Haglund's Heel

ABT 7/8 Redeemed By Giants

Kisses to the new corps, demi-soloist pairs, and principals in last night's Theme and Variations. What a difference from the night before! Not only was everyone supremely elegant, supremely accurate, and supremely glistening, everyone seemed so filled with joy to be dancing this great masterpiece. And when all 26 dancers realized toward the very end that they had truly nailed it, their proud faces were something to behold. Such a great, great job from everyone.

When the curtain opened and the academic tendus began, the posture of our principals conveyed that we were about to see something special. The mature elegance of Skylar Brandt and the calm command of Herman Cornejo grabbed our attention like few other couples in these roles. It was remarkable how these two, as small as they are, managed to look like giants on the stage.

The tempi were blessedly faster than ABT is accustomed to in Theme and Variations, but every dancer on stage seemed ready and eager to fly at the pace. When Herman began his double tour/pirouette series, Conductor Ormsby Wilkins noticeably accelerated the orchestra to give Herman precisely what he needed to attain perfection. The level of mastery in his pas de bourree/six/grand jete entournant and the travelling ronde jambe en l'air was mind boggling – so simply done and so smooth. Skylar's variations were at or near the speed that we see Megan Fairchild take this ballet. She was just beautiful and articulate without any pushiness. The chainees were a blur until Skylar stopped on a dime with seemingly no effort at all.  She got all of the quick changing port de bras in smoothly, and served up this Balanchine like the grand feast that it is supposed to be. Though some credit must go to Tchaikovsky, her pas de deux with Herman brought forth tears. And we must say that the make-up was gorgeous. Skylar, normally youthful and wide-eyed on stage, possessed an elegance that we have never seen before.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin in crossed fifth position loaded with kisses, is bestowed upon the corps de ballet, demi-soloist pairs, and our glorious principals Skylar Brandt and Herman Cornejo for the performance of the season in Theme and Variations. The maker can once again rest in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

ABT 7/7 American Splendor an offender

At the end of the first ballet last night a white cloud appeared on the stage. A little old man with receding hairline floated out of it, eyes blinking rapidly as he took little sniffs through his nose. He wore a black string tie and rolled up shirt sleeves and appeared slightly disheveled. He spoke in broken English:

“I rest happily in backstage area since 1983, and then — and then (he scrunches up his face) –– I need to change program right now. Single Zig and Eye Zag do another night. We do over Theme and Variations and make right. I conduct.”

 

He hadn’t just rolled over in his grave as ABT butchered his Theme and Variations, he rose up from it to wrestle back control of his masterpiece from ABT’s outgoing director who has never been able to get it right. This time was just too much for the choreographer. American Splendor was an offender.

 

What is happening to Joo Won Ahn, the male lead in Balanchine's Theme and Variations? Who has gotten into this man’s head to convince him to dance with the caution of someone walking through a mine field? Last night was excruciatingly painful to watch. From the opening moments, he seemed recoiled and defeated. The tendus were like the first ones in the morning, lacking in stretch and importance — and uncrossed. His first set of double pirouettes to fourth position were so slow that any other dancer would have had time to do triples. Hesitate. Hesitate. Hesitate, thanks in part to a lazy tempo. The double tour/pirouette combination was ballet’s equivalent of Chernobyl. Ahn had a complete meltdown. The audience could be heard grumbling in McEnroe tones “Are you serious?! Are you serious?!”

 

At the opening bars, we weren’t sure about Devon Teuscher either. Nerves were apparent. Feet were not planted. But then she seemed to realize that the entire responsibility for this ballet was going to rest on her gorgeous shoulders. The woman took over, and she gave a whopping huge performance – not like anything we would see in the House of Balanchine but something we’d experience at the Palais Garnier. Her majesty matched Tchaikovsky’s measure for measure. Her clarity matched his clarity note for note. Was it all too slow? Yes, definitely: so slow that Devon had to add balances to fill out the music. But if the slow-motion killed the thrill of this ballet, it revealed its glory, too. Unfortunately, we need both thrill and glory. This ballet deserves nothing less. 

 

The demi-soloists and corps were, in part, rough. Those who clearly understood where to dance on the music chaffed against those who didn’t. McCune, Frenette, Tamm, Sebastian, and Hoven anticipated the music and hit their marks beautifully. Most of the ladies were still in Swan Lake mode—and why shouldn’t they dance that way with a sluggish tempo that felt like a raw egg smoothie going down.

 

Single Eye (Alonzo King) and ZigZag (Jessica Lang) required neither orchestra nor affection for ballet but did require great patience. What’s worse than seeing professional ballet dancers as backup to singers? Answer: seeing professional ballet dancers as backup to taped singers. Not that we don’t love Tony Bennett. In fact Haglund’s greatest ever experience in the Metropolitan Opera House was in 2011 when Tony Bennett made his debut singing at the Met. Re-live it here. But Lang’s fluffy ZigZag, a faux Broadway-type revue, is the poor man’s Susan Stroman. It relies on kitschy flounce and costumes that try to recapture the sashaying big dress styles of the 1950s.To its credit, it gives a lot of fabulous, underused dancers a chance to step out and be seen, such as Michael de la Nuez. The man simply explodes every time he catches the spotlight.

 

Single Eye is one more pretentious Angst & Yank ballet that can’t be forgotten fast enough. Nothing new here. Nothing articulated. A lovely gold front curtain and some fetching costumes, but little else. Is anyone else sick and tired of the cliched pose of the turned in leg crossed over the side of the knee of the other leg that one of King’s dancers made famous in a poster decades ago? Every ballerina seems to need to mimic it, and King seems to have made it his signature. 

 

We can’t watch this program again in its entirety but will find a way to see what Brandt & Cornejo do with T&V. The cheap factor is just too overwhelming and it is typical of how McKenzie has missed the mark over and over and over again. No Pump Bump Award for this one.

 

 

 

 

 

ABT's Swan Lake 6/29 mat & eve

Lakes have life cycles. Once a lake is formed by glacial, fault, or volcanic activity, it immediately begins to evolve through its life stages. The constantly changing balance of nutrients in the water affects which aquatic life thrives and which eventually succumbs to stress. And so it goes with ABT’s Swan Lake which has evolved through its 22 year run through constant, though not always careful management of its ecosystem. Years of replenishing with guest artists – an invasive species – proved fatal to parts of the natural habitat. 

 

Of late, though, we’ve seen some stirrings of new life in ABT’s old lake. Skylar Brandt, in an astonishing Odette/Odile debut Wednesday evening, revealed every classical detail with remarkable clarity. As the music cued the iconic moments, she delivered the anticipated phrasing, poses, and temperament of both Odette and Odile as carefully set on her by Irina Dvorovenko and Max Beloserkovsky. Like the daughter whose mother insists on a high level of social courtesy in everyday life but who won’t come to realize the full value of those manners until she matures, we can expect Skylar’s interpretation of Odette to deepen as she absorbs what Irina and Max have so generously given her. Meanwhile, we are simply blown away by the delightful trickery of her Odile — a swindling Harold Hill in black sparkly tutu. Smooth and seductive, balancing brilliantly on her outrageous lie, and spinning a story with fast-talking fouettes, this Odile had little trouble getting Siegfried's wallet, watch, and Social Security number.

 

Skylar is the Odette/Odile that Herman Cornejo should have had much earlier in his career. She is now at a technical level where he was a dozen years ago. But they still make for an awesome match and for that, we are grateful. From his entrance at the top of the staircase to his fatal leap into the lake, Herman’s intensity and energy raised the level of the entire cast’s performance. All of sudden, everyone on stage had extra spark and color. If this was Herman’s local sign-off of Siegfried, it was a darned good one. There is still plenty of juice left in his legs and he delivered the requisite turns and leaps, if not always at the level of his youth. We felt Siegfried's anguish and confusion. His Act IV relentless quest for Odette sunk our spirits which had been soaring since Act II because, well, we already knew how it would turn out even if he didn’t.

 

The Wednesday matinee cast of Christine Shevchenko and Calvin Royal III enjoyed similar highs. Here we had a very different Odette - an old soul through whom we felt the sorrows of past Odettes. She brought our breathing to a stop with her exquisitely beautiful port de bras and the lengthening of lines that seemed to be pulled even longer by the generous conducting of Charles Barker. The gentle curves in her arabesques and attitudes were emotionally exposing. As Odile, Shevchenko maybe wasn’t as soulless or conniving as other Odiles, but she drew a clear distinction from her Odette. There were partnering issues that marred moments such as the famous line of step-over pirouettes that ends with a dramatic attitude pose. Odile ended up on two feet on the other side of Siggy. But the lifts in Act IV were incredible and all but made us forget about any of the awkwardness that preceded them. 

 

This was Calvin Royal’s debut and at times he looked under pressure and his variations were under-powered. Given the fact that his second performance of Chaereas in Of Love And Rage was a spectacular improvement over the first one last week, we are confident that things will go much better for him at Monday’s matinee of Swan Lake. There was a sense of Calvin trying to figure out how Calvin fit into the character of Siegfried rather than simply adopting a theatrical characterization that has nothing to do with the performer’s own circumstances and empathies. Once on stage, it’s too late to be questioning what the character’s motivation is. But because the second performance of Chaereas was so strong, we don’t want to miss what might happen on July 4th.

 

The secondary principals, soloists and demis at the Wednesday performances were a mixed bag. Andrii Ishchuk’s conservative debut as Von Rothbard showed only a glimpse of what we can expect to come. He was hesitant to take the character over the top – which is an absolute must – but the dancing was quite fetching. In the evening, Gabe Stone Shayer chewed up the scenery rather successfully, we thought. It was our first time seeing a short-ish Von Rothbart; so it was kind of a shock. But somehow, Gabe made the character outlandish and cinematic, and it all worked well. 

 

Thank goodness in the evening we stumbled upon Breanne Granlund in the Pas de Trois who seems to be that rare woman at ABT who can manage entrechat-six. What is going on here? How does someone get into the corps of ABT (or get hired back!) without being able to do a few entrechat-six in a row? Granlund, Zimmi Coker, and Patrick Frenette delivered a very respectable PdT full of verve and style. Frenette’s Benno was expertly danced and we look forward to finally seeing much more of him in significant roles. He has such danseur noble potential that it has been almost heartbreaking to see him underused for so long. However, there are a couple of issues that need to be addressed. First and foremost are the odd quick-changing facial expressions that look calculated & unnatural and a proclivity for over-emphasizing details that one does in class in order to get the message into the muscles but shouldn’t do on stage. Then there is the overuse of make-up. Frenette is unfairly handsome and doesn’t need excessive rouge and eye shadow to make that any more clear than it is. Why is ABT’s make-up team trying to make him look clownish?

 

The swan corps de ballet at each performance appeared well-drilled. The Cygnettes did not disappoint. And oh do we love the new Tutor who strode into the village: Ruben Martin (formerly of SFB, now JKO). Big, big theater chops. Hope to see more of him. 

 

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin crystal-embellished stiletto, is bestowed upon Skylar Brandt, Christine Shevchenko, and Irina Dvorovenko for packing such beauty and artistic integrity into ABT's Swan Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABT 6/20, 6/21, 6/22 mat Of Love and Rage

Open your hearts to Alexei Ratmansky's new production Of Love and Rage, which is loosely based on the story of Chaereas and Callirhoe by the Greek novelist Charitan who wrote during the 1st century AD.

ABT doesn't have another ballet that so masterfully allows so many of its dancers to display their gifts. There are so many roles to fill that dancers sometimes have to play five roles in a single performance. Andrii Ishchuk, a young Ukrainian corpsman who danced his feet off on opening night in the major role of Polycharmus, on Wednesday had to perform as one of the Chorus Men, one of Dionysius' Soldiers, a Captive, a Babylonian Courtier, and finally fought a war as a member of the Babylonian Army. That's a lot of character switching and choreography to remember, not to mention costume changing. Even on Broadway where a swing has to learn a lot of different roles, he doesn't have to dance them all in one night!

Dramaturg Guillaume Gallienne simplified the story of Chaereas and Callirhoe and distilled it down to just a few important characters and episodes. Charitan, the author of what is purportedly the world's first ever romance novel, conceived a plot that has the density of a black hole. But fuggedaboutit! This new ballet doesn't strive to convey a story for the sake of conveying a story. The story is merely a vehicle to transport the blisteringly brilliant dancing of ABT's Corps de Ballet to the front of the stage. And for this, we thank Ratmansky who always seems to be able to recognize the talented artists who have otherwise been orphaned at ABT.

Thanks to this ballet, we got to see Ishchuk's beautiful, clear dancing in the role of Polycharmus, Chaereas' friend. The next night our longtime favorite Eric Tamm was back with a bang in the same role. His deer-like leaps with their ever-upward trajectory and his commitment to character have always been meant for the front of the stage, regardless of how the reality played out at ABT. At the Wednesday matinee, Jonathan Klein was superb in the same role - with a face that catches the light and reveals stirring emotion.

The dark, glowering Mithridates received an intensely theatrical and dazzlingly danced performance from Jarod Curley who got his corps contract a mere six months before the pandemic lockdown. We've seen basically nothing from this guy and all of a sudden he's in our faces dancing like a dramatic heavy-weight star at the Bolshoi. The normally blondish Curley was transformed by a nasty black wig and ill-kept facial hair through which his normally handsome smile became a relentless sneer. His use of the head to convey Mithridates' dangerous nature made for a commanding performance which was perhaps the highlight of the show. And Patrick Frenette was superb as well in the role at the matinee. Dark and cunning, Frenette made the most of his character through bold musical choices. His sudden pauses put the viewer on edge. When he leaned into the faces of other characters, it was with the smooth hostility of a serpent.

Where Ratmansky excelled beyond anything else that he has ever made for ABT was in the corps' choreography. It was highly imaginative, inventive, disciplined, and without arbitrary frenetic upper body and arm movements that have crept into earlier works. It looked less impulsive and more edited. In one instance the Chorus Ladies formed a tight triangle with the vertex downstage. While bourree-ing backwards, they expanded the triangle to gorgeous effect -- like air expanding the lungs -- while raising their arms in a V to create a large triangle made up of multiple triangles through port de bras. At another point they grand jete'ed right-left-right-left-right-left in a circle with such precision that they nearly sounded like a single pair of feet landing each time. At times their formations were broken down into smaller trios, duos, and soloists which had the effect of spotlighting so many individuals even though they were in the corps.

It was the same story for the men. They were all doing principal-level variations in unison, trios, duos, and solos. Groups traveled backwards in lightning fast jeté battu combinations, off-balance coupe jetés were thrown in like seasoning -- all of it was fast, fast, fast. Near the end of Act II, the Babylonian Courtier men appeared in brilliant blue costumes to accompany the gorgeous Babylonian Courtier women. All of a sudden, one of the men broke out into an insane variation that included sliding all over the floor and crazy turns -- we think it may have been Michael de la Nuez -- which made a point that we all need to remember: so much to dance, yet so little time. Were it not for Ratmansky, we likely would never have seen this man's valiant dancing.

Yes, there were lead dancers, but they were not the stars of this show. They were there to give the corps de ballet an occasional rest - that's all. But they all did well in choreography that was not as inspired as what was conceived for the corps de ballet. Tom Forster gave the biggest reading of Chaereas of the three performances that Haglund saw. His brilliance was marked by the velocity with which he executed the grandest of the grand allegro moments. His manege of coupe jeté went on for about an hour and seemed to accelerate right to its dramatic end. Forster was more theatrically invested than either Aran Bell or Calvin Royal III with whom he shared the role. Both Bell and Forster managed some epic torch lifts of their Callirhoes whereas Royal truncated his. All three seemed to get all of the steps but there were big differences in how they exploited them or simply did them.

Catherine Hurlin, Christine Shevchenko, and Hee Seo shared the role of Callirhoe. Until the third performance, Haglund was not convinced that this was a principal role. Part of the problem was Callirhoe's costume which was made of heavy-looking fabric that fell nearly to the ankles. She was made to look like the Chorus Ladies only in satiny white. The costumes worked for the Chorus Ladies but not for Callirhoe whose leg lines and choreography were often hidden or obscured by the costume. It needed slits in the skirt or perhaps a different fabric. It just didn't work. Nor did the one-armed tunics for the men. They just looked sloppy. Instead of tunics, they should have had tunic-like forms that hugged the torso.

Hurlin gave a lovely and honest portrayal of Callirhoe with admirable execution of the choreography. Shevechenko gave the strongest technical performance but did not read as dramatically as was needed. Seo had some technical slip-ups, and made some alterations, e.g., the fast stepping horizontal bourrees that changed from front to back to front to back became standard bourrees. However, her dramatic reading finally brought the needed depth. She has all that experience of portraying suffering heroines to fall back on -- Juliet, Giselle, Nikiya, Tatiana, Caroline -- and she used it very, very well. Haglund was completely shocked at how much he enjoyed Seo's performance and how well she pulled the viewer into her story.

All of the Callirhoes were more affecting emotionally when dancing Pas de Deux with the characters of Dionysius and Mithridates than with Chaereas. Daniel Camargo made a sensational debut as Dionysius on opening night. As soon as he strode onstage, the level of tension in the story increased exponentially. We can't say how well Camargo does in white-tights roles, but in this dramatic setting he was a dynamite performer. His allegro felt like it was the relief valve opening on his pressurized character. Both Blaine Hoven and Joo Won Ahn skillfully crafted their characters and danced well, but it was Camargo who, in the final moments, made us feel what he was giving up when he released the hand of the child he long thought had been his own but who was actually Chaereas'.

This production by Ratmansky came as a surprise. The strong elements eclipse the weak elements (costumes in Act I; mundane choreography for the leads) which can be revised over seasons. All in all, it is truly a gift to the hardworking corps de ballet dancers who deserve to shine like they are shining this week. The sets are neither over-stated nor inadequate; they are exactly what is needed to help move the story along without getting in the way. Khachatyrian's music is glorious, and the ABT orchestra is doing itself proud. My goodness it all sounds beautiful in the Met Opera House. The score doesn't have a lot of pauses where an audience can express appreciation and sometimes doesn't meet the drama of the choreography. In one instance of a PdD between Chaereas and Callirhoes, there is a phrase that ends in a spectacular upside down lift but the music doesn't match its potency. But these are trivial issues as is concern for the level of detail in the story. The whole thing works, and works well.

The H.H. Pump Bump Award, Versace's gold & silver stiletto, is bestowed upon the men and women of the Corps de Ballet who are the stars of this important new production.

 

 

 

ABT at the Met People, where are you?!

Have folks forgotten about the Rush Tickets? Have people forgotten how to shrewdly game the system to get them more frequently than once per week? Has everyone forgotten about the TDF discounted tickets? Have the theater rats forgotten how to buy $30 tickets and move to better spots?

People, let's shake off this pandemic misery and apathy and get thee to the theater. Shake it, baby. Come on, shake it!

Last night's presentation of Don Quixote led by Christine Shevchenko and Aran Bell was huge! It's hard to believe that they are not getting another performance. Shevchenko is clearly in the sweet spot of her career at this very moment. No one should miss a single one of her performances. Bell, a last minute sub for Cory Stearns, had a blast with the challenges being thrown at him. He was like the clean-up hitter with the big bat who is number four in the Don Q lineup for a reason –– to hit it out of the park and drive everyone on base home. And that, he did.

Shevchenko's Plisetskaya leaps were thrilling –– right to the back of the head with perfectly oval arms above. She was the sassy, bossy, high-spirited, showrunning Kitri who we remember from Ananiashvili and Dvorovenko. Her lines were exquisite right through the front of the ankle and through the toes –– a lifetime of diligent, hard work on display. All three acts were equally brilliant.

Bell, as big as he is, surprised with his ability to pack virtuosity into the allegro at Minkus's speed. The stage actually looked a little small for him when he tore through a manège of coupé jeté. He wasn't expected to pack revolutions into his pirouettes the way our smaller Basilios do but he sure didn't try to pass off any one-size-fits-all Siegfried-type elegance for the barber's rough & tumble style. He got to the heart of the character with honesty. Such a good job. So openly honest on stage. So, so good.

There were some rough spots in the partnering: the one-armed lifts weren't as coordinated as they should have been and that final push-off that sent Kitri into en dehors turns in attitude in the Wedding PdD was truncated after only one revolution. The rest of it was fabulous, and the chemistry between the two was as convincing as could be.

Bell and Shevchenko will lead the opening performance of Theme and Variations. We can't wait to see if they are able to bring it even close to these two from 1978. Listen, if this big guy gets all of those double tours/pirouettes in his variation, you are going to hear the house explode. We're sure that Shevchenko can go at the breakneck speed that we all want to see. Let's hope that the conductor on that evening inspires her to go for it.

Katherine Williams and Calvin Royal were superb as Mercedes/Dryad Queen and Espada. Royal, head to toe in gold fabric, was as handsome as could be. This is a perfect role for him. All that length moving at high speed while matching the emphatic quality of the music was beautiful. Williams was fetching as Mercedes and elegant as the Dryad Queen. In character-heavy roles such as Mercedes or Myrta, she possesses a quality of unpredictability that makes her very interesting to watch. Her angelic face can switch to a startlingly ominous expression with the twitch of an eyebrow.

Luciana Paris and Jonathan Klein were superb as the Gypsy Couple. We're getting a little frustrated at not seeing Klein in principal roles. He was fabulous in Ratmansky's Whipped Cream, but McKenzie relegates him to Gypsy and Neapolitan stock-type roles. Klein is going on nine years with ABT. He should be carrying it's flag out front, not the sword in the back. Ditto with Cameron McCune -- he would have made an outstanding Espada this season.

We're missing Carlos Gonzalez and Sierra Armstrong so far this season. Hoped and expected to see them soaring.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a pure gold stiletto from Jimmy Choo, is bestowed upon Christine Shevchenko for her exceptional Kitri. She sure knows how to make a guy open his wallet. People, don't miss her in Swan Lake and T&V. And what the heck is going on – or not going on – with the tickets for Love and Rage? Get your tickets – now! Go to TDF – now! Haglund is going to see three performances, maybe more. Just remember that Ratmansky always gives opportunities to upcoming talent as well as talent persistently overlooked. Let's go let's go let's go!

 

 

ABT cuts the bull out of Don Q and finally gets down to business on 6/14

How great it was to renew acquaintance with the work of so many talented ABT artists as they glistened and at times even sparked under the beauty of the Met Opera House’s crystalline chandeliers.

This production of Don Quixote is one of the best ballets in ABT’s stable. It has stood the test of time and has been an extraordinary vehicle for some of the greatest Basilios of our generation –– Bocca, Corella, Carreno, and Cornejo — and some of our most wonderful Kitris –– Ananiashvili, Dvorovenko, Herrera. The Santo Loquasto sets are still gorgeous after 27 years. Emotions still swell when the rich hues of the front scrim that depicts a bullfighting ring scene change from cream to deep red to blue during the musical overtures for the three acts. Minkus’s Russian interpretation of Spanish flair, bold and colorful, has never offended Spaniards or Latino cultures. Rather, they have embraced it and exploited it to celebrate their histories. Nor has the Woke Set descended upon Don Quixote with its nonsense the way it has attacked Minkus’ equally grand and glorious La Bayadere for its Russian imagining of India in the 1800s. The ABT orchestra drove Minkus at full throttle on Tuesday night and the effect was both majestic and thrilling.

 

The draws of Tuesday evening were Herman Cornejo and Skylar Brandt in the lead roles. Herman spent nearly a decade dancing the role of the Gypsy in this production before winning his debut as Basilio in 2008. But that long period served as his invaluable apprenticeship to Bocca, Corella, and Carreno whose composite interpretation Cornejo has carried through his illustrious career while imprinting it with his own swagger and technical marvel.  Though he’s always been a measured risk taker, Cornejo has to be more careful now that he’s 41 years old. He delivered still-startling brilliance — finessing finishes of his quintuple pirouettes to Carreno-type balances. His one-armed overhead lifts of Kitri had the strength of Spartacus. Though we’ve seen it time and time again, Basilio's preening when he turns away from the audience to smooth his hair back is still a hoot. 

 

Skylar spent about as many years dancing the role of Flower Girl in this production as Herman spent as a Gypsy before winning her debut as Kitri this past April at the Kennedy Center. Rather than seeing Skylar as Kitri or Skylar’s interpretation of Kitri, we saw Kitri. Dvorovenko designed and finished Skylar’s interpretation with extraordinary attention to detail. But excuse us, where were the famous Irina spit-curls and magnificent red lipstick?! We used to buy tickets just to see Irina’s spit-curls. This is no time to tone down our blazingly brilliant new Kitri. The character lives through her spit-curls and red lipstick. We’re just playin’ with ya’ll here but, ya know . . . The dancing was sensational in its verve and clarity. Never a hesitancy revealed — not even as she launched herself horizontally into Basilio’s arms where the ending wasn’t quite what she anticipated. Skylar is as fearless and game as they come. If she lived through Daniil Simkin dropping her flat on her face in Nutcracker, she can live through a little uncertainty in a catch near the edge of the stage where it drops ten feet into the orchestra pit. 

 

We loved the speed of the traveling single pirouettes. We loved the control in the attitude turns that actually looked like abandonment. We loved everything about this Kitri in her second ever performance and look forward to Skylar embracing more exaggeration and bossiness in the character as she settles into the production to become one of our all-time favs.

 

Cassandra Trenary and Gabe Stone Shayer as Mercedes/Dryad Queen and Espada were just wonderful. We were prepared for the feisty, hot Mercedes but were surprised and delighted by the grace and benevolence of Cassandra’s Dryad Queen. She created some beautiful, expansive shapes with her port de bras. Gabe held nothing back with Espada. This was a fierce, experienced bullfighter whose cape enticed the fire of Mercedes.

 

Breanne Granlund and Betsy McBride shone brightly as Flower Girls — McBride, especially, should not have to wait much longer for her own Kitri.

 

Zimmi Coker and Elwince Magbitang as the Gypsy Couple gave big performances. Magbitang, in particular, had the acceleration, velocity, and clean lines that caused us to get excited about what might come next for this artist.

 

Within the corps, we observed the continued growth and stymied advancement of Courtney Lavine, Patrick Frenette, Andrii Ishchuk.  In Act III, Courtney anchored one end of the line of jete-ing wedding guests with the most beautiful arm, hand, and finger positions in the history of the world. Why isn’t ABT exploiting this dancer’s beauty and talent? Frenette and Ishchuk along with Luigi Crispino and Cameron McCune made the Toreadors section totally worth watching. And going forward, all eyes on Andrew Robare and Chloe Misseldine.

 

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a torero red Louboutin stiletto, is bestowed upon Skylar Brandt (and Irina Dvorovenko) for this delicious new Kitri.

 

 

 

Amar Ramasar's Farewell When the entire season turns out to be a festival

Rebirth, renewal, healing, immortality, eternal fire. New York City Ballet’s Spring Season could have been called Festival of the Phoenix. Down the artists went due to injury and positive COVID tests — one at a time, sometimes four, five, six at a time — up rose artists who stepped in to propel the season forward; down more dancers went, up rose others. And so it went for six weeks. By the end of the season on Sunday, every dancer on that stage had raised his or her performance level beyond what even, I don’t know, beyond what even Mom could expect. 

 

These days astonishingly brilliant and sensitive artists are NYCB’s pocket change. Each day Artistic Director Stafford jingles the shiny coins in his pocket and muses “What shall I pull out today? Perhaps this silver dollar of the statuesque Lady Liberty with flowing hair? Or maybe I’ll flip the gold double eagle onto the stage tonight.” Deep, deep pockets of talent.

 

This was a season when Stravinsky and Robbins shared the spotlight with Balanchine. The two weeks of ballets to Stravinsky’s music served as a deep cleansing that released our primitive responses to his rhythms. In Symphony in Three Movements, Ashley Laracey was suddenly recruited to dance the lead in every performance in place of Sterling Hyltin and Tiler Peck and also had to dance her lead in Stravinsky Violin Concerto that same week. One would have expected that the taxing week would end with appearances of fatigue. Instead, Ashley’s stamina and authority visibly grew throughout the grueling week and culminated in — you guessed it — COVID. So we got gypped out of her debut as Polyhymnia in Apollo the following week. 

 

Stravinsky once said “What gives the artist real prestige is his imitators.” In the midst of the Stravinsky Festival came a new collaboration by former NYCB dancer Silas Farley and composer David K. Israel entitled Architects of Time. The musical genesis was a tune that Balanchine thought up for Stravinsky’s birthday and which Stravinsky later elaborated with harmonies. Israel used the tune as a basis for a composition that was Stravinsky-like but also tended to swerve into cinema-type music. It was very listenable. Farley’s choreography was far more sophisticated than anticipated - unlike his earlier work of classroom style combinations. The corps work showed real imagination, organization, and musicality. The solos, less so, and there was a need for more dancers on stage to augment the soloists; but we’re confident that this skill will develop and we look forward to seeing more of his classical-based work. The whole of the piece was a very pleasant experience helped in no small way by the handsome red, gold, and maroon costumes designed by Farley’s wife, Cassia. 

 

All of the corps dancers in Farley’s piece were wonderfully appealing. Our eyes were drawn to the crisp lines and emphatic dancing of tall Samuel Melnikov and petite Lauren Collett. Subsequently, we learned that the tall dancer in the back line of SAB students in Scherzo a la Russe who monopolized our attention was also a Collett — a taller one. Does it seem to anyone else that the second batch of siblings that comes out of SAB is usually taller than the first? Hopefully we’ll see both of these sisters dancing side by side in the corps very soon.

 

As a lead up to a short week of Robbins programing, Stravinsky/Robbins The Cage arrived with a brilliant arachnoid debut by Alexa Maxwell as The Novice. She shot right to the top with this one — an interpretation so developed and detailed that one could sense the sticky spider silk oozing from her glands as she prepared her victims, Chun Wai Chan and Jonathan Fahoury. Chilling was her expression after snapping Fahoury’s neck. Then a half hour later he was standing gallantly behind her in Rubies. We think we noticed a little extra snap of his own that he delivered on a few of the lifts — which was only fair.

 

The Robbins program of Piano Pieces and The Four Seasons was a pleasant combination (always love the one-intermission evenings) that along with The Cage and the Kastchei section of Firebird reminded us of Robbins’ versatility and imagination. Piano Pieces is not Dances at a Gathering at all, but a result of the evolutionary process. The pas de deux by Emilie Gerrity and Jovani Furlan was one of the most intimate, communicative performances of the season. Furlan’s hopeful search for his partner’s eyes was like something one might observe happening between a couple on a bench in Central Park. The sensitivity of that performance put Haglund squarely in the Furlan fan corner. 

 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream enjoyed one of its most extraordinary seasons in recent memory. Unity Phelan was a stunning beauty as Titania — benevolent, light as air, strong as steel, as genuine a character as could be. We couldn’t stop marveling at the rotation of her legs in developpes and how her feet powered her limbs so easily from position to position. The battements to six o’clock penche supported arabesques looked like they were driven by gusts of wind. Emilie Gerrity also debuted as a very lovely Titania, slightly more reserved than Unity but nevertheless impressive.

 

Daniel Ulbricht’s Oberon combined comedic expression with skimming allegro to be the most theatrically Shakespearean of this year’s crew.  Anthony Huxley danced his Oberon with his coveted clarity and musicality. Roman Mejia’s excitement sometimes got the best of him in his unscheduled Oberon debut. His first beat combination inexplicably finished in a widely opened first position; his face held an expression of “OMG, where am I in this variation?” Roman has a charming theatrical manner and natural rapport with the audience, but he beats up every phrase and doesn’t pay attention to his lines, especially when he’s in the air. The lovely burning embers of Fall colors in The Four Seasons became his Flames of Paris with the entire city burning down. His Oberon couldn’t stop grabbing at the audience with grins and head whips. Youth is on his side. Hopefully, some of these issues will resolve themselves because NYCB doesn’t really need an Ivan Vasiliev trampling over Balanchine’s choreography. Harsh, perhaps, but we adore this dancer.

 

Harrison Ball’s Puck was a masterpiece. Oh my goodness. A little dose of Nijinsky released all the elfish mischief of this magical Puck. His dramatic extremes were perfectly calculated in every respect. Such wonderful theatrical delivery and beautiful dancing, especially the accelerating jetes. 

 

Alexa Maxwell’s Butterfly and Emily Kikta’s Hippolyta were mere hints of how important these two artists are going to be to the company’s future. Each dancer raised the bar on her role and re-set our expectations for all future performances by anyone. Within the corps, it was hard not to see the future Titania and Oberon in Christina Clark and Davide Riccardo. Both are such eye-catching dancers with scrupulous technique.

 

Andrew Veyette began the Divertissement with the luminous Sterling Hyltin gently guiding her through jumps and turns. At the conclusion of his variation, he threw off a rock solid four or five revolution pirouette in salute to the man of the hour. And so began the audience’s salute to Amar Ramasar.

 

Loved by the audience for more than two decades of which nearly 13 years were spent as a Principal Dancer, Amar was closing out his career with a bum calf which necessitated Veyette to sub for him during the first half of the Divertissement. Amar, you may recall, was in the spectacular promotion class of Tyler Angle, Tiler Peck, Teresa Reichlen, and Robert Fairchild - a class seemingly destined for drama but that’s all we’ll say about that.

 

Not always the prince but very close by, Amar was a prized partner who made each of his ballerinas look her most brilliant. Audiences especially loved him for his mastery of Balanchine’s black & white ballets. He put out so much effort and energy that he often looked spent by the end of the ballet but spent with a high wattage smile that reached every heart in the theater. His custom throughout his career has been to tap his heart as he leaves the front of the curtain after bows. Yesterday he tapped. We tapped back. He tapped. We tapped back. For about 20 minutes. He was consumed by gratitude and love for his colleagues and audience. We were consumed by gratitude and love for the artist.

 

The occasion of Amar’s retirement happily brought several people who we have missed back into the theater: Gonzalo Garcia, Joaquin De Luz, Maria Kowroski, Zachary Catazaro, and most notably Peter Martins who created the opportunities for Amar to study ballet, have a career, and to blossom into the unique and adored artist that he became. Spotting Martins standing in the side aisle, Amar made his way to the stage corner, dropped off the side of the stage and gave him a huge hug -- completing this artist's cycle from start to finish.

 

Our H.H. Pump Award, Daniela Auribe's Love Yourself stiletto, is bestowed upon Amar Ramasar for more than two decades of his beautiful artistry. What a pleasure it has been to watch.

 

 

 

Susan Jaffe to succeed Kevin McKenzie at ABT

ABT's board has hired Susan Jaffe to replace Kevin McKenzie who will retire as Artistic Director at the end of 2022. She's only eight years younger than McKenzie; so it's not like there is a generational change in leadership coming. They were Romeo and Juliet together under Baryshnikov's directorship.

It feels more like ABT's board has opted to place the company in custodial foster care for the time being -- making sure that it does no harm while perhaps kicking a more long term decision down the road for the next Board Chair and President to grapple with. But we have to ask -- what prevented the board from snagging one of the more exciting, accomplished ABT alumni who was of a more recent generation? Was it the low pay? Was it the Woke Agenda? Was it current contractual obligations at another company? Was it not enough financial resources to run the company as it should be run? Was it candidates' refusal to compromise on standards of excellence that could derail or delay or disrupt the board's diversity initiative?

Susan Jaffe was a much admired principal dancer at ABT for a long time. After her retirement, there was eye rolling and light laughter when it was announced that Lewis Ranieri (ABT's Board Chair) would hire her as his "advisor." Ranieri spent a lot of his money on ABT and was for all intents and purposes the company's sugar daddy. He ran the show as he wished and even had an office at ABT's studios. People wondered why in the world he would want or need Susan Jaffe as an "advisor" and what was her job going to be? That question was never really answered. Jaffe needed a salary, just like anyone else, and Ranieri was willing to help her out. But what did she actually accomplish as his advisor for five years? Does anyone know? Did the board ask during candidate interviews?

For the next six or seven years she functioned as an independent choreographer until 2012 when she became a dean at UNC School of the Arts. That institution used to be a veritable pipeline of talent to ABT. Gillian Murphy, Keith Roberts, Maria Riccetto, Isaac Stappas, Blaine Hoven all came through the high school division of the institution. NYCB's Megan LeCrone came through the School of the Arts, too. But during Susan Jaffe's eight years as dean, were dancers developed far enough along  to make it into ABT? Did the ballet students from UNC School of the Arts find jobs in major ballet companies? While it's great that Jaffe was able to raise scholarship money, what about the quality of students and their success at finding work in major ballet companies? Did the board ask during candidate interviews?

Then after several years, Jaffe became the artistic director at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 2020. The majority of her time there has been dealing with the effects of the pandemic. She created a new Swan Lake, but it just hit the stage last Friday and there haven't been any reviews yet. So what are Jaffe's accomplishments at PBT -- measurable accomplishments? Did the board ask during candidate interviews?

Jaffe may be able to lift ABT out of whatever ails it. Let's all cheer her on and wish her lots of luck. But at this moment, the appointment feels like custodial foster care because the measurable metrics that would point to a strong candidate just aren't present. We all know that the board's choice could have been so much worse. We've avoided a disaster, but that in itself is not progress.

 

Bad form in ballet

Maybe it’s their therapists’ fault. The oh-so-sensitive artists run off to therapy to make the case how they feel victimized by the employer, society, or the world. 

The artist cries, "They’ve done this to me. I didn’t fall out of shape, lose technique, get injured, grow older, become distracted, or start coasting because of my own doing. It was their fault.” 

 

The therapist says, “Life certainly should not be this unfair to you. Stand up for yourself. You’re strong enough to do that. That will be $200. Let’s continue our sessions three times per week.” 

 

The artist exclaims, “I feel so much better after our sessions. I’m empowered!” 

 

The therapist baits, “Of course you are empowered - that will be another $50 - assert yourself. Blow your horn. Go after what you want.” 

 

The artist asks, “Blow my horn? You mean, create a kerfuffle?” 

 

The therapist says, “If that’s what you need to do. Actually, I hate to say this, but - your time’s up for today.”

 

The surprised artist whines, “My time’s up?”

 

The therapist says, “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

 

Oh, good lord, what is there to say about these few obnoxious, over-entitled dancers who think that life owes them fairness and that they have every right to cat-scratch anyone who gets in their way. In the past few weeks, we have seen such ugliness from artists who we once admired for their dancing. They can’t currently dance, so they have to find some other way to grab the spotlight. It is and always has been a matter of grabbing the spotlight - any way they can get it.

 

In a week when a new brightly talented soloist stepped in to carry all of the performances of Firebird because other artists were injured, did the injured artists offer support and encouragement? Hell, no. Instead, they resorted to microaggressions by posting pictures of themselves as the Firebird on Instagram to remind everyone that they are the true owners of role and to try to dim enthusiasm for the debuting dancer. One injured artist, in particular, posted a mugshot of herself in Firebird headgear with a menacing expression, purportedly to convey unhappiness about the political climate, when in fact she wanted everyone to know how pissed off she was at not being the center of attention on stage as the Firebird.

 

In a week when the brilliance of the Balanchine/Stravinsky collaboration is being celebrated at NYCB, an injured dancer reaches out to the New York Times to convey how he is uncomfortable with the choreography and with playing the role it requires. Imagine this scenario. The veteran line worker at the Pringles factory in Podunk walks into the supervisor’s office and says, “You know, I’m not comfortable making Pringles any more. They are full of fat, sodium, and artificial ingredients. They can contribute to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer if people eat them. And, they can be addictive. I’m just not comfortable making these Pringles any more. What should we do, Boss?” We imagine that certain NYCB dancers would answer that Pringles manufacturing should be halted or the recipe should be changed. In their world, their sanctimony is just as important as their saut de chat.

 

In a week when New York City Ballet’s artistry has soared under its new leadership and new generation of dancers, a retired artist whose dancing should have required her to retire years earlier decided to air her gossipy, Page Six type family drama in The New York Times where the catchline All the news that’s fit to print has become All the views that are fit to skip. At her final performance, the complaining dancer's conditioning and technical level were mediocre. Regardless of the number of years that she may have chalked up as a dancer, she did not at that moment possess the qualifying skills to stand on New York City Ballet’s stage. But she was determined to celebrate herself, and New York City Ballet generously allowed her to do so even if it made the audience cringe.

 

What dancers do best is dance. We admire them so much when they present their best feet forward. Microaggressions, self-pity, ugly anger that can’t mask the underlying selfishness, and striking out at those who made their careers possible is damaging way beyond their chosen words. The end of a career should not come as a brutal fight to the finish line or an “I’ll die on this hill before giving it up” battle. Class counts for a lot. Every dancer should remember that.

 

Class counts.

 

NYCB Firebird Red is her color

Haglund's phone was ringing off the hook at the beginning of the week with calls from Weidman, Michigan. The Incredible Dr. Pol was being a nuisance.

"Haglund, can you please get me tickets to Isabella LaFreniere's Firebird? I need to see this!"
"Like I told you yesterday, Dr. Pol, a lot of people have been asking and I'm tapped out. Can I suggest that you contact Ms. LaFreniere directly?"
"The first time I saw her I knew that Michigan had produced another avian miracle who could eventually fly as high as our Maria Kowroski from Grand Rapids. These Firebirds are a rare sight up here - almost as rare as the Sirens who can charm the winds off the Lakes."
"Both are Pure Michigan, Dr. Pol, but I'm still tapped out."
"Okay, I'll call Maria. She owes me from when I consulted on a wing repair back in the day."

We can't confirm whether Dr. Pol has yet made it to Isabella's Firebird, but we can confirm that her first two performances were indeed miraculous. Red is her color. Rare is her quality. Her entrance, a simple arrival and pose on pointe, was breathtakingly beautiful. There she stood under the spotlight, still as could be yet storing up the energy she would need to take flight if a predator suddenly appeared. And then came Ivan -- Jared Angle on the first night and Amar Ramasar on the second night, each debuting as was Isabella in the role of the Firebird.

Unlike the Firebird who can't resist dramatizing the character as Odette or the other Firebird who fashions herself as the bold huntress from Sylvia, this Firebird possessed a palette of colors in her interpretation that emphasized avian beauty and ease of flight. Her slightly exaggerated nervous stress at encountering Ivan and the almost immediate comfort in his caring arms was light with a touch of humor - this Firebird could have come from a fairy tale in the Little Golden Books Collection. Wondrous, brave, resplendent in line and carriage, she jumped effortlessly as though lifted by the winds, not pushed by power. Isabella's brightly painted Firebird elevated this fantastical production to new heights.

Both Jared and Amar projected the benevolence of Ivan while providing Isabella with their superb partnering skills. Emilie Gerrity and Miriam Miller shared the role of Ivan's Bride. Each increased the prominence of this role through the breadth and musicality of their dancing. And oh, oh, oh that Kastchei and his subjects -- one of whom nearly flattened Amar with the force of a horizontal body slam against his gut. It's hard not to admit that what brings the crowds out for the Firebird are its production values and Stravinsky's storytelling ability. The Chagall scenery and costume designs from 1945 are after nearly 80 years still spectacularly imaginative. That level of art is a treasure.

Preceding the Firebird was Balanchine's Symphony in Three Movements. The first performance didn't have the energy that we expected, likely due to the stress of so many late substitutions, but things certainly did pick up on the second night. Emma Von Enck, in a debut as the first pink leotard out on stage chasing after Troy Schumacher, pumped the je ne sais quois into this role that has been mostly missing. Even when this dancer is standing perfectly still, she is crackling with energy. Emilie Gerrity and Ashley Laracey completed the triptych each displaying sharply articulated lines and expansiveness. The Pas de Deux by Ashley and Taylor Stanley was beautiful for its warmth of rapport and the artists' sinewy interweaving arms. The corps de ballet was not as interesting as when there was a definitive slope in heights among the ladies in white. There are now just two tall dancers anchoring the downstage end with a muddling of heights moving upstage. Among the ladies in black leotards, Olivia MacKinnon caught our eye for her new confidence and very stretched lines. However, another of that crew continually had such a pained look on her face that we thought she might be going through intense labor without anesthesia.

The program also included a musical introduction of Stravinsky's Fireworks played powerfully by the New York City Ballet Orchestra. Why hasn't this orchestra had a date at Carnegie Hall? The Met Opera Orchestra plays there. The New York Phil plays there. Other local orchestras play there. Haglund was thinking about this a lot during last week's honey fest of Mozart, Debussy, Tschaikovsky and Hindemith.

Following the brief Fireworks, Justin Peck's Scherzo Fantastique received an energized performance by Brittany Pollack, Harrison Coll, Miriam Miller, and KJ Takahashi.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Isabella LaFreniere for her magnificent and radiant performances of the Firebird. We can't wait for the next two this week.