NYCB Fall Season mostly in full, glorious color

        There are Third World problems and First World problems and then there are New York Balletomane problems. These are sometimes expressed with the question: "How was the performance?"  followed by the answer "It was good, just good.” Just good is clearly a disappointing outcome, because just good in the NY Ballet World is like a Five Guys burger: Yeah, it may reduce hunger, but should anyone really pay $11 for a burger that isn’t much better than a Whopper?

 

        The genuine good news is that New York City Ballet as a company and the vast majority of its individual dancers typically understand that just good is not good enough. Unfortunately during the fourth week of this fall season, Theme and Variations was not even in just good form. It was in shambles. Anthony Huxley and Joseph Gordon watered down the technically challenging phrase of eight double tours w/pirouettes by walking around and wasting music before beginning the phrase and executing a mere six double tours. Good grief - there are artists on the planet who have not only flown through the eight double tours but have executed double pirouettes between each one. Neither Huxley nor Gordon was overworked this fall season which makes their dilution of Theme and Variations even more disappointing. Fortunately, Tiler Peck and Megan Fairchild didn’t bail out on the tough parts of Balanchine’s masterpiece. As usual, Tiler managed to find something fresh and interesting to convey within the music. Megan was squeaky clean, if small in execution, but she certainly didn’t quit on the hard parts like the men did. The corps was raggedy for most performances - dancers collided with one another and then laughed about their mistakes. The demi pairs were hopelessly off the music.

 

        Thankfully, Serenade was in optimal condition. Both casts were brilliant and most of the corps women were simply stunning. When Christina Clark and Savannah Durham came flying down the diagonal together in their soaring saute arabesques with arms stretched to the side, they looked like Boeing ballerinas accelerating down JFK’s 31-L with front wheels up. Woooosh! Miriam Miller and Emilie Gerrity in the role of the Dark Angel were gloriously in their elements: statement-making arabesques, sweeping battements, grand space grabbing port de bras filled the music to its brim. Erica Pereira and Indiana Woodward who shared the Russian Girl role were fresh with energy and lightness. The velocity and clarity of Indiana’s grand allegro were breathtaking. The pleasant surprises at Erica’s first performance were the strength of her jumps and the speed of her turns - she actually looked taller on stage than usual. Sara Mearns and Unity Phelan as the Waltz Girl were different as night and day but both remarkable. Sara’s dramatic internal storyline pulsed unrestrained through her phrasing while Unity’s reserve allowed us to appreciate the beauty of her acute attention to form.

 

        Five performances of Orpheus was overkill. However, we’ve never seen the role of Eurydice danced with more affecting beauty than when Ashley Laracey performed it opposite Joseph Gordon.  She has excelled in roles identified with former principal dancer Janie Taylor who excelled in roles identified with former principal dancer Wendy Whelan, but for some reason the current artistic management does not view these accomplishments as enough. It seems that the criteria for promotion have changed to the point that neither Janie Taylor nor Wendy Whelan would be elevated to principal.

 

        One of the fall season’s major triumphs was Concerto Barocco with its new cast of Mira Nadon, Isabella LaFreniere, and Gilbert Bolden III. Bolden, transformed by a nearly svelte physique and washed clean of excessive makeup, grabbed our attention by doing nothing other than partnering Nadon with humble authority and near perfection. The two of them were of one mind in the riveting pas de deux. Actually, there were three in this pas de deux — Maestro Otranto’s sensitive conducting was present in every step. Nadon’s confidence in shaping the phrases with her own intelligence in every role is reflective of a young Tiler Peck’s musical mastery. In Concerto Barocco, she filled every note of music to its brim. LaFreniere’s off-balance developpes and arabesques devoured space and yet defined space with their perfect geometric form. It was such a pleasure to see these two ballerinas of similar size and authority interpret this masterpiece with unusual clarity and command.

 

        The season concluded with an exhilarating performance of Symphony in C which was dominated by Tiler Peck and Chun Wai Chan in the First Movement. Tiler visualized the music with her joyous attention to detail such as her fast, delicate placement of the front foot in fifth position en pointe. Chan crackled like lightning in his solos with brilliantly clear allegro and pirouettes. Alec Knight superbly partnered the captivating Unity Phelan in the Second Movement. They are quite the storybook handsome pair. It would be wonderful to see them together in Nutcracker this season. Bailey Jones and Cainan Weber led the Third Movement without making much of an impression. Emily Gerrity and Peter Walker led the Fourth Movement and gave it more import and sheer size than we’re accustomed to seeing. 

 

        After the curtain fell on the final performance, Gilbert Bolden III and Davide Riccardo were immediately promoted to the rank of soloist. Their respect and affection for Balanchine’s ballets comes through loud and clear — e.g., Bolden’s treatment of Concerto Barocco and Riccardo’s treatment of Emeralds (both partnering Mira Nadon). We’re glad to see them get the recognition that they deserve.

 

        The all-Balanchine fall season was the most enjoyable in decades. No one gets tired of seeing his masterpieces, and it seems that the dancers don’t tire of dancing them either. It was a thrill to see the corps women dancing with unbridled joy in Serenade, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Symphony in C, Concerto Barocco, Jewels, and the nearly-lost jewel Bourrée Fantasque. The audience sees every individual on stage even when that person is dancing among a mass of identical costumes. [However, we have been having a harder time seeing everyone due to the under-powered stage lighting — underpowered and annoying.] So our final H.H. Pump Bump Award of the season, a stunning Versace stiletto with safety pin, goes to Savannah Durham, Christina Clark, Naomi Corti, Dominika Afanasenkov, Jackie Bologna, Lauren Collett and all the corps women for holding it together on stage to bring us such beauty.

 

 

Comments

[Amber]

I saw probably 10 shows this season, including Opening Night, Closing Night, and October 11. What a season! The Company is truly forming a new chapter. The roster is up to 94 dancers; I counted. We've seen a big shake-up in who is cast. As much as I adored the Sterling, she was first cast in so many roles (all deserving!). Now she's gone, and it's just opened up the floodgates. Same with roles for the taller ladies. It's just FUN time to be a fan of NYCB. A lot of positivity, and that will only increase once Bouder leaves, taking her poisonous disposition with her.

[Allie Kenney]

I read somewhere last year that some of the younger dancers had been asking for more exposure to more of the Balanchine classics.

Although I didn't get to see as many performances as I had hoped, I continued to enjoy India Bradley.And I was quite taken with the mysterious Mackenzie Bernardino Soares. Such a name. I had no idea who he was until he swept onto the stage in something at the end of the season and I had took at my program to see who on earth that was.

I liked Emma Von Enck (and her partners) in just about everything I saw her in and in Diamonds Unity Phelan reminded me of Suzanne Farrell. I haven't yet warmed to some of the newer women principals, which I think is not unusual as it seems it can sometimes take a while for such dancers to get comfortable in their roles/establish themselves.