New York City Ballet Fall Season

[canbelto]

Tess Reichlen picking up Joaquin will never not be adorable. I also must say that NYCB knows how to seem like a happy family when doing farewells. This has not been the case with some recent ABT farewells, which had glaring no-shows and general awkwardness.

[nanushka]

9 minutes ago, canbelto said:

I also must say that NYCB knows how to seem like a happy family when doing farewells. This has not been the case with some recent ABT farewells, which had glaring no-shows and general awkwardness.

If it says anything at all about the actual respective levels of morale in the two companies that’s a pretty remarkable statement about ABT, given the currrent circumstances at NYCB.

[vipa]

5 minutes ago, nanushka said:

If it says anything at all about the actual respective levels of morale in the two companies that’s a pretty remarkable statement about ABT, given the currrent circumstances at NYCB.

I don't know how much this impacts on company morale/connectedness but in NYCB everyone spends time in the school. They've been in summer intensive's together, shared dorm life at the school - grew up together in a way. They share life goals and accomplishments. Every woman has been in the corps and experienced the crazy long Nutcracker season. I don't know if this is a factor in company cohesion, I'm just putting the possibility out there. 

[canbelto]

NYCB also has a much, much longer season where everyone is together. I think it's the longest season for an American ballet company. Fall season, the craziness of Nutcracker season, winter season, spring season, touring in the summer. So whether you like these people or not, you have to find a way to be in the same space as them because guess what, you're stuck with them. 

[ABT Fan]

21 minutes ago, canbelto said:

NYCB also has a much, much longer season where everyone is together. I think it's the longest season for an American ballet company. Fall season, the craziness of Nutcracker season, winter season, spring season, touring in the summer. So whether you like these people or not, you have to find a way to be in the same space as them because guess what, you're stuck with them. 

Also, they don't have guest artists who take precious opportunities away from homegrown dancers or principals who also dance with other companies thus only performing with their "home" company a few times a year, much unlike ABT (though the later has done away with their heavy guest artist policy for now it seems). They are all together all year long.

[BalanchineFan]

On 10/15/2018 at 9:56 PM, ABT Fan said:

Also, they don't have guest artists who take precious opportunities away from homegrown dancers or principals who also dance with other companies thus only performing with their "home" company a few times a year, much unlike ABT (though the later has done away with their heavy guest artist policy for now it seems). They are all together all year long.

NYCB dancers also have so much more repertory. When one dancer gets injured it's like EVERYONE ends up picking up the slack. One injury can richochet up the entire schedule.

[Helene]

On 10/13/2018 at 8:50 PM, canbelto said:

Well tonight was apparently Giovanni Villalobos' last appearance with the company because he got a solo bow at the end of "West Side Story Suite" and he brought out a flag of Puerto Rico and the dancers cheered heartily for him.

He's joined the faculty of Pacific Northwest Ballet:

 

[Royal Blue]

On October 11, 2018 NYCB performed in its program: Afternoon of a Faun; Other Dances; Moves; and Something to Dance About. There were two other events of interest that evening, and no compelling necessity to view three of the ballets scheduled. However, the two gorgeous performances of Afternoon of a Faun with Sterling Hyltin during the previous spring's Jerome Robbins Centennial Celebration struck a chord deep enough to induce me to immediately snatch a ticket as soon as a convenient seat became available in the auditorium. The superb performance of the ballet that evening—with an excellent Joseph Gordon in the male role—is one of the most significant art events I have ever attended, serving as the catalyst for reflection about what is a remarkable and special work.

As part of their installation of the Art Series for the Winter Season of 2019, NYCB had affixed three large panels, high in the windows of the theater's facade, which included the words—one in each—"WHO ARE YOU". Created in 1953 when Robbins was 34 years old, Afternoon of a Faun essentially poses the same question. In addition to anything else, this 10-minute ballet engenders contemplation about the issue of identity, the nature of intimacy, and the meaning of art. Frankly, a more telling work could not have been fortuitously programmed for a season in which the company was under siege.

Notwithstanding any flaws or shortcomings in Robbins' character, it is proper today to acknowledge the genius reflected in his greatest works.

One should, furthermore, pay tribute to the woman whose beauty and artistry inspired Afternoon of a Faun, and who first interpreted its female role—Tanaquil LeClercq. As well as to the male lead at the premiere, Francisco Moncion. And—this great ballet being in part about all dancers—in a broader sense to all those performing it subsequently.

[Royal Blue]

Regardless of what Jerome Robbins' precise intentions may have been when creating Afternoon of a Faun, and notwithstanding its brevity, the performance by NYCB on the 100th anniversary of the choreographer's birth revealed a work not just of great beauty but also of considerable depth and meaning. Coming simultaneously on an anniversary of the company's own and at a challenging juncture, it was a luminous, beneficial success. And certainly it was heartwarming as well as thrilling to observe recently how the haunting performances by Sterling Hyltin and Joseph Gordon retained their power when viewed on a laptop screen.

Nevertheless, one aspect that makes Afternoon of a Faun so stimulating is its effectiveness at prompting consideration of the significance and essence of attending a live performance at a theater. A showing of the ballet, therefore, during a period in which people cannot avail themselves of this opportunity—due to a crisis this time engulfing not just the company but the entire nation and world—appears strikingly meaningful and pertinent. A wise decision by NYCB to include this work and performance as part of their scintillating Digital Spring Season!

[Royal Blue]

You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.     [George Bernard Shaw]

Each to each a looking-glass, / Reflects the other that doth pass.     [Charles Cooley]

Is Afternoon of a Faun as substantial and meaningful if two dancers enact it in an empty theater with a large mirror downstage facing them, or in a studio with no one else present? How infinitely deeper and potent is the ballet with that imaginary/metaphorical mirror instead of a real one, and with an audience in attendance! The issues of identity, intimacy, and the meaning of art broached by this enthralling pas de deux concern not only the dancers but every person. These issues are, therefore, properly highlighted, reflected and explored in the theater rather than the studio. Like all works of art (especially the greatest), the ballet serves as a mirror for the audience. Yet it also astutely reminds everyone that —from the perspective of all artists— the audience also in fact serves as a mirror. All the time spent by dancers for instance performing various works publicly onstage, and the audience's response, inevitably has a profound impact on their self-perception. For those so inclined, whichever side of the footlights they may be in, Afternoon of a Faun is indubitably one of the ballets most likely to spark a momentous private conversation.
 

[Royal Blue]

Obviously, one can reflect on the connections between Stéphane Mallarmé's poem, Claude Debussy's symphonic poem and Vaslav Nijinsky's ballet —all famous works— with Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun, and how they correspond to the workings of the ballet world in general. However, the concept of the "mirror" makes it possible and extremely rewarding to ruminate about the ballet by Robbins on its own. A person looks in a mirror not only as a consequence of narcissism, but to discover what they look like and who they are.

What does it mean to be a ballet dancer, or an artist, or simply a human being? Are dancers objectified by being identified or conceived in the mind primarily as such? Why dance: what is the purpose of ballet, or art in general? Do ballet dancers practice their art professionally because they need work, or out of a genuine conviction of the value and sublimity of the art form? What do they think about, and how do they relate to, other dancers —including those from the past? As colleagues, friends, competitors, even lovers, sometimes a perplexing combination of these? And, how do they view their audiences? In fact, what is their connection to all other people, whether they be fans, or (more likely) either indifferent or even hostile to ballet? From the other side of the coin, what makes certain individuals devotees of the art form, and induces them to spend precious time and money watching the same works over and over?

Viewing an absorbing performance of Afternoon of a Faun can lead a person to contemplate these and similar questions. At whatever stage of their career they may be in, dancers may also naturally wonder about these issues. A particularly obvious and sensitive time for them, however, to do so is when they first join a ballet company —when they are just entering adulthood, and are beginning to consciously and lucidly think about themselves, and the world around them. The monumental juxtaposition between the callowness and innocence of two young dancers assuming the roles in Afternoon of a Faun, and the tremendous cumulative knowledge and sophistication of all those seated in the auditorium facing them who embody a "mirror" can make viewing and reflecting subsequently about the ballet a searing experience. Just as the audience witnesses a glimpse of their past youth on the stage, embedded in the "mirror" is a reflection in its entirety of the voyage of discovery the two young dancers are on the brink of initiating.

 

[tutu]

Adore this insight, @Royal Blue.  Thank you.