New York City Ballet 2021-2022 season

[Jacqueline]

1 hour ago, BalanchineFan said:

I've got my fingers crossed for you. May I suggest you try to plan longer trips? They perform A LOT, probably more than any other non-commercial, performing arts company in NYC. That one cancellation you mentioned was the only cancellation in NYCB's entire existence... until Covid as far as I know.

-A longtime fan

BalanchineFan, thank you. I wish I could plan longer trips, but there's this pesky little thing called work, for both me and my daughter, a former dancer who studied with former NYCB principal Yvonne Mounsey and joined me on that particular jaunt from Los Angeles.  We moved mountains to get in ahead of the storm and were feeling super smug that we pulled it off!! I remember feeling so much joy as our cab crunched along the ice on the way to our pre-performance lunch at The Smith.  Who knew the whole city would get shut down? We did get "stuck" in NY for five days instead of the three we originally planned,  and got to see a NYCB performance the next day, luckily, but it was not the rep we were so excited about.  It was Who Cares? with Tiler and Robbie (on special break that day from "An American in Paris") We loved that except for the new costumes, which I find super garish and distracting. The other ballets on the program were Barber Violin Concerto and Fancy Free -- neither are my favorites.  

[tutu]

3 hours ago, brokenwing said:

Not sure if this has been posted but according to broadwayworld.com the Janice Levin award is going to both India Bradley and Davide Riccardo this year. Congratulations to these dancers!

Oh fantastic!!!!  And well-deserved!!! 

[BalanchineFan]

18 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

Well, it's not the same as seeing her in the theater, but this New York Times "Speaking in Dance" Instagram clip from a few years back will give you an idea of what you missed ... when she was on in this role, she was ON.

 

Thank you! It's a short clip, but well worth watching.

[abatt]

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/28/arts/dance/review-justin-peck-partita-new-york-city-ballet.html

 

Review of last night's performance.  I largely missed the Peck work due to a homeless man who decided to go for a stroll on the subway tracks, grinding all trains to a halt on my subway line.

Cunningham's Summerspace was well done, but not my cup of tea.  Veyette was replaced by Villani Velez.

I absolutely LOVED the cast of DGV.  Every one of the lead dancers crackled with energy and electricity.  My only quibble was that Furlan was not entirely secure in his partnering of LaFreniere in the big overhead lifts.

 

The program noted that Bradley and Ricardo are indeed the Janice Levin winners.

Edited January 28, 2022 by abatt

[cobweb]

42 minutes ago, abatt said:

absolutely LOVED the cast of DGV.  Every one of the lead dancers crackled with energy and electricity.  My only quibble was that Furlan was not entirely secure in his partnering of LaFreniere in the big overhead lifts

Thanks for this report. I am blah on the program except I might go for DGV. I am surprised by the laFreniere-Furlan pairing. I am sure that he, like all the men, is extremely strong, but as I try to picture that lift, she seems too big for him. The proportions are off. 

[JuliaJ]

I have yet to see Partita (going this weekend) but from the pictures, I so badly wish Justin Peck would move on from dressing his dancers in warm-up attire (or as Gia Kourlas put it in the NYT review, "playsuits.") At least the jazzercize-inspired costumes in a ballet like Glass Pieces are attractive. These just look drab. 

[nycvillager]

I was there to see DGV and it was worth the wait til end of the program. I love the energy, music and partnering of this ballet, and it is visually stunning as well. I agree with your assessment @abattof Furlan and LaFreniere. I chalked it up to their debuts in those roles. I'm seeing it again on Saturday, so will see if they improve. Otherwise, the dancing was great. The third pair is my favorite and while I miss those long beautiful lines and security of Maria, I really enjoyed watching Sara Mearns with Tyler Angle. He partners so well. I know some of have commented on his decline in some roles or on his appearance, but I will be sad for the day when he's not at NYCB and hope he is here for years to come. Lastly, I was wowed by Mira Nadon. I can see why she is one of the next big things at NYCB, radiant and commanding. I look forward to seeing more of her.

Partita was fine, but not one that I would want to see again after this season or even again Saturday. Great cast full of dancers I like to see - Tiler Peck, Stanley, Mejia - and the colorful fabrics hanging onstage were visually appealing. I appreciate the vocals from Roomful of Teeth. I like that Peck tries these different combinations of music and art onstage, but I am ready to move on from sneaker ballets. 

I enjoyed Summerspace. I don't see Danchig-Waring or Gerrity often, so was pleased to see them both. They danced well, along with Laracey and Villarini-Velez.

[cobweb]

Any reports on tonight's all-Balanchine program? 

[AnneMC]

I attended Friday's performance.  Here are some of my thoughts.

Mozartiana was danced very movingly by Sterling Hyltin who masterfully manages to exhibit a balance between an interior process and at the same time, a connection to her partner, Anthony Huxley.   Anthony Huxley dances so cleanly and articulately, even simple steps were a delight.  He really has wonderful line and pointed feet, and is such a light dancer, I thought that technically he really shone.  Daniel Ulbricht as usual danced with precision and energy, the latter perhaps somewhat muted, which is what the role seems to call for.  The four Ladies, Miller, Lafreniere, Nadon and Hod beamed throughout as if still celebrating their recent promotions (Miller especially has a megawatt smile).   Isabella had a little trip up at one point when she slid a little, but otherwise danced with incredible confidence and energy.

 In Rubies, the three leading roles were danced with enormous energy and clarity.  Emily Kikta to me is a like a more refined Savannah Lowery: big energy and amplitude, but more graceful.  I thought Megan Fairchild was quite unbelievable: especially when taking into account she is the mother of three!   She danced with joy, clarity and speed and really seemed to enjoy herself - she is such a fine technician and makes it look easy.  Her series of triple pirouettes with her hands flexed and arms bent were all done cleanly without any falling off pointe that the difficulty of this series can be hard to appreciate.   Gonzales also seemed to be having fun and to be able to tackle the steps with ease.

In La Valse, I thought Sara Mearns and Jovani Furlan danced very well though perhaps their chemistry together still needs some time.  Having read that this ballet was created to mark the end of the popularity/era of waltzing gave it a depth I hadn't experienced when I didn't know this context before.  I thought Ashley Laracey really stood out for her grace which can be somewhat other worldly, a nice quality since so much ballet is about being transported to a fantasy, metaphorical or spiritual plane.   All the dancers danced with such boldness and confidence it was really impressive, especially since the pandemic must have really challenged them to keep up their technique and endurance.    Amar Ramasar replaced Andrew Veyette and was very devilish in his role, seeming to delight in the way he used the vanity of the Sara Mearns character to draw her into death, a clever commentary on the dual levels of how even the privileged can have the rug pulled from under their feet in a second ( or that by grasping for more and more, we ignore signs of risk and danger).  Anyway, a complicated piece with absolutely gorgeous music and costumes.

A great night, worth having come all the way from Boston to see it.  I have tickets to the matinee which I hope will not get canceled!

[cobweb]

59 minutes ago, AnneMC said:

I attended Friday's performance.  Here are some of my thoughts.

Thank you for your detailed report, AnneMC! Please report back on the matinee, and I look forward to more of your reports on your next trip from Boston. Good luck getting home!!

[vagansmom]

I am so happy (and jealous) to hear the report about Sterling Hyltin in Mozartiana. She has been my favorite NYCB dancer for many years now. I wish I could have been there. I'm on the CT/MA border and I was afraid to risk it due to the storm. Needed to be home to hold down the fort. I also delighted in the report about Megan Fairchild's dancing. She is indeed a wonder. I think you're right about her making the hardest steps appear easy so that many people don't realize the complexity of what she's doing. Such a very high level of mastery!

[AnneMC]

The Saturday matinee did indeed go on, and there was quite a good attendance.

 The program began with Peck's Partita.  I happened to really like the music, a live performance of the Pulitzer prize winning music by Caroline Shaw sung by the group that it was written for, A Roomful of Teeth.  It mostly consists of a wide range of vocalizations, i.e. not many words, but rather beautiful, often reminding me of gospel music and hymns (at least to my ears).  I thought it elevated the dance, making it deeper and more interesting.   I think I most liked the duet between Claire Kretzchmar and India Bradley; they were often dancing the same steps, but then came together with interesting entwining arm movements that, just as the music referenced different musical styles, these entwining arm movements referenced the more modern dance movements with intricate arm movement patterns I have seen on social media.  I can understand that Peck's sneaker ballets (if in fact they can really be called ballets) are not everyone's cup of tea, but I would see it again, especially because the music is so wonderful.  And the backdrop that consisted of circles of differently colored fabric fit well with the whole piece.

  The second ballet, Cunningham's Summerspace did not in my opinion have a likeable musical score (composer was Morton Feldman); it made the abstractness of the ballet even more abstract and cerebral and I found it just hard to warm to.  I did however appreciate Ashley Laracey's understated control with the many sustained extensions she had to hold.  She maintained such good balance that she just seemed to become one with the whole piece.

  The standout of the program was the third piece, Wheeldon's DGV: Danse a Grande Vitesse.  The music is so fast and wave like, building up and then crescendoing, then doing it all over again.   All the lead couples were great, but I thought Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle were fantastic.  They often reminded me of ice dancers with lifts that move through space.  And they are obviously so familiar with each other that they often seemed to be one body; Sara trusting him in such a way as to make the lifts seem effortless, and thus they could just focus on the presentation rather than whether they were going to manage to do them or not, which can be distracting.  Also, Mira Nadon just seems to embody the Balanchine ballerina archetype.  There is something about her fluidity, beauty and quickness that makes me imagine Balanchine himself guiding her.  I too agree with the others who think she will become a big star.  

  

[cassieallison]

I feel like we haven't seen suozzi on the cast list in forever

[JuliaJ]

I saw the "New Combinations" program last night (all tickets throughout the house were only $38!) and found it pretty lackluster. Peck's Partita made for a bad opener -- I thought it was a huge missed opportunity to do something more interesting with such fascinating music. This was the best music Peck has picked in a long time and I think he squandered the chance. I feel bad saying this because I've loved some of his past work and thought what he did with West Side Story was brilliant, but I feel like he has regressed with the frequent revisiting of sneakers and casual warm-up wear. That look worked well in the Times are Racing but, from what I've seen, hasn't been successful since. Partita would have been so much more interesting as an actual ballet. Instead, it was just a lot of waving arms and chaos without a clear focal point. Tiler Peck made the best of it though. And I thought India Bradley (and her long legs, wow) shone more than I've seen in the past -- she's gorgeous. 

Summerspace is a very admirable and impressive work and there were no major missteps I could see with the tricky choreography. Devin Alberda danced the Adrian Danchig-Waring role. Ashley Laracey's beautiful lines gave the choreography an extra balletic feel. But with the minimalist, avant-garde music, it did not make for a good programming directly after the Peck piece. The audience response was tepid. 

Crowd-pleaser DGV saved the evening, since it was high energy and actually involved ballet and point shoes. I appreciate it now more than when I last saw it. Nadon and Chan were on fire, same with Mearns and Angle and their silky-smooth partnering. 

I will probably avoid most all-modern/contemporary programs in the future. 

[BalanchineFan]

I was at the Saturday Matinee. So glad the snowstorm didn't impede things! I am just loving Justin Peck's work. Partita has beautiful music from Roomful of Teeth, eight acapella voices. (Maybe that's where they blew the budget for Liebeslieder! Ha!). I'm looking forward to seeing the piece again. It seems pensive, or reflective, though there is some dynamic dancing. In addition to the duet between Kretschmar and Bradley, there is also a lovely duet for Taylor Stanley and Harrison Coll that I enjoyed. There are a lot of themes running through it; these duets (kind of twinning, intertwined) and group shapes around center, figures standing, walking, and looking at the larger group. Tiler Peck also has a gorgeous solo, and a duet with Chun Wai Chan, who looks right at home wherever you find him. He is a keeper! Strong, subtle, detailed, dynamic, the physique for traditional white tights ballets and great in modern ballets as well.

Cunninghams's Summerspace was well danced, but I still miss Abi Stafford. I kept thinking about how the Cunningham (and other great) dancers perform this piece. I was struck by Ashley Laracey, but not in a good way. Yes, she performed the crazy balances quite well. She looked secure, physically. When I watch Adrian D-W in the piece he seems totally present, charismatic (without "doing" anything extra). He looks directly at the audience, or his fellow performers, he projects his presence with his movement and his stillness. If I was in their studios, I would ask Ms. Laracey to work on her eyes, to look out at the audience, rather than hooding her eyes, to project with her face and entire body whatever movement or dynamic she is performing. To me, she didn't make much impact. Maybe she doesn't like Cunningham, maybe she was nervous. She's got good reason, it is incredibly difficult choreography, (big, quick movemement, land, pause on demi-pointe) like you're naked. I don't know what it is, but she seems to retreat from being onstage in the piece rather than putting her full self out there. Emilie Gerrity was gorgeous and assured as always (she seems to have deepened in this piece) and Meghan Dutton-Ohara looked good in the role Lydia Wellington performed so clearly.  I have a few notes for Dutton-Ohara, too, though. My ballet mistress is really coming out.

DGV was pure joy. I could tell some in the audience were happy to see pointe shoes at last. Isabelle LaFreniere looked fabulous in the opening duet. Looking at really good dancers, it often seems like they're managing a huge engine inside and they're choosing when to hit the gas, when to hit the brakes and they're determined to surprise you, possibly themselves, with each change in speed or dynamic. The engine is their thirst for movement, their hunger, their curiosity, their artistry . They don’t seem to be worried about failure, and failure isn’t a real option because they are so committed to (the movement of) the moment that it will be exciting for us, the audience, whether things go as planned or not. 

That  Megan Fairchild and Sara Mearns are brimming over with this quality is not surprising. Principals for at least a decade they have made it their standard. Isabelle LaFreniere and Mira Nadon joined them in Dances à Grande Vitesse on Saturday and it was spectacular. NYCB is BACK! Nadon was like a force of nature, energetic, surprising phrasing, fully committed.

FWIW, I didn't notice any partnering fumbles with Jovani Furlan. He's gorgeous, I love his dancing, but he did seem to recede a bit in his duet with LaFreniere. Maybe he had his hands full?
 

Edited January 30, 2022 by BalanchineFan

[canbelto]

16 minutes ago, JuliaJ said:

Summerspace is a very admirable and impressive work and there were no major missteps I could see with the tricky choreography. Devin Alberda danced the Adrian Danchig-Waring role. Ashley Laracey's beautiful lines gave the choreography an extra balletic feel. But with the minimalist, avant-garde music, it did not make for a good programming directly after the Peck piece. The audience response was tepid. 

Adrian and Devin danced the Merce role, and many of those jumps were jumps only Merce could really do.

[BalanchineFan]

1 minute ago, canbelto said:

Adrian and Devin danced the Merce role, and many of those jumps were jumps only Merce could really do.

Adrian looks GOOD in Summerspace. Merce who? (lol)

[BalanchineFan]

On 1/27/2022 at 9:46 PM, Jacqueline said:

BalanchineFan, thank you. I wish I could plan longer trips, but there's this pesky little thing called work, for both me and my daughter, a former dancer who studied with former NYCB principal Yvonne Mounsey and joined me on that particular jaunt from Los Angeles.  We moved mountains to get in ahead of the storm and were feeling super smug that we pulled it off!! I remember feeling so much joy as our cab crunched along the ice on the way to our pre-performance lunch at The Smith.  Who knew the whole city would get shut down? We did get "stuck" in NY for five days instead of the three we originally planned,  and got to see a NYCB performance the next day, luckily, but it was not the rep we were so excited about.  It was Who Cares? with Tiler and Robbie (on special break that day from "An American in Paris") We loved that except for the new costumes, which I find super garish and distracting. The other ballets on the program were Barber Violin Concerto and Fancy Free -- neither are my favorites.  

I was there that day. Got to the theater in all my snow regalia, only to find the place deserted except for snow plows and a few hearty teenagers playing in the drifts. 25" of snowfall over night. Over two feet! I wish they would do something to commemorate Balanchine's birthday again. Those programs were special. Glad you got to see some NYCB before heading home.

Edited January 30, 2022 by BalanchineFan

[cobweb]

I wasn't planning on seeing this cast of the all-Balanchine program, but after reading the stellar reports above I had to give it a try.

First up, Mozartiana. As many times as I've seen Anthony Huxley, I was so struck by his beauty it was as if for the first time. Even aside from his dancing, his physical beauty is striking. He wears white tights like nobody's business, and the cobalt-and-violet vest really sets off his full, dark hair and fine features. His dancing was a delight. I didn't love Sterling Hyltin. Next to Huxley's freshness, she appeared a bit wan. Maybe it was too much pancake makeup, or maybe that costume needs freshening (the lacey collar especially looks tired and outdated). Most of all, I feel she doesn't bring much depth or interiority to this piece. I would like to see a dancer with more imagination take it on. I'm very curious to see what Tiler Peck does with it, and I hope they have at least one of the new soloists learning it. Laracey would be another great choice. It was fun to see the four statuesque new soloists (LaFreniere, Hod, Miller, Nadon). Do they usually have soloists doing these roles, or will these ladies have to be replaced? 

Second was Rubies. This was terrific. Emily Kikta wields her legs with menace, and those backward-arabesque-penches were killer.  I know there are lots of great legs in the company, but I put Kikta's first. 😀 As noted above, Megan Fairchild is polished and totally in control, and Gonzalo Garcia was an eager, energetic, genial partner. I will miss this pairing. I was thinking about Tiler Peck taking this role on, and it's such an obvious fit for her it almost seems impossible she hasn't done it before. Again, I hope they have somebody besides Tiler working on this. Emma von Enck?

Finally, I enjoyed La Valse way more than expected. Jovani Furlan was fantastic in this dramatic role (which doesn't surprise me after seeing his Swan Lake... two years ago now!) Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar (subbing for Veyette) were electric together. Overall just enjoyed the sweep and beauty of it. 

I was thinking about the state of the company and the turnover of talent. I guess because we missed a year and a half, a lot of transition that might have happened more gradually, seems to be happening all at once. With seven dancers moving from corps to soloist and a few corps retiring (many of these being long-time stalwarts of the corps de ballet) it strikes me that they need to keep a close eye on the cohesion of the corps and further talent development. I am also struck to realize how many of the female principal contingent are, shall I say, closer to retirement than they were 2 years ago. It's great that they have Phelan and Woodward as principals now, but from my perspective they also need Emilie Gerrity in there pronto. She has a tallness and grandeur that none of the current principals have (with Reichlen heading out), and while the new batch of soloists no doubt will get there, Gerrity is ready now. 

[canbelto]

While I agree Gerrity is a lovely dancer, she is not tall. She's medium-height, shorter than Mearns the entire batch they just promoted minus Emma von Enck.

[cobweb]

1 hour ago, canbelto said:

While I agree Gerrity is a lovely dancer, she is not tall. She's medium-height, shorter than Mearns the entire batch they just promoted minus Emma von Enck.

Wow, is that true? I definitely think of her as a tall dancer. She comes across that way, large and grand.

[canbelto]

50 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Wow, is that true? I definitely think of her as a tall dancer. She comes across that way, large and grand.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMLCl66jWrC/

https://www.instagram.com/p/7E80m9AAcd/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZZz2nDAhbO/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrI8IjmAEBf/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3rmJv2AyiF/

A couple of photos to show that she's shorter than most of the "tall" NYCB ballerinas including Sara Mearns. She was also shorter than Joaquin de Luz, who definitely was not tall. I think she has long proportions but she's not actually tall.

[cobweb]

Fascinating to see. Thanks, canbelto!

[nanushka]

@cobweb I agree with you on basically every point. Hyltin was not particularly  memorable in this. Huxley had fantastic precision and height on his jumps. The 4 new soloists looked superb (though I wish LaFreniere grinned less). Fairchild was more thoroughly satisfying than I’ve ever seen her. Garcia was enjoyable too (in a role and ballet I generally don’t care for). Kikta gorgeous throughout. Sanz and Laracey and Kikta great in La Valse. Furlan almost stole the show, and his jetés were phenomenal. But once Furlan froze for the long encounter with Death, Mearns and Ramasar more than capably took over. I was not looking forward to seeing the last two pieces again but with these casts it was worth it.

[vipa]

Love all the reports. I'm really looking forward to seeing T. Peck in Mozartiana next weekend. I don't listen to the City Ballet podcast often but Silas Farley hosted a "hear the dance" on Mozartiana that is fun. He interviewed one of the 4 original minuet women, and 1 of the original children. https://podcast.nycballet.com/episode-51-hear-the-dance-mozartiana/ 

On another topic, does anyone know the status of Ashley Bouder? I follow her on instagram. Other than one statement many weeks ago, that she'd started serious exercise, there has been nothing about dance.