Haglund's Heel

NYCB 4/26 Dances at a Gathering & Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet

        Properly hydrating before and during Robbins' long piano ballet, Dances at a Gathering, is important for the professional — balletomane, that is. The ballet may only be 60+ minutes long, but on Friday night those minutes were packed with interminably long seconds that dehydrated our spirit. At applause pauses, one could hear the glub-glub-glub of patrons sucking on their water bottles in the dark and swishing liquid from cheek to cheek. “Hey, got anything I can mix with this? We’re only at dance #11 and we still have seven to go.” Maybe not an exact quote, but close enough. What happened? Or rather, what didn’t happen? Hard to say. Whatever was needed in addition to the steps just wasn’t on the stage Friday night. Unfortunately, some audience members were seen leaving mid-ballet. 

 

        We can’t complain about Tiler Peck’s solos as the dancer in Pink. She’s always happily inventive and surprising with her musical choices. Roman Mejia bolted successfully through his variations in his debut as the dancer in Brown. Musical finesse and subtle humor will follow eventually. Megan Fairchild as the dancer in Apricot also danced the section of the “Green” in which she wandered about wooing men who wandered in and out of her reach. Mira Nadon debuted as the dancer in Green minus the section that Megan danced instead. With so little to do, it’s hard to measure her output in this ballet yet. Alston Macgill debuted brightly as the dancer in Blue. Andres Zuniga debuted in Brick — obviously very technically talented but otherwise not very impactful. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough compelling artistry in the performance to keep us interested. Apologies to those who can’t live without Dances at a Gathering, but Haglund can. It should be scheduled at the end of the program rather than the beginning so that people can get out while they’re still happy about what they’ve seen on stage.

 

       Balanchine's Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet saved the evening with another exceptional performance from Emily Kikta. Casting Kikta in the opening movement of this ballet years ago was one of Peter Martins’ best casting decisions ever. We remember that performance well — her soaring, her near disastrous slip, our fascination with the new corps de ballet beauty who was working the pink tulle like few others could. Since then, what a joy it has been to watch her let fly with this role. She should lead every ballet in the repertory that involves long tulle. In this performance, her command of the space was indisputable. She led the men in grand jetés — and we do mean led. There was power in her beauty and beauty in her power.

 

        Emilie Gerrity and Taylor Stanley danced the opening Allegro movement with skill and a hint of sensuality. We’re hoping that Stanley returns more often to the classical rep to keep his considerable skills at a high level. They were a little mushy on Friday night. Olivia MacKinnon and Preston Chamblee were accomplished in the Intermezzo section. Emma Von Enck and Anthony Huxley dispatched the Andante with flair. Sara Mearns and Andrew Veyette came close to stealing the show with their gypsy Rondo at the end. Here was perfect casting, too. This was roll-the-dice, depend-on-your-luck dancing that somehow always wins the jackpot.

 

        The H.H. Pump Bump Award, Louboutin's Follie Draperia, is bestowed upon Emily Kikta for her glorious dancing in Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet. We are so ready to see much more leading work from her in Balanchine’s greatest ballets. And when it’s time for her to pass on her introductory soloist role in BSQ, we hope that Naomi Corti will catch the opportunity, because she’s another one with spellbinding tulle talent.

 

 

 

 

NYCB 4/24 & 4/25 The growing season begins

        New York City Ballet opened its Spring Season with a little rain and a gloomy cloud, but the sun managed to break through to get the growing season officially started. 

       
The gardeners responsible for the health and well being of the cherished Azalea Corps de Ballet in Damrosch Park next to the theater have fallen down on the job. Instead of caring for our prized blooms and replacing those that could not withstand the damage by the Big Apple Circus over the winter, the gardeners unceremoniously stuck a few daffodils and violas into the bare spaces. It seems that the gardeners are going to let the azalea garden deteriorate while LC's PC cleansing agents worry about how they are going to redesign the back of Lincoln Center and Damrosch Park to make it “more welcoming” to tenants living in the Amsterdam Houses across 10th Avenue. The Woke charge is that Lincoln Center was originally designed with the idea of keeping certain people out. The New Criterion’s May issue has a well-sourced article on the falsification of Lincoln Center’s history being promoted today by the Woke establishment. Read it here.

 

        The little rain in the evening's opening came from the notices of injury. Unfortunately, Isabella LaFreniere is out for a couple of weeks with an injury. So there was some shifting around in last night’s castings.

 

        The first evening belonged to Emily Kikta and Mira Nadon. Kikta soared in the opening movement of Bourrée Fantasque with her commanding stage presence. Every step she danced underscored her ballerina authority, her commitment to squeaky clean foot placement, and her love of performing for us. It’s hard to believe that we haven’t yet seen her as the Dark Angel in Serenade or the Stripper in Slaughter on 10th Ave. KJ Takahashi nailed the proverbial short guy who refused to give up wooing the tall lady of his dreams. Kikta toyed with him, even clunking him in the back of the head with her foot, and conceded occasional kisses behind her fan. 

 

        The relaxed and dreamy pair of Emilie Gerrity and Gilbert Bolden III replaced LaFreniere and Chun Wai Chan in the Prelude of Bourrée Fantasque on opening night and danced again on Wednesday. We have been so incredibly delighted by Gerrity’s artistic advances since being promoted to principal. On Tuesday and Wednesday she had a warm, welcoming graciousness about her dancing that — to put it simply — just sucked us in. The nerves are nearly all gone, and her joy in musical phrasing is becoming more and more apparent. Alexa Maxwell and Victor Abreu were the vibrant but nervous leads in the Fete Polonaise wherein Victor badly fumbled a fish catch which nearly put Alexa on the floor. He didn’t repeat the mistake on Night Two while dancing with Emma Von Enck, and his nerves appeared to be in check.

 

        The Corps de Ballet struggled to keep up with the tempi on the first night — there was a lot of thinking going on about what was coming next. An early slip ’n splat by Lauren Collett had us wondering what kind of night we were going to have. By Wednesday, things had smoothed out and the corps danced impeccably. The women were spectacularly beautiful in their black tutus, and they weren’t about to waste any of it!

 

        Erica Pereira and Anthony Huxley were delightful in The Steadfast Tin Soldier, but this little ballet belongs to Daniel Ulbricht who on the second night with Megan Fairchild upped the storybook charm with his more deliberate approach to portraying the “tin” aspect of the character. Megan perfectly portrayed the mechanical nature of her doll character.

 

        Errante, formerly Tzigane, has been held under lock & key for decades by Suzanne Farrell who owns the rights to this ballet which was created on her by Balanchine following her return to NYCB from Maurice Bejart’s company. Mira Nadon and Aaron Sanz were a stunning couple in their debuts, but we sensed too much effort by Mira to mimic Farrell’s idiosyncrasies and mannerisms. However, she was certainly spectacular and mesmerizing while whipping around the red strips of her skirt. As is her talent, she made the viewer feel like he was the only one in her audience. Aaron seemed to know that he, too, had impossibly huge shoes to fill but didn’t try to mimic Peter Martins’ “forever Apollo" style. Rather, he developed his own interpretation. We noted the new shape of his hands as well as many other men’s hands which looked much more purposeful and strong — a very nice change.

 

        Symphony in C was muted by the gloom and doom approach to the Second Movement Adagio by Sara Mearns. Her eyes were continually down on the floor. Her expression was morose. The actual dancing was marked by an absence of elegance and unique musical phrasing. There was nothing attractive in the line of the leg and foot or the port de bras. We hope that a more objective assessment will be applied to her repertory assignments very soon. Given the almost-obscene depth of adagio talent below the principal rank, it would seem that NYCB could courageously give some newer dancers a swat at Symphony in C's Second Movement Adagio. Unity Phelan took our breath away in the Second Movement on the second night. She has such a perfect instrument for this ballet and knows how to display her gifts of line with humility. She and the very impressive Alec Knight gave the adagio the graceful flow that Sara and Tyler Angle could not find on the first night. 

 

        On Wednesday, the First Movement of Symphony in C was heavenly as danced by Emilie Gerrity and Chun Wai Chan. Again, her warm glow and slightly reserved elegance were a lovely combination for this allegro movement. The beautiful styling and natural flow of her movement left us with a much heightened appreciation for this artist. The arms were always in gentle harmony with the legs so that we got a total picture as opposed to emphasis on the legs with the arms an afterthought. This is how we want to see the First Movement danced.

 

        Alston Macgill enjoyed a very successful debut in the 4th Movement of Symphony in C. She offered unique musicality and charm that flew over the footlights to the audience. Her partners, Harrison Coll on the first night and Troy Schumacher on the second night, danced with solid form. It’s been a very long climb back from injury for these two men. Let’s hope we can keep them on their feet. Ditto for Aaron Sanz, Alec Knight, and Spartak Hoxha — all of whom stood out in the first two nights with fine performances.

 

        The H.H. Pump Bump Award, all graceful lines from Jimmy Choo, is bestowed upon Emilie Gerrity whose subtle grace is revealing a glorious, un-showy, and very musical ballerina.