NYCB - Interplay, Opus 19/The Dreamer, Who Cares? 9/23

Wednesday evening's crowd at NYCB was sparse but enthusiastic and vocal.  Wednesdays and Tuesdays are going to grow more popular as the year progresses.  NYCB has re-instituted its early 7:30 curtain but with one intermission per evening.  That generally gets you out of the theater before 9:30 and home before bedtime crankiness sets in.

 

The program opened with Robbins' Interplay led by Joaquin De Luz and Sterling Hyltin.  There really aren't any leaders in this piece, but when De Luz and Hyltin hit the stage dancing with others or independently, their movement was noticeably more articulate and invested than everyone else.  The men, in particular, tended to look mushy when dancing along side De Luz whose energy, sharpness, and command of technique breathes 21st century life into the choreography.  True, the other men were corps or soloist, but they should analyze the extra effort that makes De Luz as great as he is - and then try to match it.

 

Robbins' Opus 19/The Dreamer, conceived for Baryshnikov and McBride in 1979, was given a different sort of interpretation last night by Wendy Whelan and Gonzalo Garcia - but no complaints here.  These two dancers match each other in physical leanness and defined muscularity and that in itself made the piece interesting to watch.  Ethereal and elusive qualities were not on display, but amazing coordination was.  Lydia Hong's violin solo was exceptionally beautiful - and aren't we rich to have this quality of musician playing in the pit night after night.

 

Balanchine's Who Cares? was terrific last night.  And chalk one up for the "ordinary guy" who gets to dance with the glamorous women and truly knows how lucky he is.  Ask La Cour debuted in the male lead; the principal women were Sara Mearns, Jenifer Ringer, and Teresa Reichlen.  It's La Cour's ordinariness that makes Haglund root for him.  He's not handsome but not homely.  He's not brilliant but not awkward.  His allegro can sort of sparkle but his pirouettes are always ineffective, because he insists on bringing his hands into his chest instead of holding them in a strong first position.  But he tries so hard and is so sincere when dancing with his partners that, well, you just want to root for him to do better.

 

Jenifer Ringer and Sara Mearns were especially glamorous in their solos while Teresa Reichlen had a a shy excitement like she was out on her first date.  The corps and soloists were in top form and danced exuberantly, particularly Rebecca Krohn, who by the way, debuts in Serenade next Thursday evening. 

 

Been meaning to mention how nice it is to see Albert Evans listed at the top of the program as one of the Ballet Masters.

Haglund bestows this Oscar de la Renta Pump Bump Award on Joaquin De Luz who always brilliantly manages the style - whatever it is - and truly is an example to be followed by all others:

 

Comments

[michael]

i've only seen joaquin de luz as birbanto in a recording of abt's production of le corsaire! he was great then, although birbanto seems to me like more of an acting role? de luz was a brilliant compared to stiefel's ham acting! the production i saw was a 1999 recording, i think, so i'm sure he's matured brilliantly since then! again, boo to me that i didn't see nycb productions!!