Truth be told --

-- these new Ruthless Rubies Tall Girls are the poison we all want to gulp down.

NYCB finished off its All Balanchine program of Mozartiana, Rubies, and La Valse last week with such strength of programing and performance that it felt like the company has suddenly launched itself into a new era of brilliance led by intensely talented interpreters of Balanchine's masterpieces.

Good lord, Miss Mira. Of course, she's the "experienced" one, having debuted in the Tall Girl role pre-pandemic. Mira Nadon along with Emily Kikta and Isabella LaFreniere who shared the role over the run were a terrifying trio of talent, charisma, confidence, and salesmanship. They elevated this role to the primary role in the ballet -- not an easy thing to do when Sterling Hyltin and Roman Mejia were absolutely killing the PdD with their own high voltage. What a perfectly cast duo those two were! Sterling with her delicate, wire whisk-thin limbs whipped through the choreography like a star chef whipping up a meringue. And there was hungry Roman Mejia, totally ready to take it all like he'd been preparing for this feast his whole life. It's hard to see how NYCB could do any better with Rubies than we saw this season.

Mozartiana, with the cast of Tiler Peck, Harrison Ball, and Troy Schumacher was also extraordinary. The Gigue as danced by Troy was lively, crystal clear, musically interesting, and very well received by the audience. While Tiler offered rich and imaginative musical phrasing and interpreted the role with the perfect combination of wit and soulfulness, the lack of flexibility in her instrument was evident. The iconic ending where she stretches her head and neck over the back of her partner's was not achieved as it should have been. However, Harrison Ball was a revelation. His dancing looked not only Danish inspired, but Danish born. We saw Ball's extraordinary carriage, clinically consummate partnering, authority, blistering businesslike allegro, finesse, and understated beauty in the dancing some 50 years ago of Peter Martins. Ball's brilliant performance was an exceptional and startling reminder of past greatness. We worry, though. As much as we love seeing Ball dance at this extraordinarily high level, we know that it often comes with great cost. We hope that this dancer will be able to intelligently moderate his intensity so that we may enjoy his dancing for many years to come.

Last evening's performance of Serenade was simply beautiful. Again, Sterling Hyltin was perfection technically, musically, and theatrically. Erica Periera, in one of her best roles as the Russian Girl flew through the allegro with infectious joy. She needs to, and seems to be trying, to dance a bit more like Sterling. Emilie Gerrity as the Dark Angel was sublime with a beautiful arabesque line that sang from the tips of her fingers to the tips of her toes. Amar Ramasar and Aaron Sanz carried their partnering duties with elegance.

Andantino, Jerome Robbins' PdD set to the Second Movement of Tschaikovsky's First Piano Concerto was like a breeze of fresh air as danced by Indiana Woodward and Gonzalo Garcia. This year, Indiana's lines have become longer and more elegant. The impact on the beauty of her innate musicality has been evident. Simply gorgeous. She made Haglund love this PdD anew.

Balanchine's Swan Lake was quite another story. It is, hands down, the worst production in a major company. The version is a 1-act distillation of the stories contained within the 2nd and 4th acts of what we generally see in the world of classical ballet. It is perfunctory and as history has recorded, was created by Balanchine in a deal that allowed him to create other more modern ballets at NY City Center. While there are interesting corps patterns for the black-costumed swans, the meat & potato roles of this ballet (Odette and Sigfried) are so lacking in choreographic poetry and artistry that no degree of indulgence in blatant emotionalism or superficial theatrical arm waving will ever make this an acceptable production of Swan Lake. Even the scenery looked amateurish with the stalactites "growing" from the ceiling but also blowing back and forth from the breeze in the theater. Get us outta here. Never again. (Exactly what we said the last time.)

The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Indiana Woodward for her Andantino last evening. Just coming into her own as a new principal, she is nevertheless making us excited for what is to come.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Zachary]

Hey Haglund!

I was at the Swan Lake I program last night too and I agree about the one-act version. I turned to a friend after, who had never seen a full length Swan Lake, and asked for her impressions. She remarked that it seemed like what you would expect to see in a Las Vegas style abridged production. HOWEVER, the swan corps choreography was actually really interesting/refreshing for me to watch, but I could not figure out why the prince was hunting around icebergs...

Maybe I'm naive but I do not get how even the one act Swan Lake bill provides a more corona-safe evening than a full length evening? Either way, the full corps is exposed in Serenade and the lakeside scene...

Overall it was a lovely evening with Serenade, Andantino, and Tchai pas. I did love seeing an overall impression of Ms. Mearns's Odette and I wish I could see her in a full length production.

[Solor]

Doesn't the one-act Balanchine Swan Lake have to compete with the Martins full-length Swan Lake for the worst production award? I remember back in the 70's being in the lobby of the NY State Theater shortly before a NYCB matinee performance was to begin. A middle-aged couple walked in to see what was on the afternoon's program - the man looked at the list of ballets and called out to his wife, "Do you want to see Swan Lake"? My point here is that someone with little knowledge of ballet (which could have been this couple) would see Balanchine's Swan Lake and take away the idea that this is indeed what Swan Lake is. And this sort of thing happens all the time. I had an argument once with someone about a selection of music from Ben Stevenson's "The Snow Maiden" - I pointed out that it was the "Entr'acte" from The Sleeping Beauty, Act II; they insisted that it couldn't be (probably because they never saw a production that included it) and, anyway, it was clearly from Balanchine's "The Nutcracker." These things have an unfortunate cumulative effect.

[Rachel Perez]

Truth be told, I left before the one act swan lake because I agree with Haglund that it is just not a good production.

Tiler as always was lovely in Tschai Pas and Roman is making that one his own as well. I was happy that was my last impression for the evening, especially as the program started almost half an hour late because the lines to get into the theater around 7:45 stretched all the way to Geffen Hall!

[Haglund]

Solor,

ITA that Martins' Swan Lake is not good at all. Interestingly, it feels very rushed although it is actually 5 minutes longer than ABT's SL with its tragically truncated Act IV. (Not counting intermissions.)

Martins designed his Swan Lake for his audience, not the dancers, not history, not the art form. He knew the appetite of his audience and their expectations. He knew that they would not sit through hours of costume parading and pantomime. He was looking to make a full length that would make a lot money for the company, and that's exactly what he did. Do I attend? Rarely. But a lot of people do and come away feeling like they have experienced Swan Lake -- that in itself is a tragedy.

[Haglund]

Rachel, those lines were worse than Nutcracker. It may be that people need a little reminder to show up earlier.

I thought that the Tschai PdD was lovely, but clearly was being danced very carefully. Again, flexibility in Tiler's back was a problem. Not only were the arabesques not at 90 degrees but we saw several obvious hip opening arabesque lines in order to crank the leg up. The attitude positions were not what they should have been. She is dancing as though she is still significantly injured, and that is very troubling to watch. Nobody ever again wants to see what the audience saw when Jenny Somogyi pushed herself into that very serious on-stage injury.

[Solor]

Washington Ballet just premiered a new "Swan Lake" - a wonderfully traditional production with a complete (post-intermission) Act IV. Just proves that sometimes there isn't much that needs improving or rethinking.

[Sara]

How was Tiler last fall and Nutcracker? I've been reading here and other places various worries about what she can and can't currently do this season but I can't seem to remember how the opinions were last time. I don't remember reading anything too worrying from those months (but I also have terrible memory so correct me if I'm wrong).

It seems like while flexibility and tentativeness in her back is a worry but the musicality, phrasing, steps etc is all still there so I'm hopeful this is just her working through old/new roles in what is now her "new normal" and once she knows what she can handle she will up the ante. I think this is her first Tchai Pas since 2019 and obviously has never done Rubies (except for Vail) and Mozartiana

[Anon]

The NYCB Orchestra has been sounding wonderful for the recent Swan Lake programs. Even if the narratively lacking Balanchine production isn’t your favorite, the orchestra is sounding the best they have in years.

[Rachel Perez]

Anon - I've really enjoyed the NYCB podcast which does a "See the Music" series. The concert master joined on the most recent episode about Swan Lake. I agree re the orchestra.

On a non-NYCB-related note, ABT announced its Don Q casting for the Kennedy Center which features a return of Daniil Simkin and debuts for Brandt (opposite Herman) and Hurlin/Aran.