Jewels -- Kennedy Center

[Drew]

5 minutes ago, Fernie M said:

Try this link, if you scroll to the bottom, you can see the cast for the entire show. To look at a different cast/different night, just change the date.

https://www.kennedy-center.org/digital-program/?performanceId=79083

Thank you! Very helpful--I'm not used to the paperless program and had been looking in the wrong place for what I wanted to know.

[MRR]

I was also in attendance for the Saturday matinee and evening Jewels.  My interest in NYCB has been revitalized lately: despite not being from New York, D.C., or even the East Coast, this is my third trip in the past 9 months to see them perform.  Indeed, they have pulled out the stops for the 75th anniversary season, but that goes only so far without great dancers.  Fortunately, the company has them in abundance, and could field three starry casts of a ballet with multiple featured roles.  

The three gems are not always Balanchine's most inspired choreography, but they are consistently musical, visually stimulating, and easy to enjoy.  Emeralds, the strangest (I say with endearment) and most fragile of the three, is arguably the most dependent on its cast.  Indiana Woodward, in her fifth performance of the week, was never less than serene, flowing, and elegant, caressing the stage like a dewdrop in a forest.  During the solo variation, her curtsy in the downstage right corner felt humble and reverent, as if she were thanking Balanchine and the role's originator, Violette Verdy.  Olivia MacKinnon in the same role (debut) kept the magic at bay:  abrupt shifts of expression; a somewhat dour, apologetic demeanor down to how she exited the stage. Fortunately she had occasional bright spots:  the shimmering bourees, long sustained pique attitude and arabesque, and an airy jump.  

Tyler Angle, technically underpowered, still has obvious experience to utilize and show, partnering with sensitivity and ease.  Davide Riccardo, more lush and turned out, struggled in the pirouette-tour variations of the solo.  

Performances of the Mimi Paul role were not transcendent from either interpreter, but the Sicilienne variation of Ashley Laracey in the matinee was lovely: a taste of Old World sophistication and glamour.  Her mile high arabesque was advantageous here, but more so her quiet nostalgia, entering the Walking pas de deux as if she and her partner were strolling through Paris at midnight.  Emilie Gerrity, less adept and nuanced during the evening, was still enigmatic in the pas: a mystery eluding her partner.  Peter Walker (matinee) was more seamless with the off-balance partnering than Alec Knight.

Rubies was performed to the hilt with two worthy casts.  Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia (matinee) had great moments, though I prefer both in other ballets.  Mejia---clean, buoyant, expansive, and masterful---seemed too happy-go-lucky, with a plastered smile throughout.  Peck, more dialed down in expression than in the past, was lacking flexibility for the pas de deux, though her third movement was terrific.  Her syncopation and endless technical feats were no surprise, but a singular moment where she arabesque dove into Mejia's arms, looking as if he wouldn't catch until the last second, was thrilling.

Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley seem more naturally demure, but weren't at all in this performance.  There was tons of speed, dare, and attack, and while not always flawless (one awkward transition in the pas de deux drew an audible gasp from Megan), the audience was certainly in for a ride.  Huxley may not dance at all like Villella, but he is keen to show off his strengths: great ballon, articulation of feet and a cat-like depth of plié.  Fairchild, old hat in the McBride role, danced with more freshness than I have previously seen from her, as she appears to peak in this Indian summer of her career.

Naomi Corti's Tall Girl, a debut, is already on the right track: fantastic high attitude battements, a real entrechat six, and great physicality for the role.  Though relatively unstable in her pointe work at the beginning, her nerves appeared to ease, and she increasingly showed authority in the exposed sequenced of penchees and allegro bits with the men. Her projection at this point is fairly muted, with eyes often low or pointed down to the stage.

Missing Mira Nadon's Diamonds, I was still grateful to be seeing her at all.  Her Concerto Barocco in October, lush and celestial, gave way to a fairly perfunctory Stars and Stripes in the winter.  Never fear, her Tall Girl reveled in a world all its own: a thrilling, fun, and yes, spectacular performance.  Her femme fatale stare down of the men was the same authority she brought to the penchees: three of them, 180 degree split, held for eternity, to a sly, slinky exit.  The third movement showed a total spitfire, with lightning footwork and grand jetes that pierced through the sky.  Mercifully she never made the role vulgar, preferring almost a classic Noir approach with luscious, magical port de bras.

Sara Mearns and Chun Wai Chan achieved a special moment in the Diamonds pas de deux.  Mearns has a rich inner turmoil in the adagio, at once tender and romantic, leaning into Chun Wai, but on a dime transforming into a vision, unknowable and impenetrable.  Her Swan Lake sequence was particularly effective in eluding his grasp.  After such a majestic 10 minutes, the rest of Mearns's performance appeared rather paced and effortful, with awkward spacing in her developee section of the Scherzo (buried in the stage right corner), an often blank expression, and watering down of the fouettes in the finale.  Still, there were other highlights: a fast series of chaines exiting the wing while spotting front, and a grand, extravagant demeanor in the moments that needed it.   Ultimately, the adagio, the most important ballerina moment in Diamonds and perhaps in all of Jewels, was masterfully delineated.

Chun Wai, handsome, princely, and a good partner, is a worthy principal. Though he has more extension and elevation to achieve in his manège, one is hard pressed to complain about his double tour---impeccable and clean---or his a la seconde turns, a fast series of singles to a double with arms aloft and an immediate quadruple pull-in, drawing thunderous applause

Unity Phelan, elegant and turned out in the matinee, also reached her peak in the adage.  She resisted a more dramatic Russian approach and danced with serenity, a fine choice except that her expression didn't develop or change much.  She is wonderful ballerina for dance notation, precise in differentiating her positions front, side, and back, with good placement and beautifully shaped feet.  One gorgeous developee a la seconde nearing the end of the adagio was a highlight.  Stamina was a factor: her Scherzo lost steam with a manège of turns that got around by will, ending in a cheated double, and her partner had to physically hold her as she approached the final pirouette in the finale. 

Joseph Gordon, gallant and inscrutable as her Cavalier, was attentive at all costs, ensuring Phelan's performance was the priority.  His line, not as pure as some, is good enough, and both his manège and a la seconde turns were explosive and assured, drawing gasps from a packed audience.

Edited June 14 by MRR