New York City Ballet 2022-2023 season

[BalanchineFan]

I was at the Saturday 2/11 matinee. Voices (by Alexei Ratmansky) Fortuitous Ash (Keerati Jinakunwiphat) and Everywhere We Go (Justin Peck).

Voices may be my favorite Ratmansky ballet. I had skipped its premiere season partly because descriptions of Peter Ablinger's music were off-putting, but contrary to reports, it's right in line with my aesthetics - deconstructed, edgy and experimental. The piano plays over women's voices recorded in interviews (Bonnie Barnett, Forough Farrokhzad, Setsuko Hara, Agnes Martin, Nina Simone and Gjendine Slålien). Sometimes the piano matches the rhythm of the speech, sometimes it's accompaniment or counterpoint. It's less distracting when you don't understand the language, but the effect is engaging and thought provoking, even hours after the performance.

The womens' solos are compelling, danced Saturday by Emily Kikta, Megan Fairchild, Unity Phelan, Georgina Pazcoquin and Alexa Maxwell. Each one had a fierceness, an attack, seemed to play with timing, nuance and dynamics. The utterly held my attention. The women look gorgeous, in jewel toned leotards, bare look legs and pointe shoes. The men provide brief interludes, entering as a group, arms linked in a phalanx, carving up the space, then bursting into solos with turns, jumps and virtuoso traverses across the stage. The sparse design and structure of the dance, music and set combine for a powerful, cohesive impact. It's not remotely like any other ballet. Captivating. Satisfying. Ratmansky shows his skill and experience, he's chosen his element wisely. I was pro-Ratmansky-at-NYCB before but now I find my anticipation for the resulting ballets building.

Fortuitous Ash also held my interest. The dancers look lovely here too, though perhaps it's the aftermath of something serious. There's a trio for Mira Nadon, Ashley Hod and Emilie Gerrity. Quinn Starner and Kennedy Targosz make a memorable impression, legs, passion and high extension. Chun Wai Chan looks fabulous, and he has a few nice moments with KJ Takahashi (now in opposition, now partnering) but the ballet doesn't quite add up. Other dancers are Harrison Coll and David Gabriel (substituting for Sebastian Villarini-Velez, new winner of the Megan Fairchild Dancing Like a House Afire MVP Badge). The ballet is a bit of a puzzle, moody music with changing instrumentation, dynamic dancing, lost of gorgeous arabesques and classical lines, but dark and unclear. You can tell she knows how to move people around the stage. It ends with one of the daners held aloft. Not sure why. Abstract ballets aren't required to mean anything but puzzlement isn't a plus. NYCB has commissioned a lot of choreographers, but remove the cream (Kyle Abraham, perhaps Lauren Lovett) and Jinakunwiphat sits well in their company. We've all certainly seen worse.

Everywhere We Go continues to amaze me. Peter Walker and Taylor Stanley danced The Shadows Will Fall (originally Robert Fairchild and Amar Ramasar), Chun Wai Chan and Indiana Woodward danced Happiness Is a Perfume (Veyette, Hyltin), Isabella LaFreniere soared in the Reichlen role, and Miriam Miller and Peter Walker danced To Live in the Hearts We Leave Behind. In this section the woman is gently partnered by the man, arabesque penché, split leaps skimming the ground (borrowed from Symphony in C), turning, reaching, yearning. Then a crowd enters, she leans on one of them for support, the man is left alone. Separation, Romantic longing. They find each other and the lights start going on and off. It's a heart breaker. Miller, serenely supported by Walker, has leaned into it, equaling the depth and pathos brought by its originator, Maria Kowroski. Here Miller seems reforged, reduced to her essence, uncovering a vulnerability, a gravitas that match her nerves of steel and striking long lines. I found myself sobbing in my seat.

The next sections are more energetic and upbeat. My companion and I left floating on air.

NOTE: After seeing Alexa Maxell's stellar dancing in Copland Dances (she shares the role with Tiler Peck), Fancy Free and now Voices, promote her already! She should be a soloist after carrying entire evenings on her slim, little hips. After Voices, I'm sure she was glad Fortuitous Ash wasn't shorter, as she had to change into white tights to dance the corps in Everywhere We Go!

SECOND NOTE: Why can't we buy Sufjan Steven's music for Everywhere We Go in the lobby? It's not available anywhere online either. That ballet premiered 2014. Lost opportunity, people. The NYC Ballet orchestra needs to put out another album (or start a streaming service). Sufjan Stevens and Solange Knowles should be first on the list. Work those commissioning contracts.

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by BalanchineFan

[BalanchineFan]

A few clips from years gone by. Everywhere We Go, To Live in the Hearts We Leave Behind. My favorite Peck adagio.

Kowroski and Fairchild (no music)

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10154201188600529

 

Kowroski and Janzen

https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=everywhere we go kowroski

[cobweb]

I attended the matinee today. It seems like a long time since I've seen Fancy Free, and I had forgotten how much fun it is. Jovani Furlan (subbing for Sebastian Villarini Velez) was a special delight, throwing himself into the role with humor and gusto. This is the first time I've seen Mary Thomas MacKinnon in a featured role, and I thought she did well, holding the stage with confidence. Also I thought her approach to the red-pocketbook girl worked well; she never looked scared or intimidated by the three guys tossing her handbag around; she stared them down like they were gnats. This is also a great role for Alexa Maxwell. Nieve Corrigan made the most of her walk-on at the end. And just lots of fun dancing for the guys. Again, Furlan's solo was a special treat. 

I had never seen Rondo before. It is slight, but I enjoyed it and could see it again. The ladies looked lovely in the pastel skating dresses. Indiana Woodward was radiant. Olivia MacKinnon did not as fare as well, IMHO. She looked effortful and not completely polished. She keeps getting big opportunities, but so far, I don't see it. 

I had never seen Solo before, either. Anthony Huxley was magnificent. I guess I could see this one again, but it will not be a favorite. 

Finally, the real reason I was there -- Episodes. LaFreniere and Chan looked commanding in the first section (despite her belt coming loose midstream; she found a moment to grab it and toss it into the wings). Mira Nadon brings her richness to the Ricercata, but I could see room to grow here. Overall an amazing piece. 

[BalanchineFan]

21 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Finally, the real reason I was there -- Episodes. LaFreniere and Chan looked commanding in the first section (despite her belt coming loose midstream; she found a moment to grab it and toss it into the wings). Mira Nadon brings her richness to the Ricercata, but I could see room to grow here. Overall an amazing piece. 

I've always felt a little lost watching Episodes. Do you, or any other posters, have advice for things to watch for, a framework for viewing the piece or even what you like best about it?

[cobweb]

Just in from the Sleeping Beauty dress rehearsal. It was a lot of fun. Whoever goes to see the Fairchild-Gordon-Nadon cast is in for a treat. All beautiful dancers. 

[Peg]

 

4 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Just in from the Sleeping Beauty dress rehearsal. It was a lot of fun. Whoever goes to see the Fairchild-Gordon-Nadon cast is in for a treat. All beautiful dancers. 

I agree 100%, Cobweb. Loved seeing these dancers in this sumptuous work.  Joseph Gordon is the epitome of a prince. And Mira—what a star!

they all worked so hard— I feel for them having to dance it again, for a full house, tomorrow night. 

[Fernie M]

Wondering if India Bradley danced at dress rehearsal tonight? According to updated casting, she’s replaced throughout the week. I hope it’s nothing serious.

[canbelto]

Sebastian Villarini-Velez also replaced this week.

[meunier fan]

8 hours ago, Fernie M said:

Wondering if India Bradley danced at dress rehearsal tonight? According to updated casting, she’s replaced throughout the week. I hope it’s nothing serious.

I believe she was intended to be one of the opening fairies - and if that was the case, Fernie, - then, sadly, no, she did not perform.  Nadon was, however, a truly radiant Lilac Fairy and Emma von Enck, a stupendously insolent White Cat.  No question on those scores.  

Edited February 15, 2023 by meunier fan

[Fernie M]

40 minutes ago, meunier fan said:

I believe she was intended to be one of the opening fairies - and if that was the case, Fernie, - then, sadly, no, she did not perform.  Nadon was, however, a truly radiant Lilac Fairy and Emma von Enck, a stupendously insolent White Cat.  No question on those scores.  

Thank you!

[carllovesballet]

Lister is also replaced which I'm saddened by - hope they're okay soon! SAme with Sebastian VV who was making a bluebird debut

[carllovesballet]

Also interesting to note Georgina isn't cast in SB - she's usually Carabosse...

[Peg]

1 minute ago, carllovesballet said:

Also interesting to note Georgina isn't cast in SB - she's usually Carabosse...

Maria Kowroski was a fantastic Carabosse last night. 
I'm not sure if Bradley and V-V are injured or ill.  A few of the dancers wore masks through last night’s rehearsal. 
V-V was excellent this season.  But his absence last night gave us Mejia as a Jester—he went for broke and was thrilling. 
Re Georgina:  she danced in Ratmansky’s Voices last weekend. It was one the the best performances of hers I’ve ever seen. 

[Rose]

1 hour ago, carllovesballet said:

Also interesting to note Georgina isn't cast in SB - she's usually Carabosse...

Well, doesn't Peter Martins cast Sleeping Beauty because he choreographed it? She wrote that book...

[Balletwannabe]

30 minutes ago, Rose said:

Well, doesn't Peter Martins cast Sleeping Beauty because he choreographed it? She wrote that book...

Yes, I don't think choreographers are too keen on casting dancers that label them as their psychological abuser.  

Edit: assuming he does do casting.  I don't know how that works.  

Edited February 15, 2023 by Balletwannabe

[matilda]

I can't imagine he personally casted all of the dancers in secondary roles, given he has never worked with this new generation of young corps members who are in many of the fairy parts. But my understanding is that he has heavy influence and control over casting, including veto power. (Someone with more knowledge can confirm)

[Helene]

It would depend on what the contract says.  Martins could always defer to staff for any casting he controls contractually, but he doesn't have to.

Francia Russell once said in a Q&A in Seattle, when discussing performing Symphony in C, for which John Taras had lifetime rights from the original beneficiary (Betty Cage?).  John Taras was insisting on an older version that NYCB hadn't been performing.  According to Russell, Martins threatened to mothball Symphony in C unless they could perform the version they were used to.  (Different companies performing different versions were well documented as being blessed by Balanchine by Maria Tallchief and Russell, among others, the most obvious being that companies still perform Apollo with the original opening and staircase ending, instead of the AT&T logo.)  Taras relented for NYCB, and Russell said he died before PNB performed it, so the company could do a different version.

Unless there is a contractual obligation to perform Martins' Sleeping Beauty within a specific timeframe, there's no reason why NYCB couldn't mothball it.  Symphony in C is more valuable to NYCB than Sleeping Beauty, and he was willing to sacrifice rather than letting someone else control things.

[abatt]

30 minutes ago, matilda said:

I can't imagine he personally casted all of the dancers in secondary roles, given he has never worked with this new generation of young corps members who are in many of the fairy parts. But my understanding is that he has heavy influence and control over casting, including veto power. (Someone with more knowledge can confirm)

Most of these young dancers may have been selected by Martins to attend SAB.  I forget the timeline of when he resigned. I think he is well aware of many people in the corps from SAB.

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by abatt

[Royal Blue]

Sunday afternoon's performance of Fancy Free with Roman Mejia, Harrison Coll and Jovani Furlan as the sailors, and Alexa Maxwell with Mary Thomas MacKinnon as the two women they try to impress made a convincing case for how fun and rewarding watching the ballet can be. As typically interpreted at NYCB, the scene where the sailors grab the woman's purse seems lighthearted rather than threatening —although individuals can validly still consider it problematic.

With or without the Paul Taylor solo, Episodes —the last ballet of the program— remains one of Balanchine's most ultramodern, experimental and forward-looking works. Combined with Webern's atonal music, the atmosphere of the ballet is cold, spare, enigmatic, its intimations of the future both menacing and thrilling. A challenging work, to be sure, whose appreciation hinges on whether the viewer can perceive any beauty in its ambience, the music, and the type of movement showcased by the choreography. Nevertheless, set to Webern's orchestration of music from Bach's Musical Offering, the ballet's last segment is palpably suffused with a frosty but impressive majesty and spirituality.

Despite the distracting mishap with her belt, there was ample evidence Sunday afternoon of the grandeur and authority which some suggest would make her ideal as the Lilac Fairy in Isabella LaFreniere's performance during the first section of Episodes. Ashley Hod and Gilbert Bolden III executed the rigorous steps of the pas de deux in a manner which made its mysterious and haunting qualities register. The intensity and focus brought to bear by Emilie Gerrity in the following part of the work was electrifying. Although a tremendously gifted dancer, Mira Nadon could not match a certain hallowed quality characterizing Miriam Miller's demeanor and countenance in the Ricercata this season.

In my view, the middle part of the program was an unqualified triumph for NYCB this winter. On Sunday, I was beaming with joy inside throughout the 10-minute duration of Rondo. What a gorgeous performance by Indiana Woodward and Olivia MacKinnon of a beautiful work! And it came only hours after Woodward gave an outstanding performance in a very different type of role, in Voices.

Thematically, Solo —even its very title— has had immense resonance for me from the instant it appeared in Sofia Coppola's film, evoking the feelings and thoughts I experienced after viewing A Suite of Dances from the Fourth Ring at Joaquín De Luz's farewell, and later watching the Paul Taylor solo in Episodes. Viewing it live in the theater has made me more appreciative of the beauty of the choreography, and Anthony Huxley's magnificent interpretation. As I have pointed out previously, Sara Mearns is also ideal in this role. However, it is fitting that only Huxley interpreted it during this season, given his forthcoming performances as Prince Désiré. Scheduling Solo on the same program as Episodes and during the same season as a revival of The Sleeping Beauty was a marvelous idea.

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by Royal Blue

[Rose]

4 hours ago, abatt said:

Most of these young dancers may have been selected by Martins to attend SAB.  I forget the timeline of when he resigned. I think he is well aware of many people in the corps from SAB.

 

Peter Martins didn't select dancers for SAB. 

[abatt]

I haven't seen the current casts for Fancy Free.  I skipped that program.  But for me it will be pretty hard to surpass the performances of Tiler Peck and Damian Woetzel in the romantic pas in the bar.    Woetzel was a great in the rhumba solo. 

I also have such vivid memories of ABT's performances, in which the three sailors were Carreno (perfection as rhumba guy), Steifel and Corella.  (I never liked any of the women at ABT who performed in Fancy.)

[Helene]

Martins knew the corps members who were Professional Division students at SAB, both from classes and when they dance corps roles in the main company for productions like Nutcracker.

Peter Boal had taught 1/3 of the dancers at Pacific Northwest Ballet when he became AD, because he had taught them at SAB.  He knew their dancing very well.

[Rose]

55 minutes ago, Helene said:

Martins knew the corps members who were Professional Division students at SAB, both from classes and when they dance corps roles in the main company for productions like Nutcracker.

Peter Boal had taught 1/3 of the dancers at Pacific Northwest Ballet when he became AD, because he had taught them at SAB.  He knew their dancing very well.

There isn't a professional division at SAB. The equivalent is advanced levels C1, C2, and D. Peter Martins almost never taught their classes -- maybe once or twice a year -- and only glanced into classes for a couple of minutes every now and then. Also, the dancers in the advanced levels never perform with the company. They must become apprentices with the company first. Peter Martins made decisions about who he wanted in the company mainly from Kay Mazzo suggesting certain dancers (whose opinion he sometimes totally disagreed with), from who was cast in principal roles in workshops, and from those few minutes he watched or occasional classes he taught. He seemed to make very quick decisions about apprentices. It was sink or swim for the apprentices. There were always plenty more students to pick from if they sank. 

[Helene]

Balanchine only appeared in SAB classes a few times a year -- dancers have written about how they would wear their best clothes, do their make-up carefully, choose the right earrings, wear perfume, etc. when they heard he was coming -- and, he too, made quick decisions.  If Martins disagreed with Kay Mazzo about her suggestions, he'd observed enough to form that opinion, for better or worse.

My apologies for not knowing the SAB terminology for the way levels are described at SAB.

So that means SAB students are no longer in The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Coppelia, The Sleeping Beauty, and Harliquenade?   (I don't know the new works, and those are the ones I remember with young dancers.)  Where do they get the children/teens from if not from the school?

[uptowner]

Yes, children at SAB are generally in the children's roles in the ballets. During covid there was an exception. Those children are cast by the children's rep directors (Abergel and Higgins) and are limited to specific levels in the school. Teenagers are not eligible for those kinds of roles and there are strict height limits. Its not quite true that upper level students never perform with the company, occasionally they do, in corps roles (in the big ballets-- Nutcracker for snow, right now there are two male students performing in the garland dance, they may be uncredited in the program, I am not sure because I saw the dress rehearsal yesterday which didn't have a program). However, it is unusual and not a normal part of their training at the school. (Teenage students also get cast in "human scenery" roles, of which there are quite a few in Sleeping Beauty. So the people lounging around on the stairs, the kings guard, etc.) 

Edited February 16, 2023 by uptowner
clarity