observations 5/19

Coming up this evening at 8pm is the NYCB digital season presentation of Balanchine's Diamonds with Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen and the extraordinarily beautiful Diamonds corps de ballet. The performance from September 2019 was among the five Jewels performances that Haglund happily sat through that season.

One of the most striking memories of that time was the new emotional balance between these two principals. "Calm is her super power, " we declared. We noted how Diamonds was no longer a solitaire – it had been "replaced by a pavé setting that unleashed the light and grandeur of Balanchine’s masterpiece."

This performance is really worth gluing the old eyeballs to over and over again.

 

Comments

[Jeannette]

Wonderful performance of Diamonds! Folks, don’t forget to take this survey, as NYCB is considering streaming future performances and archived ballets (for up to $15, among options). It saw this in the description within the YouTube for Diamonds:
https://nycbdigital.questionpro.com/

[Haglund]

Definitely take the survey, and when you get to question #4 be sure to check "other" and include Haglund's Heel as an information source! https://nycbdigital.questionpro.com/

Finally NYCB is considering some streaming revenue! If the fall season can go on without a live audience, this would be the perfect format. Soon thereafter (pandemic allowing), NYCB could be achieving revenues like the Met Opera does with its streaming in cinemas. Maybe NYCB will even follow the Met with its FREE outdoor screenings during the warm months (pandemic allowing).

[Solor]

Assuming you're talking about live performances (not older videos), it would be great except for one logistical challenge: the same precautions that would require a live audience to socially distance would be even more critical on stage given the exertion that the dancers go through (with lots of sweating). The orchestra would face similar requirements, but that might be easier to accomplish. I really don't want to see a season of "Dying Swan." I hope they can figure this out.

[Haglund]

Performances will be complex to manage -- no doubt about it. But I think the model will be in place by mid-summer when the pro-sports teams resume play.

NYCB could sell 20-25% of the house and maintain social distancing among patrons. Add revenue from a livestream or a Live from Lincoln Center and you would get enough to carry on for some months until vaccines or other inventions come along that will enable the masses to return to the theater. I could see the Koch Theater utilizing the UV light machines that the MTA has just rolled out to kill coronavirus on the trains, buses and in the subway.

Invention during this pandemic has accelerated at a rate that no one could have ever imagined. We'll just have to wait and see how it all shakes out.

[Fan Phyl]

Answered the survey and put you, Haglund, as my source. Thanks for the heads up and glad to have the opportunity to give you a plug. DIAMONDS was wonderful. Going to watch it again while all I still can. Your review is right on

[Haglund]

Thanks Fan Phyl!

It was a beautiful performance with very few snafus. I really appreciated the more restrained Mearns. I wish we also had the Diamonds of Kowroski and Reichlen to watch. All three are so different that they transport the viewer to different places.

One thing that I wish Sara would work on is not looking at the floor so much. This is a habit that creeps into her dancing quite a bit. There is a way for a dancer to look out toward the audience without looking directly at the audience.

[Jeannette]

According to Miami City Ballet’s Facebook page, we can add the Balanchine FIREBIRD to our Virtual Dance Card...streaming for free on May 29...for a donation, May 27. Casting not listed but can I make an early guess that we may be seeing beautiful just-promoted principal Nathalia Arja as the Firebird? https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10156810146796090&id=10244171089&anchor_composer=false

[Haglund]

Thanks, Jeannette!

[Marta]

Hi Haglund,

I filled in the survey and was glad to enter your name as a source too. I really liked the more subtle Mearns in Diamonds, and I also was wondering why she focused on the floor. It would be terrific to see Kowroski and Reichlen too on youtube. I did return to the Farrell/Martins offerings available, the gold standard.

[Haglund]

Thanks, Marta.

I agree that Farrell/Martins is the gold standard. Even on video, it is almost impossibly beautiful. After having years of Martins' expert and authentic coaching, the current principals finally got an application of Farrell's custom fine-finishing.

One thing I particularly liked about Kowroski's interpretation following the Farrell sessions was her entrance onto the stage. She walked on the balls of her feet with a definitive elegance -- just the way Farrell did.

While it's true that the entrance is "just walking," it is not intended to be pedestrian; it is a balletic entrance that begins to define who these characters are. They are not flatfooted common folk queuing up for a dance.

[Dreamer]

Thank you, Haglund, for being the best source of information for anything ballet related. Marketing departments need to know where dedicated ballet fans receive there information from, I was happy to mention your site in the survey.

[Haglund]

Thanks so much.

[Eulalia Johnson]

It was a pleasure to cite your site as well. As always, many thanks for it.

[Haglund]

Thanks, Eulalia.

[Shawn]

I mentioned your site on the survey as well. But I neglected to mention in the open-comments portion towards the end that you should be consulted on programming/casting decisions, digital or otherwise. Call it Haglund’s veto.Shawn

[Haglund]

LOL - Haglund's veto. I like it.

[FanPhyl]

Great to see so many of us into your posts on DIAMONDS.Haven't seen Korowski or Reichlin do it, I'm going to look for it on YouTube. Gillian Murphy also is always looking at the floor, much more so than Mearns. and In my view it spoils her performance.She is a wonderful technician, but the looking down removes the dramatic connection with her character and the audience. Always found it annoying.
I subscribe to Miami City Ballet, and saw their Firebird. It was excellent. Costumes and scenery wonderful. Natalia Arja was held back way too long and totally deserves to be a Principal. Long overdue. Glad Lourdes Lopez woke up,stopped obsessing over certain Principals that should have retired a few years ago, and didn't lose Arja.

[Danigirlh]

Late post but thank you for the heads up on the survey ... I referenced you, Haglund, as my source. I’m so happy NYCB included Diamonds in the digital season. Actually I’ve enjoyed all the programming. I’ve yet to view tonight’s program but I wanted to comment on Diamonds. I’ve seen NYCB perform this for more than 20 years, live. I never tire of the ballet. I’ve loved all the dancers through the years but seeing this streamed content was paradoxical, almost painful. I was so happy and sad at the same time. I appreciate your optimism about returning the stage. Mearns and Jansen were just glorious (I was actually at the live performance). The corps was alive and living it up. It was such a treat to see Lydia Wellington on screen!! Laine Habony, who I still believe is under-valued despite such strength, passion, and musicality, was the Demi stand out!. At 5’7”, she moves like a tall girl - and she led the Polonaise regally. Let’s hope their futures do not stay on hold too long - that generation has had its delays already. I’m sure most of the dancers are very concerned and the future ... But let’s hope for more streaming content as we New Yorkers navigate this scary time. Thank you for your continued posts! You are my favorite!

[Haglund]

Danigirlh,

We'll just have to wait and see what a loss of possibly a year does to each dancer's career and to the students who were on the cusp of becoming professionals. There are going to be veteran principals in many companies who think they are entitled to recoup every stage opportunity they lost over the year at the expense of those soloists and corps members who would have begun to eclipse them.

In these video presentations, it's easy to see the extraordinary corps talent that should be coming forward a lot more quickly than it is. There has been a log jam in promotions since the formal establishment of the permanent management team. The main difference between the interim team (which was willing & able to promote dancers) and the permanent team is the addition of Wendy Whelan. Thus, it's easy to conclude that she's the one preventing consensus. I hope that's not true.

It may be a year from the close-down until the stage becomes vibrant again. As difficult as it is to accept, that year will have more of an adverse effect on late-career dancers. That's life, and it doesn't mean that those dancers should be allowed to resume their careers as though nothing happened. The dancing stopped, but life didn't pause for a blink of an eye.