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New York City Ballet 2021-2022 season

California

By California
in New York City Ballet

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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted

Mostly agree with abatt about last night's performance. I have never seen Piano Pieces either, but it is a worthy return to the rep. I enjoyed the series of pas de deux and solos more than the ensemble pieces, and I guess I'm particularly not a fan of the polka. Mira Nadon and Aaron Sanz were hauntingly beautiful in their pdd, Emilie Gerrity and Jovani Furlan were outstanding, and Tiler was as usual stunning in her solo. 

For Four Seasons, the announcement was that Andres Zuniga would replace Harrison Coll in Winter, but that was wrong; instead Devin Alberda replaced Sebastian Villarini-Velez, presumably because he replaced Gordon in Piano Pieces. I could do without the cutesy elements of Four Seasons, but it does provide the opportunity for lots of great dancing. Chan and Woodward (replacing Hyltin and Huxley) knocked it out of the park. Gerrity and Ramasar were great - wishing Ramasar would rescind his retirement; or come back next year for a guest year? I don't have clear memories of Four Seasons, except for Mearns in Spring, so my mind wasn't doing any comparing of Unity Phelan with Bouder or anyone else. She lacks attack in general (I was super surprised when she was cast to lead Macdonald of Sleat in Union Jack), but she was so beautiful I was blown away. I didn't think the barely-there costume did Andrew Veyette any favors, and his dancing looked pretty ragged to me. 

Overall a fun program. I will be back to see at least one, and maybe two, more performances. I am torn between which casting! Also I wish they would do a better job of updating the casting online. They still haven't updated last week's casting to indicate Georgina Pazcoguin debuted in Apollo, or will that never be updated? There are many evenings when I could go to a performance, and might depending on the casting, but they aren't updating it and I can never be sure who will be dancing. 

 

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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted (edited)

I actually thought they should have cast Woodward in Fall instead of Spring, and that Phelan would be better in Spring.  Woodward is much stronger technically than Phelan, in my opinion.  Also, fantasy casting - Nadon in Spring.

I think Spring looks better on a taller dancer, and for this reason I thought Woodward was miscast here.

Edited by abatt
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FayBallet

FayBallet

Posted
Posted

I'm not familiar with Piano Pieces at all. The beginning seemed especially sloppy to me, but I couldn't tell if it was the dancers, the choreography (folksy ease?), or both. Did anyone else get that impression? 

The tenderness of Gerrity and Furlan's dancing really stood out to me last night.

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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, abatt said:

I actually thought they should have cast Woodward in Fall instead of Spring, and that Phelan would be better in Spring.  Woodward is much stronger technically than Phelan, in my opinion.  

Agree with all of this - that would have made more sense. I was a little worried about Phelan on that diagonal of piques and chaines. 

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bellawood

bellawood

Posted
Posted

I was there, too -- I had never seen Piano Pieces, but it looked a bit underrehearsed in general to me, but particularly in the "Russian dancing troupe" parts. I will note that I think Jacqueline Bologna has become a corps stand out. This Robbins bill feels a little "bitten off more than they can chew" for this company right now, what with the injuries and COVID protocols. Why not do a little more Stravinsky? They barely ran Violin Concerto. I was very sad that Joe Gordon was a late scratch because I think he would be wonderful in this role and a much better match for Tiler's speed. V-V couldn't really keep up. Or what about Harrison Ball? Where is Harrison Ball!? Roman looked great (my husband who was with me last night said Roman gave him "Damian vibes." He also picked Davide Riccardo out for praise from the male demis in Spring so he was 2-2 last night). Roman looks taller to me -- maybe he's still growing or maybe he's really paying attention to his feet and extension. 

Four seasons is always fun, freezing ballerinas and all. I think of Tiler/Ashley Bouder as Fall -- Tiler's dancing Friday with Roman and KJ Takahashi in the "faun" role (D. Ulbricht was as terrific as ever last night). I thought Andy Veyette had a really tough time last night, it was a slog for him. The best couple by far was Woodward/Chan in Spring. 

Sara has announced on her instagram stories that she won't be back this spring. Titania casting thoughts? 

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MarzipanShepherdess

MarzipanShepherdess

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, FayBallet said:

I'm not familiar with Piano Pieces at all. The beginning seemed especially sloppy to me, but I couldn't tell if it was the dancers, the choreography (folksy ease?), or both. Did anyone else get that impression? 

Yes, agree the corps looked under-rehearsed in piano pieces. 

I had never seen piano pieces before and quite enjoyed it. I appreciate the generous scope of it: we get languid pdd, tender pdd, bravura solos, big group dances, folksy bits…lots of opportunities for different dancers to shine in different ways. 

roman Meija was the standout to me: exciting presence, big big jumps, fast and precise footwork. Tiler also was fabulous.

sara mearns was originally cast in the role emilie Gerrity danced, and emilie was lovely but I couldn’t help but yearn for some of the intensity and “go for broke” energy Sara brings to her dancing. Emilie, both in piano pieces and again in four seasons, is a bit careful and mannered to me. As Balanchine used to say: “what are you saving it for?” Which was a thought I had watching Indiana in the spring pdd, as well. Chun Wai Chan brought more of the presence I was looking for in his role. 
 

Danny Ulbricht was having a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed Unity in autumn. Just gorgeous. After seeing her last night, I lean towards seeing her Titania over Emilie’s. 

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Royal Blue

Royal Blue

Posted
Posted

On first viewing, the most exquisite sections of Piano Pieces (for me) were "Reverie" and "June - Barcarolle" —both impeccably cast and performed. Close after these were "Natha Waltz" and "October - Chant d’Automne", also well-done. Even if there was nothing else to this ballet (not the case), NYCB made the right decision to program it and perform it. Since the "Summer" segment of the following work was excellent too, from my perspective Emilie Gerrity had a fantastic evening!

Only during the "Fall" portion did last night's performance of The Four Seasons falter. Of the three principals only Daniel Ulbricht was truly able to live up to the technical demands of their respective roles. Nevertheless, Unity Phelan's beauty shone as brightly here as in other ballets.

 

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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted (edited)

Piano Pieces is very much  a  cousin to Robbins' Dances at a Gathering in terms of the choreography.  Although Piano Pieces is not a masterpiece like DAAG, it certainly has many sections which are breathtaking. 

There a lot of Robbins works that have fallen out of the rep.  They used to do In The Night and I'm Old Fashioned on a regular basis, but those works haven't been done at NYCB lately.  I'm glad they are reviving Brandenburg next season, although I recall very little of the choreography.

Maybe I'm Old Fashioned is now deemed too traditional and not hip enough to merit revival by the current administration.  Better to keep showing The Runaway.

 

Edited by abatt
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Drew

Drew

Posted
Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, abatt said:

Maybe I'm Old Fashioned is now deemed too traditional and not hip enough to merit revival by the current administration.  Better to keep showing The Runaway.

 

While I am delighted to read Piano Pieces is back in the rep ... and would not mind seeing other Robbins rarities revived --Four Bagatelles is one I'm curious about--I must admit I can live without I'm Old Fashioned which I have always found disappointing.  (I have seen it a number of times and used to keep expecting to love it--thinking "well that other performance must have been an off night" or "maybe the cast was the problem" etc.) 

I don't think anyone would take me for hip...

Edited by Drew
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abatt

abatt

Posted
Posted (edited)

Still no casting updates on the website.  However, I noticed that they are having a members only Dress Rehearsal of Midsummer on Friday afternoon at 1PM.  That means that in addition to finding injury-free, Covid-free cast members for the actual performances, they also have to have a cast ready for the member Dress Rehearsal.

Added - I know that NYCB does Covid tests on Tuesdays, Thursdays and one day on the weekend.  Given the high Covid rates in NYC right now, they may be waiting to see the results of the latest round of tests before doing any cast updates.

 

Edited by abatt
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Kathleen O'Connell

Kathleen O'Connell

Posted
Posted
17 hours ago, Drew said:

I must admit I can live without I'm Old Fashioned which I have always found disappointing. 

Robbins' 33 minutes of choreography somehow doesn't live up to the two minute clip of Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire dancing that's projected on to the giant screen at the back of the stage when the ballet begins, and thus seems doubly disappointing by comparison. Also, the men's costumes are awful; they look like the wait staff.

Here's Hayworth and Astaire in "I'm Old Fashioned" from You Were Never Lovelier:

 

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cobweb

cobweb

Posted
Posted (edited)

Just in from a fun second viewing of the Piano Pieces-Four Seasons program. Surprise, Hyltin and Huxley did Spring, and Mira Nadon did Summer. All excellent. KJ Takahashi had a terrific debut in Fall. Beautiful form!
I am prepared to see multiple performances of Midsummer Night’s Dream, but with all the casting changes I am holding off till the last minute. If anyone sees official casting news please post … and if anyone has private intel, you are welcome to PM me!

Edited by cobweb
wrong season
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