Winter 2018

[fondoffouettes]

1 hour 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.

 

I can see how the one in Chaconne would be particularly treacherous, though. It almost seems more like a promenade than a supported pirouette to me. She's leaning to the side, her supporting leg is bent, and her partner doesn't even grip her -- she just links her arm with his and has to depend on gravity to keep her in the right place. I can only imagine how easy it would be for the women to get off her leg in that situation.

I love the bent-leg turns in Apollo that you mention, and they were executed beautifully by the three Muses in yesterday's matinee performance. They seem potentially less treacherous in that the man is gripping both of their hands the entire time and they are centered, not leaning to the side. They still look incredibly tricky, though!

Edited January 28, 2018 by fondoffouettes

[Olga]

3 hours ago, abatt said:

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.

Mearns danced in Cortege on Tuesday, opening night. On Saturday she danced leads in both the matinee and evening. 

[canbelto]

3 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

I can see how the one in Chaconne would be particularly treacherous, though. It almost seems more like a promenade than a supported pirouette to me. She's leaning to the side, her supporting leg is bent, and her partner doesn't even grip her -- she just links her arm with his and has to depend on gravity to keep her in the right place. I can only imagine how easy it would be for the women to get off her leg in that situation.

I love the bent-leg turns in Apollo that you mention, and they were executed beautifully by the three Muses in yesterday's matinee performance. They seem potentially less treacherous in that the man is gripping both of their hands the entire time and they are centered, not leaning to the side. They still look incredibly tricky, though!

Agree that Adrian's muses handled that move beautifully. Also think they handled the knot sequences well. Indiana Woodward was a lovely Calliope. Good debut for her. Calliope's variation isn't one I normally pay much attention to but Woodward brought a lot of charm to it.

[balanchinette]

5 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

This makes me very nervous to see Kowroski in Chaconne, which certainly seems as technically demanding as Mozartiana, if not more so.

I feel compelled to disagree strongly with canbelto’s review of Maria.  I love Maria in Mozartiana- her long legs, neck, beautiful extension are of course a given, but she transports you in this ballet in a way that Mearns cannot.  Something about the way she looks so absorbed, and her gorgeous head positions.  I did not note any sloppiness or fudged footwork.  As for Hyltin, I saw her once in Mozartiana and vowed never again.  I feel lucky Maria is still dancing Mozartiana and I’m looking forward to seeing her in Chaconne. Seen Sara twice now and there’s something lacking in her chaconne. It doesn’t pull you in- and she doesn’t have a great rapport with Danchig-Waring. Who, by the way, was excellent in his solos last night. 

[canbelto]

I don't know if we were watching the same performance but Maria had difficulty in the many pirouettes of the Theme and Variations. She was never a strong turner to begin with but now it seems as if a single pirouette has to be so carefully prepared that it loses all its effect. I also thought one of her feet looked sickled. I agree her Preghiera was beautiful but that's five minutes in a 30 minute ballet that also calls for lots of quick allegro footwork. 

[balanchinette]

I thought Maria was gorgeous throughout. Saw her on Tuesday.  I found my mind wandering during Sara’s performance  (which isn’t to say that I didn’t like it, I did) whereas I was captivated by Maria’s.  She did lots of clean doubles from what I remember. And I like her musicality better in this than Sara’s. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.  I didn’t want others on the board to have a solely negative impression of Maria or anticipate a bad performance from her when I (and at least one friend of mine who also attended on Tuesday) found her to be beautiful and not at all lacking in technique.  In contrast, one dancer I thought did not have the technical chops for a role was Ashley Isaacs as polyhmnia- those double pirouettes into arabesque were just not there. 

[Balletwannabe]

I guess art is indeed subjective because I loved Cortege Hongrois and thought it went by quickly; so entertaining!  

Loved everything this afternoon.  My only critique is I felt like there was a lack of chemistry between Finley and the muses.  Though individually they were lovely. 

I had high hopes seeing Maria K. for the first time and I was not disappointed. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by Balletwannabe

[Olga]

I also thought Maria was gorgeous throughout the opening night Mozartiana, and so did my friend. A divine performance. She and Tyler Angle were the highlight of opening night. Great chemistry. Anyone with a ticket to their Chaconne should be  looking forward to it. 

[abatt]

I went to the program on Friday that had the Wind Will Carry Us, Composers Holiday, Spectral Evidence and Year of the Rabbit.  I like Year of the Rabbit.  It's a very well crafted work.  Composers Holiday was also worth watching.  But it was difficult to sit through Wind and Spectral, which seems to go on forever.  That will be my one and only viewing of that program.  

[canbelto]

The Wind Still Brings brings back unpleasant memories. It's like 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back. 

[yukionna4869]

Count me in among those who loved Maria. In the opening night performance, it did look like she had some issues with some pirouettes. Although Sara was more technically secure, I thought Maria was much more effective in the role. 

 

Also, in the Mearns/Finlay Mozartiana performance on the Saturday matinee, I think Chase made a premature entrance, and ended up just standing onstage until Mearns finished her solo. I couldn’t remember if that moment was part of the choreography or not. I’m fairly certain that particular moment happened before the T&V couple started dancing together again. I don’t recall it happening in the Kowroski/Angle performance this afternoon. 

[cobweb]

7 hours ago, yukionna4869 said:

Also, in the Mearns/Finlay Mozartiana performance on the Saturday matinee, I think Chase made a premature entrance, and ended up just standing onstage until Mearns finished her solo. 

I noticed this also. I know I’ve never seen that before. 

Add me to the list of those who enjoyed the Kowroski/Angle Mozartiana. 

[yukionna4869]

2 hours ago, cobweb said:

I noticed this also. I know I’ve never seen that before. 

I suppose he didn’t really have any other option other than to commit to the early entrance. Going back into the wings was not an option at that point. Nevertheless, I was internally chuckling watching Chase just stand there in the background. Oh, the perils of live performance. 

[abatt]

Whoever ends up as the new director, I hope he or she will give additional consideration to certain dancers who have been marginalized or written off.  In particular, I'm talking about Laracey.  She was the most exquisite Ballerina on stage in Divertimento.   Also, why are Applebaum, Scrudato and certain other men languishing as permanent corps members.  They were both far superior to Veyette in Divertimento.    

Edited January 29, 2018 by abatt

[nanushka]

25 minutes ago, abatt said:

Whoever ends up as the new director, I hope he or she will give additional consideration to certain dancers who have been marginalized or written off.  In particular, I'm talking about Laracey.  She was the most exquisite Ballerina on stage in Divertimento.   Also, why are Applebaum, Scrudato and certain other men languishing as permanent corps members.  They were both far superior to Veyette in Divertimento.    

It's well past time for Veyette to retire, in my opinion. There's a video of Divertimento on YT circa 2009 with him in the lead, in which his dancing is quite impressive. I'm not seeing him in the role this season, but based on the times I've seen him in other roles over the past few years, as a performer he now barely hints at his former capabilities. "Clunky" is the first word that comes to mind.

[canbelto]

35 minutes ago, nanushka said:

It's well past time for Veyette to retire, in my opinion. There's a video of Divertimento on YT circa 2009 with him in the lead, in which his dancing is quite impressive. I'm not seeing him in the role this season, but based on the times I've seen him in other roles over the past few years, as a performer he now barely hints at his former capabilities. "Clunky" is the first word that comes to mind.

I was at a performance of Donizetti Variations about three years ago where he was dancing and you could tell he was in trouble. Sure enough after a hard landing he limped offstage and did not return for the rest of the ballet. Ashley Bouder and the quick-thinking corps improvised the closing minutes of the ballet. He was out for awhile (this was the day before the premiere of Justin Peck's Rodeo, and Justin had to dance in place of Andy). Since then he's not been the same dancer.

NYCB has quite a few dancers who have never been the same after some injuries. Ashly Isaacs is another one. She used to be a technical phenom. Then an injury, and since then she's been very inconsistent.

[fondoffouettes]

6 minutes ago, canbelto said:

I was at a performance of Donizetti Variations about three years ago where he was dancing and you could tell he was in trouble. Sure enough after a hard landing he limped offstage and did not return for the rest of the ballet. Ashley Bouder and the quick-thinking corps improvised the closing minutes of the ballet. He was out for awhile (this was the day before the premiere of Justin Peck's Rodeo, and Justin had to dance in place of Andy). Since then he's not been the same dancer.

NYCB has quite a few dancers who have never been the same after some injuries. Ashly Isaacs is another one. She used to be a technical phenom. Then an injury, and since then she's been very inconsistent.

And yet he continues to be cast in high-octane roles that show his current shortcomings (Theme and Variations from a couple seasons ago comes to mind). I could have sworn he was only marking in an Allegro Brillante last season. Yet, he continues to be a solid partner, and NYCB seems to be somewhat accepting of male dancers that are good partners but lackluster in solo dancing. (I've sometimes felt this way about the Angle brothers, though I enjoy them much more than Veyette in his current state.) Veyette should bow out gracefully, while he still somewhat can. 

[abatt]

Veyette and DeLuz are both cast in the upcoming high octane role in Fall of the The Four Seasons. Very much looking forward to seeing DeLuz again in this. 

By the way, Huxley was excellent in his debut in Year of the Rabbit, a role that I think was originated by DeLuz.  

[canbelto]

24 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

And yet he continues to be cast in high-octane roles that show his current shortcomings (Theme and Variations from a couple seasons ago comes to mind). I could have sworn he was only marking in an Allegro Brillante last season. Yet, he continues to be a solid partner, and NYCB seems to be somewhat accepting of male dancers that are good partners but lackluster in solo dancing. (I've sometimes felt this way about the Angle brothers, though I enjoy them much more than Veyette in his current state.) Veyette should bow out gracefully, while he still somewhat can. 

Well despite having 14 principals NYCB's male roster is somewhat spotty.

Amar - gone for a year to do Carousel

Ulbricht/Huxley - brilliant dancers but limited by height and physique in what roles they can do

de Luz - see Ulbricht/Huxley and also, retiring

Garcia - see Ulbricht/Huxley, currently injured 

J. Angle - dancing less and less, good for partnering but that's about it

Ask La Cour - always very limited in rep

That leaves only Taylor Stanley, Russell Janzen, Adrian Danchig-Waring (just back from a devastating injury),Tyler Angle (more known for his partnering than anything else), Zachary Catazaro and Chase Finlay to carry most of the male principal workload. Finlay is right now not that great of a partner. Catazaro and Finlay have also had a number of injuries. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by canbelto

[DC Export]

18 minutes ago, canbelto said:

de Luz - see Ulbricht/Huxley and also, retiring

Have we any evidence of this other than his "Last Cavalier" instagram post? Going back and rereading, it still seems ambiguous. 

Edited January 29, 2018 by DC Export

[yukionna4869]

1 hour ago, DC Export said:

Have we any evidence of this other than his "Last Cavalier" instagram post? Going back and rereading, it still seems ambiguous. 

Nothing has been officially announced, yet. 

[cobweb]

Getting back to analysis of the male roster, the soloist ranks looks a little spotty as well. Harrison Ball - is he listed for this season? He's a beautiful dancer, but it seems like he's out a lot, injury I presume. Otherwise a lot of potential, but it's just potential at this point.  Joseph Gordon - a ton of potential, probably the best bet on the soloist roster, but young and needs more confidence in partnering. Justin Peck - don't know what to expect there. When he's good, he's good. Just don't know how committed to that he is anymore. Troy Schumacher - limited potential mainly due to height. Sean Suozzi - someone I like a lot - been a soloist for a long time - not sure how much further he can go. That's it. The male roster needs to be beefed up. 

[AmandaNYC]

To those who asked about the Janice Levin dancer --  The person is honored at the annual Guild luncheon usually held around Valentine's Day, and then that's when the name usually goes in the program.  Always a corps member, as it's meant for an up-and-coming dancer.  Sometimes dancers are so up-and-coming, they skip right over that award or get promoted within the year.

[canbelto]

My pick is Roman Mejia. He is super-talented. 

[vipa]

9 hours ago, canbelto said:

I was at a performance of Donizetti Variations about three years ago where he was dancing and you could tell he was in trouble. Sure enough after a hard landing he limped offstage and did not return for the rest of the ballet. Ashley Bouder and the quick-thinking corps improvised the closing minutes of the ballet. He was out for awhile (this was the day before the premiere of Justin Peck's Rodeo, and Justin had to dance in place of Andy). Since then he's not been the same dancer.

NYCB has quite a few dancers who have never been the same after some injuries. Ashly Isaacs is another one. She used to be a technical phenom. Then an injury, and since then she's been very inconsistent.

Yes, very unfortunately Veyette's downward trajectory has been quite rapid, perhaps stemming from that injury. Prior to that he had been delivering stellar performance in role after role, including Oberon and T&V (including a great performance as an ABT guest for that ballet).