Haglund's Heel

NYCB Week Two Sometimes patchy but mostly passionate

 
    

        There are some patches in the garden that need to be filled in. The NYC Department of Parks should pay more attention to our iconic azalea garden in Damrosch Park and put up a few classy signs that say “No Dog Pee” and “No Big Apple Circus Pee,” peeleezzee — not that such a message would resonate with the neighbors who routinely run their tiny dogs atop the garden retainer walls and encourage them to seek relief among the azaleas. Attention must be paid. We may have to get Gale Brewer involved.

        Reflecting on recent performances, there were also some rough patches that needed attention in the jardin de ballet. Let’s start with Tuesday’s performance of La Source. The ballet, itself, comes across as being patched together — because it was patched together by Balanchine: first a pas de deux with the later development of the divertissments and corps work. The dancing of the corps de ballet, all apprentices and relatively new corps women, resembled a student workshop performance —  neither charming nor cute to see on NYCB’s main stage. The tutees went from point A ➞ point B ➞ point C with terminal academic dullness as did Bailey Jones who performed in the soloist position. The grownup dancing of Indiana Woodward and Joseph Gordon provided much needed relief (not that ↑ type of relief) with emphasis on purposeful energy, not slam-bam-bang. Indiana's perfume-filled interpretation of Delibes’ music was simply lovely. 

 

        Admittedly in the minority here, we found Namouna, A Grand Divertissement still the jokey grand bore it was five years ago except for the sassy trio of Daniel Ulbricht, Emma Von Enck, and Olivia MacKinnon, and some seductive cigarette smoking by Mira Nadon. The ballet still runs on mania that quickly becomes fatiguing to watch. The whole thing is far too long with a central pas de deux that goes on and on and on while saying very little. The programing of Namouna with student-like dancers in La Source made for an evening where we wished we could switch the channel. 

 

        Square Dance improved over the week but continued to suffer from miscasting. The pairing of Erica Periera with Taylor Stanley is as odd as could be: he, who possesses some of the most interesting artistry on the planet with she, who struggles to emerge from vapid, risk-free albeit technically solid performances. Where Stanley captivated our attention with his inner life and originality, Pereira produced clean, colorless steps of little interest. Meanwhile, corps dancer Claire Von Enck offered some of the best, most vivacious dancing that we’ve seen from her. Alexa Maxwell and Lauren Collett commanded our attention with their sizzling energies as did Victor Abreu and Cainan Weber. 

 

        In addition to Tiler Peck’s delicious debut last week in Raymonda, we were thrilled this week with the performances of Isabella LaFreniere and Chun Wai Chan. LaFreniere dominated the stage with the immense scope of her dancing, authority, and technical perfection. Still relatively new to the trials of dancing Balanchine on the Master’s stage, Chan embraced the challenges of the tempi and superbly partnered LaFreniere. Watching her confidently take flight head first into his arms at the conclusion of Raymonda was one of those “What??!!” moments in the theater.

 

        We witnessed enticing dancing in the performances of Afternoon of a Faun and Haieff Divertimento. Unity Phelan with Joseph Gordon and Dominika Afanasenkov with Christopher Grant in Robbins’ masterful interpretation of Debussy’s seductive score were again illustrative of the current high level of care and careful casting being accorded Robbins’ works. Phelan and Gordon offered a more imaginative approach to their story, whereas Afanasenkov and Grant were more present and literal in their interpretations to the point where the viewer could actually believe that their encounter might really happen in a studio. Afanasenkov has such lovely length and classical shape which she used exquisitely. At one point we saw her reach and rise through Grant’s embrace with a distinctive airiness followed by the simple beauty of her descent to a resting horizontal position. 

 

        Christina Clark continues to captivate our attention and grows in artistry with each appearance on stage. Her Haieff Divertimento performances opposite Alec Knight proved to be fascinating. For a dancer so tall, she certainly has fine control of those extraordinary limbs and can move at the speed of the tinier, compact corps dancers. Hopefully, the fall anniversary season will bring her a big ballerina role or two. Alec Knight has such obvious potential as a major partner because of his physical blessings. Like others, his trajectory was interrupted by injury and COVID. Let’s be careful out there.

 

        Donizetti Variations doesn’t accept complaints. It’s always entertaining and vibrant. Megan Fairchild with Anthony Huxley, Indiana Woodward with Joseph Gordon, and Tiler Peck with the reverse-aging Andrew Veyette all turned out superb virtuosic performances with infectious joy and vibrance. Corps dancers Mary Thomas MacKinnon, Charlie Klesa, and Davide Riccardo were standouts every step of the way. We can’t get enough of this sing-along ballet.

 

        Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin blue leather jolie, is bestowed upon Isabella LaFreniere and Chun Wai Chan for their brilliance and beauty in Raymonda Variations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

observations 3/22

Just dropping in to say how incredibly excited we are about ABT's new Wheeldon production of Like Water For Chocolate that will open at the Segerstrom Center in one week. Old Hag would be there for the premiere but for a very recent knee replacement.

Christopher Wheeldon's growth as a choreographer/producer/director/visionary over the past decade has been nothing short of phenomenal. The rehearsal clips for this new production that are floating around are turning us into Chocoholics. We can't wait. Hopefully, ABT will launch a slick promotion campaign very soon. This production, if carefully promoted, should attract Broadway audiences as well as audiences for every genre of dance. We want to see Cassandra Trenary at the bus stop, underground, in Times Square, and in the Playbill at MJ, the Musical.

ABT single tickets go on sale April 24, 2023. Let's go let's go let's go.

 

ABT - Fall Season Mixed Rep

        The Czech composer Leoš Janáček was already 72 years old when the majestic orchestral work Sinfonietta came tumbling out of him. The piece had been commissioned for the Sokol Festival, a gymnastics festival in Prague sponsored by the Sokol movement, an all-age gymnastics program that was based on the principle of “a strong mind in a strong body”  and would later became a source of patriotic and national pride.

        The brass fanfares and swirling piccolo flourishes beg for the leaping and turning and the precision duos, trios, and multiples that Czech choreographer Jiri Kylian envisioned for Sinfonietta when he chose it for his eponymous ballet which his Nederlands Dans Theater premiered at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina in 1978. The festival’s theme that year was the celebration of Czech composers.

        ABT’s first performances of the work in 1991 while under Jane Hermann’s direction were critically acclaimed from one coast to the other: “exhilarating,” “bold,” “a perfect showcase [for ABT],” “rhapsodic,” said the real dance critics of the time. But since then, audiences have rarely had the opportunity to see ABT’s dancers in this glorious ballet. Last week’s opening cast boasted eleven principal dancers and three others who should be on principal track in one of the most energized, celebratory, unleashed, unifying, and passionately danced performances that we have seen from ABT in quite a while. In a word, it was uplifting.

        Not so with what followed. Christopher Rudd’s race-based work, Lifted, purportedly represented a journey of self-everything: -reflection, -confrontation, and -love with a healthy dose of -pity and -victimization thrown in. All of this was danced by Black artists whose talents were recognized when they were children and who received the same type of encouragement and financial assistance that many, if not most, of ABT’s dancers have received in their careers: YAGP scholarships, SAB scholarships, Kirov Institute scholarships, ABT National Training scholarships, gold medals in international competitions. The choreography failed to make the argument that the dancers' constant obsession with the mirrors on stage was any different than the mirror-obsessions of their non-Black colleagues. Mirror-obsession is quite simply a dancer thing. And the obsession goes way, way, way, way beyond skin color. So who and what did these dancers represent? And was this dance the “ground-breaking” piece that Kevin McKenzie claimed in his opening remarks? To answer the last question first - no. It was mediocre contemporary anything-goes choreography far beneath these talented dancers to perform. What was the message? Most probably it was a reflection of Rudd’s own personal experiences and views of the world and of how the injustices of the past continue to inform the present. It’s not a bad message to make, but the message will not make up for bad choreography. There is no grade “E for Effort” or “M for Message” that serves as justification for spending oodles of money on lousy work product.

        Or lousy costumes, like in Ratmansky’s The Seasons, his frenetic disoriented concoction to Glazunov’s beautiful music. In a nutshell, it was ADHD spun into choreography. Did it show off the dancers? Absolutely! Did they love the challenge? Seemingly so. Was there a lot of action on stage? Like last night’s Halloween Parade, it just kept coming with one outlandish costume after another. ABT, please put this away until the threads disintegrate and you regain the fabric of your senses.

        ABT’s senses were partially regained and the audience’s senses were rewarded with the return of Ashton’s The Dream. But thank goodness for second chances. Our opening cast led by Gillian Murphy, Herman Cornejo, and Daniel Camargo as a last minute substitute for Cory Stearns weren’t quite ready to bring their imaginations along with Ashton’s. The dancers looked tired and unsure. The corps, less than bright and sparkling. At the final performance on Sunday, however, this crew brought its magic. Cornejo’s Puck appeared to be 20 years old again. Murphy found her inner sassy Titania. Camargo’s Oberon stunned with his control, finesse, and power. And then there was Tyler Maloney as Bottom who stole every scene he was in with his elastic expressions and hilarious hoofing.

        In between these two performances, we watched the absolutely stunning debut of Cassandra Trenary as Titania opposite Camargo. This was Shakespeare’s dream of a Titania, if not Ashton’s. Feisty, impudent, unpredictable. Her mime stung Oberon but her lovely arabesque and soft port de bras bent his will. His authority enraged her but his charm ultimately won her over. 

        Also debuting at this performance was corpsman Elwince Magbitang as Puck. Flashes of brilliance and hints of what will be made this a highly successful debut. Hopefully, he had the opportunity to watch Cornejo on Sunday, because that is the standard that has been set.

        Another startling debut came with Patrick Frenette as Demetrius. Never have we more enjoyed watching this secondary role. Frenette made it Oscar-worthy with dramatic details from his own imagination. Here’s the thing. All of this new-found dramatic power will inform this technically-talented dancer’s Albrecht, Siegfried, and Desire just as soon as ABT opens its eyes and casts him. He is someone to look for in each cast, and he makes every role noteworthy. 

        The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Patrick Frenette and Cassandra Trenary for their remarkable debuts in The Dream.

 

 

ABT Whipped Cream – B.Y.O.C.

When ABT premiered Alexei Ratmansky’s Whipped Cream at the Segerstrom Center five years ago, there were tables set up in the lobby with huge containers of candy. For $6, you got an empty box into which you shoveled as much candy as possible before carrying it into the theater to enjoy during the performance. During Act I there was that expected moment when you thought “Ugh, I’ve eaten too much of this stuff — the stomach feels sick, but the buzz in the brain is fantastic.” And then after a little while, you plowed back into the candy again. What was happening in the story on stage was literally happening throughout the audience at the same time. 

 

Then when the show moved to New York, everybody got all serious and nixed the candy. "Have a cocktail, instead, for $20,” we were urged. Nah, bring your own candy! Twizzlers, root beer barrels, chocolate covered anything — bring your own candy. It will make this delicious, caramelized production all the more enjoyable. Whipped Cream is a scrumptious, delightful affair that ABT has reprised with new intense flavoring during its current run at the Koch Theater. 

 

Designer Mark Ryden shows us the brain on acid. His Snow Yak, Long Neck Piggy, Gumball Lady, and that freaking bouncing out-of-control Bumblebee are to die for. The big-headed Priest with his moralizing gaze, the even bigger-headed Doctor who manages to get his hands under The Boy's hospital bed sheet after which he dips into the booze, the battalion of Nurse Ratcheds with their nightmarish, rocket-sized syringes — all of it mixed in with the sweetest little tea flowers and spices — you can’t imagine-up this stuff without pharmaceutical help.

 

On Thursday and Friday nights, ABT’s dancers performed superbly while the non-dancing Extras nearly stole the show. The company looks so inspired when they dance Ratmansky’s works. Jonathan Klein, slightly wrestling with the overwhelming reality of leading Opening Night, was in top form as The Boy who indulges in too much whipped cream, ends up in the hospital, and has an awful nightmare. May Klein have many more Opening Nights in his future — in our future. His solos were packed with goodies and his characterization was true. The second performance saw Daniil Simkin reprise his original role with the crazy, over-the-top pyrotechnical embellishes that are fructose to his fans. Simkin was out to make us believers. He didn’t just politely taste the whipped cream; he stuck his whole face in the bowl. Who hasn’t done that? Well, you’re all liars.

 

Skylar Brandt took Princess Praline to a new level on opening night. Her brilliance came so easily and so boldly. It was breathtaking to see that level of technical authority on stage. She was, in fact, the very top tier of the beautiful cake that becomes the focal point at the party. Breanne Granlund successfully debuted in the role on the following night but had a couple of technical issues. We look forward to seeing how ABT develops her artistry. 

 

Christine Shevchenko and Calvin Royal danced the roles of Princess Tea Flower and Prince Coffee on opening night while Devon Teuscher and Cory Stearns danced the second night. Both couples were charming and persuasive. Shevchenko offered more effervescence while Teuscher’s brew had more subtle flavors. Royal’s dancing continues to improve rapidly. It seems to rise a level or two every time he has to dance a Ratmansky role. Stearns is still capable of doing most of what he has always done, and on the second night he incorporated real energy into the characterization of Prince Coffee.

 

Joseph Gorak and Eric Tamm shared the role of Prince Cocoa, and each danced brilliantly. Why is it we see so little of them? Blaine Hoven’s Slivovitz with his concern for his manicure was hysterical along with Catherine Hurlin and Connor Holloway on opening night and Zhong-Jing Fang and Joao Menegussi on the second night. Each cast mixed up a potent cocktail of comedy and fun.

 

The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon –– wait, there’s a tie –– Long Neck Piggy and Skylar Brandt for their brilliance and imagination on opening night.

 

 

observations 9/12

Haglund misses the dancing of Ana Sophia Scheller so much. Since departing NYCB under a wispy cirrus cloud several years ago, she has evolved into a full service ballerina with stunning classical form and ability. Recently she had to depart Ukraine's national ballet company because of the war. But she has been guesting around Europe and this month danced in a gig in Italy where she performed the PdD from La Bayadere with ABT's dynamo Luigi Crispino.

Crispino dances like he's about to explode and loves to punctuate his phrases dramatically. He makes the viewer feel the music pulse up and down the spine. We just cannot wait to see more of him on stage. Until then, here's the PdD from Ana Sophia's Instagram page. We wish she would come home to New York.

 

And we're off and running . . .

Yesterday the New York Giants announced that they were hiring their first "Intimacy Director on a pilot basis to care for the physical and emotional well-being of the players." Veteran Center Phil Bendover said that while he had always been comfortable with Eli Manning’s hands tucked into his crotch, he was less so with the young Daniel Jones who could get a little frisky during the excitement of the game. Daniel, in his own defense, said that the Center was just trying to be the center of attention by suggesting that he has been or could be the victim of a quarterback’s swift and hidden fingerings.

 

Oh wait. Haglund is confused again, or still. It wasn’t the New York Giants who hired the Intimacy Director; it was the New York City Ballet. Yep, it’s like a strip out of Doonesbury. Our donations are now going to pay Intimacy Director Zipper to give the dancers psychological tummy rubs.

 

Intimacy Director Zipper:    Miss Boopsie, are you feeling threatened by this Stravinsky Violin Concerto choreography that you are not even cast in?

Miss Boopsie:    Yes, I am, I always have, and I will continue to be thweatened by it until I get cast in it. 

Intimacy Director Zipper:    But you realize that black & white leotard ballets are not – ahem – your best look. 

Miss Boopsie:    What??!! You’re thweatening me with your microaggressions! I’ve been studying all about that in college.

Intimacy Director Zipper:    College, as in college? I’m speechless. Come here and let me pet your little head.

 

Miss Boopsie:    Okay, I feel so much better. I feel so present and validated and in control and important to everyone. Thank you, Zipper. Now, can you get me a gig teaching at SAB where I'm basically banned because of that time I snuck into the dorm for a hoochie-coochie with a student?

 

Intimacy Director Zipper:   I'm speechless.

Well, enough about that.

 

We're very excited about the start of NYCB's Fall Season. That curious artistic decision to slot the sleepy La Sonnambula as a closer is finally coming into focus now that we observe that Taylor Stanley and Harrison Ball will debut as The Poet during the run. Each of these artists can be expected to bring a powerful and uniquely dramatic reading to his free verse.

 

Our most favorite costumes return to the stage with Divertimento No. 15. If that wasn't exciting enough, the ballet will be loaded up with our extraordinary soloists and the supremely talented Davide Riccardo.

 

Raymonda Variations should be thrilling if the conductor accommodates the corps and soloists with their preferred blistering tempi. And Tchaikovsky PdD soars back onto the stage with Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia. Given how these two hauled ass in Allegro Brilliante on consecutive nights at the BAAND Together Dance Festival at Lincoln Center last month, we can say that both artists' spines are in fine, flexible shape, and Tiler may be enjoying her own renaissance. Holy moly, did anyone else see that?

 

We also bought some tickets to ABT's upcoming Fall Season. Mark Ryden's designs and costumes for Whipped Cream are going to look fantastical on the Koch Theater stage. No one should pass by the opportunity to witness his imagination in all its magical grandness in the theater. If that wasn't enough, audiences will be treated to Jonathan Klein's reprisal of The Boy. Herman Cornejo's Puck should not be missed. It's likely that this will be the last time that we see Herman, Gillian Murphy, and Cory Stearns in The Dream. Each has had a much too abbreviated run in this ballet over their careers. Stearns is so Dowell-like that at times one thinks one is watching the original. The casting of Ratmansky's The Seasons has been mostly refreshed and will provide a good opportunity to see what some of the newer corps dancers can really do.

 

Off we go . . .

 

ABT 7/8 Redeemed By Giants

Kisses to the new corps, demi-soloist pairs, and principals in last night's Theme and Variations. What a difference from the night before! Not only was everyone supremely elegant, supremely accurate, and supremely glistening, everyone seemed so filled with joy to be dancing this great masterpiece. And when all 26 dancers realized toward the very end that they had truly nailed it, their proud faces were something to behold. Such a great, great job from everyone.

When the curtain opened and the academic tendus began, the posture of our principals conveyed that we were about to see something special. The mature elegance of Skylar Brandt and the calm command of Herman Cornejo grabbed our attention like few other couples in these roles. It was remarkable how these two, as small as they are, managed to look like giants on the stage.

The tempi were blessedly faster than ABT is accustomed to in Theme and Variations, but every dancer on stage seemed ready and eager to fly at the pace. When Herman began his double tour/pirouette series, Conductor Ormsby Wilkins noticeably accelerated the orchestra to give Herman precisely what he needed to attain perfection. The level of mastery in his pas de bourree/six/grand jete entournant and the travelling ronde jambe en l'air was mind boggling – so simply done and so smooth. Skylar's variations were at or near the speed that we see Megan Fairchild take this ballet. She was just beautiful and articulate without any pushiness. The chainees were a blur until Skylar stopped on a dime with seemingly no effort at all.  She got all of the quick changing port de bras in smoothly, and served up this Balanchine like the grand feast that it is supposed to be. Though some credit must go to Tchaikovsky, her pas de deux with Herman brought forth tears. And we must say that the make-up was gorgeous. Skylar, normally youthful and wide-eyed on stage, possessed an elegance that we have never seen before.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin in crossed fifth position loaded with kisses, is bestowed upon the corps de ballet, demi-soloist pairs, and our glorious principals Skylar Brandt and Herman Cornejo for the performance of the season in Theme and Variations. The maker can once again rest in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

ABT 7/7 American Splendor an offender

At the end of the first ballet last night a white cloud appeared on the stage. A little old man with receding hairline floated out of it, eyes blinking rapidly as he took little sniffs through his nose. He wore a black string tie and rolled up shirt sleeves and appeared slightly disheveled. He spoke in broken English:

“I rest happily in backstage area since 1983, and then — and then (he scrunches up his face) –– I need to change program right now. Single Zig and Eye Zag do another night. We do over Theme and Variations and make right. I conduct.”

 

He hadn’t just rolled over in his grave as ABT butchered his Theme and Variations, he rose up from it to wrestle back control of his masterpiece from ABT’s outgoing director who has never been able to get it right. This time was just too much for the choreographer. American Splendor was an offender.

 

What is happening to Joo Won Ahn, the male lead in Balanchine's Theme and Variations? Who has gotten into this man’s head to convince him to dance with the caution of someone walking through a mine field? Last night was excruciatingly painful to watch. From the opening moments, he seemed recoiled and defeated. The tendus were like the first ones in the morning, lacking in stretch and importance — and uncrossed. His first set of double pirouettes to fourth position were so slow that any other dancer would have had time to do triples. Hesitate. Hesitate. Hesitate, thanks in part to a lazy tempo. The double tour/pirouette combination was ballet’s equivalent of Chernobyl. Ahn had a complete meltdown. The audience could be heard grumbling in McEnroe tones “Are you serious?! Are you serious?!”

 

At the opening bars, we weren’t sure about Devon Teuscher either. Nerves were apparent. Feet were not planted. But then she seemed to realize that the entire responsibility for this ballet was going to rest on her gorgeous shoulders. The woman took over, and she gave a whopping huge performance – not like anything we would see in the House of Balanchine but something we’d experience at the Palais Garnier. Her majesty matched Tchaikovsky’s measure for measure. Her clarity matched his clarity note for note. Was it all too slow? Yes, definitely: so slow that Devon had to add balances to fill out the music. But if the slow-motion killed the thrill of this ballet, it revealed its glory, too. Unfortunately, we need both thrill and glory. This ballet deserves nothing less. 

 

The demi-soloists and corps were, in part, rough. Those who clearly understood where to dance on the music chaffed against those who didn’t. McCune, Frenette, Tamm, Sebastian, and Hoven anticipated the music and hit their marks beautifully. Most of the ladies were still in Swan Lake mode—and why shouldn’t they dance that way with a sluggish tempo that felt like a raw egg smoothie going down.

 

Single Eye (Alonzo King) and ZigZag (Jessica Lang) required neither orchestra nor affection for ballet but did require great patience. What’s worse than seeing professional ballet dancers as backup to singers? Answer: seeing professional ballet dancers as backup to taped singers. Not that we don’t love Tony Bennett. In fact Haglund’s greatest ever experience in the Metropolitan Opera House was in 2011 when Tony Bennett made his debut singing at the Met. Re-live it here. But Lang’s fluffy ZigZag, a faux Broadway-type revue, is the poor man’s Susan Stroman. It relies on kitschy flounce and costumes that try to recapture the sashaying big dress styles of the 1950s.To its credit, it gives a lot of fabulous, underused dancers a chance to step out and be seen, such as Michael de la Nuez. The man simply explodes every time he catches the spotlight.

 

Single Eye is one more pretentious Angst & Yank ballet that can’t be forgotten fast enough. Nothing new here. Nothing articulated. A lovely gold front curtain and some fetching costumes, but little else. Is anyone else sick and tired of the cliched pose of the turned in leg crossed over the side of the knee of the other leg that one of King’s dancers made famous in a poster decades ago? Every ballerina seems to need to mimic it, and King seems to have made it his signature. 

 

We can’t watch this program again in its entirety but will find a way to see what Brandt & Cornejo do with T&V. The cheap factor is just too overwhelming and it is typical of how McKenzie has missed the mark over and over and over again. No Pump Bump Award for this one.

 

 

 

 

 

ABT's Swan Lake 6/29 mat & eve

Lakes have life cycles. Once a lake is formed by glacial, fault, or volcanic activity, it immediately begins to evolve through its life stages. The constantly changing balance of nutrients in the water affects which aquatic life thrives and which eventually succumbs to stress. And so it goes with ABT’s Swan Lake which has evolved through its 22 year run through constant, though not always careful management of its ecosystem. Years of replenishing with guest artists – an invasive species – proved fatal to parts of the natural habitat. 

 

Of late, though, we’ve seen some stirrings of new life in ABT’s old lake. Skylar Brandt, in an astonishing Odette/Odile debut Wednesday evening, revealed every classical detail with remarkable clarity. As the music cued the iconic moments, she delivered the anticipated phrasing, poses, and temperament of both Odette and Odile as carefully set on her by Irina Dvorovenko and Max Beloserkovsky. Like the daughter whose mother insists on a high level of social courtesy in everyday life but who won’t come to realize the full value of those manners until she matures, we can expect Skylar’s interpretation of Odette to deepen as she absorbs what Irina and Max have so generously given her. Meanwhile, we are simply blown away by the delightful trickery of her Odile — a swindling Harold Hill in black sparkly tutu. Smooth and seductive, balancing brilliantly on her outrageous lie, and spinning a story with fast-talking fouettes, this Odile had little trouble getting Siegfried's wallet, watch, and Social Security number.

 

Skylar is the Odette/Odile that Herman Cornejo should have had much earlier in his career. She is now at a technical level where he was a dozen years ago. But they still make for an awesome match and for that, we are grateful. From his entrance at the top of the staircase to his fatal leap into the lake, Herman’s intensity and energy raised the level of the entire cast’s performance. All of sudden, everyone on stage had extra spark and color. If this was Herman’s local sign-off of Siegfried, it was a darned good one. There is still plenty of juice left in his legs and he delivered the requisite turns and leaps, if not always at the level of his youth. We felt Siegfried's anguish and confusion. His Act IV relentless quest for Odette sunk our spirits which had been soaring since Act II because, well, we already knew how it would turn out even if he didn’t.

 

The Wednesday matinee cast of Christine Shevchenko and Calvin Royal III enjoyed similar highs. Here we had a very different Odette - an old soul through whom we felt the sorrows of past Odettes. She brought our breathing to a stop with her exquisitely beautiful port de bras and the lengthening of lines that seemed to be pulled even longer by the generous conducting of Charles Barker. The gentle curves in her arabesques and attitudes were emotionally exposing. As Odile, Shevchenko maybe wasn’t as soulless or conniving as other Odiles, but she drew a clear distinction from her Odette. There were partnering issues that marred moments such as the famous line of step-over pirouettes that ends with a dramatic attitude pose. Odile ended up on two feet on the other side of Siggy. But the lifts in Act IV were incredible and all but made us forget about any of the awkwardness that preceded them. 

 

This was Calvin Royal’s debut and at times he looked under pressure and his variations were under-powered. Given the fact that his second performance of Chaereas in Of Love And Rage was a spectacular improvement over the first one last week, we are confident that things will go much better for him at Monday’s matinee of Swan Lake. There was a sense of Calvin trying to figure out how Calvin fit into the character of Siegfried rather than simply adopting a theatrical characterization that has nothing to do with the performer’s own circumstances and empathies. Once on stage, it’s too late to be questioning what the character’s motivation is. But because the second performance of Chaereas was so strong, we don’t want to miss what might happen on July 4th.

 

The secondary principals, soloists and demis at the Wednesday performances were a mixed bag. Andrii Ishchuk’s conservative debut as Von Rothbard showed only a glimpse of what we can expect to come. He was hesitant to take the character over the top – which is an absolute must – but the dancing was quite fetching. In the evening, Gabe Stone Shayer chewed up the scenery rather successfully, we thought. It was our first time seeing a short-ish Von Rothbart; so it was kind of a shock. But somehow, Gabe made the character outlandish and cinematic, and it all worked well. 

 

Thank goodness in the evening we stumbled upon Breanne Granlund in the Pas de Trois who seems to be that rare woman at ABT who can manage entrechat-six. What is going on here? How does someone get into the corps of ABT (or get hired back!) without being able to do a few entrechat-six in a row? Granlund, Zimmi Coker, and Patrick Frenette delivered a very respectable PdT full of verve and style. Frenette’s Benno was expertly danced and we look forward to finally seeing much more of him in significant roles. He has such danseur noble potential that it has been almost heartbreaking to see him underused for so long. However, there are a couple of issues that need to be addressed. First and foremost are the odd quick-changing facial expressions that look calculated & unnatural and a proclivity for over-emphasizing details that one does in class in order to get the message into the muscles but shouldn’t do on stage. Then there is the overuse of make-up. Frenette is unfairly handsome and doesn’t need excessive rouge and eye shadow to make that any more clear than it is. Why is ABT’s make-up team trying to make him look clownish?

 

The swan corps de ballet at each performance appeared well-drilled. The Cygnettes did not disappoint. And oh do we love the new Tutor who strode into the village: Ruben Martin (formerly of SFB, now JKO). Big, big theater chops. Hope to see more of him. 

 

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin crystal-embellished stiletto, is bestowed upon Skylar Brandt, Christine Shevchenko, and Irina Dvorovenko for packing such beauty and artistic integrity into ABT's Swan Lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ABT 6/20, 6/21, 6/22 mat Of Love and Rage

Open your hearts to Alexei Ratmansky's new production Of Love and Rage, which is loosely based on the story of Chaereas and Callirhoe by the Greek novelist Charitan who wrote during the 1st century AD.

ABT doesn't have another ballet that so masterfully allows so many of its dancers to display their gifts. There are so many roles to fill that dancers sometimes have to play five roles in a single performance. Andrii Ishchuk, a young Ukrainian corpsman who danced his feet off on opening night in the major role of Polycharmus, on Wednesday had to perform as one of the Chorus Men, one of Dionysius' Soldiers, a Captive, a Babylonian Courtier, and finally fought a war as a member of the Babylonian Army. That's a lot of character switching and choreography to remember, not to mention costume changing. Even on Broadway where a swing has to learn a lot of different roles, he doesn't have to dance them all in one night!

Dramaturg Guillaume Gallienne simplified the story of Chaereas and Callirhoe and distilled it down to just a few important characters and episodes. Charitan, the author of what is purportedly the world's first ever romance novel, conceived a plot that has the density of a black hole. But fuggedaboutit! This new ballet doesn't strive to convey a story for the sake of conveying a story. The story is merely a vehicle to transport the blisteringly brilliant dancing of ABT's Corps de Ballet to the front of the stage. And for this, we thank Ratmansky who always seems to be able to recognize the talented artists who have otherwise been orphaned at ABT.

Thanks to this ballet, we got to see Ishchuk's beautiful, clear dancing in the role of Polycharmus, Chaereas' friend. The next night our longtime favorite Eric Tamm was back with a bang in the same role. His deer-like leaps with their ever-upward trajectory and his commitment to character have always been meant for the front of the stage, regardless of how the reality played out at ABT. At the Wednesday matinee, Jonathan Klein was superb in the same role - with a face that catches the light and reveals stirring emotion.

The dark, glowering Mithridates received an intensely theatrical and dazzlingly danced performance from Jarod Curley who got his corps contract a mere six months before the pandemic lockdown. We've seen basically nothing from this guy and all of a sudden he's in our faces dancing like a dramatic heavy-weight star at the Bolshoi. The normally blondish Curley was transformed by a nasty black wig and ill-kept facial hair through which his normally handsome smile became a relentless sneer. His use of the head to convey Mithridates' dangerous nature made for a commanding performance which was perhaps the highlight of the show. And Patrick Frenette was superb as well in the role at the matinee. Dark and cunning, Frenette made the most of his character through bold musical choices. His sudden pauses put the viewer on edge. When he leaned into the faces of other characters, it was with the smooth hostility of a serpent.

Where Ratmansky excelled beyond anything else that he has ever made for ABT was in the corps' choreography. It was highly imaginative, inventive, disciplined, and without arbitrary frenetic upper body and arm movements that have crept into earlier works. It looked less impulsive and more edited. In one instance the Chorus Ladies formed a tight triangle with the vertex downstage. While bourree-ing backwards, they expanded the triangle to gorgeous effect -- like air expanding the lungs -- while raising their arms in a V to create a large triangle made up of multiple triangles through port de bras. At another point they grand jete'ed right-left-right-left-right-left in a circle with such precision that they nearly sounded like a single pair of feet landing each time. At times their formations were broken down into smaller trios, duos, and soloists which had the effect of spotlighting so many individuals even though they were in the corps.

It was the same story for the men. They were all doing principal-level variations in unison, trios, duos, and solos. Groups traveled backwards in lightning fast jeté battu combinations, off-balance coupe jetés were thrown in like seasoning -- all of it was fast, fast, fast. Near the end of Act II, the Babylonian Courtier men appeared in brilliant blue costumes to accompany the gorgeous Babylonian Courtier women. All of a sudden, one of the men broke out into an insane variation that included sliding all over the floor and crazy turns -- we think it may have been Michael de la Nuez -- which made a point that we all need to remember: so much to dance, yet so little time. Were it not for Ratmansky, we likely would never have seen this man's valiant dancing.

Yes, there were lead dancers, but they were not the stars of this show. They were there to give the corps de ballet an occasional rest - that's all. But they all did well in choreography that was not as inspired as what was conceived for the corps de ballet. Tom Forster gave the biggest reading of Chaereas of the three performances that Haglund saw. His brilliance was marked by the velocity with which he executed the grandest of the grand allegro moments. His manege of coupe jeté went on for about an hour and seemed to accelerate right to its dramatic end. Forster was more theatrically invested than either Aran Bell or Calvin Royal III with whom he shared the role. Both Bell and Forster managed some epic torch lifts of their Callirhoes whereas Royal truncated his. All three seemed to get all of the steps but there were big differences in how they exploited them or simply did them.

Catherine Hurlin, Christine Shevchenko, and Hee Seo shared the role of Callirhoe. Until the third performance, Haglund was not convinced that this was a principal role. Part of the problem was Callirhoe's costume which was made of heavy-looking fabric that fell nearly to the ankles. She was made to look like the Chorus Ladies only in satiny white. The costumes worked for the Chorus Ladies but not for Callirhoe whose leg lines and choreography were often hidden or obscured by the costume. It needed slits in the skirt or perhaps a different fabric. It just didn't work. Nor did the one-armed tunics for the men. They just looked sloppy. Instead of tunics, they should have had tunic-like forms that hugged the torso.

Hurlin gave a lovely and honest portrayal of Callirhoe with admirable execution of the choreography. Shevechenko gave the strongest technical performance but did not read as dramatically as was needed. Seo had some technical slip-ups, and made some alterations, e.g., the fast stepping horizontal bourrees that changed from front to back to front to back became standard bourrees. However, her dramatic reading finally brought the needed depth. She has all that experience of portraying suffering heroines to fall back on -- Juliet, Giselle, Nikiya, Tatiana, Caroline -- and she used it very, very well. Haglund was completely shocked at how much he enjoyed Seo's performance and how well she pulled the viewer into her story.

All of the Callirhoes were more affecting emotionally when dancing Pas de Deux with the characters of Dionysius and Mithridates than with Chaereas. Daniel Camargo made a sensational debut as Dionysius on opening night. As soon as he strode onstage, the level of tension in the story increased exponentially. We can't say how well Camargo does in white-tights roles, but in this dramatic setting he was a dynamite performer. His allegro felt like it was the relief valve opening on his pressurized character. Both Blaine Hoven and Joo Won Ahn skillfully crafted their characters and danced well, but it was Camargo who, in the final moments, made us feel what he was giving up when he released the hand of the child he long thought had been his own but who was actually Chaereas'.

This production by Ratmansky came as a surprise. The strong elements eclipse the weak elements (costumes in Act I; mundane choreography for the leads) which can be revised over seasons. All in all, it is truly a gift to the hardworking corps de ballet dancers who deserve to shine like they are shining this week. The sets are neither over-stated nor inadequate; they are exactly what is needed to help move the story along without getting in the way. Khachatyrian's music is glorious, and the ABT orchestra is doing itself proud. My goodness it all sounds beautiful in the Met Opera House. The score doesn't have a lot of pauses where an audience can express appreciation and sometimes doesn't meet the drama of the choreography. In one instance of a PdD between Chaereas and Callirhoes, there is a phrase that ends in a spectacular upside down lift but the music doesn't match its potency. But these are trivial issues as is concern for the level of detail in the story. The whole thing works, and works well.

The H.H. Pump Bump Award, Versace's gold & silver stiletto, is bestowed upon the men and women of the Corps de Ballet who are the stars of this important new production.