2023-2024 Season

[abatt]

2 hours ago, matilda said:

Bolden and Riccardo were indeed promoted this afternoon, according to lots of dancers' social media 

Great news.

[Drew]

Saw three performances this weekend. To get it out of the way, I'll start with one big negative. At what production meeting was it determined that two of the only ballets in the repertory where the sets and costumes are as important as the choreography should be as dimly lit as possible?  Even in the land of the dead--I mean, of course, much of Orpheus--one can have, as Milton puts it, "darkness visible." As for Prodigal Son, having seen the ballet across generations and with three different companies I do not believe I have ever seen it so very  shadowy.

That said, it was thrilling to be back at New York City Ballet and I thought the company looked pretty wonderful. Unlike many here I don't know corps-de-ballet dancers or even more than a few soloists by name, but I regularly saw members of the ensemble in corps and demi-soloist roles who caught my eye.  (One in Symphony in C I was able to identify--Ashley Hod. Very much enjoyed her dancing). That's an important part of what makes a company great--they all look terrific even when not being directly featured.

Still, some performances, and some ballets, are in another category. "Great" just doesn't seem to say enough. The first ballet I saw this weekend was the absolute highlight of my weekend ballet-going:  the Nadon, LaFreniere, Bolden Concerto Barocco. Completely agree with all the praise for that performance already posted above. I was at the Nadon/Bolden debut performance and though, in one or two spots, I imagine they may polish things up, it was just a stunning performance from all three principals, and I loved every second of it.  This was my first time seeing Lafreniere--that's an enthusiastic WOW from me! As for Nadon, whom I was also seeing for the first time....if I lived in NY and had the resources, then I would not miss a single one of her performances. EVER.

I also felt very privileged to see two ballerinas who have long been among my favorites in two ballets each -- Peck in Symphony in C and Theme and Variations. And Mearns as the Siren in Prodigal Son and in Serenade. All technically and emotionally rich performances. I have always loved Peck but I have never seen her look so complete a ballerina. Another long-time favorite, Ashley Laracey single-handedly made Orpheus feel genuinely moving to me.

I had reservations about a few of the other performances I saw (I mean beyond my above mentioned irritation with some of the lighting), but many others were terrific and I'm happy with what I saw. As others have noted the all Balanchine programs seem to have been big sellers. Fourth ring was open at every performance I attended and, as far as my eyes could see, the rest of the house was full.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Drew

[deanofdance]

The Fall season is over — and for the past month, NYCB was my home away from home!  And hearty congratulations to Davide and Gilbert!  Bravo!  We were all rooting for you two!
Here are a few thoughts about this afternoon’s performance:

1) Concerto Barocco — This was the breakout season of Mira Nadon — to see her redefine and expand such ballets as Emeralds, Apollo and CB — it’s as if I was seeing new ballets performed — this afternoon I sat there watching her cast her spell — and it was a new Concerto Barocco I was seeing — cosmically and molecularly deeper and richer — its as if she opens a door into another dance dimension — it felt like a spiritual experience.  And to think she is only 21 or 22!  Isabella and Gilbert were more wonderful today — generous and full and alive!

2) The Bizet — can’t say I felt the joy with this performance.  Tiler was perfect (as usual), but the second and third movement didn’t really glow or sing, so by the time Emily came out with energy and spirit, it wasn’t enough to really lift the ballet out and up.   Not to be mean spirited, but I’ve concluded that Unity is more in the Rebecca Krohn mold of principal rather than say, the Wendy Whelan mold of principal.  
 

This season is one to cherish.  NYCB is one of the glories of this city, and is one of the reasons why I cannot imagine moving out.  

Edited October 16, 2023 by deanofdance

[MRR]

Nadon is that rare talent who not only lives up to the hype, but stirs the imagination by conjuring images of ballets she has yet to dance.  Her performance of Barocco was like a waterfall: sensitive and luxuriant, taking the audience on a dream.  Her trust in herself, her partner, the music and Mr. B is remarkable for an artist so young.  Lush and expansive, her off-balance lunges are something to behold, leaning entirely off her leg in the adagio before setting her foot down. The gradual descent of her working leg after a long series of turns, reaching for her partner's outstretched hand, showed in one sequence her mystery and beauty.  She is also adept at allegro, and while evidently (and forgivably) taxed by the ending steps, she gave a master class in carving the space with those long limbs.  A shame she and Balanchine never got to work together.  Whenever she dances Diamonds, I'm there.

Isabella Lafreniere as the second violin is somewhat straightforward and perfunctory next to Nadon, but she is athletic with great force, shown best in her a soaring diagonal of grand jetes.  Gilbert Bolden was mostly stalwart in the pas de deux, flagging just a touch in that exhausting series of lifts. 

It was great to see veteran Daniel Ulbricht dance up a storm in the title-role of Prodigal Son.  His opening solo was buoyant, ferocious, and emphatic, bolting all over the stage.  He was perhaps dramatically less impactful in the final scenes as it is difficult to shed that Olympian persona, but no denying a terrific performance.  Miriam Miller is statuesque as the Siren with endless arms and legs.  As with her Dark Angel in Serenade the previous night, her presence doesn't reach beyond the footlights, but I sense she hasn't yet come into her prime.

Bizet finished with a top-down roster.  Tiler Peck and Chun Wai Chan were my favorite couple, somewhat of a surprise as I've not always warmed to Tiler's dancing on video.  This ballet is excellent for her, especially viewing from third ring which gives full appreciation to the vastness of her dancing.  No step is insignificant, nor is it effortful, tossing off the technical challenges with ease, sparkle, and grandness of scale.  Her series of turns down the center was tremendous.  Chan is ardent with great beats, excellent lines, a speedy if slightly flawed series of triple pirouettes, and attentive partnering.  

Unity Phelan lacks some of the majesty and grandeur for second movement, and her extension in a la seconde and nose-to-knee penchee could be higher.  Nonetheless she is elegant and capable: the way she swirled her torso into every fouette arabesque was lovely, and her arabesque is among the most disciplined in the company.  Alec Knight was a strong partner but could have dared more on the trust falls.  Baily Jones and Cainan Weber (third) suffered a miscue early where the one-handed turn to arabesque pitched far forward with Baily's legs flying out from underneath her.  No big deal as they did two more without incident, and their ballon was well utilized here.  Emilie Gerrity was secure and articulate in fourth movement, partnered by the excellent Peter Walker.

[volcanohunter]

1 hour ago, MRR said:

Unity Phelan lacks some of the majesty and grandeur for second movement, and her extension in a la seconde and nose-to-knee penchee could be higher. 

I didn't see these performances, but one of the qualities I like most in Phelan is that she doesn't muck with placement. It's so rare nowadays. I'd rather she not start tilting her pelvis in an attempt to hoist her leg higher. It's unseemly in a white tutu and tiara, even in a Marc Happel tutu.

Edited October 16, 2023 by volcanohunter

[BalanchineFan]

2 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

I didn't see these performances, but one of the qualities I like most in Phelan is that she doesn't muck with placement. It's so rare nowadays. I'd rather she not start tilting her pelvis in an attempt to hoist her leg higher. It's unseemly in a white tutu and tiara, even in a Marc Happel tutu.

I just love Unity Phelan and her dancing. I think she's grown so much and is just radiant and serene onstage.

I HATE the Bizet tutus. While they look beautiful, they don't function well for the choreography.  When the ballerina does penché arabesque the tutu turns itself inside out. It happened to Maria Kowroski every time.  I think it was Gia Kourlas who described the look as "Hello sailor!" Is that  the unseemly aspect you describe? The tutus have softened a bit, because it used to happen with a thunk!

Karinska's tutus NEVER did that. She made a bubble tutu with more layers of tulle on the bottom, so the women's bottoms stayed covered.

I loved this season. The Balanchine focus, the veteran dancers returning, the past, the present, the new dancers coming up, the veterans in bloom. A picture of Domenika Afanasenkov (in her Diamonds tutu) chatting with Suzanne Farrell just brought home how profound the connections must be. And I love that they've started announcing promotions when the dancers are all together. It seems more transparent. Dancers get congratulations from their peers right way and we in the audience could even hear the shreiks from the other side of the curtain.

After the Bourree Fantasque open rehearsal something similar happened. There's been no official announcement that I can see, but they called over two tall young men and one young woman, and since the other dancers started hugging them and clapping, I'm sure that those three dancers ended their apprenticeship and became members of the company.

Edited October 16, 2023 by BalanchineFan

[volcanohunter]

4 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

I HATE the Bizet tutus. While they look beautiful, they don't function well for the choreography.  When the ballerina does penché arabesque the tutu turns itself inside out. It happened to Maria Kowroski every time.  I think it was Gia Kourlas who described the look as "Hello sailor!" Is that  the unseemly aspect you describe?

Yes. The music is exalted in the best French way, the ballerina as empress stands center stage, and then this happens:

Extensions are part and parcel of ballet, but not infrequently I find myself wondering why the principal woman is providing a 360°-view of her underpants, especially in those ballets, where beautiful manners and the glorification of the ballerina lie at the core of their aesthetic.

[fondoffouettes]

One of NYCB's current Instagram Stories congratulates Owen Flacke, Allegra Pascale Inch, and Noah McAuslin on their promotions into the corps de ballet. 

Edited October 16, 2023 by fondoffouettes

[abatt]

It was great to see so many performances in which the fourth ring was open and sold.  Proof positive that in instances where ticket sales are weak, it's not because of Covid.  It's because people are simply not interested in the content of the performance and/or the performers. 

It will be interesting to see how many weeks of performances ABT puts on this Summer.

[SingerWhoMoves]

3 hours ago, abatt said:

It was great to see so many performances in which the fourth ring was open and sold.  Proof positive that in instances where ticket sales are weak, it's not because of Covid.  It's because people are simply not interested in the content of the performance and/or the performers. 

It will be interesting to see how many weeks of performances ABT puts on this Summer.

Not only was the 4th ring open, they were charging $82 for seat up there!

Edited October 16, 2023 by SingerWhoMoves
Typos

[FireDancer]

On 10/13/2023 at 9:34 AM, Marta said:

  4 hours ago, California said:

 What is so important about that performance is that it has been so widely available, first on the bootleg tape for many years on YouTube and then on the release during the COVID lock-down by Lincoln Center. Most of us have never seen the other performances people mention. But the tape does give us a "baseline" for what's possible when we do see it in the theater. 

Where can I find this now? 

On 10/13/2023 at 9:34 AM, Marta said:

  4 hours ago, California said:

 What is so important about that performance is that it has been so widely available, first on the bootleg tape for many years on YouTube and then on the release during the COVID lock-down by Lincoln Center. Most of us have never seen the other performances people mention. But the tape does give us a "baseline" for what's possible when we do see it in the theater. 

Where can I find this now? 🙏🏻

On 10/13/2023 at 9:34 AM, Marta said:

  4 hours ago, California said:

 What is so important about that performance is that it has been so widely available, first on the bootleg tape for many years on YouTube and then on the release during the COVID lock-down by Lincoln Center. Most of us have never seen the other performances people mention. But the tape does give us a "baseline" for what's possible when we do see it in the theater. 

Where can I find this now? 🙏🏻

[nanushka]

I doubt it's on YouTube, even in an illegally copied version. You might be able to still find the lower-quality version that was previously there.

I tried to make sure to download everything NYCB released during covid while it was still available.

[cobweb]

In regard to Isabella LaFreniere's facial expression/smile (as referenced by @nanushka, @deanofdance, @Kathleen O'Connell, and probably others), I find it interesting that facial expression is apparently not addressed as part of training. It is a huge part of the art of performance. Someone like Tiler Peck always seems to have the right facial expression, and I feel sure that this is something she must intentionally work on. Watching LaFreniere in Diamonds, I had the feeling she hasn't really thought about or made decisions about what she wants to do with her face. Sometimes it was a smile, sometimes it seems like she was trying not to smile but didn't know what else to do with her face. She needs to think this through in general, and make this part of her approach to a role. 

[nanushka]

9 minutes ago, cobweb said:

I find it interesting that facial expression is apparently not addressed as part of training. It is a huge part of the art of performance.

I couldn't agree more!

[Marta]

@FireDancer and everyone:    Kirkland/Baryshnikov  Theme and Variations

 

 

[vipa]

17 minutes ago, cobweb said:

\ Someone like Tiler Peck always seems to have the right facial expression, and I feel sure that this is something she must intentionally work on. Watching LaFreniere in Diamonds, I had the feeling she hasn't really thought about or made decisions about what she wants to do with her face. Sometimes it was a smile, sometimes it seems like she was trying not to smile but didn't know what else to do with her face. She needs to think this through in general, and make this part of her approach to a role. 

I wouldn't assume that Tiler Peck intentionally works on her facial expressions. Perhaps she does, but when you watch her in interviews she changes her expressions as she speaks, frequently smiling very naturally. It could be that she allows her natural facial expressions to carry over to the stage. Ashley Bouder always had a problem with her "stage face" IMO. She often plastered on a kind of smug smile that she didn't have when you watched her in interviews or in rehearsal footage.

[BalanchineFan]

5 hours ago, fondoffouettes said:

One of NYCB's current Instagram Stories congratulates Owen Flacke, Allegra Pascale Inch, and Noah McAuslin on their promotions into the corps de ballet. 

Thank you! Everyone who was at that Bourree rehearsal saw it, whether they realized it or not. 

The issue of facial expression always brings Merrill Ashley to mind. Her husband helped her a lot in this regard and it transformed her performances. She writes about it in her book.

In acting training, you work on focus and relaxation. If you are relaxed and aware, your face changes and responds to the things happening around you in the moment; the music, your partner, the changing configurations onstage. It was one of the things that jumped out at me in the company class. You could see who was able to dance well and be relaxed enough to enjoy and notice their fellow dancers. Some notable corps dancers seemed to tune everything out in order to focus, whereas Gilbert Bolden, Megan Fairchild, Sara, Tiler, Unity, Indiana, countless others, were still living breathing humans dancing across the floor, reacting and available to interact with others. 

When people’s expressions get stuck, in my experience, it’s nervousness, fear, apprehension, etc. I’m sure students are taught ways to overcome that, but performing is so stressful that they’re not successful managing their anxiety all the time. 

Megan Fairchild talks about it in one of her Youtube interviews. Her internal performance monologue used to be “omg, here comes that hard step I practiced, here it comes, it’s coming, (voice getting higher and higher) omg, omg, OMG!” Not the most useful approach, as you can imagine. I think she took up meditation. 

Edited October 16, 2023 by BalanchineFan

[BalanchineFan]

43 minutes ago, vipa said:

1 hour ago, cobweb said:

I wouldn't assume that Tiler Peck intentionally works on her facial expressions. Perhaps she does, but when you watch her in interviews she changes her expressions as she speaks, frequently smiling very naturally. It could be that she allows her natural facial expressions to carry over to the stage.

Exactly. 

[Helene]

Tiler Peck was a professional actress from when she was a child, and she also performed on major stages, including on tour, as an adult, including in Tiny Dancer, which was changed for Marie: Dancing Still, which I saw her in out here. 

She's also been cast in movies and TV shows as an adult.

If she wasn't trained in facial expressions from the time she was a child, she would have been tutored, mentored, and/or directed what she didn't learn and absorb from observation, or she wouldn't have lasted long.

[nanushka]

Yeah, I'd say just from watching her dance that she's pretty in control. That said, I think she's very good at it. Only occasionally do I wish she'd tone it down a bit. For me, personally, she's pretty effective (especially compared with some others mentioned).

[Royal Blue]

An interpretation of the Parable of the Prodigal Son may have a religious slant or not. Either way, my conviction is that nothing ever happens or can happen in the world that does not lend greater resonance to this invaluable tale. One can certainly make similar claims on behalf of other great stories and the tremendous scenes found in them. Despite its minuscule length, however, I believe that this parable miraculously subsumes every other story ever told.

According to my humanistic interpretation, the prodigal must return home with nothing except the ragged clothes on his back, but also with a pure heart and a clear mind. He must evince as much humility as possible, without being ashamed to face his father. Both the son and the father are great personages, who at the end of the tale recognize and understand each other's genuine worth. 

New York City Ballet's performances of Balanchine's Prodigal Son are what led this viewer to reflect on the parable. The ballet and the choreographer's treatment of the story (as well as his decision not to substantively alter the work during future revivals) fascinate me. Admirably, he chose to tackle such a formidable subject at such a young age and, together with Serge Diaghilev, Boris Kochno, Sergei Prokofiev, and Georges Rouault, created this ballet in 1929. Yes, we should rejoice that after 75 years since George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein founded New York City Ballet, performances of such brilliant works as Apollo, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C, Serenade, and Theme and Variations occur in our city. Although less visually appealing than these and other Balanchine ballets, the significance nonetheless of Prodigal Son cannot be overestimated. Reviving it during the company's commemorative season was essential. 

Enlivened by Prokofiev's powerful score, and Balanchine's imaginative and spirited choreography, City Ballet's dusky production never before looked as effective and riveting as it did on Sunday afternoon. Virtually every cast I have seen in the past perform the ballet was enjoyable to watch, and this was likewise the case with the two this season. At all three performances, Preston Chamblee enacted the Father as a stern and inscrutable Divinity, consistent with Balanchine's vision. Anthony Huxley's youthful appearance in the second cast was an asset early in his depiction of the prodigal, but became more problematic later opposite the voluptuous and supple Siren of Sara Mearns, and during the final scene. (The benchmark for evoking carnality and sensuality in this ballet was set for me in a pre-pandemic performance with Mearns and Gonzalo Garcia.) There were explosive turns and jumps from Daniel Ulbricht as the prodigal in the other cast, alongside marked acting zeal and laudable partnering of a much taller woman. This latter was none other than Miriam Miller, whose confidence in portraying the Siren has grown in spades since her debut in the role years ago. Long, gorgeous limbs which made breathtaking extensions and poses inexorable, a beautiful visage and torso gaining prominence by Rouault's audacious, unforgettable costume, the manner she kept her alluring shoulders back and walked seductively across the stage, all proved any attempt to turn away the eyes from her any moment she was on the stage impossible. Obviously, there were other performances I loved during the afternoon, but Miriam Miller's was my favorite. 

There is no music or choreography or dramatic representation which can clarify to the mind the incredible subtleties inherent in the Parable of the Prodigal Son. And that is precisely how it should be. Dancers assigned the three main roles in Balanchine's ballet must simply focus, with the assistance of their coaches, on executing the steps skillfully and portraying vividly the characters as they conceive them. That is enough and plenty. 

[LadyCap]

Tiler Peck was also a competition dancer from a very young age. My experience with those dancers is that they tend to lose (or not develop) the kind of stage fright that the rest of us naturally contend with. 

[BalanchineFan]

 

7 hours ago, abatt said:

It was great to see so many performances in which the fourth ring was open and sold.  Proof positive that in instances where ticket sales are weak, it's not because of Covid.  It's because people are simply not interested in the content of the performance and/or the performers. 

The programming has been wonderful! However, the full houses could also be due to the advertising they did for the 75th anniversary, and inviting the previous generations back. All of the places where those 350 former NYCB dancers teach probably had students that came this fall, as well. And it's true that fewer people are concerned about Covid, now.

Solange Knowles' score for Play Time brought in HUGE crowds last fall.

[FireDancer]

16 hours ago, Marta said:

@FireDancer and everyone:    Kirkland/Baryshnikov  Theme and Variations

 

 

Thank you - I saw this but was hoping the high quality one was still available somehow... 

[SingerWhoMoves]

21 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Exactly. 

Also, keep in mind that Tiler was in a Broadway show as a kid and has since appeared in other acting projects. Can’t help but think that helps.