. I imagined I saw her telling him, "see, I told you it's ff'd up." and he seemed to respond, "definitely. let's talk later." No words were spoken, of course.

It's interesting to me that the performance level can be really high quality, but you can still tell something is going on. They're all dancing a lot. They must be dead tired. I know I am.

In other news, Andrew Veyette was replaced in both the matinee and evening shows. I hope he's ok.

Is the Janice Levin honoree always a corps member?

It's only the first week of the Winter Season, and Mearns did not perform on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. Of course, I know they rehearse even on days they aren't scheduled to perform. If she's on weak legs at this early stage, that doesn't bode well. Since the error has been in the exact same spot twice, I tend to think that it's not fatigue, but a partnering or skills problem causing the repeated error in Chaconne.  

 

Mearns seems to have a lot of outside projects. Maybe it's time to cut back.

Edited by abatt
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8 minutes ago, abatt said:

Since the error has been in the exact same spot twice, I tend to think that it's not fatigue, but a partnering or skills problem causing the repeated error in Chaconne.  

Couldn't it just as likely be that whatever is required to do that particular step (which is not exactly one you see in your average ballet) is requiring her to work something that is particularly sore or strained just now, for any of a number of possible reasons?

I'm not suggesting that's definitely the answer — just that I don't see why it should be ruled out.

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46 minutes ago, canbelto said:

The squatting/extremely bent leg pirouettes are something Balanchine used time and again. It's here in Apollo ...  It's something NYCB dancers should be able to master since they have to do it so often.

Which is yet another reason why I'm wondering if it may not be a "skills" issue but rather a matter of strain or injury.

It pops up only at very specific moments in very specific ballets, which is why it seems not at all unusual that in the course of a week we'd see the problem in the same exact spot with the very same dancer, if that dancer has a particular physical problem she's working through at present.

I imagine the step must work the leg and foot and hip in certain ways that your average supported pirouette doesn't.

Edited by nanushka
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