Haglund's Heel

ABT – Don Quixote – AC lights up the Met

Tonight's opening performance of Don Quixote saw the biggest crowd at the Met in ABT's season thus far.  It seems that Angel Corella draws crowds, sells tickets, packs the house, generates enthusiasm – and oh yeah, puts on a heck of a show.  It also seems like a good time to remind ourselves that Angel informed ABT early on that he would in fact be available to dance most of the season, but ABT said "Sorry, you can only have two performances.  We're giving your performances to this new soloist who we just know is going to WOW everybody."  The result?  The first two weeks of the season had dismal-not-seen-in-fifteen-years attendance.  The lesson learned?  In a bad economy, it's more important than ever to put your best foot forward.

 

From their first steps onto the stage to the final pirouette to the knee, Angel and his Kitri, Paloma Herrera, gave a gala performance so charged with electricity that it caused cameras in the audience to flash unintentionally.  Do not blame the audience - it was The AC surging through the atmosphere that made those cameras go off. 

 

Paloma's Kitri was friskier than we've seen her in years.  It's one thing to sissonne and kick the back of the head with the foot – most high school competitive team dancers can do that these days.  It's quite another thing to do it with banana feet that are so exquisitely curved that the image of the arched foot to the head and the other arched foot extending toward the floor like a sword freezes the mind's digital signal.  Could we see that again, please?  Yep, back up, replay.

 

And as she has done for years, Paloma turned those simple echappes in Act 3 into a momentous event through the sheer power and curve of her pointes.  Her slow sensual developpes whether taunting Basilio in Act 1 or extending to an impossibly beautiful 90 degree second position during the Grand Pas are just unmatched anywhere.  Her extraordinary balances were ones filled with music and meaning as opposed to being simple tricks.

 

Angel would have benefited from getting in a performance or two before tackling Don Q.  But he still delivered the expected turns and leaps, perhaps not with his eloquence of past years, but when combined with his charisma and theatrical chops he is still at the top tier of the company's Don Q.s with J.M. Carreno.  These two, along with Gomes, really do know how to hold the audience in the palms of their hands.  And don't we love it.

 

Haglund had to pinch himself when he walked into the Met and saw the sign that said Mercedes would be danced by Stella Abrera.  "Was he dreaming?  Was it his birthday?" he wondered.

 

Ms. Abrera, in her debut, and Marcelo Gomes' hot, strutting Espada were stunning!  Her Italian fouettes were pristine.  The "play" between her and Gomes was smoldering.  An excellent debut.  She also danced the role of the Queen of the Dryads with elegance, breathing balances, and beautiful arabesques. 

 

Sarah Lane's Amour perfectly dazzled.  Joseph Phillips, sporting a prominent six-pack, and Luciana Paris as the Gypsy Couple kept the audience electrified.  The flower girls, Yuriko Kajiya and Misty Copeland, have always been terrific together, and Haglund has always enjoyed them the most of all the pairs.  Last night each one looked like she was ready to be Kitri.  The future looks good.

 

Craig Salstein as Gamache and Isaac Stappas as Lorenzo are strictly dangerous when put on a stage together – keeping all the other dancers on high alert for improvisations that might suddenly involve them, too.  Haglund looks forward to seeing these two cut loose in The Bright Stream next year.

 

At the end of the evening, the audience just went bananas.  It truly felt like a gala evening.  Angel has a way of always making it so.

 

This Don Q is a first rate production.  The Minkus music is beautiful – Haglund just loves the strains that remind him of La Bayadere.  The scenery is rich with the painted fan scrim being one of the most beautiful ever seen at the Met.  The choreography is energetic, authentic and full of story.  

 

Haglund bestows this Pump Bump Award, specially chosen with the new Mercedes in mind, on the entire cast for its amazing performance:

 

 

 

ABT – Lady of the Camellias – Wednesday 5/26

Unfortunately, Haglund had to miss the Wednesday matinee of the new Lady of the Camellias with Vishneva, Gomes, Part, and Tamm.  Couldn't be helped.  But he did make the evening performance of Dvorovenko, Stearns, Abrera, and Hoven – and didn't come away feeling cheated at all.

 

Irina Dvorovenko was a fantastic Marguerite.  Haglund's only complaint is that her character was a little too robust.  Tuesday evening Julie Kent spelled her character's illness from one end of the stage to the other.  For Dvorovenko, it was a bit of a stretch for her to appear as though she was at death's door.  The sadness was in her face and body, but the illness was not always apparent.  She was kind of like Anna Netrebko's Violetta – drop dead gorgeous, beautiful instrument, intensely motivated, but not very sickly.  Both ladies are a tremendous pleasure to witness in performance at the Met. 

 

Cory Stearns gave it the old college try, but his Armand was mostly invisible as were his arabesque, elevation, flexibility, and stamina.  He was visibly tired through most of acts II and III - a lot more so than just Armand acting it.  He looked pooped out when trying to press Irina over his head.  It can be said, however, that his Armand was properly young, naive, and inexperienced to Irina's highly experienced courtesan.  He also conveyed a sense of vulnerability which went nicely with the story.  But the technique is not there and it is especially obvious when he has to dance in unison with other men who've got it - like Blaine Hoven last night.  As someone raised the suggestion to Haglund recently, perhaps Mr. Stearns is preferred for these opportunities over technically superior and much loved principals because "the hand of an invisible benefactor [is] actively promoting this aspiring young man."  You gotta wonder why he wasn't Des Grieux and Hallberg wasn't Armand.

 

Stella Abrera as Manon was a revelation and pinpoint perfect – technically and theatrically.  Haglund has never seen her more brilliant and secure.  Her Act I Manon was the selfish "give me, gimme, gimme" Manon we all know and love.  Her Act II Manon showed her character beginning to unravel with illness, and Act III included a stunning and complicated solo and a brilliant PdD with Blaine Hoven where her limbs dangled and her head loosely fell around as though she was unconscious and on the verge of death.  Blaine picked her up like she was paper and he also expertly managed the PdT with Stella and Irina.  His own brief variation was flawless.  Excellent work from Blaine Wednesday night.  And with regard to Stella - Haglund wants to see her dance the lead in MacMillian's Manon and he wants to see it yesterday.  Capice?  And throw in Mary Vetsera, if you get the drift.

 

It was a pleasure to see Joseph Gorak in some spotlighted corps work.  Now there's someone with elevation, flexibility, and an arabesque!  Melanie Hamrick had just the right amount of glow and glitz as Olympia, and danced quite beautifully.  Luciana Paris as Prudence hit a couple of rough spots, but overall got the character down pat.  Gennadi Saveliev seemed less comfortable as Gaston Rieux than Jared Matthews on Tuesday who was so good that he looked like he is ready to step into Bratfish's shoes in Mayerling.  If we wish for it, it will come.

Haglund had an unexpectedly joyful time at Lady of the Camellias last night.   The evening's Pump Bump Awards go to Stella and Blaine for putting the icing on the cake:

 

 

ABT – Lady of the Camellias – Tuesday 5/25

At about 7:00 p.m. people began filing in to take their seats at the estate auction.  Already there was a sense of reserve and quiet respect in the audience.  Someone had died.  All of her beautiful things were tagged and on the stage for us to examine.  Most of us were acquainted with the deceased.  We had met her time and time again at the Met.  We already knew that her beautiful possessions masked a sad, diseased life of heartbreak and betrayal.  And we were ready to hear her story once again.

 

It was a distinctive opening to a distinctive evening of ballet theater.

 

John Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias is based on the 1848 novel by Alexandre Dumas about Marguerite Gautier, a French courtesan ill with tuberculosis who falls deeply in love with Armand Duval.  It doesn't end well for either character.  It never does.  Their story has filled the Met Opera House for years as Verdi's La Traviata.  As word slowly spreads about this ballet, which is set to Chopin's heartfelt music, their story will yet again pull scores of people into the Met.

 

Julie Kent as Marguerite gave what may be a career defining performance.  The depth of her portrayal of Marguerite in her slide from gilded bliss into consumptive death was outstanding. Roberto Bolle as Armand was exceptional – the weight of his acting and the beauty of his dancing so right, so musically-inspired that he was Alfredo, as well.  Their PdDs were filled with passion that climaxed with stunning lifts and descents.

 

In the Neumeier production, Marguerite identifies with Manon Lescaut from a ballet performance, and the character haunts her throughout the evening.  Manon was portrayed by Gillian Murphy; Des Grieux by David Hallberg.  The insertion of Manon into the story was fascinating.  However, Haglund didn't think that Gillian fit the bill as a Manon - someone obsessed with riches but also someone for whom we should care something about.  Hallberg, on the other hand, dear god, we must see him as Des Grieux in the next run of MacMillan's Manon.  He is learning how to "stalk" like Bocca used to and he looks like a poet, and as awful as this sounds, Haglund loves seeing him get his heart broken.  It hurts good.

 

Xiomara Reyes and Jared Matthews were fabulous as Prudence and Gaston Rieux.  It is now clear that Xiomara has a talent for bringing out the very best in whomever she dances with – as she did once again last night with Jared Matthews.  What ever is going on inside Jared, it needs to be bottled and shared with a few others, because he is having one phenomenal year - beginning with last fall's season.  Everything is coming together at once for him - the dancing, the acting, the energy.  He is turning out to be surprisingly exciting.  Xiomara was perfect as Prudence.  Her variations, full of challenging choreography, showed her character to be charming and funny. 

Hee Seo as Olympia danced remarkably but the character was the same as her kittenish Gamzatti.  We have to get beyond the pretty smiles and sideways glances onto something more meaningful.  But she is beautiful to watch with lovely feet and legs, and last night her technique was solid.

The corps de ballet played less of a role than that to which we are accustomed in full length ballets, but nevertheless danced well in full character and in gorgeous costumes by Jurgen Rose.  The production's lighting was very appealing and was a major player in moving the drama along.  Some of the choreographic devices such as using the very front and sides of the stage which lead down into the audience brought the drama closer to the audience effectively.  It was a nice touch.

The evening's pianists were Soheil Nasseri (on stage) and Koji Attwood (in the center of the pit).  Their playing was beautiful, and happily, could be heard throughout the cavernous Met.  However, this is one production for which you want to sit closer to the orchestra and the stage.

It was a good evening of theater.  Haglund bestows these lovely Chanel camellia Pump Bump Awards to Julie and Roberto for their stunning performances last evening:

ABT – La Bayadere Saturday 5/22

At about 6:30 Saturday night, Haglund said to himself, "Aw heck.  Let's go watch this train wreck unfold."  The best thing that can be said about a train wreck is that somebody usually survives – unless, of course, both the engine and the caboose fall over the side of the trestle bridge dragging all the cars between them into the water.  Haglund knew that a lot of Haglund'eelers would be visiting the blog and would expect an explicit eyewitness account.  So, he quickly scrubbed up, packed a couple of Band-Aids, and returned to the theater for the second La Bayadere of the day.

 

Well, Folks, Haglund has to report that the train made it safely across the bridge.  In fact, it started out with some pretty good steam which it gradually lost, but not until all the cars were safely to the other side.  We are talking, of course, about Cory Stearns' debut as Solor opposite Veronika Part's Nikiya and Michele Wiles' Gamzatti.  Stearns, who was substituting for the injured Roberto Bolle, was originally scheduled to debut opposite Gillian Murphy this coming Monday. 

Stearns' first entrance onto the stage Saturday evening was forceful and authoritative as were his first several minutes of mime.  Then Ms. Part entered and the two began what was a pretty good PdD.  She was secure; his hands were accurate; and there seemed to be some eye contact between them.  Haglund thought we might be witnessing a breakout performance from Stearns.  Then slowly as the variations unfolded, we were reminded that Mr. Stearns doesn't have principal-level elevation, flexibility in the back, a 90 degree arabesque, or much acting ability.  He was decidedly improved in the problem area of pedestrianizing the choreography, but his performance was overall anemic.  He has to find something at which he is truly outstanding in order to counterbalance those areas which may always be inferior.

 

Ms. Part and Ms. Wiles repeated their spectacular performances from Wednesday night.  The contrast of their characters was vivid.  Their dancing, strong and nuanced, was 100% devoted to advancing their characters.  Both were very, very, very good.

 

Many of the ladies in the corps shone brightly in demi-solos and ensemble work.  Tonight especially, Melanie Hamrick and Leann Underwood were outstanding as the D'Jampe Dancers.  Isadora Loyola is one of the most expressive dancers in the corps with beautifully articulate and arched feet.  Gemma Bond is looking radiant.

 

Haglund has intentionally avoided discussing the Bronze Idol situation all week because it is such a difficult one to assess.  Not until everyone who ever saw Angel Corella and Herman Cornejo in this role dies will audiences be able to happily accept anything less than their electrifying, super-punctuated performances.  Haglund saw Daniil Simkin, Craig Salstein, Mikhail Ilyn, and Carlos Lopez dance the role this week.  Lopez came closest to finding the Corella/Cornejo magic with Salstein close behind.  Simkin, for all the beautiful work he has done thus far while with ABT, was unable to wrap his incredible technique around this role which requires speed and braking at phenomenal rates.  Simkin occasionally summoned the intensity required, but the segue movements lingered balletically thus destroying the concept of the dancing idol.  All of these guys have to try harder and smarter to equal or come close to what Corella and Cornejo gave us.

La Bayadere is still one of Haglund's most favorite ballets even after a chaotic week of substitutions.  He is extremely saddened by the injury and withdrawal of Stella Abrera from this week's performances.  However, he experienced a little epiphany during tonight's performance: The Big Buddha of La Bayadere decided a few years ago that he would intervene in any effort to have Stella dance Gamzatti because he had decreed that she must now dance Nikiya.  When next La Bayadere is on the schedule, let's not mess with the Buddha's wishes.

Haglund awards this passionate red satin and feather Pump Bump Award to Ms. Part and Ms Wiles for their stunning performances this week:

 

ABT – La Bayadere 5/18-19

There have been so many cast substitutions during the first three performances of La Bayadere that the ABT scheduler may have already gone cuckoo before the completion of the first week of the season.  In Wednesday night's Playbill, the Flower Girls were listed as Joseph Gorak and Jose Sebastian. 

Thankfully, Joe and Jose did not follow the Playbill script, and in fact, danced admirably as Fakirs and warriors and special warrior attendants who quite literally followed in Marcelo Gomes' footsteps in Act III.  Marcelo was not supposed to dance Wednesday night but had to substitute for an injured Roberto Bolle.  In Wednesday afternoon's performance, Hee Seo made an early debut as Gamzatti when she replaced Stella Abrera.  Maria Riccetto then replaced Hee Seo as one of the three major Shades.  Even poor, mysterious Aya, Gamzatti's, servant has  been hard to keep track of from performance to performance.  Just because she skulks around covered up with scarves doesn't mean we don't want to know who she really is.  Brand new apprentice Courtney Lavine has gotten a baptism by fire while substituting in the corps.  They haven't let her leave the stage to go home since the first performance.

 

In spite of all this turmoil, ABT has managed three superb performances of La Bayadere. La Bayadere is one of Haglund's favorite fantasy ballets. He especially loves the Lanchberry orchestration and arrangement of the Minkus music.  He loves the music so much that he feels compelled to go to nearly every performance and sit on top of the orchestra.  The last time La Bayadere was on the schedule, Haglund saw all but two of the performances which he skipped in protest of ABT's hiring of a guest artist to replace the injured Abrera as Gamzatti. 

 

Tuesday evening's principal cast included Diana Vishneva, Marcelo Gomes, and Gillian Murphy.  Wednesday matinee's cast was Paloma Herrera, David Hallberg, and Hee Seo.  Wednesday evening's cast was Veronika Part, Marcelo Gomes, and Michele Wiles. 

All of these major players offered different takes on their characters.  Ms. Vishneva was the most sensual of the three Nikiyas; Ms. Herrera, the most vulnerable; and Ms. Part, the most divine.  Mr. Gomes was the most emotionally invested of the Solors; Mr. Hallberg, the most princely and wholesome.  Ms. Murphy was the most spoiled-acting of the three Gamzattis; Ms. Seo interpreted her role as a smiling ingenue; and Ms. Wiles was the most deliciously deadly, fierce, over-entitled, dangerously beautiful Gamzatti that Haglund has seen in a long time.  The cat fight with Nikiya was terrific, particularly when Ms. Wiles' Gamzatti removed her own necklace and attempted to force Nikiya to take it in exchange for giving up Solor.  Teeth bared, eyes boring into Nikiya – good stuff.  Ms. Wiles' Act III solo showed unexpected tenderness and sadness.  There seemed to be additional flexibility in her neck and upper torso, but it would be nice to see even more. 

 

Ms. Part, after an unsteady performance at Monday's gala, was secure in every step, pirouette, and balance on Wednesday.  Some of the most striking images were when she would developpe a la seconde and the raised leg was exactly parallel to the line of the upper arm which was raised in fifth position.  (Haglund thinks that should be the official rule:  leg no higher than parallel to line of the upper arm.)  She was beautifully responsive to Marcelo Gomes' passionate Solor and, of course, drop dead gorgeous in every costume.

 

At each of the three performances, the Shades were impeccable - a terrific job from everyone - and they deserved the deafening applause which they received from the audience. 

Haglund bestows this little Christian Louboutin crepe satin flower Pump Bump Award to the ladies and gentlemen of the corps for holding it all together so far this week.

 

Reuniting with Nikiya

At the conclusion of Tuesday night's performance of La Bayadere, Kevin McKenzie escorted the ever-glamorous Natalia Makarova to center stage.  It was a remarkable sight - this tiny lady who, as McKenzie reminded us, 40 years ago chose ABT as her new home and went on to make a gigantic impact on ballet in this country and in virtually every significant classical role. 

 

Ten years into her new homeland, Natasha created the first western production of La Bayadere based on her memory of performing in The Kingdom of the Shades and on her own historical research.  She re-choreographed it, rehearsed every role, and starred as Nikiya at the premiere and in many performances thereafter.  For the past 30 years - the precise anniversary being this Friday, May 21st - Natasha has stood over La Bayadere like a divine caretaker.  How many Shades has she coached and coaxed into delivering the perfect combination of line, movement, and modesty?  Hundreds for sure, maybe thousands if one considers all the other companies the world over on whom she has set her version of La Bayadere. 

 

It is always a treat to revisit the memories of special performances by great artists who always will have our admiration.  But our debt of gratitude to Natasha extends far beyond her individual performances - and that is what we celebrated this evening.

For the record, Vishneva and Gomes knocked it out of the ballpark tonight.  Haglund bestows this little snake-skin-under-the-bouquet Pump Bump Award for the terrific performances by one and all:

 

 

ABT Gala – 5/17

You know how when you go to a cocktail party and you stuff yourself with high calorie hors d’ouerves but you don’t care, because the liquor gave you permission to eat everything in sight?  That’s kind of what ABT’s Opening Night Gala performance was like last night.  We ate and we ate and we ate.  Most of it was good; some a bit strange; a little was like bad mayonnaise - but when you’re drunk, you gobble it up anyway.  It’s now the morning after, and it is time, yes – to weigh ourselves.

The first sip of the evening knocked everyone off their feet.  The curtain opened and out walked Lupe Serrano, Martine van Hamel, Nina Ananiashvili, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Alessandra Ferri, Natalia Makarova, and Frederic Franklin.  They stood like a billion megawatt power line across the stage with Freddie in front holding a microphone.  Haglund was so stunned that he cannot recall what Freddie said.  And just as quickly, the curtain closed and they were gone.  The audience was dizzy already.

The actual dancing opened with an excerpt from Ashton’s Birthday Offering danced splendidly by Irina Dvorovenko and Max Beloserkovsky, with a supporting cast of soloists and corps who were well-rehearsed.  Sarah Lane - lovely.  Maria Riccetto dancing with Grant DeLong - glamorous.

Next up were the ABT II’ers with an awkward excerpt from Edwaard Liang’s Ballo Per Sei.  These kids are not ready for prime time at the Met.  Liang’s choreography with its armpit lifts and NYCB mimicry is not ready for prime time at the Met.  The piece had a recital quality to it that made it less than fitting for the gala evening.

Michele Wiles with assistance from Sascha Radetsky, Craig Salstein, Gennadi Saveliev and Roman Zhurbin performed the Rose Adagio from Sleeping Beauty.   The first half was not the least bit interesting as Michele tried to create a dynamic line to the second half which included some deliciously showy promenade turns and balances.  Haglund wishes Michele would study this YouTube video of Viviana Durante.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

Next on our plate was an excerpt from Act II of Giselle with a soaring dramatic performance by David Hallberg as Albrecht.  Natalia Osipova in what looked like a black wig and raccoon made-up eyes jumped and hopped around as Giselle, but did not (and Haglund is prepared to be of the minority point of view) sweep the audience away with her spirituality or spirit form.  Hallberg needs to be dancing Albrecht opposite Stella Abrera’s Giselle.  We have been promised this pairing previously, and we still want it.

Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes delivered a sizzling Black Swan PdD and coda.  The first few pirouettes went leaning into New Jersey but by the time Veronika got to the fouettes, she was in control and thrilled the audience with Odile’s black magic. 

Ashton’s Thais Pas de Deux to Massenet’s “Meditation” was given its ABT premiere by Diana Vishneva and Jared Matthews.  Jared, who is scheduled to perform the Thais PdD with Maria Riccetto during Weeks 4&6 was a late substitution for Jose Manuel Carreno.  (no pressure there)  The music is so beautiful that it makes your heart ache.  Ashton’s choreography is so musical and inventive that you tend not to blink your eyes which are transfixed on the dancers’ couplings and passionate maneuverings.  Jared will look better dancing this with Maria, and Diana will look better with Jose.  However, in tonight's performance Haglund's eye was drawn to Jared more than to Diana.  He is really coming along in the dramatic sense, and it's wonderful to see.

The highlight of the evening was Stella Abrera leading the brief five or so minute finale of Twyla Tharp’s The Brahms-Haydn Variations along with Alexandre Hammoudi.  Blistering technique, smooth partnering with Hammoudi - especially the pirouettes - brimming with joy and energy, Stella punctuated the musical phrases like nobody else does.   A terrific job and indicative of another breakthrough season for her.

The Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadere opened the second half of the evening.  The shades led by the incomparably steady Renata Pavam were in pretty good shape overall. 

Ashton’s Awakening Pas de Deux from Sleeping Beauty was given its ABT premiere by Paloma Herrera and Cory Stearns.  The match-up of these dancers does absolutely nothing for either one.  Herrera’s presentation continues to take on Prozac qualities, and pairing her with a dull dancer who pedestrianizes all choreography assigned to him does her no favors.

The Act III PdD and Coda from Sleeping Beauty were performed by Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo.  But for some struggling with the fish dives, this performance was a beauty with Reyes every inch the young, excited royal and Cornejo the perfect prince. 

Julie Kent and Roberto Bolle performed the Act III PdD from Lady of the Camellias - ABT‘s new full evening offering this year.  Haglund was swept into their world in about two seconds and was mesmerized to the end.   Every step, every pause, every glance of the eyes, every crazy and improbable lift, every minute was fascinating.  The audience went wild.

Of course, what would a gala be without the Don Quixote PdD.  Gillian Murphy and Ethan Stiefel did the honors with sass and energy.  Gillian pulled out a fan upon entering to do her 32 and proceeded to spin and fan herself and the audience into a tizzy.  The fouette revolutions were impressive if one didn’t look at the unacademic developpe to the front and rond de jambe to the side with a grossly turned-in leg.  While Ms. Part’s fouettes may lack pizzazz, at least they’re more palatable from an academic standpoint.  And she manages to point the foot of the rotating leg - nicely.

Finally, the evening’s offerings ended with the much loved Angel Corella performing Caught - the solo created by David Parsons to music by Robert Fripp.  Angel darted around the black stage while activating a strobe light.  It gave the appearance of him continually dancing in mid-air which was pretty darned thrilling to see.  Gimmicky?  Perhaps.  Thrilling?  You bet.

And so, Haglund bestows this special Pump Bump Award in honor of the new knockout Lady of the Camellias:

 

On Haglund's Calendar – NYCB 6/5 – BE THERE

Haglund has a tickling inkling that the lone woman in the choreographic pack in this Spring Season at NYCB is going to show all the boys how it’s done.

Melissa Barak - true believer in the ballet vocabulary, craft-oriented
Story ballet - gangsta's, Las Vegas
Robert Fairchild and Jenifer Ringer - glam, theatrical, more glam
Jay Greenberg - composer whose music is known for depth, drama, orchestral structure, beautiful melodies
Santiago Calatrava – scenery from his artistic side, not his engineering side.

Be there for the premiere.

NYCB 5/14 – Serenade, Outlier, Cortege Hongrois

NYCB presented a beautiful rendition of Serenade last evening with the diverse cast of Jenifer Ringer, Megan Fairchild, Kaitlyn Gilliland, Philip Neal and Ask La Cour.  The demi-soloists were Faye Arthurs, Alina Dronova, Lauren King, and Georgina Pazcoguin.  It is hard to believe that Serenade just turned 75 years old.  It is as fresh and enjoyable as ever.

The blue tulle was flying.  The hair was flying.  The Tschaikovsky music was glorious.  Everyone seemed happy to be dancing in Balanchine’s early masterpiece and the audience was swept away by it all.

Kaitlyn Gilliland, as the dark angel, accelerated through the choreography with unusual abandon.  Megan Fairchild’s debut performance was joyous and youthful.  Jenifer Ringer conveyed both glamor and spirituality in the lead role.  Among the demi-soloists, Lauren King continued to impress with her neat, unforced technique and sunny stage presence. 

The new commission by Wayne McGregor, Outlier, was unfortunately a disappointment.  The music, Thomas Ades' Concerto for Violin – Concentric Paths, is a moody piece for violin and chamber orchestra that is not especially suited for accompanying movement.  

Anyone who has seen 10 minutes of McGregor’s Infra or Chroma made for The Royal Ballet, would have recognized most of the choreographic ideas and impulses he used for Outlier.  In summary, it was the same soup in a different bowl.  McGregor’s attempt to adapt to the ballet stage the types of head, neck and upper body waves that Michael Jackson made popular and are still pervasive in the worst music videos was neither fresh nor inventive nor did it serve the purpose of making ballet relevant to new audiences.  We must be grateful that he didn’t have the dancers grabbing their crotches. 

Contemporary ballet choreographers seem not to understand that Wendy Whelan and Maria Kowroski can actually dance – which must be why these talented artists are now mainly used for crotch-splitting aerial gobbledygook that emphasizes leg muscularity instead of movement. Yes, we had a lot of that in this piece as well.

Lucy Carter's stage lighting for Outlier, which included the suggestion of concentric circles on the floor as well as some linear effects, was pleasing to the eye.  But McGregor’s efforts to make the dancers look as though what they were doing was somehow connected to the patterns didn’t work.  Nor did it matter in the abstract overall scheme.  In short, we didn't advance or extend the ballet art form this evening. 

The audience, which was unusually sparse for a Friday evening, truly appreciated the terrific performance of Balanchine’s Cortege Hongrois set to the glorious, danceable music from Glazounov’s Raymonda.  Rebecca Krohn and Sean Suozzi were on spot in the Czardas.  Again, Lauren King was a standout in the Pas de Quatre.  Sara Mearns and Jonathan Stafford, perhaps not particularly well-matched, conveyed the Hungarian spirit via the classical vocabulary with verve and enthusiasm in their lead roles. 

Haglund is sorry that he had to go to the back of the closet for one of last year's Pump Bump Awards, but Outlier prompted him to think of this pile of crocks:

Favorite Pictures

Haglund was cleaning up his hard drive and came across one of his all time favorite photos by Marty Sohl of Stella Abrera and David Hallberg in Afternoon of a Faun at City Center.  No one who was at that performance will ever forget it.  We really need to see these two dancers cast in the Manon PdD on June 29th and we need Marty there to capture it.  Nothing else would be as perfect - unless, of course, we could turn back time to retrieve Ferri and Bocca.

June 29th Manon PdD still unannounced.

There are about 127 hours to go until the kick-off ceremonies for ABT's Met season but the June 29th Manon PdD casting has not yet been posted on the website calendar.  Will McKenzie award the opportunity to a company member who deserves it (like, who deserves it more than ABRERA?) or will he give it away to a guest artist? 

Maybe next year the entire Met season can be devoted to guest artists thereby further de-emphasizing and de-valuing the company's own dancers.

Choreography Crisis

Over at Vanity Fair, James Wolcott blogs about Laura Jacobs' article, Dogma & Diaghilev, which appears in the May issue of The New Criterian.  Jacobs asks "How did we get to the point where just about every new classical dance is meaningless?" and a little later suggests "I suppose George Balanchine deserves some blame."  No doubt the folks over on BalletFart are wrinkling their noses like they just snorted their own bad smells. 

Frankly, Haglund thinks much of the blame should be pointed at Lawrence Ferlinghetti for all the trouble he started with A Coney Island of the Mind back in 1958.  We all loved that drivel so much.  Oh, the "empty air of existence" and the "strung-out citizens in painted cars and they have strange license plates and engines that devour America."  And then a few years later that guy and his Trout Fishing in America became all the rage.  That book was about Nothing more than Seinfeld was about Nothing.  But everyone had to have a copy of it and pretty soon the rage was all about being Nothing.  Nothing was the coolest you could be.  Nothing was Something.  You see, if you acted like Nothing, people would act like you're Something, because they didn't want to look like they really were attracted to your Nothingness which they wanted to believe was Somethingness.  But didn't we outgrow all that?  

Seems not yet.

ABT Gala casting changes

Regrettably, it appears that Jose Manuel Carreno will not dance in the ABT Gala program according to changes uploaded to the calendar today.  He had been scheduled to dance the Thais PdD with Diana Vishneva.  She will now dance with Jared Matthews.  Our first opportunity to see J.M. will be during the Saturday matinee of La Bayadere with Julie Kent.

The Sleeping Beauty PdD from Act III had been assigned to Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg.  However, the calendar now indicates that Herman Cornejo and Xiomara Reyes will dance it instead of the R&J PdD.  Osipova and Hallberg will dance the Act II PdD from Giselle.  (Haglund has a call into Yogi to see if including this PdD from Giselle in the Gala makes the season an "official" one, but it's probably a bit of a stretch to expect that Yogi will buy that argument.)

According to the program, Osipova will be followed by Veronika Part (Black Swan PdD) who will be followed by Vishneva.  Haglund thinks that it will be a delightful exercise to compare Osipova's qualities to Part's and Vishneva's. 

It is fitting that Angel Corella will anchor the Gala evening with his solo performance of David Parsons' Caught.  How nice it will be to give the audience an opportunity to express its gratitude to this magnificent artist who has anchored so many seasons for ABT.  What a shame it is that ABT decided to deny him a full season of performances and in doing so deny the audience so much joy.

On the Dnieper revisited

Haglund is looking forward once again to seeing the beautiful sets of On the Dnieper during ABT's upcoming Met season and has been encouraged by comments made by Alexei Ratmansky which suggest that he will continue to work on the piece.  Aside from the Prokofiev music that really doesn't grab you by the throat and scream "Dance, you fool, dance!" and aside from the over-steppiness of the choreography, the main problem with the piece from an audience's perspective is the slightness of the story (see synopsis here.) 

So, Haglund – always eager to help out especially when he hasn't been invited to – has revised the libretto to give it the kind of weight that he and his friends like to see in a story ballet.  Compare this to what's at the link above:

Sergei comes home from war with a group of soldiers.  He still loves his Natalia dearly and looks for her in the large crowd of welcomers.  He finds her and they embrace but they both sense a distance between them that was not there before.

 

Sergei then approaches Olga and Olga's mother who are searching for their father/husband among the soldiers.  Sergei must tell them that their father/husband will not be coming home.  He has died on the battlefield - a hero who saved many, including Sergei.  Sergei describes the battle and gives Olga and Olga's mother the fallen soldier's personal effects - his flag, his medals, his uniform hat, the family pictures he carried with him.

 

Sergei then tells Olga and Olga's mother that he promised their father/husband as he lay dying, that he (Sergei) would forever take care of Olga and her mother and that the soldier could leave this world in peace.

 

Sergei experiences the expected conflict and torment of loving Natalia but having promised the dying soldier that he would always take care of Olga and her mother.  Both Olga and her mother begin to develop feelings for Sergei who responds genuinely to both.  (The audience is never quite sure which woman Sergei is servicing or whether he's servicing both.)  Sergei continues to desire Natalia and meets with her secretly.  During one of these meetings he is observed by Olga who tells her mother what she has seen.  The mother and Olga plead with Sergei to be faithful to them and explain that they could not survive another loss as tragic as when their father/husband died on the battlefield.

 

Sergei then attempts to hook up Natalia with his best friend, thinking that she would find supreme happiness with a handsome, wealthy man who was desired by most all other women in town.  Natalia initially resists but then pretends to fall in love with Sergei's friend.

 

Seeing Natalia with his best friend, Sergei weeps at his loss but then forces himself to regain his composure.  As he strolls slowly away with Olga on his right arm and her mother on his left, he looks back over his shoulder at Natalia who is in a crumpled heap on the floor having realized that she has lost Sergei forever.  Sergei's best friend stands off to the side with arms folded not understanding what has provoked Natalia's tears.

 

As Sergei and the women stroll away, there appear the faint shadows of fallen soldiers in uniform who stand and watch them.  Sergei pauses to look at one, slowly salutes him, and walks away with the women.

The curtain lowers.  The audience applauds and screams wildly.  Standing in the aisle, Alastair Macaulay whips out his cell phone to call in his review but can barely be heard over the roar of the crowd.  "History has been made and I am so glad to have been here," he dictates.  Haglund has not exactly been invited to write Alastair's reviews for him, either, but eh.

On the Dnieper will be performed on June 9, 11, 28 and July 1 – most likely with its original storyline.

On Haglund's Calendar: NYCB McGregor premiere

Wayne McGregor presents his first choreographic composition for an American company this Friday, May 14th, at NYCB.  The choreography's title, Outlier, and the title of Thomas Ades' violin concerto used by McGregor, Concentric Paths, already conjure up images of interest.  Whether expectations are met or not, the evening's success is already assured with Jenifer Ringer and Philip Neal leading the season's first performance of Serenade – the cast of which also includes Kaitlyn Gilliland.