Check this out in Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair has a humongous dance article by Laura Jacobs in its January issue – on stands now. The historical account of Balanchine's The Nutcracker at New York City Ballet features fabulous pictures and great quotes from the old-timers, like:

“When we first lit (the tree) at the State Theater we had a call from Con Edison on the West Side,” says (Barbara) Horgan. “There seemed to be a surge consistent with our performances—the candy and all that. They could always tell when we were doing Nutcracker because we pulled so much power.”

This production continues to pull power in so many ways and is one of the great joys of Christmas in New York. Last night the production was featured on ABC World News Tonight's "Made in America" segment. Yes, that little Nutcracker toy from Act I is made in America as are all the dancers.

 

Comments

[Ken]

Ah, so that must be why Reichlin and La Cour were interviewed onstage after their performance this past Sunday. I hope ABC puts the segment online.

[Haglund]

Hi Ken. Actually, the segment featured Chase Finlay, Lauren Lovette, and others from the cast who displayed "Made in America" gifts that they planned to give during the holidays. Maybe Reichlin and la Cour were interviewed for another program.

[Fan Z]

Would've been ironic because Ask de la Cour is one of the few dancers in City Ballet not "made in America."

[Haglund]

Good point, Fan Z, although Ask was made in America, so to speak, "up through the ranks" like most all of the dancers with few exceptions.

[Diana]

Interesting article. I didn't know that Gloria Govrin was the original (female) Coffee - here is a pic of her from the NYPL's digital collections:

http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/4cb51190-a0a6-0131-8670-58d385a7b928

You can see pics of the performance that D'Amboise refers to in the collection as well, with Jackie and the kids. Poignant.

Speaking of the old days, Miss McBride is a Kennedy Center honoree!

[Haglund]

Diana, thank you so much for the link! What a treasure trove.

I love the image of Marina Eglevsky as The Bunny http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/99ddc7d0-3f46-0131-56f9-58d385a7bbd0 and Maria Tallchief with Erik Bruhn in The Nutcracker http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/b462bcd0-3f46-0131-4de5-58d385a7bbd0

[Laura J.]

Hi Haglund,
One fun tidbit I didn't have room for in the Vanity Fair article was something Robert Weiss remembered. Here's the quote: "You know, he [Balanchine] used to, when Gloria would get in the costume for Arabian and she would come down on the stage, he would say, “Wonder woman!” He loved that program on television, Wonder Woman, and he loved Gloria in that costume looking like Wonder Woman."
The way Weiss imitated Balanchine saying it, however, was an exclamation-- really drawing out the first syllable of "wonder."

[Haglund]

Hi, Laura. Thanks for the "extra" to your wonderful feature in VF.

The current crop of Coffees at NYCB may not possess the full-bodied, complex aroma that Gloria had, but they are definitely spicy with a whiff of daring. Emily Kikta, in particular - hold on to your turban!