Haglund's Heel

NYCB 2/24 Matinee So good that it'll ruin you

We’re talking, of course, about the Stravinsky/Balanchine program that opened Saturday afternoon and has four more performances next week. This is why we live in New York! These are the standards that make it so darn difficult for anyone else to dance here.

 

Man-o-man, did this company ever charge up Symphony in Three Movements with electricity and attitude! One of Balanchine’s late-in-life miracles that shows his style at its most mature and most inventive, Symphony in Three Movements is the dancing geometry of a genius.

 

Tiler Peck and Taylor Stanley were ferocious as the lead couple among three lead couples. While these leotard classics definitely benefit from ballerinas with more angular physiques, Tiler put her own stamp on the role with her signature combo Maserati effortless power and Valentino glam. Megan LeCrone and Erica Pereira dancing with illustrious partners Joseph Gordon and Daniel Ulbricht came across the footlights with new force and vibrancy. Both ladies have had the potential to tear up the stage for a long time but have lacked the confidence to project with more pizzazz. This season both are dancing with new vitality and are much more interesting artists.

 

But this ballet is as much about the corps as it is about the principals. We missed Emily Kikta on the “statuesque” end of the line of pony-tailed ladies in white, but we noticed Christina Clark, whose limbs look like they were Calatrava-designed, standing among goddesses Isabella LaFreniere and Miriam Miller. We’ve also been noticing how Laine Habony has caught the lights’ new attention and is suddenly making us wonder what else she might be able to do. A week or so ago, it was Sara Adams who showed tremendous growth. This Interim Team led by Jon Stafford is reaching four extra arms-lengths into this prize-winning vineyard’s crop to thoroughly harvest the grapes for some fabulous new wines. Stafford’s the one for the permanent job - no question about it – unless Martins wants his job back for a while longer.

 

Sterling Hyltin and a debuting Russell Janzen were captivating in Duo Concertant. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a pair of dancers with the height differential of the originators, Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins. It was pretty fascinating to watch the young Janzen – not yet a contemporary-jazz bunny like some of his colleagues – focus in on the details meticulously, if at times academically. This big guy has speed that we didn’t know about. As we may have said before - we’d watch him sit on stage reading a book and be fascinated. Sterling's whistling speed, wispy lightness, and sunny demeanor have made Duo one of her best roles. While watching this today, Haglund couldn’t help but wonder whether these two dancers had been rehearsing Afternoon of a Faun for the Robbins Celebration this spring. There was a hint of it there, just a hint or perhaps a wish.

 

Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la Fée” was lovely in places and is nice to see occasionally. But it’s not top drawer Balanchine. In 1972 he ran his original Le Baiser ballet through the mill to separate the story “chaff” from the academic wheat: saute arabesque, pas de chat, step back, arabesque, chug-chug-chug goes the corps; staple variations for the principals. Then suddenly when the music changes and begins singing a soulful adagio story for two, it looks odd not to follow along; so, the principal dancers try to resurrect some fragments of the Fairy’s Kiss story and incorporate the idea of loss into the ballet. It’s Fairy’s Kiss Lite. But the dancing display by Joaquin De Luz and Megan Fairchild on Saturday afternoon was remarkable in its technical heft and brilliance. How De Luz keeps up this high quality of dancing as he approaches his 42nd birthday is some kind of magic or miracle. He bends his back. He lands tours squarely in fifth. He throws off manèges without even taking a deep breath. His pirouettes finish with unwavering exclamation points. He picks up his ballerina like she’s a piece of paper. We’ve been watching him for a long, long time and we keep having to ask ourselves whether his dancing today comes up even a hair short of what he did with Bronze Idol or Birbanto or Fancy Free twenty years ago. On Saturday it didn’t seem to be any less than it ever was.

 

And then there is that other miracle, Maria Kowroski, whose legs sliced like balletic maguro bōchō blades as she filleted her way through Agon – 25 years old again – with the heroic Adrian Danchig-Waring as her partner. No fish is too big for her to cut through these days. What a year she has had. What a source of inspiration she and De Luz must be to these young ones coming up. They are the oldest dancers in the company working as hard or harder than ones half their age and performing brilliantly while continuing to take on new repertory heft, deal with injuries, and face age. Who would be shocked if 60 Minutes came knocking at NYCB’s door with an anonymous complaint letter that accused Kowroski and De Luz of rolling back their odometers. Stranger, faker things have happened recently.

 

"What is age but a number?” we ask ourselves each time we see Maria and Joaquin on stage. The HH Pump Bump Award, polished diamonds from Jimmy Choo, goes to them.

 

 

New dance exhibit at the Whitney Museum

Coming to the Whitney Museum of American Art on the West Side of Manhattan is a new dance-focused exhibit of Nick Mauss works entitled Transmissions. From the Whitney:

For this exhibition, Nick Mauss explores the history of American modernist ballet, continuing a hybrid mode of working he has pursued for a decade in which the roles of curator, artist, choreographer, scholar, and performer converge. New works by Mauss—ranging from scores for a ballet to scenic design, décor elements, and live performance—will appear alongside pieces from the Whitney’s collection and those of other institutions.

That last point is important. The teaser on the website shows 1941 photos of Donald Saddler.

The exhibit opens March 16 and will run into an unspecified point in May. Haglund will report back after he attends the Members Preview Dates a few days before the opening.

 

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There’s quite a bit of interesting, wide-ranging stuff to report.

Irina Dvorovenko will star as “Elizaveta Grushinskaya - The still-beautiful, world-famous, about-to-retire Prima Ballerina” in New York City Center Encores presentation of Grand Hotel, the Musical from March 21-25. Oh, lord. Not to be missed. She’s gonna kill it again. Who could possibly have more material to give to this role than Irina?

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Lar Lubovitch Dance Company will present its 50th Anniversary Season from April 17-22 at the Joyce Theater. Lar Lubovitch, himself, doesn’t look a day over 50 — how could he possibly be having a golden anniversary for his company? But he is, and he’s creating another new dance called Something About Night which will be performed on each date. The Martha Graham Dance Company will guest during the 50th Anniversary Season performing Lubovitch’s The Legend of Ten on Program A. Program B include Act III from Lubovitch’s Othello. Lubovitch has invited some Joffrey Ballet dancers to come in to perform it. Well, not just some Joffrey Ballet dancers – SOME, as in, Fabrice Calmels, Rory Hohenstein, Victoria Jaiani, and Temur Suluashvili. Holy night of murder that will rock Chelsea, Batman.

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Angel Corella has formally announced Pennsylvania Ballet’s 2018-2019 season. We previously "scooped" that the season would open with Kenneth MacMillan’s extraordinary Romeo and Juliet, and we thought that would be the biggest news about the season. But oh noooooo! Angel is going to present Giselle in March! The company has so many potential heart-breaking Giselles that it isn’t fair to the rest of the ballet world.  No doubt we’re going to have to borrow a penny from someone to check the treads on the Gisellemobile. And Angel is presenting an all-Stravinsky program that includes Apollo, The Cage, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto. Oh, and throw Robbins’ Glass Pieces into the mix for the end of the season when the dancers have all but danced their feet off already. This is a huge, huge season that will also include four world premieres.

 

We’re very excited about going down to Philly next month for a couple of Swan Lakes. This new production based on the Petipa version and staged by Angel is not, repeat, is not a replacement for the production which Christopher Wheeldon made for the company’s 40th Anniversary Season in 2004. Both productions, vastly different, will remain in the company’s repertory. It’s unusual but not unprecedented to have two productions of the same ballet in a company’s rep. NYCB runs two very different Swan Lakes. 

 

The opening night cast includes Cubans Dayesi Torriente as Odette/Odile and Arian Molina Soca as Prince Siegfried. Sterling Baca, who will dance Prince Siegfried to Lillian Di Piazza's Odette/Odelle the following night may be Von Rothbart on opening night as well. We’ve been looking at Soca lately and wondering whether Placido Domingo spent time in Cuba in the late 1980s, because, well:

 

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Speaking of musical Spaniards, there is a published rumor from a well-placed source that Santiago Calatrava will be adding something big to Phase II of the Hudson Yards development on the West Side of Manhattan, a.k.a. Dubai on the Hudson. Both he and Frank Gehry are said to have major roles in the upcoming building projects that will include massive structures atop the rail yards.

 

Most known for his bridges, transportation hubs, and of course his wonderful scenery for New York City Ballet's 2010 season, Calatrava is the architect for what will be (in a couple of years) the most beautiful modern tower on earth. We can only hope that he will design something for our little neighborhood that will approach the beauty of the Dubai Creek Tower – a spaceship-like structure with harp-like strings for wings that practically reaches into heaven. Oh gosh, this is going to be one beautiful monument:

 

 

 

 

"It was all rigged. The system was rigged," cried Donald Trump The New York Times

New York City Ballet has completed its internal personnel investigation of complaints of abuse recently made by former employees against Peter Martins concerning incidents they described happening decades ago. The New York Times which helped the complainers cultivate their stories to make them more readable and click-attractive isn't happy with the conclusions of the investigation.

The good news is that it has now been verified that there was no physical or sexual abuse by Peter Martins as claimed by Mrs. Boal, the little Victor Ostrovsky,  Wilhelmina Frankfurt or anyone else. The bad news is that The New York Times (and likely soon the Washington Post) continues to promote false claims in an effort to defame Peter Martins and push NYCB around like it is accustomed to doing to ABT. Sadly, the fallout is that NYCB lost its illustrious leader whom everyone but a handful of fired dancers and disgruntled journalists 🙄 highly respect and wish would return. The company needs him back at the very least in a coaching capacity. Tomorrow at the latest.

The New York Times should simply be told to go fuck itself. That's precisely what ABT should have told it when the paper came sniffing at Marcelo Gomes' private parts to see if they could expose them for their readers' delight. If someone wants to complain about abuse, let them sue or complain to a legal authority. But the NYT and WPO want nothing but to make as much money as possible off of these stories that they help create and they do it by blowing defamation through their megahorns.

There is no proof of any abuse at NYCB by Peter Martins. None. Period. The complainers had the opportunity to file complaints with the EEOC or sue in civil court or call the police, but they didn't. They didn't because they knew that nothing they experienced rose to the level of abuse. The complainers' only hope of getting money and revenge was to try to embarrass NYCB through the media so that NYCB would beg them to stop and do anything that NYT or WPO demanded.

The NYT is going to second guess every employer investigation that doesn't yield the conclusions it wanted and then claim that the investigation was rigged – just like Donald Trump. Just like him.

 Here are Alastair, Gia, and Sarah Kaufman all rolled into one:

 

NYCB 2/13 Romeo + Juliet + other stuff

In the short span of a week, the New York Times has published two more diatribes maligning the retired head of New York City Ballet, Peter Martins. This, of course, is, always has been, and will be eternally at the urging of Alastair Macaulay, the Times’ dance critic whose career includes being arrested and jailed for stalking and photographing children on a beach in England. The police were so disturbed by his stalking behavior that after his arrest they searched his hotel room, confiscated his computer, and alerted the London police to search his home there. Macaulay's sensual description of children in his reviews in which he focuses on their bodies have caused outrage among readers who recognize Macaulay’s paedophilic tendency even though The New York Times has ignored them and has decided that Macaulay’s run-in with the law over taking liberties with children wasn’t flagrant enough to avoid keeping him for an unimportant post like dance writer. At the top of today’s news is another instance in which the New York Times failed to perform simple due diligence before hiring an opinion writer who very publicly slurred gays and supported neo-Nazis. But Quinn Norton and Alastair Macaulay are not wholly unalike. Both have no shame for their sordid behavior. Both publicly push it to the forefront in an effort to normalize it and make it look innocent.

 

This past week, NYT tried to manipulate a stage moment in Romeo + Juliet during which Juliet's father fake-slaps her into Exhibit A of its prosecution against Martins. When Alastair Macaulay reviewed the premiere of this ballet in 2007, he uttered a single sentence about it in his long, windy, overly-detailed review. But a stage incident that was barely important enough to mention some 15 years after the Martins/Kistler Page Six coverage of their domestic dispute, has after an additional 10 years become fodder for the NYT in its screeching hyperbolic coverage of anyone it can find who will claim they are a victim of abuse. It's all about getting the clicks.

 

Macaulay has never complained about how Juliet’s father roughly pushes her to the floor in MacMillan’s version of the ballet. He also seems at peace with ABT allowing a male dancer to rough up Misty Copeland’s tits on stage in front of 2,000 people as was done in choreography by MacMillan-wannabe Liam Scarlett. That last particular tolerance is racially-based and has to do with the NYT’s presumption that crime and violence against women of color is so deeply ingrained in the culture by way of the current much loved hip-hop music genre, that it apparently should be given a pass by critics. Even though the NYT condemns Martins as unacceptably abusive in response to wholly unproven charges and allowed its dance writer to call for his resignation, the paper characterizes rape, murder, witness tampering, and assault of a pregnant woman by black hip-hop celebrities as simply “troubling back stories” that haven’t prevented the public from adoring these entertainers. Where’s the outrage? From anyone? Certainly there is enough dance in hip-hop acts and videos to justify a dance critic weighing in on the violence.

 

In his latest piece of hollow complaining, Macaulay tries to magnify that over the years former NYCB stars such as Patricia McBride haven’t been invited by Peter Martins to come in to set Balanchine ballets as they remember dancing them — as opposed to how Martins’ remembered them, which he wants everyone to think is inferior. All the critic's screeching and whining makes it sound like McBride, Farrell and others are the last vials of flu vaccine left on earth. Get a grip on it! Did anyone at NYT ever complain that Baryshnikov wasn’t invited back to ABT to share his genius in Other Dances or Push Comes to Shove or any of the other Balanchine ballets which the choreographer personally taught him such as Prodigal Son? No. Did anyone ever complain that ABT didn’t invite Sallie Wilson to set the important works that she danced? No. Did anyone ever complain that ABT didn’t invite Gelsey Kirkland to help with Leaves Are Fading or Theme and Variations - both of which were her star vehicles? No. Did anyone ever complain that ABT could only muster up a former muse to set Apollo even though plenty of Balanchine-made Apollos were still alive? No. Did anyone ever complain about ABT having its Allegro Brilliante set on the company by a former NYCB corps dancer who never danced the leading role? No. 

 

Macaulay doth protest too much, me thinks — when it comes to Martins, when it comes to fake violence on stage in this R+J, and especially when it comes to his own troubling back story. But his hypocritical self-righteous fervor will likely blaze anew in his next review of NYCB’s winter season presentation of Martins’ Romeo + Juliet. The production is, as we have known since its premiere in 2007, not up to NYCB standards and takes the company in a theatrical direction unsupported by its tradition or training of its artists. 

 

After seeing R+J in its premiere year, Haglund vowed never to go back. But this year, he got sucked in by the debut casting of Harrison Coll as Romeo. No matter how bad the ballet, this was not to be missed. Coll is one of several NYCB artists in whom the audience has invested since the kids’ elementary age days at SAB — which really wasn’t so long ago. Coll is still a corps member in his early 20s, and his youthfulness served him well in his debut as Romeo last night. All went smoothly, if a bit studied. He and his Juliet, Sterling Hyltin, experienced no major glitches in the overly-complex partnering. He was at times puppy-ish toward Juliet who – ahem – was ready to get a puppy. Her coltish energy and dramatic details painted a picture of a strong-willed girl who was not going to acquiesce to the strong will of her father.

 

Coll’s path has similarities to the much missed and adored principal Robert Fairchild's. Fairchild’s first principal role was Romeo. For Coll, who has a 10-minute Nutcracker Cavalier (and little Prince a decade earlier) under his belt already, this was the first major principal role of his career. Like Fairchild, he excels in the more Broadway type choreography, particularly Robbins’ works, and like Fairchild at his debut, Coll has some work to do in the area of acquiring technical virtuosity. He made no blunders last night, but it was apparent that he was a little under-powered when dancing along side principal Daniel Ulbricht’s Mercutio and soloist Joseph Gordon’s Benvolio. We’re confident that he’ll work hard. Already his leg lines are more stretched and turned out, and his whole physique more lifted and regal. His theatrical chops were significant in both his romantic encounters with Juliet and his fighting with Joaquin De Luz’s fierce Tybalt. With the latter, he truly looked like the scared kid taking on the notorious bully. It was a good job. Let’s see where it leads.

 

There were problems last night with the orchestra: irregular tempi, squeaks, and an odd balance of instrument sections. The costumes and scenery have not improved since 2007 and remain today some of the most unfortunate designs on any ballet stage. 

 

We’re going to keep the H.H. Pump Bump Award in its box all safely wrapped up and ready to bestow on Harrison Coll at a future date — perhaps in the spring when we enjoy Fancy Free.

 

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It sure is good news to our ears that NYCB will include Symphony in C during its residency at SPAC this summer. That bodes well for the fall season.

The SPAC season is creating a problem for us. In addition to our annual trip up there to see NYCB, do we want to go up there for the thrill of seeing National Ballet of Cuba's Wilis flying around under the moon and stars in Giselle or do we want to enjoy them a week earlier in the comfort of the Kennedy Center? About the same amount of travel time. About the same prices. The Gisellemobile is keeping her tires plumped up and will be ready to go either north or south as soon as the driver decides.

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Down in Philadelphia, Angel Corella has announced that Pennsylvania Ballet's 2018-2019 season will open in October with Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet. Count me in. The rest of the season will be announced in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, we are pretty excited about seeing the premiere performance of Corella's new production of Swan Lake which is set to open on March 8th.

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Alarm bells went off when Haglund read that Benjamin Millepied is putting together his version of Romeo and Juliet to Prokofiev's score which will be presented during the L.A. Phil's 100th Season and is a collaboration between his LA Dance Project and ABT. Oh Laaawd!  Just how deeply has ABT tumbled into hell by signing on for more collaborations with Millepied? Maybe this R!J or R*J or R$J or R@J or R🤮J will only feature ABT's three most unwatchables.

 

 

New York City Ballet 2/2 & 2/3 evening

During the second week of its winter season, NYCB soldiered on but with a few bruises that require bandages. Most of the leading dancers of the company have held their chins high and are striving hard to demonstrate their confidence in the current interim artistic management team. In some ways, the situation is like a large family whose beloved parent has been senselessly murdered and the members are praying that they will stay in the care of an older revered sibling rather than forced into the foster care of an untrusted outsider or handed off to some distant relative. On the other hand, there are a few dancers who are making things more difficult for everyone, either by not apparently caring about what they put on stage or are acting out their frustrations by intentionally pushing to the point of self-destruction without any regard for the effect it may have on the rest. Management has dealt with the first type, and now it must address the second.

Despite the ongoing controversies, a steady pair of hands guides the company. The season is progressing. Dancers are living their personal constitutions. They seem to know what matters most. 

Over the past week we saw that Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15 could not be in better shape. Everyone rose to the occasion in this ballet. It certainly seemed to help everyone’s moods to be wearing Karinska’s most dazzling tutus of pale yellow for the principals and white & blue for the corps. 

Likewise, Robbins’ The Four Seasons, set to music from Verdi’s operas, was as stunning as it has ever been. Again, the costumes designed by Santo Loquasto seemed particularly vivid at the first performance on Groundhog Day. Winter was just as beautiful as spring – so who cares what the groundhog said? 

Indiana Woodward, Harrison Coll and Joseph Gordon made a case for loving cold weather. Sterling Hyltin (subbing for an injured Sara Mearns) and Jared Angle breathed fresh air into spring. Teresa Reichlen and Adrian Danchig-Waring radiated the warmth of summer. And Tiler Peck, Joaquin De Luz and Daniel Ulbricht torched the leaves of fall. Torched them to ash. Here was De Luz, another 41-year-old, knocking off a la seconde turns and jumps like he was entering a second spring season of his career. Part of it could have been that he wasn’t about to let the blazing Tiler Peck and crackling fast Daniel Ulbricht show him up. Whatever it was, the result was a burning delight.

But there was a Square Dance on Groundhog Day, too. Ashley Bouder and Taylor Stanley along with a vivacious corps of twelve found the lightness and play in Balanchine’s masterpiece to Vivaldi and Corelli. 

Also on the program was Mauro Bigonzetti’s Oltremare, a ballet about immigrants in which we view their angst, anticipation, regret, and hopefulness about seeking a better life in a new homeland. Overly long and repetitive, Oltremare would be much better if it were edited down to 15-20 minutes. The angst & yank of the gymnodrama grates on the nerves quickly. 

Saturday evening's repeat of Divertimento No. 15, The Four Temperaments, and Chaconne revealed the company’s strengths and weaknesses. The Four Temperaments was underpowered and disappointing. The two soloists assigned to Sanguinic (Savannah Lowery) and Choleric (Megan LeCrone), a juggling of cast due to Mearns' injury, seemed unready for their challenges — at least on this night. NYCB needs to strengthen its bench in 4Ts and search for a Sanguinic in the vein of Kyra Nichols and Jennie Somogyi. We think that Isabella LaFreniere is exactly what the role of Sanguinic could use right now -- and maybe Agon, too.

The happy discovery of the night was the growth in presentation experienced by Sara Adams in the Theme and the final section. She’s learning how to make us notice her by increasing the sharpness of changes in her head and focus. Everything she did looked more alive and interesting. It was as though she had an extra spotlight on her last night. 

The HH Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Joaquin De Luz for his blistering hot Fall in The Four Seasons:

 

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Today both Punxsutawney Phil and Potomac Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. Staten Island Chuck claimed that spring is right around the corner. Ya don't even know which groundhog to believe any more. It's pathetic. But down in the rich dirt of DC, a new flower pushed up to reveal its beautiful blossom this week.

Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo debuted in Jerome Robbins' Other Dances.  We've heard from some of the Haglund'eelers in the DC area. Whereas the earlier cast was panned , this cast was deemed by H.H.'s cognoscenti as truly sublime. We have pictures. Now, these pictures seem a little blurry for a good reason. They kind of have the quality of a command/shift/3 screen-print from a moving video. That's all we know. Don't ask questions. Don't pester us for details. If something turns up somewhere someday, you know Haglund will point you to it. In the meantime, let's hope ABT considers adding Sarah and Herman in Other Dances to the spring gala

Thanks much to our H.H. readers in DC for these treasures.