Haglund's Heel

ABT 10/21 Reaching the Summit, twice in one day

Spectacular doesn't begin to describe yesterday. These types of days can only happen in New York; one simply cannot experience them anywhere else.

We reached the first summit of the day around 1 PM. After donning protective shoe coverings and  complimentary sunglasses, we climbed into an elevator to be launched up to the 93rd floor of the new One Vanderbilt skyscraper. The ascent was bladder-activatingly fast, noisy, and filled with flashing light. When the elevator door opened, the sunlight beamed in so brightly that it could have been that end-of-life moment that people talk about. We'd never before stood within a light so intense and so beautiful. But like a few other things in New York, it was mostly fake -- the light was created by floor & ceiling mirrors that reflected the sunlight with imaginative refraction. Make no mistake, it was still the most impressive view in our land of tall buildings.

 

Our second summit came mid-evening when Skylar Brandt and Herman Cornejo as Giselle and Albrecht transcended all definitions of spectacular. Stephanie Petersen danced a memorable debut as Myrta -- sometimes like cold steel, sometimes like the hot sparks that jump from the steel when the welder's torch hits it. Andrii Ischuk, a graduate of Edward Ellison's fine academy in Manhattan, continued the ABT tradition of making the role of Hilarion an eye-catching principal-level role with limitless opportunity for character development.

Act I of Giselle can be difficult to sit through if the principals are colorless. During the performance the night before this one, we wondered just how long it was going to take the paint to dry. We also wondered if the pandemic had somehow stolen our passion for this ballet. But a good night's sleep and an energizing bolt up 93 floors into the sky had a resilient effect.

There wasn't a sleepy nanosecond in Skylar's and Herman's Act I. We were absorbed by their full investment in the mime. They managed to convey the complexity of two people who love each other but shouldn't really be together because their core values are polar opposite: Youthful Giselle desires true love and faithfulness whereas mature Albrecht wants true love with Giselle while he's living a lie with Bathilde. Then when he breaks Giselle's heart and she dies, he acts like he's the victim. Oh but they did it with such style.

Every pirouette, the circles of jetes, the sweet ballonés -- they all clicked together like puzzle pieces to reveal a big picture. When Giselle played the little game of "he loves me, he loves me not" with the daisy and discovered that the petals didn't add up to happiness, Albrecht revealed early signs of duplicitous behavior by stripping a petal from the daisy to fudge the final count.

Act II was as phenomenal as any in memory and perhaps more so because of little touches like Skylar ascending to a full releve on pointe for the final revolution of her furious Awakening spin. The visual effect was stunning and completely unexpected. Her Giselle tore through the allegro as though possessed and unable to quiet the spirit within.

Herman delivered exceptional partnering, fine-tuned acting, and glorious solos. His dancing may seem to have a few vulnerabilities compared to what it once was, but he still blazes past everyone else at ABT.

Skylar's Giselle has been so lovingly detailed by Irina Dvorovenko and Max Beloserkovsky that it wouldn't be a stretch to say that those two were also stars of the show. Upon leaving the theater, we happened to walk by Irina and wanted to drop to our knees to kiss her stilettos and thank her for creating this jewel of a Giselle. Instead we walked on, sniffling as we remembered Irina's last Giselle which should never have been her final one.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin corpus 100 stiletto, is bestowed upon Skylar Brandt for her brilliant and beautiful interpretation of Giselle.

 

Maria Kowroski's Farewell Astrorina hits apogee; returns to Earth safely

It's impossible to count the many times in the past 25+ years that Maria Kowroski has rocketed through the balletic Kármán Line to deliver celestial performances. As proof, those who were listening closely last week may have even heard William Shatner whisper as he stared out the window from the edge of space, "My god, I feel like Maria Kowroski."

In a well planned Farewell performance yesterday, Maria personally saluted Balanchine, Bigonzetti, and Wheeldon by dancing their works and called on Sterling Hyltin and Gonzalo Garcia to dance a representative Robbins piece. Opening with the first Pas de Deux from Chaconne opposite Russell Janzen proved to be a fitting choice. The artists' limbs homed in on beautiful balletic lines as the flute wept its long notes of goodbye. Maria exited the stage in Chaconne, her leg pawing the air like the mythological Pegasus cantering above the clouds with Janzen providing her wings.

But Maria was not done flying on this day – she just had to change vehicles. After a few lovely minutes of Opus 19/The Dreamer, Maria returned to the stage for an excerpt from DGV: Danse a Grande Vitesse. While holding Maria horizontally high over his head, Tyler Angle backed onto the stage slowly like he was marshalling a jumbo jet off the runway and into its assigned gate. The excerpt was simply phenomenal. There was no need for scenery or other principal dancers, just a seamless corps that moved with linear precision in the background sort of like we see in Robbins' Glass Pieces.

The presumably final ever performance of Bigonzetti's AMARIA, which the choreographer made as a tribute to Maria and Amar Ramasar who will retire next spring, somehow looked more cohesive than any of its previous performances. It's hard to say why it was different. Perhaps after a few outings, the choreography had finally crossed over from being staged to being organic. It was much more watchable.

We then had the first and only intermission of the fall season. Oh my goodness, at the orchestra level social distancing gave way to social cavorting with thinly veiled loose lips kissing and gossiping nose-to-nose. Good luck to all those social butterflies; the incubation period is typically 2 to 14 days.

Finally we got to the finale of the finale and boy was it ever a grand finale. Slaughter On Tenth Avenue was the dance party on stage to end all parties. Every character was bigger than big. Maria and Tyler Angle spent it all on the dance floor. The Bartenders, Alec Knight and Jules Mabie, were uncorked. Ask la Cour, making a post-retirement appearance as Big Boss, was clearly off the leash. The rest of the cast was marvelous as well. This ballet is really all about the stripper's legs. And there are no legs that are more eloquent or have more flash & beautiful form than Maria Kowroski's. She let 'em go and the crowd went wild. Ecstatic joy to the back of the 4th Ring.

The final bows, the flowers, the cheers went on for several minutes. Maria's final fling on the stage brought a lot of artists back together and brought many back to their old home to pay tribute to her. We were there because we loved her dancing; others were there because they loved her as a friend. So much love.

Last week an emotional William Shatner was struggling for words to describe what it was like going over the Kármán Line. He finally just said, "I hope I never recover from this." Our feelings exactly after yesterday's celebration.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, special-ordered from Amazon, is bestowed upon Maria Kowroski. Live long and prosper.

 

 

NYCB 10/15 & 10/16Launch of the New Shepherd

It was billed as a debut, but it was really so much more. Friday evening, Isabella LaFreniere danced the lead ballerina role in Balanchine's Chaconne for the first time opposite veteran Adrian Danchig-Waring. Chaconne is one of those Balanchine "big ballerina roles" -- a role that requires big technical chops, big expansive style, big glamorous stage presence, and big lungs. This week one of our cherished caretakers of the Balanchine big ballerina roles retires which means we're going to need one or more new shepherds to tend to our flock of these treasured ballets.

A corps member for seven or eight years, LaFreniere was recognized early on by balletomanes as a potential trustee of these ballets. The flashing eyes of the new tall dancer in the corps first caught our attention. They had the intensity of a young cat cautiously assessing whether the humans on the other side of the footlights were friendly and safe. Then it was the length of line from the tips of the fingers to the tips of the toes, a form so beautifully statuesque that it could be the center of a grand marble fountain. But it was the dancer's impeccable technique and luxurious authority that have delighted us through these years above all else. We remember how that first Dewdrop on Christmas Eve in 2016 nearly stunned us into believing in Santa again. Look at what we got, Mom! We've had to endure a few letdowns over the years when injuries prevented LaFreniere from launching big debuts. A missed debut in Firebird had balletomanes moping around in melodramatic sorrow for quite a while. As of right this moment, we're totally over it. Let's go let's go let's go!

Friday night's debut and a repeat performance on Saturday night each thrilled for their own reasons. Friday night brought us everything in LaFreniere's dancing that we knew she had but we wondered if her lungs were going to give out right on stage. Her excited stress was palpable. Danchig-Waring, whose own dancing was brilliant in its force and clarity, had one of the broadest smiles on stage that we've ever seen from him. He knew LaFreniere was killing it and that he was helping to launch an important artist to the forefront. Saturday night's repeat brought a more relaxed ballerina who revealed more of her individuality. The typical pirouette of a NYCB ballerina is quite an up & down affair: they go up, flip-flip, and quickly come down. In contrast, LaFreniere went up, rotated rhythmically with the music, finished atop a solid balance, and came down when she was good & ready to come down. As a famous old teacher would have described it, she put love into the pirouette rather than trying to beat it out with force.

Emma Von Enk and Kennard Henson debuted in the secondary PdD. They were okay and we could see flashes of what might come in the future. The Pas de Trois was danced by Emily Kikta, Meaghan Dutton-O'Hara and Aaron Sanz. Yes, there is some artificiality built into the port de bras, particularly for the man who must hold his left arm up in an archaic fencing-type position throughout the dance, but Sanz incorporated too much flirtatious mugging at the audience. We wish he would dial it back.

Sandwiched between these two performances of Chaconne was a Saturday afternoon performance of La Valse in which we bid adieu to soloist Lauren King. Oh my goodness, how we have enjoyed and admired this artist's performances over the years. Look up ebullience in Merriam Webster and you will see Lauren listed as a synonym. In recent years, her debut in Emeralds with Daniel Applebaum was a season highlight for its eloquence, grace, and musical honesty. These artists danced together frequently throughout their careers as corps members and soloists. They complemented and flattered each other with a loving thoughtfulness and a joy that always added beauty to their dancing. We're going to miss that.

At the end of this season's most spirited performance of La Valse, Lauren King was Queen for a Day. Andrew Scordato marched out from the wing carrying a silver tray that had a huge outlandishly sparkling tiara. Dancers descended upon Lauren with many hands fussing over the tiara on her head, making sure that it was just so and royally fitting. As she took her final bow and disappeared behind the theater's curtain, the joyous whooping of her colleagues could still be heard as the stage was being prepared for the next ballet.

We bestow this most pink, bubbling H.H. Pump Bump Award upon Lauren King with thanks for providing us with many wonderful times in the theater.

 

 

NYCB Pedals to the Metal

When a car has been dormant in a garage for a year and a half, it will take a fair amount of maintenance to get it running in top form again. The drive belts have to be replaced because they’ve dried out and cracked. The fuel pump will need to be replaced. The radiator has to be flushed out. Oil and filter will need changing. Brake and steering fluids will need changing. And most importantly, one must pump out the old gas and replace it with fresh gas — and that seems to be what’s happening at New York City Ballet — they’re pumping out the old gas and replacing it with fresh gas.

 

After some mechanic's tinkering and test track runs, NYCB, which began the season like the Little Nash Rambler (beep beep) is finishing as the Porsche Carrera we know it can be -- roaring toward the finale furioso of its fourth week. Don’t misunderstand — we’re not referring to our beloved retiring artists as old gas. Maria Kowroski, Ask la Cour, and Lauren Lovette have turned out high level performances equal to what they’ve done their entire careers. We’re just saying, well, you know...

 

We need to digress a moment — there are members of the Damrosch Park Corps de Azaleas who have thrown some autumn blooms! They’ve pushed little blossoms right through their fall foliage as if to say, “Dormant schmormant, we haven’t danced in 18 months. Don’t try to stop us now!” Don’t even suggest that plants don’t possess emotion and soul. Look at these little warriors fighting their ways to the stage. We are all so proud of you little azaleas for sticking it out this past long, long year and a half and showing everyone your big hearts and how determined you are to bring beauty to this world.

 

Which brings us to NYCB's spectacular Corps de Ballet. Oh my goodness, how the ladies have taken over the season every time they have revved up Serenade. Even though the soloists were all lovely, with special applause to Lauren Lovette on her final Waltz Girl, the Corps de Ballet’s heart was beating stronger than ever. Maestro Otranto’s swift tempos and the bold strings of NYCB’s incredible orchestra seemed to inspire the dancers to spend everything they had on this masterpiece. Mimi Staker has found new passion in her performing and is drawing our focus in everything she dances. Alexa Maxwell’s new mature elegance replaced youthful kittenishness. Isabella LaFreniere, Christina Clark, Emily Kikta, and Mira Nadon simply astounded us with the breadth of their dancing. The corps' commitment to this choreography remains as strong as ever. We never hear corps dancers complain about being cast in Serenade.

 

The Corps de Ballet in performances of Chaconne was equally impressive with several dancers excelling in demi-soloist roles. We never hear corps dancers complain about being cast in Chaconne.

 

Sunday's matinee saw Maria Kowroski sign off on the Facades PdD with Russell Janzen. Exquisite as always, they celebrated line and length gloriously. Both have such quiet power and unforced elegance.

 

Mira Nadon and Isabella LaFreniere, new as soloists in the Rubric section this year, revealed sleek lines with maximum stretch. The men’s corps in Glass Pieces finally pulled it together for the last performance on Sunday. Jonathan Fahoury, Davide Riccardo, and Andres Zuniga pushed the pedal to the floor to yield spectacular dancing that was as precise as it was fast and huge. We never hear corps dancers complain about being cast in Glass Pieces.

 

Emily Kikta - ten years in the corps; Ashley Hod and Alexa Maxwell - eight years in the corps; Isabella LaFreniere and Mimi Staker - seven years in the corps. These supremely talented corps women dance every step of every Balanchine ballet like it is the most important assignment of their lives. They don’t “rest” in corps roles because they might be understudying demi-soloist or principal opportunities. We don’t hear them complain about being cast in the corps of Diamonds; they understand that it is a privilege to dance in that ballet anywhere on the stage.

 

So this past week, here comes corps dancer India Bradley who is invited by NYT’s Gia Kourlas to try to further her career by trashing NYCB. Bradley, who became a corps member three years ago, has danced approximately a year and a half as a corps member due to the closure of the theater during the pandemic. A year and a half. She declared to Kourlas (who as we know has a specific Woke agenda that she prioritizes over the truth) that performing in Diamonds corps was not really doing much for her dancing and intimated that she’ll leave within five years if she doesn’t get more opportunity. After a year and a half of dancing corps roles in Balanchine’s masterpieces, she has deemed herself to be deserving of greater opportunities that will further her career. Her Instagram page is all ready for promotion and fame; she just needs NYCB management to fall in line behind her.

 

After reading Bradley’s pathetic complaints, we focused on her corps work in Agon on Friday evening. What an embarrassment. She couldn’t manage a fast grand plie and fell out of most of her double pirouettes. She looked like she was marking while the other corps members were dancing as large as possible. Pardon our brusqueness, but who the hell does she think she is? Maybe after she spends seven, eight, or ten years in the corps, she might be able to approximate the quality of a Hod, Kikta, Maxwell, Staker, or LaFreniere. But let’s not torture Ms. Bradley with a Diamonds corps assignment ever again. And let’s not torture the audience by putting her in Agon again until she can do the steps.

 

Speaking of Agon, Maria Kowroski will sign off on this role with Amar Ramasar this Thursday night. On Friday night, she scrawled her signature across this masterpiece like Jimmy Page signing his guitar. Ain’t nobody ever gonna forget Maria in Agon. She and Amar amplified the architectural genius of this work by making sure that every shape was picture-worthy and every connection had us guessing which person was really in control. The whole match came to an electric and dramatic draw with the power of Page’s Stairway to Heaven. Don’t miss their final performance on Thursday night!

 

Megan LeCrone, Anthony Huxley, Ashley Hod, Andres Zuniga, Sara Adams and Sebastian Villarini-Velez gave strong performances. Huxley’s had the perfect attitude percolating within the Sarabande. While watching the corps, we kept thinking about what Christina Clark’s exacting limbs could add to the architecture of the main Pas de Deux.

 

We saw La Valse on Friday evening as well. It just wasn’t quite ready in sections. There was a late substitution of Joseph Gordon for Taylor Stanley. Gordon of course performed well with Sterling Hyltin, but at times there seemed to be a lot of thinking by the two about what came next. Ashley Laracey and Lauren King were exquisite in the demi-soloist roles. We’ll miss Lauren for a long time after she retires this coming week, but luckily we’ll still have Ashley whose refined elegance softly glows more beautifully with each passing season.

 

We sat through Peck’s Pulcinella Variations, mostly with annoyance, but with new interest in Chun Wai Chan, the soloist who recently arrived from Houston Ballet who seems able to do everything and make it all look interesting and important. We’ve always liked Tsumori Chisato’s sunflower costume for the role generally danced by Indiana Woodward. Actually, it’s half of a sunflower with the other half of the tutu petals missing. It’s all very interesting, and Woodward - a sunflower herself - makes it work wonderfully. But when Emma Von Enck danced the role during the first week of the season, she gave a different effect. Instead of being the sunflower, she was like a little bee who had landed atop the sunflower. Her amused look out at the audience seemed to ask, “Want me to sting you? Watch this.” Suffice to say, she killed the choreography much the way Huxley dispatches his with almost superhuman articulation and speed. Quite an impressive debut from a unique artist.

 

After the Rain has dried up and perhaps needs to be stored away for a while. As much as we have enjoyed Lauren Lovette’s dancing during her eleven years with the company, her debut in this ballet the day prior to her retirement was not her best choice. It came off as overly self-indulgent instead of the quiet introspection of Kowroski or Wendy Whelan. Lauren almost danced it like it was a photo shoot for Nisian. Preston Chamblee had an easy assignment with the tiny Lovette and managed it well. Actually, he was the one with the quiet introspection that we hoped to see.

 

Ask la Cour retired on Saturday night by demonstrating his superb partnering in Monumentum pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, and After the Rain. Over the weeks, we watched him in M&M performances opposite both Mira Nadon and Teresa Reichlen - such different ballerinas who each have a unique voice that makes us listen to different parts of the music. It would have been nice to see him perform Phlegmatic from The Four Temperaments because he made that role so uniquely his own. The black & white Balanchine ballets were his specialty and his absence will be felt.

 

We wish Lauren and Ask the best on whatever paths they embark. Hopefully we will have a chance to see Lauren dance again some day; it seems she desires to explore the more classical side of her art form. So we will watch for that. Principals and soloists are ever important to our enjoyment of NYCB, but its heart and soul are the hardworking, disciplined, committed artists of the Corps de Ballet. We salute you with an H.H. Pump Bump Award, our Lamborghini First Position stiletto, to be shared equally among all.

 

 

 

 

 

observations 10/7

It's terrific news to hear that NYCB has promoted Unity Phelan and Roman Mejia to principal and soloist, respectively. Unity somehow made steady progress throughout the year and a half pause due to the pandemic and truly has come back to the stage dancing at a high principal level.

Congratulations to both! However, management's cheeseparing with regard to promotions is really hard to understand considering the number of announced retirements and the number of should-be-announced retirements. Is there some type of filibuster going on with regard to Harrison Ball, Emily Gerrity, Sebastian Villarini-Velez, Kikta, LaFreniere, Clark, Von Enck Jr., Nadon, Riccardo, Hod, Maxwell, and Fahoury? NYCB needs to replace more than just a couple of bricks in the upper floors of the House of Balanchine.

Edited to add:

Let's add our congratulations to Indiana Woodward as well who has been promoted to principal!

NYCB episode of: Love It or List It

Haglund was thrilled to be able to bring his HGTV BFFs Hilary Farr and David Visentin to the NYCB Fall Fashion Gala last night.

It was quite the chore getting past the gala crowd corralled outside to find the "performance only peons" queue. Hilary remarked, "The building structure is lovely on the outside. Clean lines. A spacious inviting entry." David replied, "They always look nice on the outside. The truth is on the inside. This could end up being another full gut-reno."

We made it past the vaccine verification checkpoint smoothly and into the lobby. Hilary gazed at the ceiling, "Well isn't this nice - it's a gleaming open-concept with perfect traffic patterns. Obviously, the architect was ahead of his time." David said, "Oh yeah, Hilary? Look at this bathroom." Hilary's eyes squinted up like she got stinging soap in them, "This is unacceptable. There's no room for even a hand towel. Guests have to stand around in a line." David, becoming more confident, said, "True, Hilary, and I will have just the answer for that problem in another property." Hilary smirked, "Silly David. Let's have a look at the main living area."

Of course, we sat in the 4th Ring so as not to cause any celebrity-type disruptions and to get the best overall perspective of what was happening on both sides of the footlights. There seemed to be a lot of celebrity disturbances going on outside the theater. (Did anyone else see the lady who was poured into the yellow dress with her girls and nipples overflowing like the Revson Fountain on a rainy day? What exactly was she offering?)

David didn't care for our 4th Ring seats, "Couldn't we move down a level? That bossy chandelier is bothering my sight line." Hilary cut to the chase, "It won't annoy you when the performance starts. Try to focus, David, try to focus for once. You know, David, I originally wanted to be a ballet dancer. I actually attended the Royal Ballet School until I was about 11." David smirked, "I always knew that you must have had some special training in order to stay so skinny." Hillary, "Don't be such a prissy bitch, David." It was time for Haglund to intervene before the conversation went south.

We opened our Playbills for a quick look before the lights dimmed for some speeches. Boy, did the ears of the orchestra members perk up when new board chair Diana Taylor bragged that the gala had raised a whopping $2 million. Wow, how tactless to flaunt your money bags while stiffing the people who you owe. David couldn't contain himself and blurted out, "Pay the orchestra, dammit!"

Thank goodness we got to Jerome Robbins' Glass Pieces before David shattered audience protocol again. Amar Ramasar gave a final salute to the Facades PdD with the best fashion of the evening. Maria Kowroski will sign off on the role with a last performance on October 10th opposite Russell Janzen. On this night, both artists plumbed the depths of Robbins' originality -- his streamlined choreography for streamlined dancers to minimalist music provoked extra stretch and length in the limbs. Torsos, arms, and legs melded with the comfort of twenty years dancing together. It almost felt like we were intruding on a private goodbye.

The Rubric soloists were more settled into their roles than during their first performance last week. Ashley Hod danced spectacularly to the edge of every count and needs to officially come out of the corps for more soloist work. She's almost the textbook case of how a decade of corps work strengthens a young dancer and ripens artistry and maturity. But it's time for a lead in Agon as well as more sparkling ballerina roles.

Davide Riccardo has shot to the forefront of everyone's attention, not surprisingly, with his 1000% efforts, smooth partnering, and pristine technique. Anyone who watched his SAB performances, particularly opposite Mira Nadon, knows that he  possesses unique talent, unique discipline, and that je ne sais quoi that grabs the viewer's attention. His soloist work in Rubric and corps work in Akhnaten were exceptional--intense, joyous, limitless.

Also catching our attention in Glass Pieces this season have been Jonathan Fahoury, Olivia Boisson, and Emma Von Enck. Fahoury, especially, moves like the quintessential NYCB dancer with such seriousness of purpose and the ability to surprise the viewer with the intensity of his musicality. Those qualities brought back a flood of memories of Jennie Somogy who danced with a similar controlled force. What a pair they would have made...

Hilary and David thoroughly enjoyed Glass Pieces. Hilary said, "There's really not much I could do to improve it. Maybe reduce the shine on the unitards. But, really, it's a museum piece that's not a museum piece because it contains so much present day truth. Any updating would just clutter it up. Who wants to see the Rubric corps maneuvering around outdoor dining tables, people sleeping over sidewalk grating, and hand trucks barrelling through the crowds." Then the two of them put Haglund on the spot, " So Mr. H., are you going to love it or are you going to list it?" Of course Haglund replied, "I'm going to (pregnant pause) love it."

On to the next two pieces which were premieres commissioned for the gala. Sidra Bell's Suspended Animation and Andrea Miller's sky to hold were equally terrible, equally a waste of money, equally a waste of expenditure of calories but served the concept of the fashion gala well. There is simply nothing worthwhile that either choreographer has to offer NYCB. The company may as well hire Béla Károlyi to create a gala dance or Jim Carrey or Elon Musk or Bernie Sanders. Neither Bell nor Miller possess a ballet vocabulary beyond what one sees in a local avocational class in the evening; so it should come as no surprise that their works communicated nothing on this stage. It all looked the same: do a couple of movements, stop, wave arms, repeat. Then let Harrison Ball or Taylor Stanley do some frenetic movements that they helped the choreographers make up. Push the boundaries of ballet by putting Peter Walker on stage with his ponytail and beard in a pink tutu and of course turn Sara Mearns' melodramatic facial expressions and long hair loose. It all was beyond terrible, but at least it wasn't offensive.

Christopher John Rogers' costumes for Bell's dance were vibrant, colorful, catwalk-worthy designs. We mentioned Walker's pink tutu, but there were other pleasant examples of wearable art (not danceable art): a huge orange dress for Emily Kikta, a green contraption with unlikely hat for Megan LeCrone, and an elaborate sultry blue costume for the always sultry Mira Nadon. Esteban Cortazar's costumes for Miller's dance better incorporated the fabric into the choreography. The gauzy strips sometimes accented the dancers' lines as they moved. Men were draped to the same extent as the women, and there was plenty of "everyone dances with everyone" lip service. Men leaped into women's arms, women sat atop women's shoulders, men sat atop men's shoulders. Thankfully, the choreographer didn't go so far as to ask Baily Jones to carry Preston Chamblee, but you get the idea. All of it was a woke-lame load of waste.

Hilary and David sat there almost speechless. Almost. David said, "Well, Hilary, not much you can do with that. You might as well concede to me now." Hilary shook her head, "Not even gut-renos would save these two. We should burn them to the ground and start over. Not even The Property Brothers would take on these projects." Then they put Haglund on the spot again, "Mr. H., are you going to love them or are you going to list them." Haglund replied, "I'm going to (pregnant pause) list them."

So that's the way the gala went. Unfortunately, Haglund can't bear to sit through the two new dances again and and thus will miss Western Symphony which is included on the bill on future dates. If NYCB had put Western Symphony on the front of the bill, many would be willing to buy tickets and then leave at the pause. But sit through this crap again - no thanks.

Glass Pieces saved the evening. And so, we bestow the H.H. Pump Bump Award upon Amar Ramasar and Maria Kowroski. If only red and blue could always work so well together...

NYCB 9/21 & 9/22The truth is in the steps

New York City Ballet’s Opening Night on Tuesday began with a collective exhale from audience members, dancers, and musicians who had been holding their breath for the last 18 dark months. Or maybe it was more as though a relief valve had been spun open which released the pressurized sorrow and frustration from our losses over the past year and a half. It was good to see the familiar faces of those who have composed the core audience at NYCB for many years. Ah there’s that guy; glad he made it through, too. But there were people missing who never miss an opening night. So, while we were elated by the return of performances, it was difficult to shake off concern for those who did not show up. 

 

It was good to be greeted by a long-familiar ticket taker in the lobby who was expertly teaching patrons how to use the new contactless ticket scan. But we wondered  — how was Clemente, the long time ticket taker who retired the season just prior to the pandemic? Did he make it through? Tremendous credit is due to house management for smoothly introducing the new scanning and verification process and greeting everyone as though we were old friends. And the ushers deserve our appreciation for their vigilance and no-nonsense enforcement of the mask-wearing rule. 

 

On opening night, we were in Balanchine’s classroom. After recently watching the fabulous so-named documentary currently down at the Film Forum, it was easy to see how Megan LeCrone, Isabella LaFreniere, Ashley Hod, Lauren King, and Christina Clark favor dancers in the day of Balanchine. Emily Kikta, with enough bloom to fill an entire garden, has been poised and ready to step into more of Gloria Govrin’s roles for some time now. Their dancing swallowed space - there was a grandness coupled with urgency and economy of movement. Clearly, the fastest and most articulate path between two distant points is a freakin’ straight line. No smudging outside the lines. The truth is in the steps; no need to add a lot of fuss or frill.

 

Serenade was hauntingly gorgeous. (The only misstep was the tragic costume re-design that features a cream-corn yellow stripe of tulle down the front.) It is the women in the corps de ballet who are the heart and soul of this ballet, and they did not disappoint. Nor did our principal cast. Sterling Hyltin’s Waltz Girl glistened like moonlight; she was light and lightness personified. Adrian Danchig-Waring’s eloquent entrance will be the new standard; the moment when he reached the Waltz Girl was more impactful than any in memory. Megan LeCrone danced with the delicate wispy of the cirrus clouds from which her Dark Angel descended to escort the elegant Aaron Sanz to the end. Ashley Bouder danced the Russian Girl with customary strength and energy, obviously very happy and relieved to be back performing.

 

The popular excerpt from After the Rain was lovely as performed by Maria Kowroski and Ask la Cour. It has become something of a gala piece whose context is enlarged with every next tragedy. 

 

Symphony in C was simply delicious from soup to nuts. Yeah, the tempi were not the racing tempi that we prefer, but enjoyable nonetheless. Megan Fairchild and Joseph Gordon commanded the First Movement with their well-earned authority. Megan, so precise and alert to the music, made us ache to see this ballet again sooner than later. Sara Mearns gave a devoted, disciplined reading of the Second Movement for which we are grateful. Tyler Angle was Mr. Clean in his partnering, for which we are also grateful. Indiana Woodward and Harrison Ball blasted through the Third Movement with a release of pent-up confidence and determination. Can’t wait to see more of these two. And Lauren King, oh my gosh, how we have missed seeing this sunny ballerina. Her gift to us on Tuesday was that somehow over the past 18 months she has, on the sly, grown as an artist. Andrew Scordato was her attentive and long-lined partner.

 

The corps de ballet was not going to waste the only performance of Symphony in C this year. There was such brilliance along with a smattering of unintended individuality. When is someone going to clear the stage for Isabella LaFreniere, Christina Clark, and Emily Kikta? Come on…”What are you waiting for? What are you saving them for?”  Among the demi-pairs, Christopher Grant and Ashley Hod were most memorable for their verve and luster. 

 

It was nice to see management offering some kiss-kiss comments to the orchestra on Opening Night. But kiss-kiss is no substitute for money — you know where we’re going with this. Pay the orchestra, dammit. Additionally, it would be nice to hear the musicians more often during this intermission-less season. On Tuesday night, they played Waltz of the Flowers while the tech and dancers were getting ready for Symphony in C. How about doing this more often? It might be nice to hear a Candide, an overture from Onegin, some big familiar concert stuff that the company doesn't usually dance to. It takes all of 60 seconds to raise the pit so the audience can better see the musicians. So why not?

 

Wednesday evening’s performance included Robbins’ Opus 19/The Dreamer which is now probably Gonzalo Garcia’s signature ballet. No one looks better in the costume and no one carries off the mystery of the dream better than Garcia. Last night he was pushing the pedals a little too hard which resulted in some unsteady turns, but he still delivered a performance that engaged us every second that he was on stage. His partner, Tiler Peck, danced with exquisite precision and unforced speed but perhaps was straining to create more of a character than was necessary.

 

Mauro Bigonzetti created a PdD entitled Amaria in honor of Maria Kowroski to a Scarlatti sonata. Maria has originated major principal roles in all Bigonzetti’s creations for NYCB. We’re not sure what was going on with this PdD last night as danced by Maria and Amar Ramasar. There was lots of leg action by Maria with a motif of a front grand battement to the forehead which was then caught by two hands and another motif of her slapping her feet with her hands as if to say “Bad ole feet, you have been such trouble - and a blessing.” Amar ably managed the twisty, labor-intensive partnering smoothly. His own moments of dancing made us grateful that he’s back and will be for the entire season.

 

Russian Seasons had a killer-cast. Unity Phelan and Adrian Danchig-Waring are a new and interesting pairing that compliments each artist in the "burnt-orange" costumed role. Unity’s dancing has become more assertive and defined with each passing season. Adrian “gets” Ratmansky, clearly. As he danced his solos last night, it was easy to envision Ratmansky doing the same movements. Georgina Pazcoguin fiercely danced the role of the unhinged character in bright red. Megan Fairchild seemed to delight in the speedy oddness of the choreography. We were struck by Devin Alberda’s clean mastery of the Ratmansky style which is a combination of dead serious strongman technique and cheeky, trivial filler.

 

The orchestra sounded pretty darned good on both nights (but for a couple of near misses by a solo horn on Tuesday). We are looking forward tonight to the return of Clotilde Otranto to the podium. The dancers have had two nights on stage to prepare for her zip.

 

The first H.H. Pump Bump Award in 18 months, a diamond-crusted gold stiletto, is bestowed upon Emily Kikta, Isabella LaFreniere, and Christina Clark whose stars shone brightest on Opening Night.

Pop the cork NYCB, here we go!

It's the start of another week – yeah right, just another week...

We're about to find out what 2,586 mask-muffled crazies can do to the auditory environment. Will the acoustical sealant hold? Will the seismic impact cause phone alarms to go off? Who in the 4th ring will bring the New Year's noisemakers to blow through the N95s?

We're mere hours away from getting our lives back, from getting our drug back. Arms out. We'll take that Serenade sempre marcatissimo directly into the artery, thank you very much. Seriously, could there be a more perfect anthem for bringing us back, a more perfect anthem for relaxing our heart muscles that seemingly have been clenched for a year and a half? Mere anticipation cues the healing.

On Tuesday night, as the passion pumps through the nervous system and flushes the cheeks with excitement, just remember that there will be no flushing between ballets. Understand? Nobody gets to uro-dramatically "excuse" himself between ballets and then get back in. Just hold it.

Oh boy, here we go...

 

observations 9/10

So it seems that NYCB has had some problems uploading the casting to its new fancy-schmancy web page. Apparently it's now more difficult than slapping the old PDF into the container. But they're working on it and have heard everyone's snarling. Haglund has secured some of the casting that was announced this past week. Of course, it could change by the time it gets to the website. But there's lots to love here. It's going to be a seven-performance week for moi.

Remember to plan ahead because there will be no trips to the head. That's right, no intermission.

 

TUES. EVE. SEPT. 21, 2021 7:30 PM

SERENADE:   HYLTIN, BOUDER, LeCRONE, *DANCHIG-WARING, SANZ Pause AFTER THE RAIN PdD:    KOWROSKI, la COUR                                                                  Pause SYMPHONY IN C:    1ST MOV:    M.FAIRCHILD, GORDON                                   2ND MOV:    MEARNS, T.ANGLE                                   3RD MOV:    WOODWARD, BALL                                   4TH MOV:    KING, SCHUMACHER

 

WED. EVE. SEPT. 22, 2021 7:30 PM

OPUS 19/THE DREAMER:   T.PECK, GARCIA                                                                  Pause *NEW BIGONZETTI:       *KOWROSKI, *RAMASAR                                                              Pause RUSSIAN SEASONS:  PHELAN, PAZCOGUIN, M.FAIRCHILD, KING, SEGIN, ANDERSON,  STANLEY, *SANZ, *WALKER, *ALBERDA, *COLL, *HOXHA

 

THUR. EVE. SEPT. 23, 2021 7:30 PM

SERENADE: HYLTIN, BOUDER, LeCRONE, DANCHIG-WARING, SANZ Pause PULCINELLA VAR.:   *KRETZSCHMAR, MEARNS, T.PECK, GERRITY, WOODWARD, JANZEN, SCORDATO, GARCIA, HUXLEY Pause GLASS PIECES:  HOD, APPLEBAUM, ADAMS, WALKER, *DUTTON-O'HARA, *ALBERDA, KOWROSKI, RAMASAR

 

FRI. EVE. SEPT. 24, 2021 8:00 PM

SERENADE:  HYLTIN, BOUDER, LeCRONE, DANCHIG-WARING, SANZ Pause PULCINELLA VAR.:  KRETZSCHMAR, MEARNS, T.PECK, GERRITY, WOODWARD, JANZEN, SCORDATO, GARCIA, HUXLEY Pause GLASS PIECES:   HOD, APPLEBAUM, ADAMS, WALKER, HABONY, ALBERDA, KOWROSKI, RAMASAR

  

SAT. MAT. SEPT. 25, 2021 2:00 PM

SERENADE:  MEARNS, M.FAIRCHILD, GERRITY, la COUR, CHAMBLEE Pause PULCINELLA VARIATIONS:    *ADAMS, M.MILLER, *PHELAN, *HOD, *E.VON ENCK, *CHAN, *APPLEBAUM, COLL, *TAKAHASHI Pause GLASS PIECES:   *NADON, *SANZ, *LaFRENIERE, *RICCARDO, HABONY, CHAMBLEE, REICHLEN, JANZEN

 

SAT. EVE. SEPT. 25, 2021 8:00 PM

OPUS 19/THE DREAMER:          T.PECK, GARCIA                                                                               Pause NEW BIGONZETTI:            KOWROSKI, RAMASAR                                                                           Pause RUSSIAN SEASONS:  *HYLTIN, MEARNS, *LARACEY, WOODWARD, MAXWELL,*HABONY  *DANCHIG-WARING, VEYETTE, *GORDON, *ZUNIGA, *VILLARINI-VELEZ, *FAHOURY

 

SUN. MAT. SEPT. 26, 2021 3:00 PM

OPUS 19/THE DREAMER:    HYLTIN, *GORDON                                                                        Pause NEW BIGONZETTI:         KOWROSKI, RAMASAR                                                                             Pause RUSSIAN SEASONS:   PHELAN, PAZCOGUIN, A.STAFFORD, KING, SEGIN, ANDERSON,  STANLEY, SANZ, WALKER, ALBERDA, COLL, HOXHA

Met Opera's lions roar again!

We're talking big big big roar - from the orchestra, from the chorus, from the soloists -- and from the audience. It was the fierce roar of artists re-establishing their territory, of restoring their rights to live performances, of resuscitating their community's heartbeat that may have faded to a faint but never ever actually stopped.

Truth be told - our arms, hands, and lungs were not in shape yet to give the ovations that we owed to the Met Opera for its stupendous artistry. Following last night's incredible free performance of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in Damrosch Park, Haglund could barely manage ten minutes of sustained clapping without a rest.

Having failed to secure a reserved seat through the ticket lottery, Haglund made sure to arrive at Lincoln Center 1-1/4 hours early in order to get in the front of the stand-by line for one of the thousand general admission seats.

Ha! Here's what greeted him:

Not bad, you say? At 6:45 pm this double line at W. 62nd St. turned the corner at 9th Ave and stretched all the way back to W. 65th St.

Not being a big fan of lines, Haglund hung out on W. 62nd St. and eventually joined the throngs who watched and listened from the sidewalk. It turned out to be a good decision - kind of like sitting in the Side Orchestra at the Met but with no seat. The sidewalk crowd swelled to five deep and spilled out over the curb into the street -- a sundry spectacle of different ages, ethnicities, and incomes. A frail elderly man in a wheelchair was less concerned about one of his feet slipping off the footrest than about keeping up with reading the musical score from his iPhone. New York's sidewalks tell important stories about who we are.

The performance was as magnificent as one expects Mahler to be. Powerful, penetrating, and impervious to the additional percussion from the whirling blades of police helicopters that occasionally blew over Damrosch Park. It was just the restorative 90 minutes that we needed. And it repeats tonight -- provided that the rain holds off.