NYCB Nutcracker Patience rewarded

        Haglund knew if he sat through enough NYCB Nutcrackers that the thrill would finally rise above the humdrum. And so it happened this past week and yesterday.

        At NYCB's Wednesday matinee, Miriam Miller and Alec Knight enjoyed spectacular debuts in the principal roles of Sugarplum Fairy and Her Cavalier. Seven or eight years ago when Peter Martins threw Miriam into a debut as Titania during her apprentice year, we sensed that she would be a slow-cooker who would need time to find her legs and feet and learn how to corral all that length. Her simmering over the past few years has been steady and mostly satisfying without being spectacular. But her two trials as Sugarplum Fairy over the past week were breakout performances that revealed a ballerina who has found faith in her own ability to dance the big ballerina roles with authority, calm, and unwavering concentration. It didn't hurt that she was a staggering beauty in both the long pink tutu for her solos and the green classical tutu for the pas de deux.

        But Miriam didn't rest on her beauty. The full stretch of her feet and legs and the graceful flow of her port de bras combined for a commanding elegance. Statement-making arabesques, controlled pirouettes, sensitively placed pointes all served her well in both performances. Her telepathic communication with her Cavalier, Alec Knight - a requirement to get through Balanchine's most treacherous pas de deux successfully -- had few breaks. During the two performances, three out of the four step-over turns to arabesque where the Cavalier grabs the SPF's arm went smoothly; the one that went awry was rescued and covered nicely. The final promenade where they switch grips as they rotate had us holding our breath during each performance but they were both completed without incident. Yesterday's finishing arabesque was especially generous and bold. Patience has paid off.

        Knight's partnering was strong and steady in both performances; his confidence grew measurably from the first to the second. His solo variations suggested that he hasn't fully recovered from injury. The very careful jumps had little height or propulsion, and his own arabesque was a limp 70 or 80 degrees. So, it seems we can't yet rest our worries about this developing artist.

        The Dewdrops in the Miller/Knight performances were Olivia MacKinnon and India Bradley. Olivia's performance was a startling surprise in its stylishness and high energy. She hit all of her lines, all of her pirouettes, all of her tricky attitude moves, and all of her jumps with accelerating energy and joy. India, in only her third performance as Dewdrop, gave it her all but came up short on form and presentation. While most of the foot & leg technique was within her ability, her upper body was decidedly student-ish and unfinished.

        Last week included outstanding performances by Emily Kikta & Gilbert Bolden III and Isabella LaFreniere & Aaron Sanz as SPF and Cavalier. Emily wore her determination a bit too obviously, but there was never any question that she would conquer every risk throughout the pas de deux (except for one of those pesky stepover turns to arabesque). The way in which she took possession of the space around her and attracted the light made it impossible to take one's eye off of her. Most noticeably, her feet, which have always been accurate, continue to become more pliable and articulate thereby making her lines more eloquent. Gilbert's progress in the past year and a half has been astonishing. Not only has he slimmed his legs and torso into marblesque sculpture but his determination to strengthen every aspect of his solo dancing has been admirable. Our patience again rewarded.

        Isabella's SPF on Christmas Eve was breathtakingly beautiful. She was an IMAX ballerina whose command of the choreography and ability to demonstrate the beauty and value of pristine form were larger than life. Does the knuckling of the right foot still bother us? Yes, in fact it hurts to see it, but it seems to disappear during arabesques which is a good sign. Her Cavalier, Aaron Sanz, has had a tough few years dealing with injury. Our fingers are crossed for him. At this performance, there were partnering miscommunications with the stepover turn into arabesque and with the jumps to shoulder-sits -- although these matters are a shared responsibility with the ballerina. His solo of turns in a la seconde and the manège of coupé jeté were a notch below serviceable. Still and all, we invariably look forward to seeing Sanz on stage and hope that both he and Alec Knight can shake off what seems to be a persistent curse of injury.

        Indiana Woodward was a sparkling Dewdrop in the Kikta-Bolden cast. Emma Von Enck's Dewdrop debut in the LaFreniere-Sanz cast made Christmas Eve especially magical. This obvious Aurora seemed never to touch the floor in her allegro.

        Since her promotion to soloist, we have missed Emma's aculeate pointes in the opening moments of the Snow Scene. However, we did notice the special energy of Olivia Bell. And watching the lovely lines and warm stage presence of Zoe Bliss Magnussen in Snow and Marzipan made us eager to see more of her. Perhaps she could be posted permanently in front of Charlie Klesa to see what might come of that partnership.

        David Gabriel and Spartak Hoxha were exceptional as Tea, both elevating their leaps in second position past circus stunts. Rommie Tomasini and Quinn Starner in the Tea section were competent; however, the persistent habit of Quinn in opening her hip to the side in order to increase the height of the battement to the back was rather shockingly bad form. The pants costume didn't hide anything.

        In one performance we saw, KJ Takahashi failed to appear with his Candy Cane hoop for his jumps in the finale. Yesterday afternoon, the lead Flowers (Nieve Corrigan and Emily Kikta subbing for Olivia Boisson) blew off their whole bit except for their entrance during the early parade in Act II. They simply didn't show up on stage -- at all -- either of them.

        The casts of kids were competent, if somewhat generic. The Nutcracker Little Princes' mime sequence where they re-told the harrowing story of the fight with the mice was absent any drama. It was a very perfunctory re-telling each time. Who could possibly forget the Oscar-worthy mime performance in 2012 of Little Prince Maximillian Brooking Landegger now known as "Brooks" at Miami City Ballet. SPF Lauren King flashed him one of those impossibly beautiful smiles of hers which unleashed a torrent of dramatic heroism like none this stage has seen before. Landegger, the grownup, will be back as a guest in Midsummer Night's Dream at the end of the season.

        The Corps de Ballet works so darned hard during the Nutcracker season. Many dancers are assigned important solo and demi-solo opportunities during this time while also fully dedicating themselves to their corps responsibilities. Christina Clark and Olivia Boisson continued to grow their interpretations of the sultry, mysterious Coffee soloist. Lauren Collett and Gabriella Domini were charming and precise as Toys. Spartak Hoxha and David Gabriel were exceptional Soldiers, both with clear flex-footed entrechat six and neat sequences of 1-1/4 tours. We enjoyed focusing on Savannah Durham, Dominika Afansenkov, Jacqueline Bologna and Naomi Corti in Snow, Flowers, Hot Chocolate and wherever they appeared, and wished for more opportunities for them.

        Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin seasonal stiletto, is bestowed upon Miriam Miller for her beautiful performances as the Sugarplum Fairy.

 

 

 

Comments

[Georgiann]

It's great to have you back, Haglund and read your review. Glad you saw a special performance,

[Haglund]

Happy New Year, Georgiann.

[Zachary]

Hi Haglund,

Your reviews are a Christmas gift worth waiting for! I have to say, the most enjoyable year with the children's casting (for me) was 2021. A little bit older, I felt that they were all more comfortable onstage and could really emote to the audience. That said, I was lucky enough to see two New York City Ballet Nutcrackers and two Houston Ballet Nutcrackers and I wish the toy soldiers in NYCB's battle could have had a little more rehearsal. It seemed like every infantry line was a diagonal, whereas the Houston kids never moved out of line.

I would have loved to see the casts that you saw. In particular, I would have loved to see Ms. Bradley's Dewdrop. She really has spectacular lines.

As I know you care about her, Yuriko Kajiya delivered a Sugarplum for the ages last week. Welch's Nutcracker pas has the Sugarplum come up for a final balance like Aurora in Act III, and she held her attitude like her life depended on it. Amazing.

[Haglund]

Oh, Zachary. So glad to hear about Yuriko. She is like her own genus of flower -- such a unique artist.

[AMJ]

Wait a minute… WHAT!? The Demi Flowers skipped the Waltz of the Flowers entirely!? Am I understanding that right?!

[Haglund]

Yep, AMJ, the Demi Flowers did not show up except to walk through the "receiving line" at the beginning of Act II.

[Martha Bedrosian]

Delightful to see you're back, Haglund. I loved reading about the Nutcrackers you saw. Huh, the Demi Flowers skipped the Waltz? Happy New Year, Haglund!

[Gerry]

Olivia MacKinnon is quickly becoming one of my favorite NYCB dancers.

I saw on Megan Fairchild’s IG that last night was her last Dew and she is retiring the role of Dewdrop. Wise to go out on top.

[Haglund]

ITA. I read her post. When someone has danced a role throughout her career and is suddenly only dancing it "to keep proving [she] could do it", it's time to step back.

When the dancer can no longer bring fresh and interesting artistry to a role that deepens what she has previously presented, it's time to re-think. I was somewhat bored with a few of the veterans' SPFs this year -- a little like sucking on a stale candy cane from the year before.

[Laura]

Wait, what? Neither demi-flower showed up on stage? I have never heard of such a thing. I've been to NYCB thousands of times and literally never seen a role simply go empty. What happened?

I was so sorry to miss Emma in Dew Drop. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite dancers. I just love her line, attack, speed. When Balanchine asked for more energy, she must be what he was talking about!

I'm very excited for Winter Season. This is a really fun time to be a fan of NYCB. Lots of new dancers in roles for the first time and lots of exciting changes. I'm all in!

[Haglund]

Yep, that's what happened. A curtain announcement was made for the substitute of Emily Kikta for Olivia Boisson. Emily and Nieve Corrigan came out with the Flowers and did their bow in front of the SPF, and that's the last we saw of them. I'm assuming that there was some last minute drama. If there wasn't and it was planned, oy what a disappointment in management.

Agree about Emma. She made us sit up when she appeared in Snow as an apprentice back in 2016.

I'm excited by the Winter Season, too, Laura, but not so thrilled with the first two weeks where we basically get the same two non-Balanchine programs over and over again with a sprinkling of another non-Balanchine program. We have to wait until Feb 6th to get to the main course. It's strange, because the company doesn't need to short-change the public with so few programs since it has so many corps dancers capable of stepping into principal Balanchine roles. Balanchine is, after all, the life blood of the company and perhaps also its oxygen.

[Tom Rex]

“ now known as "Brooks" at Miami City Ballet.”

Everyone has always called him Brooks since he was a kid so it’s unsurprising he uses it now formally. Agree on his Little Prince role; I used to joke that all Little Princes subsequent to Brooks were fake. He played the Little Prince in 2022 and 2013 NYCB Nutcracker seasons and the Little Princess was played both years by Rommie Tomasini.

[Haglund]

Rommie has been doing some very nice work and is quite personable on stage. It would be nice to see her back together again with Brooks in the MND pdd which is what he is slated to perform.

[Tom Rex]

I meant to write 2012 and 2013 and obviously not 2022 and 2013.

Rommie played a butterfly in MND during the NYCB Spring 2012 season performances. The two go back to childhood and it would be nice to see them dance together as young adults.

I was disappointed Brooks wasn’t given a chance at NYCB.

[Haglund]

Thanks, Tom. It may be that the Billy Elliot opportunity interrupted his path to NYCB. Maybe he'll return. NYCB can always use another tall partner for all its stunningly statuesque ballerinas.