NYCB 2018 Summer Season

[mussel]

2018 summer season casting: https://www.nycballet.com/NYCB/media/NYCBMediaLibrary/PDFs/Press/Casting/SPAC-Casting_July-17-21-2018_070918.pdf

[abatt]

According to Bouder's instagram, Joseph Gordon replaced Catazarro in Symphony in C in the first movement.  It was Gordon's debut in the role.  Did anyone see the performance?  Who replaced Gordon in his scheduled performance in the third movement?

[Emma]

Per Indiana Woodward's instagram, Sebastian V

[abatt]

Thanks.

[rkoretzky]

It was a full out bravura performance from both of them. Indiana Woodward kicked the third movement to the curb. It was heaven. 

[yukionna4869]

33 minutes ago, rkoretzky said:

It was a full out bravura performance from both of them. Indiana Woodward kicked the third movement to the curb. It was heaven. 

That’s great to hear. I now can’t wait to see her in the third movement. 

[griffie]

I saw Tuesday’s cast for the same program. Agree that Indiana Woodward was the star of the night for me. She breezed through the third movement with exceptional precision for the speed, neat footwork, tight fifths and great stage presence. She shone alongside Brouder and Reichlin. Lauren King in the fourth movement had particularly lovely carriage and port de bras. Shoutout to Megan LeCrone who sparkled in Square Dance. The company is already top-heavy with principals but Woodward and LeCrone seem clearly in line for promotion. And Taylor Stanley is the Total Package, in spades. He The audience members seated near me were in raptures about him after Square Dance. NYCB’s depth of talent is a delight.

Edited July 19, 2018 by griffie
Clarification

[vipa]

29 minutes ago, griffie said:

I saw Tuesday’s cast for the same program. Agree that Indiana Woodward was the star of the night for me. She breezed through the third movement with exceptional precision for the speed, neat footwork, tight fifths and great stage presence. She shone alongside Brouder and Reichlin. Lauren King in the fourth movement had particularly lovely carriage and port de bras. Shoutout to Megan LeCrone who sparkled in Square Dance. The company is already top-heavy with principals but Woodward and LeCrone seem clearly in line for promotion. And Taylor Stanley is the Total Package, in spades. He The audience members seated near me were in raptures about him after Square Dance. NYCB’s depth of talent is a delight.

Did LeCrone do the lead in Square Dance?

[griffie]

My apologies, Vipa, my enthusiasm made me careless. Megan LeCrone was in the fourth variation of 4T. Erica Pereira was the female lead in Square Dance and she danced competently.

Edited July 19, 2018 by griffie
I’m old

[rkoretzky]

No it was Erica in square Dance and Megan L in 4Ts choleric. 

Just got home from round 2. Tonight Baily Jones led 3rd mvt Bizet and also rocked it. I agree. The depth of talent in this company is breathtaking. BTW the tempi in 3rd and 4th movements bordered on ridiculous but our amazing dancers handled it beautifully, 

Unfortunately we have now seen all the Balanchine we’re going to see. We now go to three Romeo’s, a night of new choreography (Peck, Lovette and riesen) and a mostly unimpressive gala program on Saturday night. 

Edited July 19, 2018 by rkoretzky

[rkoretzky]

6 minutes ago, griffie said:

My apologies, Vipa, my enthusiasm made me careless. Megan LeCrone was in the fourth variation of 4T. Erica Pereira was the female lead in Square Dance and she danced competently.

I’m old too, but this program makes everyone feel young and in love with NYCB! 

[abatt]

11 hours ago, griffie said:

IShe shone alongside Brouder and Reichlin.

Did Reichlin replace Maria K. in the second movement of Symphony in C?

[canbelto]

31 minutes ago, abatt said:

Did Reichlin replace Maria K. in the second movement of Symphony in C?

Yes. Maria K said on instagram that she has a foot injury.

[FPF]

I also saw the Tuesday night performance.

FYI: tickets to pre-performance talks are free this year although registration is required (but several people without tickets were able to get in on Tuesday). Deborah Jowitt spoke. For me, the most interesting thing was her discussion of the 4Ts and how the elements corresponding to each humor relate to the quality of movement in the choreography (e.g., fiery for Choleric, watery for Phlegmatic). 

 I thought that Square Dance was just OK. Erica Pereira danced well but didn't project strongly (I prefer to sit in the balcony).  Taylor Stanley was good. 

 In 4Ts, Sara Mearns and Jared Angle looked a bit off to me--as though there might have been some sort of misstep toward the beginning of Sanguinic, soon after they've met and are moving together.  I agree with Griffie that Megan LeCrone's Choleric was a highlight.

There were a lot of  cast changes in Symphony in C. If I have it correctly, first movement was Ashley Bouder and Joseph Gordon, Second Movement was Teresa Reichlen and Russell Janzen, Third was Indiana Woodward and Sebastian Villarini-Velez, and Fourth (I think this was the only movement with the listed principals) was Lauren King and Andrew Scordato.  All were excellent. I'm not sure if I've seen Villarini-Velez in a principal role before, but he made a fantastic impression here, with excellent ballon. I am still not crazy about the floppy newer costumes-- when Reichlen did the deep penche, her tutu completely inverted. I don't think I'd ever seen that with the Karinska tutus. 

[susanger]

Third movement Symphony in C was Bailey Jones, not Indiana Woodward, with Sebastian Villarini-Velez.

[abatt]

57 minutes ago, FPF said:

 

 In 4Ts, Sara Mearns and Jared Angle looked a bit off to me--as though there might have been some sort of misstep toward the beginning of Sanguinic, soon after they've met and are moving together.  I agree with Griffie that Megan LeCrone's Choleric was a highlight.

 

I read Mearns's instagram, and she mentioned that she did have a mishap during the 4T's.

Edited July 19, 2018 by abatt

[nanushka]

3 minutes ago, susanger said:

Third movement Symphony in C was Bailey Jones, not Indiana Woodward, with Sebastian Villarini-Velez.

The reports above seemed to suggest that Jones was Wednesday night, while Woodward was Tuesday night — as they were originally cast. (FPF was reporting on Tuesday.) Were those incorrect?

[FPF]

34 minutes ago, nanushka said:

The reports above seemed to suggest that Jones was Wednesday night, while Woodward was Tuesday night — as they were originally cast. (FPF was reporting on Tuesday.) Were those incorrect?

I didn't go Wed. night, but Jones was scheduled for that performance in the Playbill and on the NYCB website.

[rkoretzky]

while it is disappointing to not see Maria once, Tess was ravishing. I especially love the way she takes her time, luxuriating in every movement and showing every position with clarity. Just beautiful. 

17 minutes ago, FPF said:

I didn't go Wed. night, but Jones was scheduled for that performance in the Playbill and on the NYCB website.

You’re all correct! Tuesday Indiana. Wednesday Baily. Both with Sebastian and all brilliantly done. Debuts! 

[yukionna4869]

Sterling Hyltin is retiring Juliet. 

 

 

[CTballetfan]

How lucky I was to have seen her as Juliet in February of this year, bookended by my first viewing of her Juliet in 2007 to Robert Fairchild’s Romeo—that partnership one for the ages. I commented in February how enriched her interpretation has become since 2007. I don’t quite understand why she wants to retire the role when IMO she is one of the great contemporary interpreters of it and she is younger than many ballerinas who still dance it. Is she tired of it? Does she want to take her career in a new direction? Concentrate on more contemporary roles and new choreography? Any clues?

[Kathleen O'Connell]

2 hours ago, CTballetfan said:

How lucky I was to have seen her as Juliet in February of this year, bookended by my first viewing of her Juliet in 2007 to Robert Fairchild’s Romeo—that partnership one for the ages. I commented in February how enriched her interpretation has become since 2007. I don’t quite understand why she wants to retire the role when IMO she is one of the great contemporary interpreters of it and she is younger than many ballerinas who still dance it. Is she tired of it? Does she want to take her career in a new direction? Concentrate on more contemporary roles and new choreography? Any clues?

She's got better things than Martins' R+J to do with her time. 😉

In all seriousness:

1) I'm pleased to hear that Hyltin found the role to be a source of artistic growth and fulfillment: she is a splendid performer and both lived up to the challenges and deserved the rewards Martins' Juliet may have brought her. I will say that I think the ballet was luckier to have her than she was to have the ballet; she wrung about as much nuance out of Martins' lather-rinse-and-repeat choreography as it is humanly possible to do, and for this he owes her a debt of gratitude. 

2) As Hyltins' delightful Aurora and Swanhilda amply demonstrate, she's more than capable of portraying young heroines. That being said, Martins specifically crafted the roles of his Romeo and Juliet to showcase very, very young dancers. It's not wrong for the company to continue to use them as that kind of vehicle and it's not wrong for Hyltin to agree that it's time to move on. 

ETA: Although I would have never predicted this, Hyltin has grown into one of the company's most versatile dancers. She's as good in Robbins and Ratmansky as she is in Balanchine and Peck. When you've got the big roles in Apollo, Rubies, Symphony in Three Movements, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Mozartiana, Dances at a Gathering, Namouna, and countless others in your rep, you really can move on from Martins R+J.

Edited July 20, 2018 by Kathleen O'Connell

[fondoffouettes]

51 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

ETA: Although I would have never predicted this, Hyltin has grown into one of the company's most versatile dancers. She's as good in Robbins and Ratmansky as she is in Balanchine and Peck. When you've got the big roles in Apollo, Rubies, Symphony in Three Movements, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Mozartiana, Dances at a Gathering, Namouna, and countless others in your rep, you really can move on from Martins R+J.

Wow, you're really right, now that I think about it. And she's been excellent in nearly everything I've seen her in. I've particularly loved her Waltz Girl in Serenade and Swanilda. 

I've only seen selected scenes from the Martins R&J (via Kathryn Morgan's YouTube channel), but it seems like less of a vehicle for older dancers, like the MacMillan is. From what I could tell, it was lots of repetitive, but vigorous and tiring, steps. I'm sure the technical requirements are no issue for Hyltin, but maybe NYCB doesn't envision ballerinas aging into this role, as you say. 

I wish her retiring the role meant that NYCB was removing the Martins R&J from its rep, but that doesn't seem to be the case. 

Edited July 20, 2018 by fondoffouettes

[FPF]

Last night, I saw the 21st Century Choreographers program, featuring 4 ballets new to SPAC:  Easy, Composer's Holiday, Not Our Fate, and Pulcinella Variations.

Before the performance, Justin Peck was interviewed by Jay Rogoff (local poet and dance writer) for the pre-performance talk. Justin spoke first about the very involved and lengthy process for choreographing Carousel vs. the much shorter process for a typical ballet.  He said that a ballet would be choreographed and rehearsed in just a few weeks plus maybe 4 days for tech before its first performance.  In contrast, Carousel had I think 2 periods of 3-4 weeks for choreography, months of rehearsals, and 6 weeks of tech and previews. He also spoke briefly about his two new ballets, mentioning that "Easy" is named for Jerome Robbins' use of the phrase "Easy baby," but that it's actually a company in-joke that the ballet is quite hard to dance. And he talked about his choice of music (Stravinsky is very danceable) and interactions with the costume designer (let her do her thing) for Pulcinella Variations. 

Easy featured a debut for Christopher Grant in the role Harrison Coll originated. It's essentially a Robbins pastiche--this isn't a bad ballet, but not one of Peck's best. It was followed by Gianna Reisen's Composer's Holiday. This ballet also featured a debut--Kennard Henson in the role originated by Gilbert Bolden. I thought that this was very promising, with some really striking images. Lauren Lovette's Not Our Fate was next. I remember reading a lot earlier in the year about Taylor Stanley--Preston Chamblee (who were excellent), but I thought that Meaghan Dutton O'Hara also looked fantastic in this ballet. Last, but definitely not least was Pulcinella Variations.  I loved it--the contrast between the fanciful costumes and simply set, and above all, the inventive, musical, and witty choreography. I was particularly impressed with Anthony Huxley--he moved almost impossibly quickly, precisely, and gracefully. I wish they were performing this again instead of so many R + Js. Happy to say that (at least from my upstairs view) this program looks to have sold quite well (can we have the second week of the season back now, please?). 

[FPF]

41 minutes ago, fondoffouettes said:

I wish her retiring the role meant that NYCB was removing the Martins R&J from its rep, but that doesn't seem to be the case. 

Ditto. In a Saratoga season of only 7 performances, 3 are R + J.  I saw it once the last time it came here, but am not interested in seeing it again. It does seem to sell, though.