Haglund's Heel

ABT – Ottawa Giselle – 2/26 - 2/28

What a shocker the casting for the February Ottawa tour is.  Debuts in principal roles, but not what anyone expected.

Hallberg will be debuting his Albrecht with Maria Riccetto as his Giselle – instead of the expected and highly anticipated Abrera.  The new Myrta is Simone Messmer, instead of the expected and highly anticipated Kristi Boone.  All of the dancers cast deserve their opportunities, but perhaps not as much as others.

The passing over of Abrera for this run-up to the June 10th Giselle at The Met (and the whole Ottawa tour) means that Haglund will postpone investing in that ticket until he's more certain she is over this foot injury and will, in fact, dance. 

What a bummer.

Thursday
Reyes, Carreno, Saveliev, Murphy

Friday
Herrera, Gomes, Stappas, Messmer

Saturday Matinee
Riccetto, Hallberg, Matthews, Wiles

Saturday Evening
Reyes, Carreno, Saveliev, Part

 

 

Miami City Ballet – Putting Pedal to the Metal – 1/24

 

Miami City Ballet delivered a rip-roaring Square Dance last evening at City Center led by Jeanette Delgado and Jeremy Cox.  Haglund has never seen this dance as polished and well-rehearsed as last night.   The corps set a new standard for precision and energy that is going to be hard for anyone to surpass – assuming any other company has the initiative to try to do so.  Ms. Delgado was a marvel as she sped through the steps with clarity, teasing us that she had energy to spare and then putting the pedal to the metal just to prove her point. 

 

Haglund went to the second program of Miami City Ballet last night to see if seeing Rubies as set by the originators would make him like it.  It didn't.  The dreadful recorded music made him like it even less.  There are those who proclaim that every piece of choreography that Balanchine conceived was god's gift to the art form.  Haglund is not one of them.  Rubies was a novelty at the time of its first performance because it was new-form jazzet or ballez and featured Patricia McBride, America's most wholesome ballet dancer, cast against type and Edward Villella ingeniusly type-cast.  Following the departure of the originators, the piece lost its novelty and appeal and is pretty much now a lot of leg swinging and women trying to act cutsy and seductive simultaneously.  It's painful to watch.

 

Symphony in C was stunningly beautiful.  Again Ms. Delgado was striking in her clarity, joy, and impressive speed in the third section of this piece with Alex Wong.  The first section was led by Mary Carmen Catoya and Renato Penteado, the second by Haiyan Wu and Carlos Miguel Guerra, and the fourth by Patricia Delgado and Jeremy Cox.  Haglund was thinking about how he liked the opening Wednesday program better than the second program until the ladies of the corps took their first steps in Symphony.  These dancers were of one mind, one force, and danced as one body.  Absolutely exquisite. 

 

Haglund was able to appreciate the special qualities and refinement that Haiyan Wu brought to the second section even if she seemed somewhat disconnected from her made-in-heaven partner, Carlos Miguel Guerra.  With Carreno-type handsomeness and steady hands to match, Guerra was incredible to watch as he maneuvered Wu from one dreamy move to another.  His solo dancing has a controlled, virile quality whereas the MCB men lean more towards youthful peppiness and vigor - Jeremy Cox's mature dancing excepted. 

 

The final movement of Symphony in C ended with the audience on its feet cheering for its new champions.  Villella came out for a bow (the audience would have been most disappointed if he hadn't) but then stepped to the side to survey his dancers gleaming in the glow of their new championship.  Yeah.

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009

NYCB - New Combinations Douglas Lee Premiere 1/22

 

The best part of last night’s New Combinations: A Tribute to Nureyev was the initial film footage of Nureyev and Maria Tallchief in the Flower Festival PdD and Nureyev and Lupe Serrano in Le Corsaire, both clips from the Bell Telephone Hour.  Look closely at Maria in these early clips and you will at once observe the absence of artifice and mannerisms, and the employment of lovely classical port de bras. 

And so the evening began with the substitution of Kathryn Morgan and Allen Peiffer in the Flower Festival PdD and the transfer of Abi Stafford and Gonzalo Garcia to Theme and Variations.  Morgan and Peiffer scored impressively with the feet in this fiendish exercise but didn’t look the least bit Bournonville in style. 

La Stravaganza (Angelin Preljocaj) was the most interesting and enjoyable piece on the program.  Invention, drama, and dynamics were high, and the cast – especially Benjamin Millepied, Kaitlyn Gilliland, Robert Fairchild, and Tiler Peck – was terrific.  The concept of a contemporary society meeting a 17^th century society and the resulting conflict was quite original and even stirring in its execution.  Haglund will be going back just to see this piece one more time.

After the Rain PdD with Wendy Whelan and Sebastien Marcovici was filler last night.  It seems to look less significant at each viewing. 

It was followed by the without-any-significance-or-redeeming-value new LifeCasting by Douglas Lee.  Mr. Lee must have been so truly overwhelmed by the availability of ingredients for his piece that he mixed the mayonnaise with the soup and then tried spreading it on the apple. 

Dancers love to be involved in challenging physical pieces like this, but no matter how well it’s executed (which it was last night by Maria Kowroski, Robert Fairchild, Kaitlyn Gilliland and others), it’s no good.  Pretzelmania from one end of the stage to the other.  Look, we know that these women can split their legs phenomenally and that they can even do it upside down.  We know they can pull their legs to their ears.  Show us something else, please.  And if Haglund has to look at moving stage lighting rigs as scenery one more time, he’s going to shoot his own lights out.  Mr. Lee, it’s been done to death.  Move on.

Theme and Variations with the substitution of Abi Stafford and Gonzalo Garcia did not fair well.  It looked like they had perhaps learned it over lunch that day. 

Haglund awards these mismatched flip-flops to last night's performance.

 

   

 

Copyright © 2009

 

MCB TKOs NYC - 1/21

 

Miami City Ballet brought the heat to City Center last night in a blazing performance that included Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements, La Valse, and Tharp’s In the Upper Room.  First and foremost, Haglund must compliment the corps for its definitive sensational style with each member dancing as though the success of the whole evening hinged on her or his performance.  Wow. And Wow, again.

 

Eddie is right.  Symphony in Three Movements and La Valse do look great on the smaller City Center stage.  In fact, they look significant.  Kudos to all of the dancers for their flying exits into the wings with accelerating energy.  After the first few minutes, Haglund hoped that there were plenty of doctors in the house. 

 

When the curtain opened on Symphony, the absolutely gorgeous line of ladies in white was still as could be while simultaneously storing explosive energy that suddenly released into a Tier 1 caliber performance that made Haglund remember why Symphony in Three Movements was indeed a masterpiece.  Thank you, Eddie, for putting the Master back into the masterpiece.

 

Haglund cannot remember the last time he saw La Valse, but he knows he never saw it as a drama piece.  Stunning!  Perfectly stunning.

 

In the Upper Room was at maximum force last night.  A trip for the audience.   New York knows this piece so well that it recognized when the unpredictable score was coming to an end and burst out in Yeahs! and applause.  Standing and hollering.  Haglund was on the edge of his seat during the final section and could not believe how the dancers’ energy increased exponentially at Mach 5.  The little energizer Jeanette Delgado led a truly superlative performance of a piece for which New York holds some very high expectations.  Yo!

 

Haglund didn’t plan to attend the second program, but now believes that he owes it to himself to see those pieces as set by one of the originators – something we long to see in this area.    

 

What perfect timing for Miami City Ballet’s visit to Manhattan.  Many who fell in love with and worshipped Edward Villella when he was on the New York stages decades ago are now reaching retirement age and moving to Florida.  No doubt, this week will rekindle a few romances. 

 

Haglund is simply at a loss for appropriate shoes to award such a spectacular performance, but he thinks this Pump Bump Award says it all:

 

 

Copyright © 2009

On Haglund's Calendar - NYCB Douglas Lee Premiere 1/22

Very much looking forward to Thursday evening's program that includes the premiere of a new ballet/dance/piece/whatever by Douglas Lee.  Haglund expects to be a bit tired, though, as a result of some major stomping the night before at Miami City Ballet's In the Upper Room at City Center.  What an exciting week with much to celebrate beginning today at noon!

 

 

 

NYCB - Jennie Somogyi Returns - 1/17 Matinee

 

The Koch was about a third empty this afternoon for the first Four Voices program.  Lots of no-shows.  Too bad - they missed some good dancing.  Haglund got to move down to a front 2nd Ring seat.

 

The afternoon opened with Lynne Taylor-Corbett's Chiaruscuro which featured an absolute kick-ass performance by Jennie Somogyi.  The center of attention for this piece is supposed to be the man - in this case Sebastien Marcovici - but today, all eyes were on Somogyi.  Lithe and formidable in strength, she looked very good.   The thrust and forward reach of her upper torso had a Milton Myers/Ailey-type force to it whereas the other two women, Janie Taylor and Faye Arthurs, could have just been modeling the choreography instead of dancing it.  Marcovici, Daniel Ulbricht and Andrew Veyette can't be complained about and did, in fact, give committed, energetic performances.  But oh, it's great to see Jennie Somogyi back.

 

The second offering was a Peter Martins' channel-switching-inducing piano ballet, Papillons.  The program's notes said that this ballet had not been performed since its premiere in 1994.  No wonder.  Darci Kistler, Megan Fairchild, Jared Angle and Tyler Angle did the duty.  What a waste.  Haglund motions for an immediate moratorium on all piano ballets at The Koch.  Seconded. Motion carried unanimously. 

 

Ratmantsky's Concerto DSCH featured Wendy Whelan, Ana Sophia Scheller, Benjamin Millepied, Joaquin De Luz and Gonzalo Garcia and a sharp and spirited corps. The trio of De Luz, Garcia and Scheller were the strongest element of the piece, all showing good humor and comedic timing.  The choreography is a fresh change from the rest of the repertory.  Ratmantsky clearly imposed his own unique and creative voice on these dancers with very good results.

 

Balanchine's Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet closed the program.  This piece is actually four separate ballets strung together by the use of one piece of music and some similarities in costumes.  Abi Stafford and Philip Neal started us off with a beautifully danced Allegro section.  There is a genuine, non-pushy sweetness to Stafford that requires you to simply follow her all over the stage no matter where she goes or who else is dancing.  Today, she was a dreamy girl delighted to be in pink tulle, ribbon streamers, and flowers in her hair.  Kind of off in a fantasy.  She and Neal are attractive together and appear to be a great stage match temperamentally. 

 

Jenifer Ringer and Jared Angle led the second section, Intermezzo, with the expected elegance and romance.  But Haglund was still thinking about Stafford and Neal at that point.

 

Then came Yvonne Borre and Andrew Veyette in the Andante.  Haglund saw Borre last week in Vienna Waltzes and was pleasantly surprised at the high quality of the dancing and lack of distracting elements.  Today she began very well but soon the stress-induced hand tremors came back and seemed to bring down the performance.  They appear in conjunction with any hand-to-hand supported move when she just starts to lose nerve.  This is so silly, because Borre is absolutely able to carry out these moves as well as most anyone else in that company.  Haglund recommends a few sessions with a W W W sports psychologist.

 

The final section Rondo alla Zingarese was led by Maria Kowroski and Charles Askegard.  Maria was everything that Haglund wrote about her last week.  So just ditto all that here.  A comment must be made about the surprisingly good performance of Askegard.  Haglund has not seen him dance that well in years and years - maybe not ever.   He's no danseur noble, but he sure sold us the show this afternoon.  And hanging out in the back with the corps was the ever-lovely and observant Kaitlyn Gilliland, watching the details of Kowroski's moves, perhaps realizing that she, herself, is poised at the edge of her very own era.

 

So for today's lively performances, and in honor of Somogyi's return, Haglund awards this futuristic beyond-cool Pump Bump with cat-eye headlights.

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009

On Haglund's Calendar - Concerto DSCH at The Koch

There will be an all-too-rare Somogyi sighting this weekend in Chiaroscuro.  Haglund plans to perch at The Koch for that opportunity and also to see Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH.

 

 

 

 

ABT - More Met casting is actually Less

 

Haglund is not pleased with the remaining Met season casting posted this afternoon on the website calendar.  It appears that McKenzie is going to continue to forcefeed us Cory Stearns in roles for which he is no where near ready.   While Stearns is a clean utility dancer, he lacks personality and dramatic inclination and peters out just when he should be maximizing force.  Sound like any other tall, somewhat dull dancer from a few decades ago?  No thanks.  Not then, not now.

 

Two enlightened decisions included casting Kristi Boone with Corella in Prodigal Son and Blaine Hoven with Maria Riccetto in Mozartiana.  Hopefully, we will see Hoven again in the Swan Lake Pas de Trois.  Haglund will plan to go to all three performances of Prodigal Son  and Mozartiana.

 

Glad to see that Nina will be doing an extra Giselle.  Not happy that Abrera was passed over for La Sylphide, but at least she won't have to suffer with Stearns, as Part will now.  That is going to be an absolute nightmare pairing. 

 

At this point, Haglund will gulp, blink back a few tears, and recommend that Ms. Abrera go Dutch (or Canadian) in order to get the opportunities she deserves.  Having invested nearly 15 years watching her develop from David Howard's classroom to the ABT stage, Haglund can no longer wait for McKenzie to come to his senses and realize what he is wasting.

 

And no, Haglund is not renewing his subscriptions.

NYCB - Chaconne, 4 Ts, Vienna Waltzes 1/10/09

 

It was not the most enjoyable evening at The Koch last night.  The selection of choreography for this All Balanchine evening was, to be polite, pedestrian.  While the master's canon is not known for flashy lifts, turns, leaps or for heaven's sake turning leaps, he did on occasion throw them in some choreography for variety.

 

The opening offering was Chaconne featuring Maria Kowroski and Sebastien Marcovici.  She was glorious.  He was in over his head.  Maria's sense of responsibility for her performance seems to transcend the choreography.  Her gift is her ability to exploit the Balanchine choreography without offending it.  Jennie Somogyi has this as well, and sometimes peppers it with a delicious rebellion. 

 

It's hard to look at anyone else when Maria is on stage.  Her beauty, sense of style, unbelievable length of legs, and space-devouring technique are at a level all their own these days.  She infuses sensual romance and fun into Chaconne unlike any of the other principals Haglund has seen in this role in the past decade.

 

Marcovici danced like he was hanging on for dear life.  Terrible feet.  Just awful, terrible, stiff feet.  Haglund cringed every time he looked at them.

 

Of the 27 dancers in this piece, only one, Kowroski, was able to cross her/his beats.  Everybody else offered these pathetic little taps that looked like they were marking classroom steps.  Look, this is New York.  Cross your beats or go home.

 

The Four Temperaments suffered last night for lack of principal level dancers.  The corps seemed frantic, less concerned with dancing and more concerned with "get there".   Is that how this piece is rehearsed these days?  "Get there."  "Get there." "Get there."  Not a good showing for anyone, but Ask La Cour was okay in Phlegmatic.

 

Vienna Waltzes - the ultimate pedestrian ballet - looked in very good shape, well rehearsed, but it is boring - even with all the mirrors.

 

Haglund apologizes if this was too much ranting.  He awards this little "Nightmare" pump bump for the poor programing and mostly uninspired dancing.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2009

ABT - Pregnancy Plan

Haglund was surprised and pleased to hear of Kent and Barbee's good fortune to be expecting once again.  It's going to be an anxious wait for the new casting for the spring Met season to appear, but Haglund has high hopes that McKenzie will finally give Ms. Abrera the push forward that she deserves and award her the available Swan Lake, one or both Mozartianas, La Sylphide and an extra performance of Giselle.  

And ya know, Radetsky has some free time in June and July...  Yeah, right, in our dreams.