Haglund's Heel

NYCB – Stravinsky/Balanchine – Wed 9/26

It was a high calorie burning evening at NYCB – an extraordinary evening of Stravinsky/Balanchine works with top flight performers at the tops of their games.  This was Power Ballet at its most fierce.  Yes.  Fierce.  Power.  Ballet.

Stravinsky Violin Concerto opened the program with Janie Taylor, Rebecca Krohn, Robert Fairchild, and Sebastian Marcovici and an energized corps de ballet, all of whom danced like there would be no tomorrow.  The score was written in 1931 and the choreography was one of Balanchine's creations for the 1972 Stravinsky Festival as were Duo Concertant and Symphony in Three Movements which were also on last night's program. 

Maybe it was the result of revisiting Stravinsky's masterpiece, Le Sacre du Printemps, last week at the NYPhil, but the repetitive strains in Violin Concerto and the stamping of the dancers' feet and other more primitive/less academic ballet moves were enjoyed with a heightened sensitivity.  Stravinsky and Balanchine didn't collaborate on this creation, but it is just as masterful as those for which they did. 

All four of the principals were fantastic, but Rebecca's musical punctuation was uniquely superb.  A quick turn of the head, a sudden drop of the torso into plie, a bold look out at the audience -- all of these things were delivered with an acuity that enriched the experience of listening to the music.

When did Monumentum Pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra suddenly get so interesting?!  Maria Kowroski gave these two brief filler ballets new life along with a bit of mystery and attitude.  Last night along with Ask La Cour in the first piece and Sebastien Marcovici in the second, Maria maneuvered her gorgeous legs to hypnotic effect and suggested that there was more story behind the steps than previously realized.  But she wasn't about to tell us everything.  Nope.  We have to keep coming back to try to interpret those glances and read the meanings into her very deliberate delivery of every slowly maximized penche arabesque and beautifully shaped attitude.

Megan Fairchild and Chase Finlay were refreshing and fascinating in Duo Concertant, which was first performed by Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins in 1972.  Haglund must confess that, initially, he did not think that matching Fairchild and Finlay in this ballet was such a great idea, but he came away absolutely loving every minute of it.  The pair had an excellent and very relaxed chemistry.  Their partnering was coordinated with a smoothness and efficiency that often takes years to achieve.  The allegro variations in last night's performance were thrilling for their changes in direction and explosive speed.  From Megan we have come to expect – but do not take for granted – the sense of flight in her allegro; but Chase Finlay matched her speed and slice and was magnificent in this role.

Last night's Symphony in Three Movements introduced the latest little ass-kicker in the light pink leotard role.  In her debut, Sterling Hyltin killed it, just killed it.  She danced like a cat gone crazy.  With cat sass, too.  Amar Ramasar was her quick thinking partner who met the challenge of keeping up with her.  Tiler Peck and Daniel Ulbricht along with Savannah Lowery and Adrian Danchig-Waring made this one of the most vivid and electric performances of Symphony in Three Movements in recent memory.

This so-named "Stravinsky/Balanchine, The Collaboration" is a strong, strong program.  It repeats Saturday at 2pm and 8pm and again on Sunday.  You don't want to miss it.

The H.H. Pump Bump Award, a sassy slingback by Valentino, is bestowed upon Sterling Hyltin for her thrilling debut in Symphony in Three Movements.

ABT – Works & Process casting

Here's the casting for ABT's Works & Process program at the Guggenheim on Sunday (Sept. 30) and Monday (Oct. 1).  Sunday's program at 7:30pm (Eastern U.S.) will be live-streamed at the following link:

http://www.ustream.tv/worksandprocess


PANEL (in alphabetical order)
David Hallberg, ABT Principal
John Meehan, Moderator and Professor of Dance, Vassar College
Nancy Raffa, ABT Ballet Mistress
Alexei Ratmansky, ABT Artist in Residence
 
ABT PERFORMERS (in alphabetical order)
Stella Abrera, Soloist
Marcelo Gomes, Principal
Alexandre Hammoudi, Soloist
Yuriko Kajiya, Soloist
Sarah Lane, Soloist
Jared Matthews, Soloist
Veronika Part, Principal
Joseph Phillips, Corps de Ballet
Craig Salstein, Soloist
Polina Semionova, Principal
Christine Shevchenko, Corps de Ballet
 
ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
Kai Monroe, Athena Petrizzo
 
PROGRAM
Seven Sonatas  (Excerpts)
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Domenico Scarlatti
Costumes by Holly Hynes
 
Joseph Phillips, Sarah Lane, Jared Matthews, Christine Shevchenko
 
The Nutcracker (Snow Pas de Deux)
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
Costumes by Richard Hudson
Associate Designers:  Justin Arienti and Mauricio Elorriaga
 
Clara                                                   Athena Petrizzo
The Nutcracker Boy                            Kai Monroe
Clara, the Princess                              Yuriko Kajiya
Nutcracker, the Prince                         Alexandre Hammoudi
 
The Bright Stream (Excerpts)
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Libretto by Adrian Piotrovsky and Fyodor Lopukhov
Music by Dmitri Shostakovich (“The Bright Stream, Op.39”)
Costumes by Elena Markovskaya
 
Zina, a local amusements organizer   Veronika Part
Ballerina                                              Stella Abrera
Galya                                                  Sarah Lane
Accordion Player                                Craig Salstein
 
Untitled  (Excerpts)
Choreography by Alexei Ratmansky
Music by Dmitri Shostakovich
(“Symphony No. 9 in E-Flat Major, op. 70”)
 
Polina Semionova and Marcelo Gomes

On Haglund's Calendar – Symphony in C @ NYCB

Next week we get our first look of the Fall Season at Symphony in C.  Always an enormous pleasure to watch at NYCB, it could prove unusually exciting next week as a number of dancers debut in challenging roles.

In the first performance on Tuesday, October 2nd,  

First Movement        Ana Sophia Scheller (repl. Abi Stafford) with Andrew Veyette
Second Movement   Teresa Reichlen debuts with Jonathan Stafford
Third Movement       Erica Pereira debuts with Antonio Carmena
Fourth Movement     Lauren King debuts (repl. Tiler Peck) with A. Danchig-Waring

On the next evening Anthony Huxley debuts opposite Lauren King in the Fourth Movement.

There are going to be a lot of excited feet on the stage Tuesday night moving very fast.  Don't miss them!

 

When the NYT dance critic makes it up

In connection with a NYT multi-critic discussion on the shock value of art, Alastair Macaulay tailored a half dozen or so paragraphs to dismiss the Joffrey Ballet's historic reconstruction of Nijinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps which he claims he saw when the Joffrey took the production to Paris in 1990, where originally and allegedly a riot occurred when the music and choreography first premiered in 1913.  

Macaulay claims that he just "happened to be passing through" Paris at the time of the Joffrey's premiere.  "It proved easy that morning to buy a ticket," he says in order to imply that there wasn't much of a desire on the part of the public to see the performance.  The audience "around" him was "politely bored."  That would mean the people in front of him, on both sides of him, and behind him were bored. 

Macaulay writes that while sitting in the back of the second ring (later apparently clarifying that it was the balcony), "A delectably well-dressed couple sat in the center of the front row, trying hard but unsuccessfully to be thrilled."   Was he using his super powers of perception to look straight through the backs of their heads to see their faces -- in the darkened theater?  Otherwise, how could he, from the back of the second balcony, have seen boredom on the faces of people sitting several rows in front of him in the dark? 

Macaulay goes on to claim that this couple rested their heads on the balcony edge as if "the choreography was a lullaby" -- once again suggesting he had super powers of perception that enabled him to not only see through the backs of their heads that they were bored -- in the darkened theater -- but, damn, to perceive that it was the choreography that was putting them to sleep.  He specifically saw and heard this couple yell "Bravo, bravo" during a pause and then, again, saw through the backs of their heads from the back of the balcony in the darkened theater that their "faces fell" when they realized the program was not over.

Macaulay claims that at the end, "There were many cries of Bravo but they came from people who had never once looked electrified by the dancing onstage."  From the back of the second balcony in the darkened theater, Macaulay was able to assess all of the facial expressions for the people who cried "Bravo" at the conclusion of the performance?  He watched every expression of all of these people -- in the darkened theater from the back of the second balcony -- and was able to interpret these expressions -- in the dark?  When the hell did he watch any of the performance?

What kind of a fool is Macaulay's editor at the NYT, Jon Landman, that he lets this kind of garbage go to print?  (Oh, wait, Landman let Jayson Blair submit his fictitious and fraudulent writing for umpteen months before taking the blinders off his own eyes.)

Macaulay couldn't remember one aspect of the actual performance to include in his report -- not even the name of one dancer.  Not one detail of the performance itself is included in his report which clearly is aimed to dispute with his customary arrogance the wildly positive reviews written by others when the Joffrey took this production to Paris in 1990. 

Anna Kisselgoff, the former NYT chief dance critic who had over a decade of applied technical ballet training when she took the job (Macaulay has no applied knowledge), has written that the Joffrey's Le Sacre was "a revelation" and "a masterpiece" and spent many paragraphs over several reviews over several years documenting why it was important, why it was authentic, and why it was highly entertaining. 

According to the NYT's own account written in 1990, when the Joffrey took this ballet to Paris, the French press called it "dazzling" and reported that the audience gave it "thunderous applause and repeated curtain calls."  (The Washington Post counted them and reported "a dozen vociferous curtain calls.") The French press cheered "the Theatre des Champs-Elysees for bringing it back 'to atone for the stupidity of those who in 1913 did not know how to recognize the combined genius of Igor and Vaslav.'" 

Apparently, there is a dance critic at The New York Times who can't recognize it today.  But it's good to know that he can see through the backs of people's heads in a darkened theater to observe the bored expressions on their faces. 
 
Reading:

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/29/arts/photo-beatriz-rodriquez-chosen-one-vaslav-nijinsky-s-sacre-du-printemps-jean.html?src=pm

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/07/arts/dance-view-why-those-bearskins-in-le-sacre-du-printemps.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/22/arts/dance-view-roerich-s-sacre-shines-in-the-joffrey-s-light.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

http://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/30/arts/dance-the-original-sacre.html

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/12/arts/dance-view-the-joffrey-performs-a-masterpiece-masterfully.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Washington Post:  Dance; In Paris, Joffrey's Glorious Rebirth of `The Rite of Spring'

 

NYCB – Go Sockless

Haglund is going to stop wearing socks to NYCB performances because that Maria Kowroski knocks them off every time.  At the end of the night, the ushers are in no humor whatsoever for an exhaustive search around the econo-seats to retrieve Haglund's socks and help get them back over his toes.  Last night, socks and garters were flying everywhere as Maria danced her second Terpsichore of the week and her fourth Agon - her fifth is scheduled for this afternoon.  Her energy has been accelerating since the Fall Season opened on Tuesday and we have seen superb performances all week long. 

In Wednesday night's Apollo, Maria led two new muses in their debuts (lovely debuts from Teresa Reichlen and Rebecca Krohn, by the way) and last night in the same cast she helped to quickly restore the calm and confidence of the young Apollo, Chase Finlay, when his character's vulnerability suddenly and unexpectedly appeared during an en dedans turn.  After a somewhat deflated exit, Finlay came roaring back onto the stage and gave one of his strongest and most commanding Apollo performances to date. 

Right now at NYCB, the opportunity to watch Finlay's young and vulnerable Apollo and Robert Fairchild's intensely dramatic and more mature Apollo illuminates the greatness of this historic ballet and brings such joy.  This new cast, however, should adjust the final sunburst pose to fan the legs more eloquently.  In Wednesday's and again in last night's performance, the pose looked a little out of sorts – over-rotated and too winged at the top.

Maria along with Teresa Reichlen, Amar Ramasar, and Sean Suozzi led the performance of Agon which also included Amanda Hankes, Gretchen Smith, Devin Alberda, and Daniel Applebaum.  Terrific energy and pinpoint musicality from everyone.  The combined shapes and positions of Maria's and Amar's limbs and torsos in the PdD were fascinating.

The evening's program also included Orpheus with Janie Taylor, Sebastien Marcovici, and Jonathan Stafford.  The dancers poured everything they had into it, but it's just not a very entertaining or thought provoking ballet.

The evening's Pump Bump Award, a Valentino creation with cool long lines and strong pointes, goes to Maria Kowroski for an entire week of luminous performances.

Primitive pleasure at the NYPhil

Last night the New York Philharmonic delivered a bold, bold performance of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

On the podium, Alan Gilbert found the music's ritualistic fervor and eerie calms and at times hunched over with toes slightly pointed inward like a Nijinsky pagan. 

Haglund will never forget those early Joffrey Ballet performances when Beatriz Rodriguez as the Chosen One danced for her life.

There's one more performance of The Rite of Spring at the NYPhil tonight.  Call for tickets: 212-875-5656.

NYCB Fall Gala – Haute en pointe

Sometimes the cheap seats can be the best seats.  And so it was last night at the NYCB Fall Gala where perched in his econo-chair on the side, Haglund had a clear view of the glitterati seated in the 1st Ring including Valentino, Iman, Barbara Walters, Sarah Jessica Parker, Angelica Huston, Roberto Bolle, Carolina Herrera, Anne Hathaway, Martha Stewart, and others.  It was hard to tell whether the slow slip off the shoulder of Iman's dress which exposed her to all of us who had our binocs trained on her was truly an innocent slip or perhaps a bit more of a calculated faux pas.  Thank goodness she was sitting right next to Valentino who helped her re-position the dress -- but not too hurriedly.

It was a glorious gala evening at NYCB –– all organized to honor the legendary Valentino who designed all of the evening's costumes except for those worn in Balanchine's Rubies.  In fact, the evening was as much a couture show as a ballet performance. 

The program opened with two short pieces which Peter Martins created in 1988: Sophisticated Lady to the music of Duke Ellington and Not My Girl to music by Fred Astaire and Van Phillips with lyrics by Desmond Carter.  Charles Askegard returned to dance with Maria Kowroski in the first which also included 16 men from the corps.  Valentino could not have found a more beautiful model than Maria for his red gown with delicate ruffles.  She looked sensational and worked every curve and angle of the design.  The choreography, while not all that compelling, had plenty of sweeps and twirls in it to fully show the beautiful cut of the dress and its details.  It wouldn't be so bad to see this little ballet more often if we got a brand new fabulous designer dress each time that it was presented.  That would keep the interest alive.

Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck were the dancing hit of the night in Not My Girl -- he in Fred Astaire tapping mode; she in a gorgeous diamond patterned tutu that looked like it could have been inspired by a colorful kaleidoscope.  This short piece should rejoin the regular repertory a little more often - especially now that it has such a fabulous costume, not to mention two dancers who glow with all the Broadway glam needed to sell it to the audience.

Christopher Wheeldon contributed a preview excerpt from his ballet Five Movements, Three Repeats.  It was a PdD for Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle to song and music by Max Richter and Dinah Washington from the motion picture Shutter Island.  Not the psychological thriller that the movie was, this PdD was from the same mold as much of what we've seen Wheeldon produce, especially when he creates for Whelan.  It's always primarily focused on manipulation instead of movement.  The pace is always the same.  It's always too long.  And it never has a climax and resolution.  But the Wheeldon clan from Woo-Whoville expressed its approval loudly.  Wendy's dress was of a stunning design -- kind of a metal color with a circular panel over the front of her ribs.  It was very, very flattering and feminine.  This dress will bring Haglund back to this ballet one more time.

Rubies got an interesting and vibrant interpretation by three different sets of dancers.  Erica Pereira, Antonio Carmena and Savannah Lowery danced the first movement.  Erica reached the age of majority some time ago.  She's old enough to do all of the adult things now, but she still looks like an eleven year old on stage.  It was a little uncomfortable seeing someone who looks so young execute seductive, sexy moves -- dancing them exceedingly well while wearing a sparkly tiara that was a little too big for her head -- even though the reality was that there was nothing wrong.  Haglund is anxious for Peter Martins' to discover Erica's specialty rep because she's just too good not to be on stage more.

The second movement got a very grown up interpretation by Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley.  They sizzled.  Lauren is a phenomenal dancer with great range in the repertory.  A combination of gorgeous lines and curves, she is maturing artistically at a rapid pace. 

Ashly Isaacs and Daniel Ulbricht with Emily Kikta as the tall girl delivered a dazzling final movement. 

The highlight of the evening was Bal de Couture that was preceded by the exact same film that is two posts below.  The audience howled when Valentino asked Peter Martins "What you think? With all this tulle, to do the naked bosom, is it possible?"

Most of the company's principals were paired up for this finale with a couple of soloists added.  The men in black suits and ties and shiny shoes were as handsome as could be -- man oh man, do those NYCB men clean up good. The ladies were decked out in an array of Valentino's designs from long black and white tulled dresses with bold red or pink underlayers to puffy tutus, and one lovely pink lilac gown worn by Janie Taylor.  

The manner in which these dancers presented their dresses could change MB Fashion Week forever.  Going forward, what designer is going to be satisfied with having his designs drift down the catwalk on human hangers when he can see them come alive with the help of stunningly beautiful dancers?  Couture fashion looks better on dancers – no matter how short they are – any day.

The choreography by Peter Martins was created to make the most of the dresses.  Using everyone's favorite excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and taking inspiration from other big Tchaikovsky ballets in the repertory, Martins did more than a fair job with this big group.  Everyone clapped when each dress appeared just like at a couture show.  It was totally deserved and we would have felt cheated if each dress had not been presented individually.  Haglund's favorites were the black and white ball gowns worn by Teresa Reichlen and Rebecca Krohn.  The short puffy tutu designs worn by Ashley Bouder (white), Megan Fairchild (black), and Tiler Peck (red) perhaps were less practical than fashionable, but it was such a pleasure to see them.

At the conclusion, Valentino ran down a ramp from the back of the stage to come forward to receive the ovation from the audience.  What a terrific collaboration the evening was.  You know, sometimes love comes late in life.  Maybe Valentino's first couple of dates with the ballet will lead to a deep romance.  He said recently that he'd like to do the costumes and set designs for a big "ornate" ballet for a company like the Bolshoi.  Wouldn't that be grand?  We know it would be.

The Haute Pump Bump Award of the evening goes to Valentino for bringing such glamour and beauty to the ballet last evening with his enchanting designs:

 

RNZB – Gillian Murphy as Giselle!

Early promo picture. 

Here are Gillian and the RNZB's wonderful Qi Huan (Albrecht on his knee) with Dimitri Kleioris in the foreground as Hilarion.

Gillian makes her debut as Giselle in the RNZB's brand new production on November 7th in Wellington.

 

Valentino & Martins & Marc Happel in the costume shop!

This (slow to load) video is so wonderful.  Thank you Style.com!

 

 

 

NYCB – Agon wins the contest – 9/18

Neither torrential downpours nor canyon-like winds in Manhattan kept the crowd away from the opening night of NYCB's Fall Season.  Last night's offerings drew upon the rich Stravinsky/Balanchine collaboration that produced so much of the famed repertory at NYCB.

The program opened with a strong performance of Apollo by Robert Fairchild, Sterling Hyltin, Tiler Peck, and Ana Sophia Scheller.  Fairchild danced Apollo wonderfully weighted into the floor and with a compelling theatrical depth.  NYCB's Apollos have recently been noted for their cool intensities.  Fairchild's natural smolder and expressiveness are pleasant additions to a role which can accommodate a variety of interpretations. The PdD as danced by Fairchild and Hyltin nicely captured the slightly flirtatious aspects of Terpsichore and Apollo's fascination and attraction. 

The muses didn't have their best-ever ensemble effort last night but their individual variations were first rate with only minor issues about which to complain.  Haglund made the mistake of sitting on the right side of the house again where he couldn't avoid seeing that Sterling's developpes to arabesque were more to second position than behind her.  But other than that little gripe, her performance was fresh and musically interesting. 

Tiler Peck as Polyhmnia and Ana Sophia Scheller as Calliope were superb in their variations.  Tiler attacked the pesky pique turns that finish in arabesque with confidence, but it seems that we might be missing something by not seeing her as Terpsichore.  Hopefully, that's somewhere in Peter Martins' grand plan.   Ana Sophia, one of NYCB's two newest principals, was riveting.   With a theatrical reach that goes to the back of the theater and a fearless/fault defying technique, she is a dancer not to be missed in any classical or Balanchine role.

The middle of the program was Balanchine's Orpheus from 1948.  Everything that Balanchine choreographed was not a masterpiece, as Orpheus reminds us.  The costumes, sets, and lighting effects overwhelm what little choreography there is in this piece, but do not save it.  There were a few interesting aspects to it - mostly delivered by Wendy Whelan's Eurydice in her PdD with Ask la Cour's Orpheus.  Other than in the PdD, there was a sense that maybe Balanchine choreographed Orpheus by asking himself, "What would Martha do?"  Haglund may hang out at the lobby's bar tonight while this one is on.

The evening concluded with an Olympic sized performance of Agon.  Maria Kowroski, Rebecca Krohn, Sebastien Marcovici, and Andrew Veyette led with their best competitive spirits.  Rebecca, NYCB's other new principal, showed more than a little of the Kowroski spark and sultry confidence.  It was really a pleasure seeing the two of them share the stage.  Rebecca's balances during the PdT with Adrian Danchig-Waring and Craig Hall wowed the audience with their ease and serenity without being showy.

Let's talk about Adrian Danchig-Waring and Megan LeCrone, who along with Ashley Laracey completed the principal cast.  Wow, are these two dancers coming along nicely!  Adrian, particularly while dancing with the other men, stood out for taking each movement to its maximum and shaping every step and combination with acute clarity.  Megan, finally relaxing a bit after all these years, carved out the choreography masterfully with such beautiful and articulate legs and feet -- and even smiled occasionally!

So on a night when so many of Haglund's favorite dancers were on stage, it's tough to choose who should get the coveted Pump Bump Award.  The cast of Agon brought 110% out on the stage, and that's how you win medals.  It was a superb performance from all.  But for the sheer surprise and delight of their outstanding efforts, the first Pump Bump Award of the season – of course it's Valentino – goes to Megan LeCrone and Adrian Danchig-Waring: