New York City Ballet 2022-2023 season

[Fernie M]

Jonathan Fahoury posted on his IG stories, tomorrow night (New Peck) will be his last show with NYCB.  Any information?  I am saddened and surprised, he’s such a talent. Best of luck in his next chapter!

[carllovesballet]

5 minutes ago, Fernie M said:

Jonathan Fahoury posted on his IG stories, tomorrow night (New Peck) will be his last show with NYCB.  Any information?  I am saddened and surprised, he’s such a talent. Best of luck in his next chapter!

major bummer i really liked his dancing

[MarzipanShepherdess]

11 minutes ago, Fernie M said:

Jonathan Fahoury posted on his IG stories, tomorrow night (New Peck) will be his last show with NYCB.  Any information?  I am saddened and surprised, he’s such a talent. Best of luck in his next chapter!

Wow, this surprises me as it really seemed like he was gaining momentum these past few seasons and doing more featured roles! He had a pretty prominent role in the new Abrams this fall, and obviously is also in the first cast of the new Justin Peck. 

[matilda]

Sad to see Fahoury go, was so impressed by him in Love Letter on Shuffle, which is coming back in the spring so they'll need a replacement. He does well with the modern / gaga style so I wouldn't be surprised if he's pursuing different dance styles. Must have been an abrupt decision, as he was on the casting sheet for this weekend and next week in the new Peck ballet!

[vipa]

Don't know if this has been mentioned, but Ashley Bouder made a positive sounding post on IG about being injured again, and hoping to be back.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn2LqTSDtUE/

Edited January 25, 2023 by vipa

[matilda]

"Positive" definitely sums up Ashley's last two posts. Two days ago she wrote "I can’t wait to be back in the stage I love, but in the meantime I’ll cheer on my colleagues and enjoy my family and personal time." Maybe doing a little damage control? In any case it's nice to see, and I hope she gets the rest and recovery she needs. 

[BalanchineFan]

3 hours ago, Fernie M said:

Jonathan Fahoury posted on his IG stories, tomorrow night (New Peck) will be his last show with NYCB.  Any information?  I am saddened and surprised, he’s such a talent. Best of luck in his next chapter!

I wish him the best, but I'll really miss him. IIRC, Jonathan Fahoury was also one of the stand outs in Jamar Roberts ballet. He had a lovely, modern dance-ish solo with a lot of interesting movement and articulations along his spine. I wonder what he's planning to do next.

[Kathleen O'Connell]

9 minutes ago, BalanchineFan said:

Jonathan Fahoury was also one of the stand outs in Jamar Roberts ballet.

He and his solo were absolutely the best thing about it. I'm really going to miss watching him dance.

[cobweb]

Attended last night. Wow, SVC looked great. Laracey, Nadon, Gordon, and Danchig-Waring could not have looked better. Nadon has that something extra that is so hard to describe - fearless and so ALIVE. 

[matilda]

Wonderful, wonderful dancing last night on an excellent "All Balanchine" program. Tiler Peck really shined in Donizetti. Veyette is looking good at this point in this career. His jumps don't have the bounce of the past but he still maintains great technical control particularly with turns. No glitches that I could see. There's some difficult partnering in this ballet so his years of experience were valuable here. The corps was in fine form. India Bradley was not listed in the program so she must have subbed for someone else. She's looking great this season with more secure and confident dancing than in the past. Mary Thomas MacKinnon also stood out among the ladies. 

Phelan and Knight subbed for Clark and Walker in Haiff. Not my favorite ballet but she was particularly lovely in it.

Mejia and Woodward tore down the house in Valse Fantasie with elegance and pure joy. Woodward seems to be in her prime right now. 

Stravinsky Violin--mesmerizing, especially Nadon and Danchig-Waring. It looked like Laracey and Gordon had some issues in the beginning of their aria pas de deux but the rest was smooth. I've always liked Gordon's attack in this role. 

[cobweb]

1 minute ago, matilda said:

It looked like Laracey and Gordon had some issues in the beginning of their aria pas de deux but the rest was smooth

Yes, I noticed that too. She seemed to be struggling to grasp his hand. Couldn't figure out what happened, but they recovered well. His dancing has such grandness and scope, while also seeming totally natural. They all looked great. 

[bellawood]

3 hours ago, cobweb said:

Attended last night. Wow, SVC looked great. Laracey, Nadon, Gordon, and Danchig-Waring could not have looked better. Nadon has that something extra that is so hard to describe - fearless and so ALIVE. 

Was there too -- couldn't agree more. She's somehow so complete as a dancer already -- and one can only imagine that she will grow so much in the years to come. She's so young! But her command, her self-assuredness, and also her frankly beautiful and glamorous presentation that are innate are so compelling. What fun it will be for all of us to watch her!

Otherwise I preferred the Woodward/Mejia cast of Valse-Fantaisie to Pereira/Ulbricht, very sporty and zippy last night. I noted that Jonathan Fahoury was listed but not dancing last night, replaced in Haeff by KJ Takahashi (I assume in SVC as well though I was not looking at the corps closely last night). And had I not seen Joe Gordon dance Donizetti on Saturday I might have given Andrew Veyette a higher grade but the comparison is not in Veyette's favor, though he has good comic timing and made me smile in the "excuse me" section with the women.

Finally, I read Faye Arthur's review of this same program from last week in Fjiord Review, and I wanted to offer something up for discussion. She calls the end of SVC's Aria II "problematic", which echoes the Russell Janzen's opinion about Agon's PDD in his Times op-ed from last spring. To me, to suggest something is problematic is to say the creator is offering an endorsement  -- i.e. Balanchine believed that the ominous and heartbreaking hand-over-eyes moment at the end of this PDD would provide a clue to the audience about how he thinks men should treat women. But, in my view, this moment --and the whole Aria II -- captures a moment in a couple's relationship without judgement. Not every relationship is healthy! Not everything ends well! I enjoy reading Faye's reviews but felt this was a misrepresentation of the work. I should add a caveat that I've never done any outside reading about SVC and there might be plenty of information I'm ignorant of. 

[On Pointe]

20 hours ago, Kathleen O'Connell said:

He and his solo were absolutely the best thing about it. I'm really going to miss watching him dance.

I've never seen Jonathan Fahoury dance live,  but based on the excerpt attached to his profile on the NYCB's website,  and the short interview,  he has the screen presence and the looks to be a successful film actor.  Hopefully he is taking acting lessons to take advantage of those qualities.  I did wonder about his very noticeable tattoos.  Full disclosure - I personally hate tattoos on anybody,  but they seem a really  bad idea for a ballet dancer,  like graffiti on a classic painting.  Does anyone know if NYCB has a policy regarding body art?

[vipa]

57 minutes ago, bellawood said:

Finally, I read Faye Arthur's review of this same program from last week in Fjiord Review, and I wanted to offer something up for discussion. She calls the end of SVC's Aria II "problematic", which echoes the Russell Janzen's opinion about Agon's PDD in his Times op-ed from last spring. To me, to suggest something is problematic is to say the creator is offering an endorsement  -- i.e. Balanchine believed that the ominous and heartbreaking hand-over-eyes moment at the end of this PDD would provide a clue to the audience about how he thinks men should treat women. But, in my view, this moment --and the whole Aria II -- captures a moment in a couple's relationship without judgement. Not every relationship is healthy! Not everything ends well! I enjoy reading Faye's reviews but felt this was a misrepresentation of the work. I should add a caveat that I've never done any outside reading about SVC and there might be plenty of information I'm ignorant of. 

Interesting topic, Bellawood. I haven't read Arthur's review, but for me a tremendous source of enjoyment in watching some of Balanchine's great works is that an atmosphere is created and a story/relationship perhaps implied, but as an audience member I am free to make of it what I will. What I see and feel when watching a particular ballet can change over time, or with different casts. From what I've read, and been told by people who danced for Balanchine, he didn't explain what his ballets "meant." That was a gift to them and to us.

[nanushka]

1 hour ago, bellawood said:

Finally, I read Faye Arthur's review of this same program from last week in Fjiord Review, and I wanted to offer something up for discussion. She calls the end of SVC's Aria II "problematic", which echoes the Russell Janzen's opinion about Agon's PDD in his Times op-ed from last spring. To me, to suggest something is problematic is to say the creator is offering an endorsement  -- i.e. Balanchine believed that the ominous and heartbreaking hand-over-eyes moment at the end of this PDD would provide a clue to the audience about how he thinks men should treat women. But, in my view, this moment --and the whole Aria II -- captures a moment in a couple's relationship without judgement. Not every relationship is healthy! Not everything ends well! I enjoy reading Faye's reviews but felt this was a misrepresentation of the work. I should add a caveat that I've never done any outside reading about SVC and there might be plenty of information I'm ignorant of. 

Having read this, I sought out the Arthurs review, and I think her point is a subtler one than what's often meant when calling a work "problematic." I don't think she suggests that Balanchine is endorsing a "problematic" relationship, just that he's showing us one (or showing us a relationship that has an aspect she finds "problematic"). Even if the work itself is without judgment, that doesn't mean that our responses need to be. We're allowed — even invited — to have feelings about what we're shown. Arthurs says that Aria II can be "uncomfortable to watch," but she doesn't suggest that the work should have been different or that it shouldn't have made her feel that. Indeed, her being "thrilled" to see the passage come across in a different way suggests that she's excited to see a new layer of potential meaning in a work that has made her experience one feeling in the past but that is not inherently defined by that difficult feeling.

Since reading the full article requires registration, here's the paragraph in question:

Quote

The odd ending to the Aria II was also completely transformed. In this sequence, the man stands behind the woman and opens his arm out to direct her gaze, then possessively clasps her back to him before palming her forehead and guiding her into a backbend. It frequently reads as if he is trying to dominate her or force her into submission in the final pose, which can be uncomfortable to watch. But Janzen has a pensive and humble stage presence: he is noble, but without an ounce of machismo (which worked beautifully in the pas, though he could be a little more assertive in the opening group number). Instead of playing the Svengali, he appeared to open her eyes to new vistas with the gesture—as if promising her a better life. When he tipped her head back and shielded her eyes, it read as an act of protection rather than coercion. I was thrilled to see a new take on a passage that I often find problematic.

 

[Royal Blue]

Last evening at the ballet was one of those which makes braving the elements (wind and rain in this case) eminently worthwhile! Also, one of those nights which makes buying a last-minute ticket such a potentially thrilling experience. This was the penultimate performance of the season's first program: Donizetti Variations; Haieff Divertimento; Valse-Fantaisie; Stravinsky Violin Concerto. And, in my view, it boasted overall the finest cast of the run —respectively, Tiler Peck and Andrew Veyette; Unity Phelan and Alec Knight; Indiana Woodward and Roman Mejia; Ashley Laracey, Joseph Gordon, Mira Nadon and Adrian Danchig-Waring.

The divided opinion about Haieff Divertimento makes the ballet a perfect example of why we need to experience things ourselves. Not a grand masterpiece, but a lovely piece, with Unity Phelan smashing as the female lead. Ditto for Indiana Woodward in Valse-Fantaisie, a work whose dazzling momentum and enchanting music can drive a person wild with delight and make their spirits soar.

The program demonstrated throughout the important function of the corps and why none of its members should ever take their role in any ballet for granted. Particularly striking during this run were the four women in Valse-Fantaisie: Olivia Boisson, Meaghan Dutton-O'Hara, Olivia MacKinnon and Mimi Staker.

Any slight mishap that occurred in the beginning of Aria II of Stravinsky Violin Concerto between Laracey and Gordon did not detract from the conspicuous poetry of their performance. Furthermore, while discussion about the nature of their pas de deux and its conclusion is fascinating, one should note how quickly the solemn mood established disperses due to the character of the Capriccio movement that follows —one of the most exuberant and joyous in ballet.

 

 

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by Royal Blue

[Quiggin]

When Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins were doing the second aria, at least in the taped version, the size difference between the two dancers made the gesture seem potentially violent. It was a late ballet for Balanchine and I wonder if, with feedback, he would have made a change in the ending – or as bellawood suggests it was organically inevitable. In a way it seem like the hinge in the whole ballet, and everything that follows is lighthearted.

• Insert image from URL

Edited January 26, 2023 by Quiggin

[nanushka]

23 minutes ago, Quiggin said:

When Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins were doing the second aria, at least in the taped version, the size difference between the two dancers made the gesture seem potentially violent.

It doesn't read as potentially violent to me, but it's definitely something. Arthurs suggests that the size difference of the traditional casting gives it a "creepy kid-sister feel." That's a little closer to my feeling, but still a bit different.

[BalanchineFan]

1 hour ago, Quiggin said:

When Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins were doing the second aria, at least in the taped version, the size difference between the two dancers made the gesture seem potentially violent. 

• Insert image from URL

I have found many of Martins gestures towards women have a certain implied violence. I can't imagine Martins meant it that way. It's that I often found him arrogant from the audience.

That said, I don't find the ending of that Aria problematic at all. Balanchine shows us a relationship with a lot of tension and co-dependance in it. It's fascinating to watch and the ending is surprising and moving. The moment when the ballerina kneels, the man steps away from her (upstage right) and she looks back at him and (does she gesture towards him?) also gets me each time. The relationship between the two dancers is so ... potent, particular to itself, and also recognizable. That is what I want each time I go to the ballet.

Edited January 27, 2023 by BalanchineFan

[vipa]

Everyone's interpretations are so interesting. I never saw potential violence in the ending when done by Mazzo & Martins (I just took another look on youtube and still don't!). Through-out the pas there is a tension and a fragility to their relationship. As choreography it touches me in ways I can't put into words, but that's the point, in a sense. And one reason I go to see these works again and again is because I can feel and see something more, or different every time.

[canbelto]

I actually wrote about Aria I and Aria II a few years ago:

https://bachtrack.com/article-balanchine-stravinsky-violin-concerto-april-2021

[cobweb]

A few more comments on last night’s performance. Truly stellar all around. Tiler dazzled in Donizetti. Andrew Veyette looked very good, maybe a bit stiff upper body in his solo sections but his partnering is such a pleasure to watch. The three corpsmen, KJ Takahashi, David Gabriel, and apprentice Charlie Klesa all showed elegance and polish. Klesa is particularly tall — hoping that bodes well for his future. India Bradley had a featured corps role and looked very sharp and confident. 
Enjoyed Haieff Divertimento very much.  Unity looked great. The corps ladies, especially Lauren Collett and Alexa Maxwell, looked ready for bigger things. 
Valse Fantaisie with Woodward and Mejia was a total delight. Why isn’t this done more often, or have I just missed it?

Finally, SVC. I’ve seen many performances of this with many great dancers, but this was as good as anything I have ever seen. Laracey, Nadon, Gordon, and Danchig-Waring all blazing. There was a “See the Music” before this, which as usual I wish they would not have on weeknights. But I did then notice and enjoy the music more than I usually do - beautiful. 

[nanran3]

I've just returned from the premiere of Copland Dance episodes. It was a success! I don't remember the last time I've seen NYCB fans giving such a full-fledged standing ovation, but they did tonight. 

The Copland music was majestic and glorious. The trumpets in the first section gave me chills. And the orchestra sounded fantastic, thanks to the direction of Andrew Litton.

Rodeo continues to be the masterpiece here in my opinion. It starts out this work. The following sections are good too though.

Mira Nadon did a very nice job. She is lovely to watch. I remember Sara Mearns of course in that principal ballerina role and Mira doesn't yet have her majesty, maturity, confidence and drama. But probably she will get there over time.

Taylor Stanley is beautiful as always, sensitive, grounded, intense.

Others shone too. Chun Wai is beautiful, a great partner, sinuous, precise. A beautiful dancer.

Mejia had star power as always.

The choreography was good. I think Peck is best when working with groups; some of those moments were really striking and worked very well.

Less so the solos and trios in my opinion.

 

All in all it was great to see the audience loving up these dancers and the music/choreography. Justin came out with all his collaborators at the end and he looked so happy.

Nice touch, they gave flowers to the principal women and men this time.

Fun afterthought: My husband glimpsed Spike Lee in the audience. 

A great night at the ballet!

[MarzipanShepherdess]

Copeland Dance Episodes feels like a winner for City Ballet! Clearly a big investment of company resources and a gamble on audiences having appetite for a new full-evening work, and a 76 minute intermission-less one at that, but I think it paid off. House looked very well-sold, all the way up through the fourth ring, and the audience reaction both throughout and for the final curtain calls was VERY enthusiastic.

I know Mira was the understudy for the main ballerina role, but man she hit it out of the park. She and Taylor had wonderful chemistry and really held the emotional center of the ballet all the way through. Over the course of the work they come together, part, pass each other by, try to come back together, and ultimately fail to reconnect. Both Mira and Taylor brought wonderful nuance, focus, and intensity to their roles. I felt truly moved throughout, and couldn't help exclaiming "but they don't end up together!?!" to my companion after the curtain went up. They take you on a journey!

I appreciated the breadth of the work, ranging from big high-energy moments with lots of dancers on stage and little bits of comedy sprinkled in to very intimate, charged pas de deux. I agree with @nanran3that the solos felt relatively less exciting than the pas de deux and group dances.

For me, the ending felt a bit abrupt, I wanted to feel more of a sense of resolution. But the work held my interest and attention all the way through. I'll definitely see this again, for sure in the spring and I think after seeing it tonight I want to see the second cast as well!

 

 

[abatt]

For me, once was probably enough for Copland Dances.  It felt overly long and the choreography felt  too repetitive.  It did not hold my interest for the 80 minute duration.   As noted above, he is much better at choreographing for groups than for duets and trios.  There are a lot of duets and trios. After a while it all started to look the same.  He tried to interconnect the sections of the ballet by having Nadon and Stanley show up periodically throughout the ballet.  It did succeed in creating a feeling of community - a community of dancers or of people living a certain place and time.

I'll compare this (unfavorably) with Ratmansky's Trilogy years ago, in which he used the music of one composer, but each of the three sections had a different choreographic idea.   That  approach by Ratmansky held my interest, and I left understanding more about Shastakovich.   The Peck ballet just felt like relentless sameness. 

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by abatt