What a Sunday matinee!
Peter Martins should rename his piece Fearsome Symmetries. Today his choreography was knocked out with fearless authority by Sterling Hyltin & Chase Finlay, Tiler Peck & Taylor Stanley, Lauren King & Allen Peiffer, and a razor-sharp corps that wielded its way through the complicated John Adams musical phrases like a tribe of Bruce Lees slicing through Way of the Dragon.
Corps members Chase Finlay and Taylor Stanley handled their assignments like there could not possibly be anyone better for them. Corps members Lauren King and Allen Peiffer, dancing in perhaps their most technically challenging assignments to date, pushed and pushed their abilities to their limits - both so incredibly hungry for the opportunity and both seemingly growing their artistry to a new level right before our eyes. Sterling Hyltin and Tiler Peck led by example today with an inspiring level of controlled energy - working hard to mesh their styles.
Right now, this company is impressively strong, sassy, and has a Hasselblad-focus on its dancing. Fearful Symmetries was but one example today.
Robbins' Opus 19/The Dreamer received a terrific performance from Janie Taylor and Gonzalo Garcia. Taylor flew around the stage in grand allegro with perfect calmness. Garcia was physically stunning in white tights and white tee-shirt and gave a top-notch performance in every respect. The piece may have been made for Baryshnikov, but Garcia has truly mastered the ability to convey the dreamlike situation along with his frustration and pain of not being able to reach his counterpart.
La Sonnambula with Jenifer Ringer as The Coquette, Wendy Whelan as the The Sleepwalker, Amar Ramasar as The Baron, and Sebastien Mardovici as The Poet, was well-danced, but the ballet is far less than the Balanchine masterpieces we saw during the first two weeks of the season and not a particularly great telling of the story. It mostly exists so that a ballerina can bourree around like a sleepwalker with a man seemingly managing her direction changes. At times, it's shallow and unconvincing, but gave Ana Sophia Scheller and Antonio Carmena a challenging PdD and Daniel Ulbricht some impressive jumping and comedy to perform. As The Sleepwalker, Whelan was quite believable and managed the massive amount of bourrees and the eye focusing very well.
Haglund was blown away by the energy and level of dancing in Fearful Symmetries. Each performer deserves his or her own Pump Bumb Award, but there can only be one. So, this dashing red Christian Louboutin award is bestowed upon the entire cast for a very red hot performance.
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