Haglund's Heel

NYCB - 10/18 Finishing on cat's legs

[Please click on my face for full effect.]

What a rip-roaring close to the fall season on Sunday afternoon! Major debuts and major corps triumphs demonstrated that this company has unparallelled depth in its ranks. We can’t wait for Nutcracker Season to start so we can see which new faces will step up to the plate in plum roles and whack a few Nuts over our heads.

Let’s start with the end ‘cuz that’s a good place to start. Megan LeCrone blasted through her debut in the Choleric variation of The Four Temperaments with cat legs, cat eyes, and ferocious feline grace. What a perfect match of role and artist. The angularity of her long limbs and sharp features enhanced and clarified the crankiness imbedded in the brilliant choreography. Everyone gave superb performances: Megan Johnson & Cameron Dieck, Brittany Pollack & Allen Peiffer, Ashley Laracey & Justin Peck in the Theme; Anthony Huxley in Melancholic; Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle in Sanguinic, and Amar Ramasar in Phlegmatic. A special mention goes to the Phlegmatic corps of true beauties Stephanie Chrosniak, Ashley Hod, Dana Jacobson, and Claire Kretzschmar for enhancing Amar’s performance with their own brilliant synchronization.

Lauren King and Devin Alberda also enjoyed stunning debuts in the first section of Episodes by dancing boldly and confidently. Both showed a new sense of maturity in their presentation and a nice compatibility. Claire Kretzschmar wowed us again in the second section opposite Jared Angle. Her lean, sinewy physique, slightly Roman nose, and space gobbling with her limbs reminded us of Wendy Whelan. Ashly Isaacs and Taylor Stanley, also debuting, made their third section Concerto more explosive than we are accustomed to seeing, but it was still riveting to watch. Sara Mearns and Adrian Danchig-Waring danced the Ricercata with a little more lightness than previously.

Rebecca Krohn and Ask la Cour repeated their fine performances of Monumentum pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra.

The afternoon opened with Concerto Barocco at a snail’s pace – again. We really could have used Clotilde Otranto to conduct this program with a little spirit. Barocco has never sounded so constipated as it has this fall under the baton of Daniel Capps. And while the lethargic tempo made the choreography easier for the two statuesque leading women, Sara Mearns and Theresa Reichlen, it made the ballet a real snooze fest and the dancing look heavy and tired. It’s really time for some new energy in these roles - from the dancers to the conductor.

The Barocco corps de ballet maintained discipline throughout the dull pace and managed to sparkle in spite of it. Sara Adams, Alina Dronova, Kristen Segin and Ashley Hod have been outstanding in Barocco and much else these past few weeks. The fine dancing of the statuesque and lovely Dana Jacobson and apprentice Miriam Miller has given us great pleasure, too. So, we’re going to toss a Pump Bump Award to the entire Corps de Ballet who really is the heart and burning soul of these Black & White Balanchine programs.

ABT Spring season casting cussing

So, the principal casting for ABT's Met season is on the Met website.

The world is rejoicing that our Stella Abrera received an Aurora opposite Marcelo Gomes' Prince Desire along with a couple of performances of La Fille Mal Gardee opposite TBA. We can only hope that The Tall Blond One, what's-his-name, will be able to return for that. TTBO would be a fab Colas to Stella's Lise.

But not even adding Veronika and Stella to Maiden-duty in The Firebird will make Haglund and many others sit through that disaster again. Fuggedaboutit. It belongs in the dumpster.

Good to see Veronika & Stella getting Queen leads in The Golden Cockerel while Skylar Brandt, Cassandra Trenary, and Sarah Lane get to be the Cockerel. We expect to see more than a few Firebird steps in this production; so we're preparing ourselves not to be optimistic.

But even with a little bit of good news comes major bad news. Veronika gets stuck with Whitetrash for Swan Lake while Semionova dances away with Gomes twice and Seo waltzes off with Bolle. So, we'll probably skip Swan Lake this year. Maybe Houston Ballet will put it on their schedule soon.

There's way too much Semionova and Kochetkova clogging up the schedule. These two charmless outsiders are simply a waste of money. Neither of them can sell tickets. Neither of them is any better than any of ABT's house ballerinas at the soloist level and worse than most. It doesn't matter that ABT wants to put them on the website as company members; they're not and they never will be. They were lousy guest artists and now they're lousy imports. We suppose that we can thank our lucky stars that Osipova isn't anywhere on the schedule.

What a sales-disaster this entire rep week devoted to Ratmansky will be. Thank goodness that will be a strong week at NYCB - Serenade, Duo Concertant, Concerto DSCH, Western Symphony and a new Wheeldon ballet. If you want to see the best Ratmansky work, go to NYCB not ABT. Everyone knows that.

 

Lopatkina at 4pm today

Here is the link to the livestream at Yale School of Music for the live presentations featuring Ulyana Lopatkina today at 4pm Eastern, Wednesday at 7:30pm, and Thursday at 12:30pm.

http://music.yale.edu/livestream/

 

Thanks to Frederick Iseman, Chairman of the Mariinsky Foundation of America, who you'll recall brought Lopatkina and the Mariinsky to BAM. Hopefully, we'll see both again there very soon.

(Transmission on the phone may be better than on a laptop. Obviously, there are some problems today. Patience.)

Edited after 10/13 Yale Q&A to add:

How disappointed some are in the Yale School of Music's inarticulate and at times infantile questions for Lopatkina. Honestly, the first question was about how she does fouettes. And who was that moron who asked if she had ever worked with Alexei Ratmansky?

We realize that Yale is handicapped by not having a respectable ballet or dance program, but really, couldn't the school have come up with something better? Lopatkina must have wondered if anyone in the audience had ever seen a ballet.

NYCB 10/11Jennie Somogyi's last waltz

At one time or another, we’ve all picked up the phone only to be surprised to hear someone who we haven't spoken with for a long time and have missed. "It’s good to hear your voice again," we say.

When a beloved dancer returns from a long absence – especially an absence with an uncertain outcome – and waltzes out onto the stage communicating in her unique artistic voice, we have the same response. “It’s so good to see that again,” we say to ourselves. The distinctive musical pulses; the special scent of perfume that she, alone, wears; the balletic patina acquired through years of careful polishing – all make us especially receptive to that artistic voice.

And so it has been over the past couple of weeks that we’ve welcomed back the unique artistry of Jennie Somogyi only to have to say Farewell under much happier circumstances than those previous occasions when she limped off the stage for long absences. She’s been part of the NYCB family for all of her adult life and most of her childhood having begun as a 9-year old at the School of American Ballet before embarking on a 21-year career. She was among the earliest of a new breed of dancers who could make any kind and most any quality of choreography look fetching and worth watching. She had the artistic sense to mold steps in a way that made them look valuable.

So, it is our hope that Jennie, who has already expressed interest in passing down her NYCB heritage to the next generations, won’t go far.

Preceding yesterday’s Farewell celebration, the audience was treated to a simply spectacular, transformative performance of Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3. The Elegy, performed by Rebecca Krohn and Russell Janzen, conveyed the sweeping sadness of loss like few, if any, other performances of this section that Haglund has seen. Mr. Janzen on stage in a dramatic crisis is becoming something to look forward to, if that doesn’t sound a bit odd to say. By the way, count us among those who love his darker hair color. His handsome features and expression now pop like never before.

Continuing with the Valse Melancolique, Megan LeCrone and Justin Peck discovered the urgency within the music. Ana Sophia Scheller, partnered by Antonio Carmena, in the Scherzo was burning-brilliant in technique while retaining the playfulness of the music. Tiler Peck and Andrew Veyette delivered the Tema con Variazioni just the way we like it. Ferrari fast. Tiler now challenges this music to keep up with her in terms of speed and articulation. Every performance has new and varied musicality, breathless musicality. What a ride her career is giving to all of us! Andy’s foot was on the accelerator the whole time, too. He gave his all including a brave series of double tours with double pirouettes interspersed with singles with no margin for error while moving at Conductor Paulo Paroni’s blessedly blazing tempo.

Liebeslieder Walzer closed the program tenderly, joyously, a little sorrowfully. Haglund can’t claim to be any kind of an expert on operatic voices, but the singers sounded wonderful to him. Boya Wei (soprano), Black Friedman (tenor), Melissa Fajardo (mezzo), and Zachary James (bass) gave strong, heartfelt performances.

Sterling Hyltin with Jared Angle, Ashley Laracey with Justin Peck, Sara Mearns with Ask la Cour waltzed at Jennie Somogyi’s party. Tyler Angle, her partner, has never looked more gallant and chivalrous. He threw himself at her feet in gratitude when delivering the Farewell flowers to her at the end of the night. Jennie seemed genuinely moved by the reception from everyone in the theater. Maybe she didn’t quite realize how happy she has made us over the years. Let’s hope she won’t go far.

Our House of Borgezie First Position Pump Bump Award for Jennie Somogyi:

NYCB All Balanchine – 10/10 Mat & Eve

Riddle: What’s black & white with no percussion except for the strong beating heart of its founder?

That would be, of course, Saturday’s phenomenal Balanchine Black & White program at NYCB that was performed at the matinee and repeated with the identical casts in the evening. Many live for these programs, find relief in them, renewal in them, and come away from the performances feeling re-baptized in the denomination.

Last evening’s performance made up for some sleepiness in the afternoon when Concerto Barocco was more like Concerto Lumaca because it moved at a snail’s pace. At the matinee, a few in the corps were groggy while others like Ashley Hod, Alina Dronova and Sara Adams were fully caffeinated and hungry to move. It made for an uneven overall effort. The blame should probably go to Conductor Daniel Capps who might have been trying to save everyone for the long day ahead. By evening, the entire corps and principals seemed awake and pointe shoes were fully charged up.

Sara Mearns, Teresa Reichlen and Russell Janzen were the leads in both performances. They did all the steps well, although we sometimes wondered whether the ladies' legs were en attitude or arabesque. It takes time to adjust to watching Sara and Tess dance Barocco, because they don’t deliver the knife-like sharpness in musicality and their legs don’t make the clear shapes that have been so pleasing when others danced it. We have yet to see Tiler Peck, Ashley Bouder, or Ana Sophia Scheller take on these principal roles – all of whom could probably dance it twice nonstop without running out of breath.

Rebecca Krohn and Ask la Cour led Monumentum pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra with finesse and interesting dynamics. Rebecca was particularly riveting in the Movements for Piano and Orchestra for her mystery countered by a commanding authority.

Episodes began with Megan LeCrone and a debuting Andrew Scordato in the first section which can be difficult to sell to the audience. Compared to her first couple of times dancing this role, Megan looked like a different dancer. She used her eyes much more and varied her head focus. Haglund was in the 3rd Tier and truly enjoyed Megan’s efforts to reach up and out toward more of the audience. Andrew scored high points for the fine partnering which would be a tough assignment for anybody.

Next, what a promising debut by Claire Kretzschmar in the second section opposite Jared Angle! Talk about crystallized shapes thrown with authority! As the only dancer who wears a white leotard in this ballet, she was already under the microscope. Boy did she ever deliver a powerful, confident and beautiful performance. She’s got legs - steely, sinewy, articulate, long legs and lovely feet and she can wield her limbs like machetes. Jared must have felt like he had taken a vacation day, because Miss Claire is quite lean and light but strong enough to help power the PdD. At times, her chin charged forward too much, but truthfully, we didn't care simply because the rest of the performance was such a brilliant and startling surprise.

Jennie Somogyi and Craig Hall danced the third section at both performances like the choreography was a pair of perfectly fitted gloves. Jennie has long been known to wear Balanchine’s neoclassic choreography with innate ease and grace. The evening’s Episodes had a tinge of sorrow since it was her penultimate appearance on the stage.

The final Ricercata was led by Sara Mearns and Adrian Danchig-Waring. Having so enjoyed Maria Kowroski’s interpretation of this section in the past, it was difficult to understand Sara’s morose reading of it. Adrian was a perfect partner and so damn interesting to watch because of the innate suspense in his style. You may have seen him dance a role many times, but he always brings something new and inventive to each performance.

The Four Temperaments received outstanding performances both at the matinee and in the evening. Megan Johnson debuted in the first section of the Theme opposite Cameron Dieck. We’ve been watching Megan with great interest since she joined the company. Initially pushed into roles too quickly like Concerto Barocco, she now appears more mature and perhaps ready for bigger opportunities. The shapes she makes with her legs are nearly flawless and she exudes a warmth on stage that she didn’t have in her early years.

Lauren King with Allen Peiffer and Ashley Laracey with Justin Peck have been performing the 2nd and 3rd sections of the Theme splendidly for a few seasons. Lauren had a gorgeous debut a week or so ago in the Valse Melancolique (Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3) opposite Taylor Stanley. She has another very difficult debut coming up at the final performance of the season when she will dance the first section of Episodes opposite Devin Alberda who will also debut. Looking forward to that very much. Ashley Laracey seems completely recovered from her recent injuries and gave a lovely debut in Liebeslieder Walzer earlier in the season - so full of perfume and poetry. We can’t wait to see what is next. Allen Peiffer appears to be another late bloomer. The viewer’s eye goes to him whenever he’s on stage. He projects extremely well and seemingly has no technical shortcomings.

Anthony Huxley’s Melancholic was fantastic. Great backbends, beautiful elevation and speed. Ana Sophia Scheller and Tyler Angle blew through Sanguinic like it was child’s play – backed up by a gang of very dangerous and young-looking Sanguinistas. Amar Ramasar’s Phlegmatic was thoroughly enjoyable with just the right amount of quirkiness although at times it crossed over into melancholy. Ashley Bouder’s Choleric was especially irritable and cranky with some very prickly pointes. She had a “don’t you forget this look” on her face that, well, we’re not going to forget.

Saturday’s HH Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Claire Kretzschmar for her stunning debut in Episodes.

NYCB – Jeux by Kim Brandstrup 10/8

Now, this was a little more like it.

Full concept, robust theater, stunning costumes, some okay steps. It could have used an airplane crash somewhere in it, probably. When Nijinsky created his own Jeux to Debussy’s so-titled work in 1913, he reportedly wanted to incorporate an airplane crash into the drama, but he was talked out of it. This was a few years prior to his first institutionalization, but people probably already recognized that the genius was flying with one bent wing. Antony Tudor, on the other hand, most likely would have had the people on stage simply looking up in the air for the plane while registering impending doom. Really, it’s rather pointless to speculate what either of them would have done.

What Kim Brandstrup did, however, in his version of Jeux to the same Debussy music that Nijinsky used was to create a little game-drama in which Sara Mearns was the first one to be blindfolded in the game where she tried to catch someone to dance with. She wore a plainer-than-plain black 1940-ish dress that had a slim silhouette, a gorgeous square neckline in the front and back, and short sleeves. Gorgeous neckline on that dress. Then, Adrian Danchig-Waring appeared in a tee-shirt, jean-like pants and tennis shoes with his basketball like a Young Man From the Playground Opposite but with wholesome, honorable intentions. He just wanted to play.

Sterling Hyltin and Amar Ramasar and five couples were dressed in fashionable 1940-ish gray and black suits or dresses - all costumes were stunning and designed by Marc Happel. The lighting by Jean Kalman was very dark and shadowy with a nearly-naked bulb hanging in a downstage corner. All of it - very, very interesting.

So, the game continued with Sara trying to catch the other players who sometimes taunted her a little bit. It was totally harmless, though, since she was blindfolded and couldn’t see them. The corps choreography was inventive in the way that the dancers were swept off and onto the stage. Collectively, the corps was a character as it is in many of Tudor’s works. But - and there always has to be a but - the principals’ choreography somehow looked a lot like all of the other stuff that we’ve seen. Why does every fast supported pirouette have to end with a grand ronde de jambe? Why so many obnoxious pique passes? Why was that Ratmansky supported ballotté stuck in there? Come on, folks. Somebody needs to erase the blackboard so that we can start with a fresh, clean slate.

Sara finally appeared without her blindfold, having apparently had enough of the game and removed it off stage. She registered displeasure at what she saw in the downstage corner, danced a little pas de deux and then decided it was time to blindfold Adrian to start the game anew. And that’s how it ended.

The brief use of the basketball in Brandstrup's dance was like Nijinsky’s use of the tennis ball and rackets in his version of Jeux. The whole thing was clever without trying too hard to appear clever.

Also on the program were the four premieres from last week with their same casts. Haglund has nothing new to say about them.

The H.H. Pump Bump, a sleek black stiletto, goes to Sara Mearns and Adrian Danchig-Waring for their dance theater this evening and for making us wish we could see NYCB restore one of its Tudor works sometime soon.

observations 10-6

The 32-member Columbia Classical Ballet completely lost its home in the 1,000 year flood that hit South Carolina last week. 

Artistic Director Radenko Pavlovich told NPR that the facility was a total loss and that insurance may only cover around 50% of the half million dollar re-construction of the Pavlovich Ballet School building which houses the company's operations.

During the flooding, the water reached the ceiling of the studio. When they went back in, they found snakes there. SNAKES.

There is a GoFundMe page up. Throw a buck in the can if you can. The company was scheduled to have a performance with a premiere in ten days, but instead, they're dealing with snakes and bacteria. Throw a buck in the can if you can.

Caption from NPR article:

Pictured is the inside of the Pavlovich Ballet School Building, home of the Columbia Classical Ballet, as electrical crews shut off power Monday, in Columbia, S.C.

Gerry Melendez/The State/TNS/Landov

 

Ballet Tech - numerators & denominators

Congratulations to Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech NYC Public School for Dance whose 4th Graders shown brightly in the latest round of New York State standardized English and Math testing.

Of 743 city elementary schools tested, Ballet Tech ranked 15th in Math scores and 44th in English. More than 88% of the 4th Graders passed the tough math exam. It seems that breaking down a 16-count petit allegro combination in reverse is good brain-train for factoring a pesky algebraic trinomial.

The Upper West Side's Special Music School, which we love and admire also, ranked 1st in both Math and English scores with 100% of their students passing both exams. What a tremendous accomplishment!

However, there is a significant difference in the overall student bodies of these two unique schools where enrollment is won by audition: demographics. Here are the percentages:

Latino
18.12 - Ballet Tech
8.9 - Special Music School

Black
26.85 - Ballet Tech
5.71 - Special Music School

Asian
40.94 - Ballet Tech
20.42 - Special Music School

White
12.75 - Ballet Tech
54.97 - Special Music School

Native American
1.34 - Ballet Tech
0.00 - Special Music School

Ballet Tech kicks off its Big Apple Fundraiser on October 9th. More information on donating to the foundation can be found here.

By the way, the Ballet Tech students feverishly collect Box Tops all year long as a way of raising money for their school. What are you doing with your Box Tops?

 

NYCB 10/2 – Split decision

When Balanchine was still alive and in the several years following his death, it was pretty much universally agreed that people didn’t care for most of the choreography by Peter Martins. Some were even not very nice when saying so. Imagine that.

Decades later and considering the current choreographic trends of dancers running around to hit pose after pose or do a two-count trick along with all the manipulative, pretentious PdD that has become the angst and yank of contemporary ballet, a good amount of Martins' work is looking much better and is holding up better than some of the highly-promoted new offerings.

Friday evening’s program began with Martins’ Ash, created in 1991 to a driving score of the same name by Michael Torke. Surely, the choreographer was trying to recreate some of the energy and flow that he always admired in Balanchine’s allegro masterpieces such as Allegro Brillante and Concerto Barocco, and he seems mostly to have succeeded while also developing kaleidoscopic patterns that grow and evolve in a pleasing way. There is no story, no plot, no subtext. There is nothing going on in this piece except for hard driving, turbo-dancing.

Ashly Isaacs and Taylor Stanley, who led the cast of ten dancers, began the evening a bit studiously. After exiting into the wings the first time, they returned with a fresh, high-octane vivacity which they maintained for the remainder of the ballet. Haglund isn’t going to miss any of their subsequent performances, because he knows exactly how these two push hard to make each performance greater than the last. The partnering is especially tricky for the ballerina and not the type where the partner simply manipulates her limbs around. She has to be able to find and maintain her axis and gauge where her finishing points are long before she reaches them.

The four supporting couples were all stars, but Ashley Hod and Devin Alberda caught the eye because they were so attractive together and seemed to have a rapport with a tinge of competitiveness.

Also on the program was Richard Tanner’s Sonatas and Interludes which uses the John Cage score with prepared piano on stage. The prepared piano has objects – such as bolts, screws, erasers – stuck in the strings to create the strange tonal sounds. The choreography doesn’t come close to the music in terms of complexity. It’s very surface stuff. The two dancers, Tiler Peck and Anthony Huxley, in white unitards with gold braided belts, execute it all precisely and extract the maximum effect from it, but it’s fairly shallow content when compared to the music. At times it is imitative of Balanchine's leotard ballets.

Balanchine’s Tarantella got a blistering performance from Megan Fairchild and Joaquin De Luz. The night before, the two were cast in Theme and Variations. There was a moment about two-thirds of the way through when Megan, fresh from her lengthy Broadway stint, suddenly remembered what a killer the piece was. Those lips were pressed together fairly tightly, and she truncated a line of virtuosic turns unexpectedly. But for most of T&V, her form was magnificent, if not better than we remember it. No problems with Tarantella last night. Great dancing, rich expression, and fabulous rapport with De Luz. We’re going to cut him some slack for not being 30 years old. He’s still awesome, a crowd favorite, and rips this dance as well as anyone has ever ripped it. He ain’t saving nothing when he’s on stage.

Justin Peck’s Rodeo, Four Dance Episodes and Balanchine’s Slaughter on Tenth Avenue completed the bill. In Slaughter, Tyler Angle’s Hoofer revealed a lot more of himself than usual following a near complete split of his pants. He worked it into the act brilliantly – occasionally covering his crack with his hands. His tap dancing just gets better and better.  Sara Mearns’ Striptease Girl had sensuality and split kicks that would get her arrested in most joints in Hell’s Kitchen.

This ballet requires chewing scenery, and the dancers never let up trying to live up to the reputation of the times. David Prottas as Morrosine who sets up an attempted hit on the Hoofer, Aaron Sanz as the gangster who sits in the 1st Ring of the audience waiting for the right time to pull the trigger, Harrison Coll as the Thug who takes a fatal hit and gets dumped but miraculously comes back to dance in the Finale of the show, the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Ballet, Big Boss, cops and bartenders were all fabulous. Haglund loves this ballet almost as much as he loves Serenade.

The evening’s Pump Bump Award, a Hell’s Kitchen Special, is bestowed upon the cast of Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.

NYCB – Gala 9/30

First some atmosphere from last night. It seems that there was a little bit of a South Pacific theme in play:

 

Over the past few seasons we have learned to manage our expectations for the new choreography presented at NYCB gala evenings. We stave off disappointment with astonishment over the apparel worn on and off the stage at these events. Did everyone see pictures of Sarah Jessica Parker’s dress from last night? Holy moly. It was so powerfully beautiful that it must have further empowered the already most-powerful SJP. That would explain why when she returned from intermission and had to squeeze past the standing David and Julia Koch in Row A of the 1st Ring, she paused to chat a few words and then gave old Dave a nice firm pat on his chest. Haglund strained hard to read what was written in the speech bubble over SJP's head, but the thick clouds of forced courtesy throughout the 1st Ring obscured it.

The evening began with another wonderful video starring the NYCB Costume Shop and moderated by director Marc Happel. At some point in time, this whole crew needs to take a stage bow so that the audience can express its appreciation for the miracles performed season after season. The video offered a glimpse of the star designers – Peter Copping of Oscar de la Renta designing for Peter Martins’ Thou Swell; Humberto Leo of Opening Ceremony and Kenzo designing for Justin Peck’s New Blood; Hanako Maeda of ADEAM designing for Robert Binet’s The Blue of Distance; Marta Marques & Paulo Almeida of Marques Almeida designing for Troy Schumacher’s Common Ground; and Zuhair Murad designing for Myles Thatcher’s Polaris. Murad also draped SJP in her sparkling gown.

All of the costumes were gorgeous, particularly those created by Hanako Maeda which made Sterling Hyltin, Rebecca Krohn, and Sara Mearns look like a million dollars in Robert Binet's The Blue of Distance. We previously showed you a picture of one of the tutus in progress . The bodice of each ballerina’s costume had custom cutouts in the front and sides. They were so beautiful that nobody really cared what the women were doing on stage.

Binet’s choreography to music by Maurice Ravel got off to a good start with the couples (Rebecca with Preston Chamblee, Sterling with Gonzalo Garcia, and Sara with Tyler Angle) performing some interesting lifts. The extra man, Harrison Ball, perhaps represented that blue light in the spectrum that gets lost because it fails to travel all the way from the sun to us. Instead, it scatters and forms a hue that will never reach any destination - also a metaphor for emotional detachment sometimes. It was great to see this young man featured and to see him burning up the Marley, sometimes with more force than he could control, but nevertheless a very impressive role debut. All in all, however, the choreography lacked vocabulary and relied on the current trend of excessive manipulation in PdD with a lot of running around between poses.

Myles Thatcher’s Polaris to William Walton’s Piano Quartet in D Minor was full of youthful intensity but also lacked vocabulary and was heavy on running around between poses. Tiler Peck and Craig Hall led the group for whom Tiler was obviously the North Star, i.e., the polaris.  Much of the action revolved around her - much of it arbitrary that had little to do with the music. One thing that Haglund is beginning to notice is that when young new-ish choreographers use Tiler Peck (or Ashley Bouder or Sara Mearns) they may allow too much input from the dancer to do what feels good to do. The result is a sameness in the musicality and facial responses from dance to dance that is almost predictable. While it’s true that a dancer’s every experience informs what he does next, we may be seeing a bit too much of it.

Common Ground by Troy Schumacher to music by Ellis Ludwig-Leone showed further seasoning of the choreographer but suffered from a score that struggled for a direction while being imitative of composers often heard in this theater. Schumacher's style of choreography has developed consistently from his early works seen at the Baryshnikov Arts Center several years ago, and he still favors using many of the same dancers. One might call his style highly conversational because his dancers are constantly bouncing off one another theatrically, musically, and with their momentum. It’s a loose style with a fun feel to it - a little like Robbins, Feld, and Tharp. Anthony Huxley made the viewer sit up and take notice whenever he arrived on stage. Actually all of the dancers served the choreography well, but Huxley showed that he is quickly learning how to insert dynamics and surprise into his dancing like Daniel Ulbricht and Joaquin De Luz have done for so many years.

New Blood by Justin Peck kind of picked up where other of his work left off. With the exception of the wonderful Belles-Lettres and the second movement of Paz de la Jolla, all of the work that he has done for NYCB so far seems like it could be interchangeable. While the patterns of the dancers were recognizable and the concentrated doses of power impressive, it was hard to feel anything but fatigue when watching it and listening to the Steve Reich music. When Adrian Danchig-Waring bolted out onto the stage, all of a sudden things got a lot more interesting. He had an urgent sense of life on stage that was bigger than everyone else’s. That’s not to suggest that we didn’t enjoy watching Ashley Bouder, Taylor Stanley, Peter Walker, Georgina Pazcoguin, Andrew Veyette and several others power through their phrases. But Adrian had something unique going on.

Thou Swell by Peter Martins has never been one of Haglund’s favorites. It must have been on the program in order to get everyone in the mood to dine & dance after the show. The three piece band on stage played the great old Richard Rodgers music handsomely. Pianist Alan “Jazzbough” Moverman had the ivories dancing a lot more interestingly than Martins' choreography moved the dancers. Norm Lewis, the baritone was sensational and made sitting through the whole thing totally worthwhile. What a voice! Early on, soprano Rebecca Luker’s voice was not always where it should have been but her last few songs were quite lovely.

Overall, the programming was wise for several reasons. First, we were introduced to and reacquainted with some extremely young and developing talents almost like they were the Class of 2015. Second, the pieces were brief assignments for the choreographers that were supported by excellent dancers and fabulous fashion. This was certainly smarter than handing over a third of an evening to a fledgling choreographer and expecting him to carry it by himself. Small steps are smart steps.

So, it was a packed evening with a lot of talented people. We’re going to bestow the HH Pump Bump Award upon Harrison Ball because he had a little bit of a breakout moment that he seized with a fierce passion. We look forward to seeing more of that sort of thing – hopefully sooner rather than later.