New York City Ballet 2022-2023 season

[cobweb]

Just MHO but it would be ridiculous to wait any longer to promote, especially women. The ladies principal roster is pathetically understaffed and there are  4 or 5 of the soloist ladies, as I see it, who are obvious principals. Why wait?

[BalanchineFan]

25 minutes ago, cobweb said:

Just MHO but it would be ridiculous to wait any longer to promote, especially women. The ladies principal roster is pathetically understaffed and there are  4 or 5 of the soloist ladies, as I see it, who are obvious principals. Why wait?

I could see doing it right before the Spring season begins. Build lots of excitement for future performances of the newly promoted dancers. It doesn't make sense to me to do it now when they have... what..  five shows left before a break.

[matilda]

I saw tonight's Sleeping Beauty. For me, Emily Kikta stole the show with her glorious Lilac Fairy that had warmth, wit, elegance, and flawless execution of the technical elements. She deserves a principal promotion. 

Isabella LaFreniere, in a debut, was strongest in the wedding and vision scenes. She's a lyrical dancer who can convey emotional depth and grandeur and has beautiful épaulement and lines. I found her less convincing as a 16 year old. Her entrance solo lacked a certain spring and sprightliness and then she looked nervous at the start at the rose adagio. The balances did not start off well. During the first section, she came very close to falling off point but thankfully recovered with the help of her attentive suitors. I was holding my breath for the rest of the adagio because I wasn't sure if she would make it through the long promenade series. Thankfully, she pulled through and managed some nice holds. I imagine she'll look more confident in her second go at this. 

The wedding pas de deux had many beautiful moments, including the first fish dive. In both the second and third dive, however, disaster was narrowly averted, as Isabella seemed to lose center in the pirouettes, almost falling in the opposite direction before Walker caught her, making the rest the dives look precarious. I assume they didn't have a whole lot of rehearsal time together given that her original partner, Jovani Furlan, pulled out from his scheduled performances only days ago.

Walker was a fine prince, minus some minor missteps. His long legs look beautiful in leaps. His dancing was pretty clean, if not flawless, although he may have skipped the last double tour to arabesque (are there supposed to be three?). He seemed to struggle with a few of the lifts, too (maybe he needs more time in the weight room?). I've always found him a good actor, although he's arguably better suited to comedy (like the lovers scenes in Midsummer Night's Dream) over romantic gravitas. 

Ashley Hod brought glamour and dark beauty to Carabosse. She was more Maleficent, a la DIsney, than Wicked Witch. 

I'm confused about the "Gold" variation. Last week, Harrison Coll did the difficult turns à la seconde / pirouette sequence (it didn't go so well). Tonight, Davide Riccardo did a sequence of jumps instead. Is it normal for dancers to do different choreography here? Did Walker and Mejia do the turns in their solos at other performances? Anyway, Riccardo looked great in a classical danseur noble way with gorgeous leaps and soft landings. I did not care for Megan LeCrone as Diamond. 

KJ Takahashi had a nice debut as Bluebird, with souring jumps and sharp brisés. He seemed less confident with partnering but there were no big mishaps. Florine is a great vehicle for Pereira. 

 

[abatt]

6 minutes ago, matilda said:

. 

I'm confused about the "Gold" variation. Last week, Harrison Coll did the difficult turns à la seconde / pirouette sequence (it didn't go so well). Tonight, Davide Riccardo did a sequence of jumps instead. Is it normal for dancers to do different choreography here? Did Walker and Mejia do the turns in their solos at other performances? Anyway, Riccardo looked great in a classical danseur noble way with gorgeous leaps and soft landings. I did not care for Megan LeCrone as Diamond. 

KJ Takahashi had a nice debut as Bluebird, with souring jumps and sharp brisés. He seemed less confident with partnering but there were no big mishaps. Florine is a great vehicle for Pereira. 

 

yes, I noticed this too.  The variation that Davide Riccardo did was easier than what the other men did in Gold.  He was beautiful, but it was clearly a "dumbed down' version of the usual choreography.

[vipa]

I was also there tonight, and totally agree with @matilda that Emily Kikta stole the show as Lilac Fairy.  She held the stage with a radiant performance and sailed through the technique. It truly was principal dancer's performance. I hope she gets the title.

Le Freniere had a lot of difficulties. The rose adagio had a very shaky start, and she didn't seem to recover. The orchestra couldn't have gone any slower to give her time in the second set of balances. Her variation was unshaped and unmusical. She got through the vision scene choreography, but I can't say she brought any atmosphere or nuance to it. The wedding pas was rough. The turns into the fish dives were so off that I thought on the third one there was a chance they'd both go down, but Walker managed to save it. I know Le Freniere is a talented dancer so I chalk this performance up to nerves taking over when a bad start happens. Hopefully she'll build from here. 

The fairy variations seemed a tad slower this time then the last two times I went (a good thing IMO). I thought Dutton-O'Hara a stand out as Generosity Fairy. In the  "jewels" pas de quatre, as mentioned above, Riccardo's variation differed from  Harrison Coll's . I have to believe that Peter Martins is OK with alternative versions. LaCrone, Maxwell and Gerrity were all excellent in their variations, but I admit Maxwell always makes me smile at her musicality and attack. I have to remind myself she's still in the corps.

Takahashi and Pereira had some very small glitches in Blue Bird pas. Both were excellent in their variations. It's interesting to me that (correct me if I'm wrong), Pereira was only cast in Blue Bird in this run of SB. A few Blue Birds and that's it. No fairies or jewels like most of the other soloists (except Gina P.)

Lastly, I enjoyed Hod as Carabosse. I particularly enjoyed her reaction to Lilac Fairy.

I couldn't help but notice that this run of SB was very sold out. The marketing dept. must be doing something right. I believe the people next to me were "first timers." I assume that because they were taking selfies of themselves at the ballet. I wonder if these first timers will come back. The applause at the end of this show was noticeably tepid.

 

[pirouette]

52 minutes ago, vipa said:

I couldn't help but notice that this run of SB was very sold out. The marketing dept. must be doing something right.

I wonder if this has something to do with the recent rise of 'balletcore' and ballet aesthetics in general, especially on social media. I think ABT and their dancers do a good job on social media of making trends and content go viral (i.e. Gargouillade Gate). People who see these TikToks and Instagram posts and become curious/interested in ballet would then likely pick something mainstream for their first time — hence, Sleeping Beauty. 

As someone who is in my early 20s and not a dancer, I can count on one hand the number of friends I have who would pay more than $30 to go see the ballet. Some would not even go for free. In my experience, unless they are already somewhat curious or have a deep appreciation for the arts, it's tough to get them to want to come.  The ones who are curious or have a glamorized image of ballet in their minds would go for the big popular productions — Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Nutcracker, etc. My own first show at NYCB was SB, though I already appreciated ballet before that. However, it did make me fall in love with NYCB, got me going to their Balanchine + Robbins programs, and made me into the obsessive ballet fan I am today. I do hope many of the newcomers have a similar experience, but building loyalty is definitely tough. 

Edit: Adding that another thing that got some people I knew curious was when NYCB commissioned Solange Knowles to compose a piece. But people were definitely more interested with the fact that it was new Solange music than the fact that it was a new ballet piece. 

Edited February 24, 2023 by pirouette

[tutu]

14 hours ago, abatt said:

Gerrity does all principal work, and does it well.  This has been the case for a substantial period of time. It's time to give her the promotion she has earned.

Yep.

[bellawood]

I'm sorry to hear these reports of Isabella LaFreniere's Aurora debut; it must have been very hard to switch partners at the last moment, and who knows how much rehearsal Peter Walker had prior to last week? If I recall, she also had some major issues during the COVID-abridged "Black Swan PDD" they did last winter -- this memory comes from reports on this board; I didn't see her dance Black Swan personally. A major contrast from her assured performance in Firebird. 

The pre-COVID Aurora/Desire pairing I saw was Lovette/Gordon who were beautiful together (and she nailed the emotional elements), but Lauren had incredible difficulty in her variations and balances. She seemed overwhelmed, and I can easily imagine this ballet creating psychological hurdles for dancers. I hope Isabella shakes off any nerves and has a more successful second go!

[nysusan]

I have seen all of the casts now except the Peck cast (I saw Peck in the last SB run), and last night's was my least favorite.

 

To start, I had a different view of Kitka's Lilac Fairy. I thought she was technically secure and commanding but I didn't see the warmth and benevolence that some others saw. I thought she really didn't display the flowing arms, endless arabesque line and airy developpes that I want in a Lilac. In fact I thought she hit a lot of her arabesques and developpes hard. I do love her in black & whites (and most everything else) but not this. Gerrity has been my favorite Lilac by far (I haven't seen Laracey yet).

 

I agree with the criticisms of LaFeniere's Aurora plus I found her unmusical in a lot of spots. In her solo preceding the Rose Adagio she ended before the music ended, though I did think her solo after the RA was exceptionally beautiful. I forget now if it was in the Vision or Wedding but there was a point where the orchestra was playing slower than I've ever heard at NYCB and she was still behind the music. She is a dancer I love so I will chalk this up to a shaky debut and late partner change and hope for improvement in the future but frankly, I would much rather have seen Van Enck debut in this.

 

When Walker came out in the second act I thought he looked wonderful, but he definitely looked out of his league in the wedding solo.
 

I absolutely loved Pereira & Takahashi in the Bluebird pas, they have been my favorites in this so far. Thought Mimi Staker looked lovely in the Tenderness variation and found Dutton-O'Hara entrancing in Generosity till she stumbled on a turn at the end. In an earlier performance I really loved Bologna's Tenderness and Dominica Afanasenkov's Generosity. Where did Afanasenkov come from? I don't remember seeing her name before, and it's a name you'd remember!

[matilda]

Even though LaFreniere is not necessarily a "natural" Aurora like Megan Fairchild or Indiana Woodward, and one could reasonably argue that she was miscast in this while Von Enck should have gone on, I think she has potential in the role. She's a beautiful dancer and I hope to hear reports of a more successful Sunday performance. Story ballets like this are so not the bread and butter of City Ballet so it's always interesting to see how these dancers will pull them off, especially in a debut. 

[nanushka]

40 minutes ago, nysusan said:

Where did Afanasenkov come from? I don't remember seeing her name before, and it's a name you'd remember!

Dominika Afanasenkov was in the Disney+ series On Pointe, during which I believe she was made an apprentice with the company.

[cobweb]

I was also there last night and wanted to echo the praise for Meghan Dutton-O'Hara's Fairy of Generosity. I could definitely see her as a soloist. I find her much more refined,  expansive, and interesting than, for example, management-favorite Baily Jones. 

[abatt]

Yes, Dutton O'Hara is lovely.  I think she has a lot of potential.

Even though LaFreniere was the least successful of the Aurora casts, I still enjoyed the performance.  She did poorly with the balances, particularly the first set.  Perhaps the most irritating thing for me was that she had the plastered on smile throughout.  No mystery or spirituality in the Vision scene.  (None of the NYCB ballerinas excel at this.  ABT's dancers are much better at conveying this distinction, particularly Part and Hee Seo).  I thought Freniere did nicely in the wedding scene.  

 

The fish dives did look strange, but that was not Freniere's fault.  Walker waits until she has completely stopped  turning to begin the process of using his left arm to begin executing the fish dive to position his ballerina.  As Tiler Peck explained in a video that was linked somewhere in this thread, the best results come when the man starts putting his ballerina into fish dive position while she is still spinning.  I thought Walker haf some wonderful moments, but he also fudged some of the steps and finishes in the wedding scene.  Since he was a short notice replacement for Desire, I'm happy to cut the guy some slack.

I thought Kikta was very secure in the  Lilac footwork, although she could certainly benefit from more refinement in her arms.

And I really like Takahashi, but he need improvement in partnering skills.  

Now that I have seen each cast, I believe Joe Gordon was the best of the Desires.  

Megan Fairchild is like a fine wine that has improved with age.  She was a wonderful Aurora.  

Gerrity was a stunning Lilac.  I also thought Laracey was terrific, with the most beautiful upper body/arm movements, but she doesn't have technical brilliance in the footwork.

This run has sold like gangbusters. I hope they revive it again soon, and hope that Emma V.E. gets a shot at Aurora.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nysusan]

3 minutes ago, abatt said:

This run has sold like gangbusters.

It sure has! Yesterday I took a look at tickets for the 2/26 matinee. I saw that there were only about 10 tickets left in the last 2 rows of the 4th ring (although a couple of tickets in other areas do pop up from time to time & are snatched up immediately). I just signed into NYCB to see what it looks like today and I was put into a waiting room! When I was able to look at tickets I saw that now there are only 3 tickets available at the back of the 4th ring. Only 3 tickets available in the whole house! I can't remember when anything at NYCB sold this well. And I noticed that there have been a lot of younger people at these performances. People in their teens, twenties & thirties.

[vagansmom]

Abatt, what did you think of Erica Pereira?

[BalanchineFan]

13 hours ago, matilda said:

I'm confused about the "Gold" variation. Last week, Harrison Coll did the difficult turns à la seconde / pirouette sequence (it didn't go so well). Tonight, Davide Riccardo did a sequence of jumps instead. Is it normal for dancers to do different choreography here?

I know that male dancers in Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux have different variations, sanctioned by Balanchine. I don't see why that wouldn't be the case here as well. In his book, D'amboise wrote that Balanchine sometimes asked the men, "What can you do, dear?" meaning, what are your best tricks, jumps, turns, etc. and the variation would be based on that.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn0rNQ9ok0u/

 

[BalanchineFan]

5 hours ago, nanushka said:

Dominika Afanasenkov was in the Disney+ series On Pointe, during which I believe she was made an apprentice with the company.

Dominika Afanasenkov is in On Pointe, and she's done (at least) one of the SAB pointe shoe hack videos. I don't remember Afanasankov getting her apprenticeship during On Pointe, however. I could be mistaken but I only remember Zoe Bliss Magnussen and (later) Ruby Lister getting theirs. I think Dominika is a year or so younger. 

 

[Helene]

It's all on the NYCB site:

Quote

Afanasenkov became an apprentice with NYCB in January 2022, and joined the corps de ballet in November 2022.

 

[cobweb]

A few years ago I saw Lauren Lovette have a worse Rose Adagio than LaFreniere. Lovette came off pointe at one point, and in the final promenade section, she was wobbling so badly she was about to keel over. It was so bad that the when the fourth suitor took her hand, he (Jared Angle, very wisely) amended the choreography to hold her in place, rather than take her on the turn. Nonetheless, Lovette went on to deliver a performance that was so radiant I bought a ticket to see her a second time. This is what LaFreniere needs to work on. Things might go badly, but you have to deliver the rest anyway. She just looked uncomfortable. 

[KikiRVA]

I’m sorry I’m missing this run of SB.  It seems that there is almost unanimous admiration for the production, which is not the usual for some other Martins full-lengths.  Do you think this one should be preserved?  Any others that should be spared a new production?

[vipa]

1 hour ago, cobweb said:

A few years ago I saw Lauren Lovette have a worse Rose Adagio than LaFreniere. Lovette came off pointe at one point, and in the final promenade section, she was wobbling so badly she was about to keel over. It was so bad that the when the fourth suitor took her hand, he (Jared Angle, very wisely) amended the choreography to hold her in place, rather than take her on the turn. Nonetheless, Lovette went on to deliver a performance that was so radiant I bought a ticket to see her a second time. This is what LaFreniere needs to work on. Things might go badly, but you have to deliver the rest anyway. She just looked uncomfortable. 

Such a good and important point. The more an artist is able to create a character/atmosphere/world, the more, as an audience member, I am able to stop focusing on technical lapses. It does take a tremendous amount of mental toughness, artistry and confidence, on the part of a dancer let mistakes go and not let them pull the rest of a performance down.

Edited February 25, 2023 by vipa

[vipa]

9 hours ago, abatt said:

The fish dives did look strange, but that was not Freniere's fault.  Walker waits until she has completely stopped  turning to begin the process of using his left arm to begin executing the fish dive to position his ballerina.  As Tiler Peck explained in a video that was linked somewhere in this thread, the best results come when the man starts putting his ballerina into fish dive position while she is still spinning

I wish I could see a replay of this, but at the time it seemed to me that LaFreniere was so tilted over during the turn that Walker had to straighten her to vertical, before he could start the fish, and her foot coming off the ground looked late. She tilted every time. Peck is "on her leg" during the turn so there is no fixing for the man, he can just start pushing her off her leg to go into the fish. As I said, I'd have to see a replay to really make a judgement, but that's how it appeared to me at the time. I wouldn't say it was anyone's fault, just coping when things are off.

Edited February 25, 2023 by vipa

[cubanmiamiboy]

Peck/Wai Chan last night.

Tiler was exquisite, because one can tell she owns the music. She's a very musical ballerina, so she can play a lot with the little accents with every fiber of her body, particularly neck, face and arms. Now...if we dissect the ballet down to the two most technical moments, the balances of the RA and the fish dives of the Grand Pas, Fairchild was superior. Tiler's first round of balances was a bit shaky, the second ones with the promenades better, while Megan's were perfectly placed, with no rush and slower...even putting her arms en couronne. There was a little scary moment during the fish dives for Peck and Chan as well.

The Bluebird pdd was not good, at least during the adagio. He couldn't complete the placement of Florine on his shoulder lift. There were other mishaps all around.

Didn't warm up to Laracey's Lilac. 

[vipa]

An interesting season is about to conclude at NYCB. One SB to go. Great ticket sales with Nutcracker, Copeland Episodes and Sleeping Beauty. I was hoping for some promotion announcements, particularly for Nadon to principal and Maxwell to soloist. Clock is ticking. Maybe we'll have to wait until spring.

[canbelto]

According to NYCB's IG stories, Marika Anderson retired tonight after her performance of Carabosse.