After the final curtain bows last night at the New York City Ballet, Haglund just sat in his seat for a while - not for the usual reason, that being his arthritic hip had warned him not to try to stand up - but simply to think over the performances of the preceding two hours and enjoy the warmth in his soul. Yvonne Borre, Robert Fairchild, Wendy Whelan, and Albert Evans led a superb Stravinsky Violin Concerto to open the evening. Mr. Fairchild has the same on-stage social skills and killer-energy that Haglund was reminded of last month when that guy originally from Queens came up from Miami to knock us all out at City Center. Similar smiles, too. And not unimportant, Mr. Fairchild was just what Ms. Borre needed in order to allow her to deliver a confident, high-level performance. Her appreciation of him was evident during their bows - always nice to see. Janie Taylor and Philip Neal in the death pas de deux in La Valse were the highlight of the evening. The insanity of the building music coupled with the slow, deliberate putting on of the black gloves, necklace, and wrap and the tornadic lifts that ensued was grand theater. The impact was similar to watching Hvorostovsky’s Onegin calmly undressing and redressing after killing his best friend while the Tchaikovsky score swirled around him. Ms. Taylor - was her attitude Chanel or Dior? - was perfect. Mr. Neal as Death was, again, perfect. Georgina Pazcoguin blew the audience away with her spectacular performance as Anita in West Side Story. Better than Broadway, Ms. Pazcoguin. Better than the movie. Benjamin Millepied as Tony, Andrew Veyette as Riff and Amar Ramasar as Bernardo turned in good dance performances with Ramasar delivering a powerful characterization as well. Sitting in a West Side theater while absorbing Bernstein’s masterpiece is a holy experience in the world of music. The performers seemed to recognize that as well.
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