Haglund's Heel

Dancing at the edge of the cliff

Enjoy the rest and relaxation for the next two weeks, because when NYCB opens its Winter Season on January 15th, it's going to be an exhausting task trying to get to Lincoln Center every night.  How can one possibly pace oneself when there are six weeks filled with Tschaikovsky's greatest hits seasoned with a sprinkling of Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and other spicy tunes?  'Twill be tough but worth the twouble.

We may soon get pushed over the edge of the fiscal cliff by a bunch of clumsy politicians who can't two-step together, but we'll glide on the updrafts under our wings for the next several weeks from the uplifting and rich performances of NYCB. 

There are $29 tickets available.

NYCB will take the unusual step of excerpting Diamonds from Jewels, a very welcomed event, and favorites will return including Serenade, Allegro Brilliante, Mozartiana, Sleeping Beauty, Tschai PdD, Symphony in Three Movements which last fall saw the electric debut of Sterling Hyltin in the light pink leotard role, and Symphony in C which last fall debuted a new young cast including Lauren King in the Fourth Movement.  Haglund saw five of Lauren's six consecutive performances in the role and was impressed with her ability to conquer the technical challenges and improve with every performance.  She passed the test with flying colors and has earned the company's confidence in her performances in blistering allegro roles.

People should see NYCB's Symphony in C this winter so it's authenticity and uniformity of style are fresh in everyone's minds when ABT attempts to dance it during the Spring Season at the Met with its hodge-podge of principals.

Speaking of ABT, Haglund just received another subscription brochure for the spring season in the mail.  The largest figure in its pages is Sascha Radetsky pictured as Espada in Don Q.  It's a fetching photo and would prompt a lot of people to buy tickets except for the sad fact that Radetsky isn't listed anywhere in the spring casting.  So while ABT knows enough to put a big picture of him in the brochure because it knows lots of people would like to see his performances, it doesn't tell anyone when he's dancing.  How will that translate into sales?

It's nice to see that Radetsky and Stella Abrera will get to debut in Limon's The Moor's Pavane in Beijing in March (in the Iago and Emilia roles), but Haglund had to plow through the Chinese language version of the theater's website for that information since it's not listed on either the English version of the website or ABT's own site -- obviously because ABT doesn't want anyone back home to know about it.  Both dancers were outstanding in Lar Lubovitch's production of Othello a few years back and will undoubtedly be so in the Limon version.  We'll probably never see it, though. 

Also on the Chinese language version of the website, it showed that Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes will open the three performance run of Swan Lake in Beijing.  This, of course, irritates the home crowd in New York which has been unfairly denied this duo's brilliant performances of Swan Lake for several years.  By all rights, they should open Swan Lake Week at the Met every single year.

And so, as 2012 ends and 2013 begins, NYCB continues to make grand strides in the right direction while ABT obstinately marches toward its self-made fiscal and artistic cliffs.  And so it goes....
                                                                                                                                           

The day after

Haglund spent the day after Christmas working off the holiday sugar and distilled elements by sitting around and enjoying a high calorie buffet of ballet.

Lauren King's second performance as the Sugar Plum Fairy at NYCB's packed theater was quite polished and was supported responsibly and attentively by Robert Fairchild.  They fixed the troublesome step-over turn to arabesque that evolved into a penche as the Cavalier stood close by ready to step in as needed -- a big improvement over last week's performance.  Lauren was in glistening, true ballerina form yesterday.  It will be a treat next year to see how her SPF develops after a presumed year of major casting.  Yesterday she looked ready to leap into the principal roles of Lilac Fairy and Mozartiana.

Expectations were low for last night's dancing tribute to Kennedy Center Honoree Natalia Makarova which was televised on CBS -- not expectations about the dancing, but the camera work and editing.  Opening the segment with a walk-on role for a small student from ABT's JKO school to try to remind us that Makarova started out as a young Vaganova student was a stupid idea.  The young girl, while very pretty, didn't move like a Vaganova student. 

What followed was a vivid Robbins solo from Tiler Peck, an excerpt from Giselle by the still-beyond-wonderful Angel Corella and his partner, Alina Cojocaru, whose feet marred every classical line.  It is completely ridiculous, unjustifiable, and hypocritical for ABT to hand Cojocaru a coveted spot in Swan Lake for the spring season while denying it to other homegrown ABT dancers based on some gratuitous insult that they don't have the right shape of legs or strong enough technique.  Hypocritical.

The brief excerpt from Romeo and Juliet by Julie Kent and David Hallberg made a startling impact on Haglund.  For Julie's final ABT years, she doesn't need to be dancing with people who can easily carry her around the stage through performance after performance.  She needs to dance with someone who cannot do that so that it forces her to be less relaxed and more alert to the moment.  Age notwithstanding, these two dancers look stunning together – perhaps the best classical match that ABT can offer.  It is our loss that they did not come along during the same stages of their careers.  It would be nice, however, to see what they might be able to accomplish together for the next year or two. 

Hallberg's lack of upper body strength is still inexcusable.  He's been recovering from a foot injury for many months.  Why hasn't he been focusing on building his upper body strength? There's nothing worse in a dancer than an I'm-as-good-as-I-need-to-be attitude.

Finally, what would a televised dance segment be without fouettes?  So, we got Marcelo Gomes in a manege of coupe jetes followed by Veronika Part's fouettes -- fast singles just the way Makarova believes they should be done.

And that comment/insult from Jimmy Kimmel about "… everyone but the people who came to see the ballerina" was despicable.  Big apology is in order.

While this may seem cruel, Haglund wishes that Caroline Kennedy would work on her public speaking abilities.  She hasn't gotten any better over the years and her speaking doesn't compare favorably with that of the other Kennedys in the public eye, most of whom are known for being charismatic and effective speakers.  She's still relatively young, and we have many more years of speeches to go through; so, she should give it the old Kennedy Try and get some tutoring.

Everyone should remember to watch the PBS American Masters program this Friday which will broadcast the fabulous Joffrey documentary. 

Merry Christmas to All

Having successfully guided the sleigh last night, Mr. Sugar Plum Fairy returns to his day job.

Ready to lead the sleigh tonight

 

NYCB – Slew of debuts – 12/22 matinee

The last two weeks of NYCB's The Nutcracker can be unusually exciting because Peter Martins often casts several deserving corps dancers in meaty principal roles.  These opportunities are meaningful beyond words for the dancers -- many of whom incorrectly assume that no one ever notices them on stage except for Mom and Dad, as a dancer's parent once mentioned to Haglund. 

At the Saturday matinee performance of The Nutcracker, eight members of the NYCB corps de ballet debuted in prominent roles.  All succeeded in varying degrees and a couple even soared.  But it was not an afternoon for weak hearts.  And on such important days when seemingly – but not really – careers hang in the balance, everyone – dancers and audience alike – should stick to decaf, and that includes Haglund.

The highlight of Act I was Taylor Stanley's debut as the Soldier.  There are few roles in ballet where "wooden" is appreciated, and this is one of them.  When Taylor as the toy soldier emerged from the huge gift box, it was apparent that he was going to take this to a high level.  He moved from rigid toy position to rigid toy position with such speed that one really only saw the ending positions and not how he arrived at them.  There were reverberations in his body just like one would expect to see from a wooden soldier.  Even his stage exit back into the gift box was 100% in character with the soldier bent over while looking left and right, almost as if he wasn't ready to be shoved back in the box quite yet.

In Act II, Justin Peck debuted in Hot Chocolate opposite Megan LeCrone who was announced at curtain as the substitute for Georgina Pazcoguin.  An early slip to the floor by Megan brought an over-reaction from the audience, but she and Justin completed their dance as smoothly as the espresso hot chocolate at The City Bakery on 18th Street in Chelsea.

Ashley Laracey debuted as Coffee and managed to jingle all those bells affixed to her body with sensuality.  Ashley is fast becoming another favorite ballerina when cast in roles requiring a legato quality.

Spartak Hoxha debuted as Tea supported by Lauren Lovette and Claire Von Enck.  Okay, Haglund will admit that this was the first time he has noticed Spartak on stage, but heck, the guy was just upgraded to the corps last August.  A very spirited, quick and light jumper, he made some effortless and beautiful shapes in the air.

Devin Alberda came out and worked the hoop in his debut as Candy Cane with a seasoned mastery.  Another light and quick jumper who makes it all look easy, he also has a fabulous rapport with the audience.

Kristen Segin managed a wonderful debut as the head shepherdess in the Marzipan section with her articulate feet, lovely smile, and absence of affectations.

Our newest Dew Drop, Mary Elizabeth Sell, found herself on stage in the biggest role of her life yesterday.  Excited, confident, raring to show that she was up to the task – which she certainly was – there was no question that she could accomplish the job.  So now it's time to calm down and think about musicality.  There's a difference between holding an arabesque balance to imbue it with musicality and holding an arabesque balance for as long as possible just to show that you can do it.  Mary Elizabeth should pull out the Tiler Peck/Ashley Bouder videos for a bit of study, and if they still have them, Kyra Nichols as well. 

One of Haglund's favorite ballerinas, Lauren King, debuted as the Sugar Plum Fairy with Robert Fairchild as her Cavalier.  A few excited nerves were in play but the debut as a whole was terrific.  Her initial solos in the peach costume were perfectly placed and musical but at times the footwork was on the small side.  More shape and articulation in the feet are needed.  Her rapport with the children on stage seemed to send a few of them into overdrive.  When Little Prince Maximillian Brooking Landegger realized that this particular Sugar Plum Fairy was actually listening to and communicating with him, his mime solo held new drama.

The Pas de Deux with Robert Fairchild had some exceptional moments, such as the SPF's jumps to the cavalier's shoulder and the dramatic ending poses to phrases.  The dark haired cavalier and the vivacious strawberry blonde made a handsome pair, and their overall musicality around the stage was a good match. 

There was an issue with the ever-risky step-over turn that opens to arabesque and evolves into a penche.  For some reason, the cavalier decided to retreat upstage toward the wing almost out to 9th & 62nd Street while the newbie SPF prepared to execute this very difficult maneuver.  Sure, he had his arms wide open to second position like he was there for her benefit, but he wasn't really.  The SPF must have been scared out of her mind at the thought of having to do the step without a partner, but she cautiously stepped into it and the cavalier rushed in and just barely got there in the nick of time to avoid disaster.  Did he then adjust his stage position for her second try?  No. 

Haglund can't remember seeing a cavalier move so far away from the SPF during this phase of the PdD, and he doesn't want to see it again, especially when it needlessly pushes one of his favorite ballerinas so close to disaster – during her debut.  Their variations during the PdD were executed well and Lauren's feet and legs looked more alive and articulate under the mint-colored tutu than when she danced in the peach costume.  She was radiant.

It was a fairly exciting afternoon, and Haglund has decided to insert into his Christmas stocking another ticket to see this same cast at next Wednesday's matinee. 

The Pump Bump Award, one that will surely enhance a few Christmas spirits, is bestowed upon Lauren King, Taylor Stanley, and Devin Alberda for their impressive debuts on Saturday afternoon.

12/22 Live-stream right now

Herman Cornejo is performing in The Nutcracker in Argentina at the farewell performance of that country's great ballerina and former partner to Julio Bocca, Eleonora Cassano.  The outdoor performance (it's 80 degrees there) is being live streamed right now at this link:

http://tn.com.ar/envivo/especiales

A while ago, the channel showed a bit of Julio giving warm-up class on stage.  Herman looked good if only doing leg swings and frappe.  We'll take that!

Thanks to Robin for the heads up.

Balanchine and Petipa on Mercury

Freelance writer Rebecca Ritzel penned an intriguing piece for The Washington Post about a number of ballet dancers who found careers in the sciences.  One in particular, Brett Denevi, who attended classes at Ballet Arts Minnesota in Minneapolis with ABT's Simone Messmer, eventually landed at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where she analyzes images of the planet Mercury that are transmitted back to Earth from NASA's spacecraft Messenger.  Ritzel writes:

According to International Astronomical Union rules, all craters on Mercury must be named after famous figures in the arts who were famous at least half a century ago, and dead for at least three years. Yet as of 2010, not a single crater, out of hundreds, had been named in honor of a dancer or choreographer. Denevi did something about that. There are now planetary pockmarks named after Alvin Ailey, George Balanchine, Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev and Marius Petipa. The Balanchine is her favorite, so named because the blue rays extending from the crater reminded her of the long, blue tutus in his classic ballet, “Serenade.”

Finding all of this fascinating, Haglund went digging for more information and found that Craters Ailey, Balanchine, Fonteyn, Nureyev, and Petipa received their names on April 24, 2012, according to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature which lists 15,081 planetary names (and takes a long time for the browser to open).

After a little more searching – voilà!  This picture of Balanchine was acquired by NASA on June 15, 2012.  Pretty interesting, huh?  As Ms. Denevi noted, some of those blue rays reflecting off the crater might remind one of the costumes in Serenade.

Click on the image to enlarge and clariy.

 

Here is NASA's photo of the dazzling Petipa:

Take a look at NASA's pictures of Ailey, Fonteyn, and Nureyev, too.

 

Ring those bells

 

What gives? 

The New York City Ballet rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning, and the market tanked nearly 100 points. 

Didn't the traders see the dazzling smile of Lauren King in her Marzipan costume? Her stock is certainly rising.  Haglund looks forward to seeing Lauren's debut as the Sugar Plum Fairy this weekend - a sort of rite of passage at NYCB – let's hope.  Her Cavalier will be the dashing Robert Fairchild.  The equally Lovely Lauren Lovette (L³) will also debut as SPF this weekend (with the young apollonian Chase Finlay as her Cavalier) although it looks like Haglund will have to wait to see them in their second performance next week.  Both ballerinas will dance the role twice before the end of December.  It sweetens the season just a little bit for us.

Yes, folks, the NYCB Nutcracker is the one in this city where everyone does all the steps.  All the ballerinas who dance the Sugar Plum Fairy do that risky step-over turn that developpes to arabesque and twirls itself into a penche.  All the Candy Canes have to jump through the hoop.  Contrast that to ABT's recent run at BAM of Alexei Ratmansky's beyond-wonderful Nutcracker where there was so much watering down of the technical challenges by some of the lead dancers that one wondered whether they were simply marking the steps.  We're seeing more and more of that at ABT.  Can't do the steps?  Just change them to something you like to do.  That's one reason why ABT's stock is declining.

On December 26th, the Kennedy Center Honors will be televised on CBS.  As part of the tribute to honoree Natalia Makarova, several of our most beloved dancers will perform excerpts from Makarova's repertory.  Hopefully, CBS will not excise the Black Swan PdD segment danced by Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes.  Possibly, we will finally have a snippet of their Swan Lake preserved on professional video.

On December 28, PBS will run the fantastic documentary Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance as part of its American Masters series.  Here in NYC, it will air at 9pm, but check local listings to confirm date/time in your area.  Haglund's earliest recollection of the Joffrey is Christian Holder's powerful portrayal of the figure Death in The Green Table.  It was one of those "art changes you" moments.

A toast to art that changes you.

ABT – The Nutcracker opens at BAM – 12/7

Things are still soggy around the boroughs in New York from Hurricane Sandy.  The Christmas Spirit among the natives isn't as crisp and warm as it often is at this time of year.  "Muted" would be a fair description.  It seems that everyone is trying to feel happy while also wishing that the holiday season would hurry up and advance itself through the final page of the calendar.  A fresh calendar on the wall can sometimes feel like a fresh start, a fresh chance.

ABT opened its brief run of Alexei Ratmansky's The Nutcracker last night at BAM.  Everyone – the performers, the parents, the balletomanes, even the bartenders – were all trying hard to be happy.  The combined efforts seemed to push the struggling needle on the Holiday Fest-i-meter past vertical. 

There were new things to smile about.  It was noted that the Little Mouse, Justin Souriau-Levine, now in his third year of his created role, has grown slightly and has less difficulty scrambling up onto the kitchen furniture to reach the hanging sausages.  Philip Perez, also in his third season as The Nutcracker Boy, is finally as tall as – maybe even taller than his Clara, who was wonderfully dance-acted last evening by Adelaide Clauss. 

Xiomara Reyes and Eric Tamm danced the lead roles of Clara, The Princess and Nutcracker, The Prince.  Haglund can't recall seeing these two dance together and their performance occasionally looked under-rehearsed. Each had danced the role previously.  Reyes was a favorite Clara to Herman Cornejo's Nutcracker Prince for two years, and Tamm had a highly successful debut last year opposite Gillian Murphy when David Hallberg had to bow out due to injury.  So each dancer knew the role.  But Ratmansky's PdD is supremely difficult choreography and bears the burden of needing intensive rehearsal no matter how many seasons one has performed it. 

At the point of the Grigorovich lift where Clara is held vertically in the air, last night Xiomara was leaning forward, and Eric had to nearly run forward to stay under her.  The other partnering difficulties came with some of the poses at the end of phrases.  Much of the rest of the PdD went smoothly including the difficult supported turn in which Clara changes her spot so that she faces the Nutcracker Prince.

This year Tamm was a substitute for Cornejo who was not sufficiently recovered from an injury to perform.  Eric is one of the most gifted dancers in the corps de ballet who gets precious little spotlighted stage time except in Ratmansky's works where he seems not only to shine but to grow artistically with each opportunity.  He is natural prince material with beautiful masculine lines.  There's a sense of warmth and generosity that radiates from his chest each time he opens his arms to second position.  Last night his solo variations were the highlight of the evening with their soaring leaps and confident pirouettes.  Haglund has seen this Nutcracker more than a dozen times in its first two years, but last night for the first time, he noticed that as the Nutcracker Prince walked to the back of the stage to begin his variation, he paused to look up at the beautiful stars in the sky.  Tamm made it such a natural moment that for a second we turned our eyes to the heavens, too.

Xiomara had some technical difficulties last evening.  Her diagonal line of double step-over turns during the Snow Pas curved abruptly toward the center of the stage.  But at least these two dancers did the double step-overs and didn't change the choreography to the much easier double pique turns as some have done.  Again, her issues seemed related to not having had sufficient rehearsal to maintain the shape of the choreography.  But overall, she conveyed the youthfulness and charm of the young Clara with the grown-up, mature dancing of the Princess Clara.

There was fantastic dancing in the supporting roles, too.  In Act I, Gemma Bond and Craig Salstein as Columbine and Harlequin were captivating with their doll-like stiffness that combined with technical precision.  In Act II, the Arabian women seemed to be in heightened aggressive pursuit of their bare chested hunk, Patrick Ogle.  Mikhail Ilyin, Craig Salstein, and Arron Scott as the Russians got a great reception from both kids and adults for their precision slapstick comedy.

The Waltz of the Flowers continues to be one of the most beautiful sections of this Nutcracker.  The ladies could not have been more lovely in their multi-layered pink ruffles.

The Pump Bump Award, a creative stiletto of classic lines and interesting shading, is bestowed upon Eric Tamm, a princely dancer who Haglund hopes will be featured more prominently in major classical works in the spring season.

Free NY Phil tickets for Hurricane Sandy victims

At last night's glorious performance that featured André Watts playing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, the NY Phil management announced that free tickets for performances from December 13 - 20 will be available to those "impacted by the storm and relief workers."  "Tickets will be distributed through the offices of the Borough Presidents of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island."

This is a very nice gesture.  There are a lot of unpurchased seats at ABT's Nutcracker performances which open on Friday.  One wonders if that company might be just as generous.

By the way, tonight André Watts makes his 100th appearance with the NY Phil.