NYCB Opens its 75th Anniversary Season 9/19

        Opening Night of New York City Ballet’s 75th Anniversary Season had a circusy feel to it – as though we had somehow stumbled into the middle of Massine’s Parade. A line of picketing musicians oompa oompa-ed up and down the sidewalk in front of Lincoln Center while onlookers spooned gelato into their mouths and divided their attention between the picketers and the video art installation hanging on the front of the Koch Theater. 

        Once inside the theater, however, the lucent genius of Balanchine’s Jewels was everyone’s focal point – everyone including the more than 200 NYCB alumni who came to town to celebrate the company’s diamond jubilee. 

 

        The cast of Emeralds included principal debuts by Indiana Woodward and Tyler Angle who proved to be an unlikely couple but danced well. We look forward to Indiana’s subsequent performances where we can expect more musical shading and the luxuriant texture that we love to see in her dancing. It’s impossible not to appreciate Tyler’s partnering skills, but they come at a cost which may now be too high to pay. The combination of bulk & baldness distracted us from Indiana’s elegant efforts. 

 

        Emilie Gerrity and Adrian Danchig-Waring were pointe-walking perfection in their PdD – a wonderful match in terms of tone, artistry, and refinement. They could have been walking down a path under lit lamps in Central Park like so many couples do. 

 

        The trio of Sara Adams, Sebastian Villarini-Velez and Brittany Pollack was vibrant and buoyant. The corps de ballet was school-like and uncertain about their marks but we immediately noticed Sarah Harmon’s new peaceful confidence and long elegant lines.

 

        The Rubies cast couldn’t help but strut its best stuff to Stephen Gosling’s brilliant playing of Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. What a romp by Megan Fairchild, Anthony Huxley, and Mira Nadon! Fairchild, cheeky & flirty with chop-busting technique, knocked out the funny turns with elbows down and wrists limp as though she could have been holding a martini at the same time. Huxley, who in recent seasons has become a much more relaxed and vibrant performer while delivering his impeccable technique, offered just the right amount of showiness to compliment Fairchild’s performance.

 

        What is there left to say about Mira Nadon’s Tall Girl soloist with all the little guys clamoring around her? She made each one think they had a chance when in fact none did. As she baited her way off the stage with one risky arabesque penché after another, it was clear that her evening plans included bigger fish. This Tall Girl could battement her leg to her nose and swipe a guy's wallet at the same time. She had the club patrons gladly emptying their pockets to see her whack an attitude foot to the back of the head and throw in a few dizzying pirouettes.

 

        Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen gave out-sized performances in Diamonds. Janzen had a stamina and forcefulness in his dancing that we haven’t seen in several years and which made the prospect of his retirement this week all the more sad. Mearns has tamped down the excessive emotional output in the ballerina role and seemed particularly strong and secure in her own dancing. While each dancer was individually appealing for different reasons, they didn't particularly compliment one another although their love for dancing together was palpable.

 

        The Diamonds corps de ballet had some obviously ragged moments last evening – lines along the left side of the stage were particularly abhorrent at times. Some of the men didn’t seem to know where they were supposed to be. However, the corps women who performed the demi roles: Olivia Boisson, Christina Clark, Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara, and Mary Elizabeth Sell were magnificent.

 

        At the conclusion of Jewels, the 200+ alumni gathered on stage in front of the current company members to take bows. Edward Villella and Allegra Kent, grasping their canes and each other, were among the many stars present last evening who catapulted NYCB to the forefront in the 20th Century. In 25 years at the 100th Anniversary, Mearns, Janzen, Fairchild, Huxley, Danchig Waring, Gerrity, Nadon, Woodward, and Angle will be among those standing in front as ones who helped move the company's level of dancing into the 21st Century. What a party that will be for those of us who can hang on to make it.

 

        The H.H. Pump Award, an Acquazzura cocktail sandal with (un)caged vamp at Bergdorf’s for $1450, is bestowed upon Megan Fairchild for the standard-setting quality and charm of her performance in Rubies on this opening night.

 

 

 

Comments

[Allie kenney]

Confused about orchestra's status right now. Did they play or was there taped music?

[Haglund]

The orchestra played beautifully while wearing their black & white union tee shirts.

[Diana]

Certain company members whining about legitimate criticism on social media doesn't speak well of the company. The company member herself is a lost cause, but why does the company put up with it?

[Meretricious]

"Certain company members whining about legitimate criticism on social media doesn't speak well of the company. The company member herself is a lost cause, but why does the company put up with it?"

Diana, assuming you're referencing Ashley Bouder, my best guess is that mgmt is afraid of a discrimination lawsuit based on weight bias in the workplace. Expect pressure to mount causing Bouder to resign.

[Seth]

My disdain for Ashley Bouder grows by the day. They need to fire her if for no other reason than we're all fed up seeing her 7-year old daughter paraded around on the red carpet. It's truly nauseating.

[AMJ]

Indeed, Meretricious. I bet mgmt is worried about a discrimination lawsuit and/or bad press. Bouder did already go whining to the news about weight issues (not to mention the previous times she's whined to the news about various other perceived slights...), and it got a modest amount of coverage. I imagine it'd cause a much bigger stir if she was actually let go.

I wish she would retire. She can't dance at the level of the rest of the company, and she is hogging a roles that a talented corps member or soloist could blossom in.

[John King]

Just a note that I think you mean complement, not compliment.

[Diana]

"Diana, assuming you're referencing Ashley Bouder"
Indeed I did, M.
I'm careful about language on a website not my own, plus Bouder feeds off negativity...
I'm no labor lawyer but I cannot for the life of me believe that NYCB doesn't have the right to fire an employee who is on contract, who flouts basic rules and slanders her employer at will. (Remember that "Board Member"?)
I've said here several times that I don't like dancers comparing themselves to athletes, but since they do, let's change the rules of tennis to make the doubles alleys open to players over 30, shall we? Let's allow them to serve just a few centimeters over the line, OK? Take extra medical breaks...and then trash the officials if they don't allow this.
Sorry no.

[Lila]

Bouder looked zaftig next to her fellow dancers in Emeralds. It was not a good look and made her dancing as a whole look weighted and heavy. There was none of the effervescence required for Emeralds.

[Diana]

PS I honestly don't think she has a leg to stand on (sorry) legally. Plus it would cost her a lot of money to hire a lawyer. I just think that NYCB is paranoid about bad publicity. And that's a misstep (sorry again), I think. I really don't think that apart from a group of fanatics most of whom are not even in the dance world, Bouder has much support.

[Allie Kenney]

Yes, I think it would be nothing but trouble for NYCB to do anything. The problems with Finlay et al from several years ago keep popping up in the press, and I'm sure this would too. Plus there are all her nutty followers out there. I remember one comment to her posts last year about the "Board Member." Something along the lines of "You go girl. Time to teach them ballet companies they can't force them ballerinas to starve themselves to death." Besides, I don't think she's the first dancer reluctant to leave and who finds roles drying up in her 40s.

[Haglund]

Bouder may be hanging on with the hope that NYCB might be willing to pay her hundreds of thousands of dollars to leave rather than fire her or fail to renew her contract. The latter two options might be justified, but Bouder would make a second career out of dragging NYCB through the mud over them. She simply has no grace whatsoever left in her being.

[Meretricious]

"PS I honestly don't think she has a leg to stand on (sorry) legally. Plus it would cost her a lot of money to hire a lawyer. I just think that NYCB is paranoid about bad publicity. And that's a misstep (sorry again), I think. I really don't think that apart from a group of fanatics most of whom are not even in the dance world, Bouder has much support."

Diana, lawyers love easy publicity, so I'm sure Bouder could find a balletomane lawyer who would rep her on a contingency basis. And, should Bouder decide to sue, my guess is she'd be persona non grata among the elite dance venues.

[Rachel Perez]

Echo the sentiments about how absolutely terrific the Fairchild, Huxley, and Nadon cast of Rubies was. I was blown away. I've somehow not been able to see Nadon in this role yet, though I have heard the great and justified praise cast upon her in it. My oh my!

[Haglund]

Yeah, Rachel, Mira Nadon stoked it today, didn't she?!

[Rachel Perez]

I mean stoked it, fanned it, used her magical powers to ignite new fires all over the stage - I'm out of metaphors, but she was transcendent and I really think she staked her claim as a historically important interpreter of this role.

There was an interesting little interview between Megan Fairchild and Emma von Eck on the NYCB website where Megan discusses first dancing the role and finding her own place in it. Worth a read - to hear both ballerina's perspectives on finding a place for themselves in the role.

[Haglund]

ITA. I imagine Mira Nadon will be among the few who will conquer all three jewels.