NYCB 2/12 – La Sylphide, Tsch Piano Concerto No. 2

This week Haglund hopped on the M-11 bus and rode down to the West Village to visit the Derek Zoolander Center for People Who Don’t Age Good, a temporary pop-up shop at the corner of 8th Ave. & 14th St. that has a lot of Kiehl stuff in it. There wasn’t much happening there except for nonsense and a hard sell for people to see some lame movie. As most H.H. readers know, Haglund is not exactly aging good or gracefully, but he’s not going to spend $50 on a pot of cream the size of a quarter to erase all that hard-earned character around the eyes, not when a little cheap concealer will do. Now, before anyone goes thinkin' that aging good is some kind of an oxymoron, you better get yourselves to New York City Ballet in the next week to see La Sylphide that is not only aging good but, at nearly 180 years old, is still one of the most ridiculously good looking ballets of all time, to borrow one of Derek's phrases.

NYCB’s production of August Bournonville’s La Sylphide to music by Herman Severin Løvenskiold premiered last year to considerable acclaim with casts that surprised us with their commitment to the Bournonville style and to the heart of this classic. The scenery and costumes by Susan Tammany take some getting used to and may not be everyone's cup of British tea, but they don't offend the senses.

The biggest delight of last year’s run was the debuting pair of Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley. (Wow, what a day and evening of sacred spirits that was, do you remember?) Unfortunately, Lauren is not quite ready to tackle that role again after many months of recuperation from surgery. But we have a couple of new Sylphs to fill in for Lauren and for Ashley Bouder who is out cultivating a Bouder-sprout or sprite. Corps dancer Indiana Woodward and Principal Megan Fairchild will each sprout wings, lose them, go blind and die for the first time this year. On the men’s side, it doesn’t look like there will be any debuts in the role of James, but one never knows. Joaquin De Luz had to withdrawn from his performances and is being replaced by Andrew Veyette, who opened the run last night opposite Sterling Hyltin.

Bournonville's pristine choreography was not made to be danced in the brutal manner that Andrew Veyette did in James’ variations last night when forced energy trumped all sense of proper style. With a penchant for throwing the head up as a way of camouflaging a stiff back and marginal arabesque, he strained and chopped his way through the variations without any of the buoyancy or ease that one expects to see. Arms flying every which way, frequently higher than they should have been, didn’t help the picture which was one of non-commitment to Bournonville style.

Sterling Hyltin was a lovely Sylph although not quite as spiffy and polished as last season. Some of the generous slow plie that contributes to airiness was curtailed. Now and then an arm in second position went above the shoulder or behind it. But Sterling presented an authentic character, an endearing sprite who wasn’t so much a mischief maker as someone simply trying to figure out how to get what she wanted. Her bourrees rippled softly as did her arms from the elbows to the fingertips. The profile line from the top of her head down the neck and through the shoulders was wonderfully Romantic. Her effortless jumps created pretty arcs.

Daniel Ulbricht’s Gurn had the commitment to Bournonville style that was missing in our James. The stage brightened considerably whenever he appeared whether dancing or not. Gurn has some of the most pleasing choreography in the ballet including fabulous grand jetes en tournant that soared around to the back while his head looked over his shoulder to the front. Ulbricht made those especially beautiful last night, and of course, his petit allegro was brought to us by Mr. Clean. Hopefully, we’ll have an opportunity to see his James in the not too distance future – this Sunday’s matinee wouldn't be too soon.

Brittany Pollack as Effie hit the mark with both dancing and character. Georgina Pazcoguin's portrayal of the witch Madge was a rich combination of evil, conniving, and wit. In her few spotlighted steps, corps dancer Sara Adams created the type of sylph-ish magic that we want to see more of before too much time passes.

The other half of the program was Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 for which we were treated to a beautiful performance by Teresa Reichlen and Tyler Angle, and a cautious Ana Sophia Scheller as the turning ballerina. We hope Ana is not injured again, but she was definitely holding back last night after a little stumble at the start. Tess, on the other hand, was vibrant and moved with a freedom that we haven’t seen all season. Tyler also was sensational – those turns to the knee behind the ballerina where he has to quickly get back up to catch her on balance were really spectacular. What an opportunity for catastrophe there is in this choreography!

Formerly known as Ballet Imperial, which Balanchine created in 1941, the ballet was reassessed by Balanchine in 1973 to remove the allusion to Imperial Russia. He ditched the tutus and decor in favor of simpler designs and renamed the piece after the music. Haglund loves the old tutus, though.

Last night's corps de ballet was okay except for a couple of problems with the men’s partnering while holding the women in penche arabesque. This ballet is brand new to a lot of the corps dancers who may still be figuring things out. We expect by the end of the run that the corps work will have the same blistering brio as Theme and Variations.

Haglund will revisit this program tonight and tomorrow night and perhaps again next week. In the meantime, the HH Pump Bump Award, a 2016 Louboutin, is bestowed upon Daniel Ulbricht for his spot-on dancing and portrayal of Gurn.

Comments

[melponeme_k]

I"m happy that Indiana Woodward's great dancing in Bournonville Divertissements last year was noticed and rewarded.

[missy]

Haglund, did you see that Miriam Miller will be debuting in the central pas de deux in Agon with Amar on Feb 26? I missed her in Midsummer but heard she was a marvel, despite still being in the corps. I'm sure she is being prematurely thrust into this role, with the assumption she'll be the next Maria Kowroski (who may not have many seasons left in her career), but it's thrilling nonetheless.

[Haglund]

Yes, missy, I saw that and I plan to catch one of the performances.

Maria also got a lot of opportunities very early in her career, but she put in her share of grunt work, too. Nor was she automatically adored overnight. Let's hope that Miriam has what it takes deep inside of her to fulfill the rapidly building expectations of those watching.