Haglund's Heel

Balanchine: The City Center Years 11/1 and 11/4

When the Americans’ loudest complaints about Russian ballet dancing are the smiles and the rich operatic bows, you know their asses have been whooped. Apparently, no one should dare not dance Balanchine exactly as New York City Ballet does. By that, we mean ig-zakt-lee, not iks-hahk-lee or eek-zaxt-lee. When in Amerakuh, speak Amerakuhn dammit. (For the love of all humanity, please vote by the end of tomorrow.) Good heavens, some of this snooty-snoot that Haglund has been hearing about the visiting companies’ performances makes locals sound like a bunch of Parisians. 

 

Without a doubt, it’s important to ballet and also gratifying to New York City Ballet that companies throughout the world want to dance Balanchine’s great works and want their audiences to experience them. But there are no other companies on the planet that devote themselves to Balanchine’s ballets like NYCB does. There are no other companies on the planet who require potential dancers to push through the rigors of SAB, then take a daily class that focuses solely on the Balanchine-espoused technical demands, and spend all working hours trying to stay true to the underlying dancing principals that have made the company and Balanchine’s ballets so great. There are no other companies on the planet that do this. So why should anyone expect that a company that arrives for a festival will match NYCB musical counts (which can vary widely on any given night), NYCB aesthetic (which can vary widely on any given night), or any aspect of NYCB’s performances at all? Honestly, it sounds like the locals believe that the visiting companies were trying to be disrespectful since they didn’t mirror what is or has been seen here on NYCB’s stage. Maybe it’s time to look in the mirror, folks.

 

On Thursday evening, the Mariinsky Ballet’s interpretation of Balanchine’s Apollo was filled with stunning dancing, sensitive characterization, and elegant beauty. This crew hammered home how fundamentally important it is in this art form to start out with the right physical instrument. If the instrument isn’t right, the aims of the choreography cannot be achieved with excellence. Ballet isn’t about being the best average one can be. It’s not democratic. It’s not an art where we all vote on whether turnout, straight narrow legs, length in the limbs, a clear arabesque, and minimal body mass are important.

 

Xander Parish as Apollo clearly portrayed the young god who needed instruction from his muses. His boyish face showed the frustration of not yet being able to master his god-tasks. He conveyed Apollo’s struggle and disorientation as the liminality in his transformation to a full-fledged god. The moment when his head rose from the open palms of the Muses’ hands could not have been played more clearly. By delivering the expression with the force to reach the back of the Mariinsky Theatre, he may have whammed those in the forward rows of the NY City Center unexpectedly. But he was clear. His solos were technically and aesthetically gorgeous: shapes in the air, shapes on the ground, shapes standing still. It was impossible not to admire his artistry. We say this while clearly remembering how completely underwhelmed we were the last time we saw him on stage. Xander has quite literally made his own Apollo rite of passage.

 

Maria Khoreva, Anastasia Nuikina, and Daria Ionova as the Muses are all 2018 graduates from the Vaganova Academy. Khoreva, who danced Terpsichore, has already been promoted to First Soloist bypassing the ranks of Coryphee and Second Soloist, and doing virtually no time in traditional corps roles. What an amazing opportunity it was to watch this fledgling fly with such poise, precision, and grace. A couple of times, we thought that she veered dangerously close to turning her pas de deux with Apollo into a love duet, but we ultimately decided that she was expressing her love for her art form, not the hot god before her. Especially beautiful was the “swimming” moment while poised on Apollo’s back where the arch in her back and the length in her neck were extraordinary. The final pose with her arched torso tucked against Apollo’s arched back was a gorgeous image. Both Calliope and Polyhymnia danced equally well. Polyhymnia had a little struggle with the pique pirouettes to arabesque plié with the finger to the lips, but nothing more than what we’ve seen on NYCB’s stages from its long time principals.

 

Thursday night’s program included NYCB in Concerto Barocco. It was danced dreadfully slowly which made it a bore. Maybe the tempo was adjusted down so as to avoid problems dancing in the smaller space. Both Maria Kowroski and Abi Stafford danced as though they were tired. Russell Janzen dispatched his partnering duties reliably and cleanly.

 

The Royal Ballet couple Anna Rose O’Sullivan and Marcelino Sambé brought their game up considerably from the night before and delivered an energetic Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux. 

 

The San Francisco Ballet’s Divertimento No. 15 suffered some from the narrow stage. These are excellent dancers who would have appreciated being able to really cut loose for the New York audience, but were somewhat confined. Their dancing was scrupulous and refined, however.

 

Sunday’s closing performance of the festival included the Joffrey Ballet in The Four Temperaments. Jeraldine Mendoza in the Third Theme and Yoshihisa Arai in Melancholic were commanding. Unfortunately, the rest of the company didn’t match them in authority. Given the difficulties that Christine Rocas and Victoria Jaiani had with Sanguinic and Choleric, respectively, we wondered if the Joffrey had actually danced The Four Temperaments much in Chicago. It was not a fully baked loaf, so to speak.

 

Along with the Mariinsky’s Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux redux, the Paris Opera Ballet performed the Divertissement Pas de Deux from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Taken out of context, this PdD was not very interesting. The dancers (Sae-Eun Park and Hugo Marchand) were like print & plaid together. Neither made a strong impression in this dance even though we know from having seen them perform before that they are fantastic dancers.

 

American Ballet Theatre’s Symphonie Concertante to music by Mozart turned out to be one of the highlights of the three performances that Haglund saw - for two reasons. First, NYCB doesn’t dance the ballet so we have no idea what it would look like if dispatched with Balanchine styling and speed. Second, ABT danced it very, very well in their own style. Christine Shevchenko, Devon Teuscher, and Thomas Forster were an elegant and glistening trio of academic beauty. For quite some time, many have wondered why Forster has been so underutilized in major full length works at ABT. While we were certainly transfixed by the beauty of Shevchenko and Teuscher, we suddenly snapped to a new alertness when Forster arrived on stage. For such a huge man, he certainly moves with the grace of a panther. Charming, handsome, killer lines, gorgeous feet, huge jumps, beautiful pirouettes, youthful arabesque. And his dancing has always been superior to the management-favored, audience-abhorred James Whiteside. 

 

ABT’s corps looked very comfortable dancing on the smaller stage. Tidy lines, bright smiles, lovely port de bras, no need to rush or stretch to reach a position. It all looked very pleasant. No stress, no mess. We can’t fail to mention how gorgeous the Theoni V. Aldredge tutus were. Every woman on stage looked like a million dollars.

 

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon the Mariinsky Ballet for their Apollo.

 

 

NY City Center announces programming for Balanchine: The City Center Years and it looks grand

• Balanchine – Program I
  

  Miami City Ballet Serenade (Tschaikovsky)
  The Mariinsky Ballet Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky)
  The Royal Ballet Tarantella (Gottschalk)
  New York City Ballet Symphony in C (Bizet)

  Wed

  Oct 31

  ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

• Balanchine – Program II

  The Mariinsky Ballet Apollo (Stravinsky)
  New York City Ballet Concerto Barocco (Bach)
  The Royal Ballet Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky)
  San Francisco Ballet Divertimento No. 15 (Mozart)

  Thu

  Nov 1

  ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

• Balanchine – Program III

  San Francisco Ballet Scotch Symphony (Mendelssohn)
  The Mariinsky Ballet Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky)
  Paris Opera Ballet Divertissement Pas de Deux from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn)
  Joffrey Ballet The Four Temperaments (Hindemith)

  Fri

  Nov 2

  ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

• Balanchine – Program IV

  Joffrey Ballet The Four Temperaments (Hindemith)
  Miami City Ballet Pas de Trois (Glinka) (Glinka)
  Paris Opera Ballet Pas de Deux from Agon (Stravinsky)
  San Francisco Ballet Divertimento No. 15 (Mozart)

  Sat

  Nov 3

  ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

• Balanchine – Program V

  The Mariinsky Ballet Apollo (Stravinsky)
  The Royal Ballet Tarantella (Gottschalk)
  Paris Opera Ballet Pas de Deux from Agon (Stravinsky)
  American Ballet Theatre Symphonie Concertante (Mozart)

  Sat

  Nov 3

  ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

• Balanchine – Program VI

  Joffrey Ballet The Four Temperaments (Hindemith)
  Paris Opera Ballet Divertissement Pas de Deux from A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mendelssohn)
  The Mariinsky Ballet Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (Tschaikovsky)
  American Ballet Theatre Symphonie Concertante (Mozart)

  Sun
  
  Nov 4
  
  ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

On Sale Dates:

Members:    Monday, June 25th Noon
Gen Pub:     Monday, July 9th Noon

 

 

 

Chicago – Auditorium TheaterJoffrey Ballet – Giselle 10/28 matinee

"Space is the breath of art," he said. "To know what to leave out and what to put in; just where and just how, ah, that is to have been educated in knowledge of simplicity.”  

We don’t know if the famous Chicago resident Frank Lloyd Wright attended the ballet much. But we imagine that he could have been overcome with emotion at the sight of the Wilis criss-crossing the stage in their arabesque voyage – simple recurring steps embedded in the architecture of a simple recurring melody, and graceful limbs as lines intersecting the wide-curving hems of the Wilis’ tattered gowns. If Wright had witnessed the Joffrey Ballet’s new Giselle at the Auditorium Theatre, where he had been a young draftsman on the original Auditorium project in 1885-89 while working for the Adler-Sullivan firm, he might have been inspired to create yet another new style of architecture — one that combined the art of human motion with nature.

The Joffrey’s new Giselle has been staged by Lola de Avila, the master teacher/ballet mistress with lengthy stints at San Francisco Ballet School, School of Victor Ullate, National Ballet of Spain, and her own school and company in Madrid. Previously, she worked with Joffrey AD Ashley Wheater on Giselle when both were affiliated with the San Francisco Ballet. This staging had its premiere five years ago at Oregon Ballet Theatre. The Joffrey’s earlier Giselle staged by Frederick Franklin premiered in 2007 shortly after the company announced that Ashley Wheater, a Joffrey dancer in the 1980s, would be the new AD.

On this tenth anniversary year of Wheater’s appointment, the Joffrey has gifted Chicago with a Giselle as beautiful as they come. Peter Farmer’s exquisite designs courtesy of Oregon Ballet Theatre are gorgeous. The Act I village radiated warmth and charm – Giselle’s little house defined by its large window and door that were shaped like modified church lancet windows. The costume colors were an extension of the scenery’s autumn foliage and only slightly brighter. In Act II, the tulle of each Wili's bridal gown was individually marked with streaks of “dirt” from the waist down to suggest where she slept after roaming the forest each night since dying after being jilted.

The Act I Peasant Pas de Deux by the fleet and articulate Anais Bueno and Greig Matthew flowed with a Bournonville-like ease rather than being a collection of hard tricks executed under stress as is commonly seen in other productions. The Peasant ensemble and especially Giselle’s Friends were squeaky clean in their group allegro dances – from every dancer, the second foot in each glissade was just as fully stretched as the leading foot. 

Rory Hohenstein portrayed Hilarion as a bright but complicated guy who truly loved Giselle but was at a loss how to deal with the handsome interference who sashayed into the village and swept her off her feet. His Act I moment of realization that Loys was actually Duke Albrecht of Silesia was mimed with acute clarity as he thought back to his confrontation when Albrecht reached for his sword that was missing from his side. His self-satisfaction of pointing out the deception to Giselle was quickly followed by his impatience and hurt that she wouldn’t believe him. His desperation and death in Act II captured the audience’s sympathies; we all knew that he was the right one for her.

As Giselle and Albrecht, Amanda Assucena and Alberto Velazquez were that technically well-matched couple who would not match-up in life where the economic and status barriers to love were too high. 

Assucena, a soubrette rather than a willowy Giselle, excelled as the village girl in Act I and transformed herself admirably to exceed the lyrical demands of Act II where her pique arabesques that rolled down into penche revealed extraordinary flexibility in the back. The torso seemingly didn’t need to bend forward at all when the back leg extended upward to create the widest possible arc of Giselle’s hem. It was the type of arabesque that only a ghostly spirit could do.

Velazquez, of handsome classical lines and effortless technique, showed stunning strength in Act II where he exceeded 32 entrechat six before collapsing in exhaustion. His Albrecht was truly despondent and lost in the wilderness as he tried to find and re-claim Giselle. One of the overhead lifts went slightly awry, but other than that, this Act II appeared to be flawless. 

Nicole Ciapponi as Myrtha gained strength and authority as Act II progressed. Her final variation that began with missile-like grand jetes revealed Myrtha to be un-hinged and vowing to dispatch Albrecht. Cara Marie Gary and Anais Bueno as Moyna and Zulma and the Corps of Wilis beautifully conveyed the sisterhood of spirits.

On this tenth anniversary of his directorship, Ashley Wheater may actually be close to turning reluctant Chicago into a Ballet Town - something that no one before him has been able to do. There has always been so much competing culture in the city that classical ballet has had trouble getting its fair share of attention. With productions like this new Giselle and with the Joffrey’s new residency at the Chicago Lyric Opera House beginning in 2020, everybody else had better look out.

The H.H. Pump Bump Award, with straps of prickly myrtle, is bestowed upon Rory Hohenstein, whose Hilarion left us with the strongest impression in an afternoon of all-around exceptional performances.

 

 

 

 

The Joffrey Ballet @ Lincoln CenterDancing with bells on

The Joffrey Ballet’s gala performance on Thursday night was the type of program that those who remember the company from its New York years would associate with it. The three part program of Bells by Yuri Possokhov, Body of Your Dreams by Myles Thatcher, and Fool’s Paradise by Christopher Wheeldon was two-thirds successful. The Wheeldon piece, made during his Morphoses days, was choreographically weak, pretentious, and ridiculously sentimental. The audience was asked to treat a bunch of nothing like it had world importance. On the other hand, Possokhov and Thatcher each put something new on the New York stage that was handsome and unique.

Thatcher’s Body of Your Dreams was set to Dutch composer Jacob ter Veldhuis's piano and spoken urban-cool mash-up soundtrack. It was just the type of cheeky, hipster, trippy dance that Robert Joffrey would have loved. The soundtrack is comprised of snippets of infomercial type script about miracle products to eliminate cellulite or love handles, lose weight, and achieve the body of your dreams. (Take a listen and see if you don't agree that it harks back to the days of Deuce Coup, Panoramagram, etc.) The dancers responded to it with contemporary exer-dance type movements with some tricky ballet thrown in. Would Haglund like to see this danced by any company other than the Joffrey? Nuh uh. But it is a perfect fit for this company’s historically youthful, dare-to-be-different personality. We know the Joffrey can dance serious classical ballet as well as most anyone, but the dancers can also kick back and throw some tongue-in-check nonsense out on stage and make the audience adore them.

What an improvement this dance was over Thatcher’s Polaris that New York City Ballet danced in the fall of 2015. Polaris looked like the choreographer was trying desperately to fit into the contemporary ballet culture – that culture that so many of us despise for its dullness and pompous sense of self-importance. Here, he was daring to be different without resorting to the tastelessness or offensiveness that today’s ballet wannabe-choreographers stoop to exploit – when they’re not pandering to some critic’s personal agenda. We’ve placed Thatcher’s false start with NYCB aside, and we’re ready to see more of his work – hopefully at The Joffrey.

The highlight of the evening was Yuri Possokhov’s Bells set to seven piano compositions by Rachmaninov. From the first steps, we felt like we were in the hands of a master dancemaker – someone who understood composition, dramatic arcs, musicality, and how to convey emotion through movement. There was no story to this ballet, but it was very much about life, love, and loss. An exquisite PdD by Georgian couple Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili was the centerpiece of the ballet, but the other couples (Anastacia Holden & Yoshihisa Arai, April Daly & Fabrice Calmels, Jacqueline Moscicke & Graham Maverick, and Joanna Wozniak & Aaron Renteria) were given quite beautifully composed dances that made you feel the music up and down your own muscles.

The HH Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Yuri Possokhov for his beautiful Bells. We can’t wait for his production of A Hero of Our Time which will be presented by Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema on April 9th. We are definitely ready to see more of his work.

Despite the unevenness of the choreography brought to Lincoln Center on this visit, The Joffrey Ballet did not disappoint with its dancing. Why this company has waited so long to return or hasn’t yet turned up at SPAC during the summer is a real mystery and is our loss.

 

The Joffrey Ballet @ Lincoln CenterKrzysztof Pastor's Romeo and Juliet 3/29

Like a gust of fresh air, The Joffrey Ballet blew into Manhattan last night swirling up fond memories of itself. It may have been gone from its city of origin for two decades, but it has never lost its New York accent. Of course, this was not the same Joffrey that left Manhattan for Chicago in 1995 while fighting for its financial survival. Different dancers, different artistic director, and different mission mold it today. When it left, it had few full-length ballets – a wonderful Joffrey/Arpino Nutcracker, John Cranko’s much-admired Romeo and Juliet, that crazy Billboards – in its repertory which was mostly sustained by choreography of its founders who had their fingers on the pulse of American culture and who made the country’s heart beat faster by acquiring ballets by Twyla Tharp, Laura Dean, Charles Moulton, and important restorations such as The Green Table, Parade, and The Rite of Spring. Today’s Joffrey Ballet is a thriving hot bed of creativity in wondrous Chicago where the company has slowly been increasing its trove of full length ballets to include such gems as Ashton’s Cinderella, Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow, and John Neumeier’s Sylvia.

Being absent from New York for so long made the company’s visit seem like a first for many balletomanes, some of whom seemed amused by Haglund's own high anticipation of the company’s return home. They jest at scars that never felt a wound, as the line goes somewhere in Act II when Romeo points out to Mercutio that he doesn’t understand what Romeo is going through because Mercutio has never been in love. No jesting the morning after, however. Last night, the Joffrey dancers were utterly brilliant in their dancing and artistry, and their discipline honored their founders. It is next to impossible not to love this company no matter what it is doing on stage. (Haglund recalls the pleasure from many decades ago of watching the dancers sit on bleachers and hand-pass yellow Nerf balls at lightening speed.) Their energy, hot steam under pressure, combined with a monkish technical discipline has always made this company unique.

The evening length Romeo and Juliet by Krzysztof Pastor which the Joffrey Ballet has brought for its visit unfortunately doesn’t succeed in breaking new ground in ballet or as an updated interpretation of Shakespeare’s play. Three acts set in the 1930s, 1950s, and 1990s, respectively, come off mainly as a production gimmick. The choreographer’s vocabulary, which was rich in battement-enveloppé-to retiré, grand jeté en tournant in attitude, Grahamish and post modernist arm dancing and head swivels, was initially pleasing in its virtuosity but soon became tiresome when it did little to advance the drama. It certainly was not the language of the 1930s, 1950s or 1990s. While we could appreciate the choreographer’s message that the type of strife that Romeo and Juliet encounter repeats itself generation after generation, his message was conveyed more through costuming and cinematic effects than through choreography. However, even the costuming was problematic: the men wore pedestrian pants with jazz shoes while the women were in skimpier clothing with pointe shoes.

Usually, weak choreography coupled with unrealized concept will serve as a fatal flaw for an evening of ballet. But last night, there were performances of depth that made the evening worthwhile. As Lord Capulet, Fabrice Calmels dominated the stage in his tuxedo with tails whenever he appeared . His character’s authority was embedded mostly in his posturing, particularly in his long arms which conveyed the long arm of the Capulet law present in each of the three time periods. His character’s PdD with daughter Juliet in which he attempted to force her to choose a husband among a select group of men was the scene of this ballet that was most convincing and heartfelt.

As Juliet, Christine Rocas gave an honest account of her character’s dilemma. Her lovely feet and leg lines stretched our interest long past the expiration date on the choreography. Temur Suluashvili was a convincing Tybalt and looked like he could have stepped right out of Robbins’ West Side Story. Rory Hohenstein as Romeo danced the contemporary choreography with emphatic devotion, but could not overcome its insignificance. Yoshihisa Arai as Mercutio had the meatiest role in the ballet in terms of dance and drama. If he perhaps exhibited more showman quality than most of the company, he certainly had all of the technical skills to back it up.

Tonight’s gala program will include repertory pieces by Wheeldon, Possokhov, and Thatcher. We are especially interested in Yuri Possokhov’s contribution since his choreography entitled A Hero of Our Time is on tap for the Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema’s next transmission on April 9th.

The HH Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Fabrice Calmels for his fierce portrayal of Capulet.

 

March Madness

March is not going to be the "pause and catch our breath" month that it typically is between the end of NYCB's winter season and the busy spring season at Lincoln Center.

Pennsylvania Ballet will premiere its new Le Corsaire in Philly, Giselle will open at Washington Ballet, the Joffrey will stop by Lincoln Center, Paul Taylor Dance Company will be in season for three weeks at L.C., and ABT's Whipped Cream will premiere in Costa Mesa. Thanks to CMM for alerting us that the Met casting of the gala performance of the new ballet has been posted. It will be Simkin, Abrera, Hallberg, and Lane, who will also dance the premiere in Costa Mesa. We'll make it to most of these, but possibly not all.

Of course Haglund will be reporting on and reviewing the Segerstrom performances, and is fairly excited about seeing Hallberg back in the lineup. As we must continue to point out, Whipped is not going to be the Giselle that we need and deserve to see Hallberg and Abrera dance. Hopefully some sense will be knocked into McKenzie that will enable him to muster up enough respect for the ballet to avoid casting the fakerina twice in every ballet she isn't capable of dancing even once. It seems absurd to hand her three Giselle performances on a golden platter (Oman and two at the Met) all of which she is incapable of dancing at other than an amateurish level, while at the same time only allowing the company's ultimate Giselle, Abrera, one performance.

Haglund was thinking about this while at tonight's Westminster Kennel Dog Show at Madison Square Garden. Lots of the folks in the stands didn't know whether a pooch's frame was too bulky or whether its hind quarters were too big or its legs too short or whether its gait wasn't proper. They just looked at the cute hairy face on the MSG jumbotron and squealed. Those in the audience who spent a lifetime following the competition, love dogs more than most, and care deeply about the quality of each breed couldn't have cared less about what was on the jumbotron. For this dog show, the winner got the blue ribbon based on technical merit, not based on what the dog looked like on an oversized screen or how many people squealed for it. It seems that ABT's criteria for awarding Giselle performances (the blue ribbon ballet of all time) should at least have the integrity of a dog show. Wouldn't you think?

Rumor, the German Shepherd, won the big prize tonight. Haglund's fave, Adrian the Irish Setter, was runner up. They should get married and have little German-Irish Shetters, but we know it won't happen.

 

Auditorium Theater - Roosevelt University 12/10Joffrey Ballet – World Premiere of The Nutcracker

This was the frenzied pinnacle weekend for The Nutcracker throughout the land. Nuts were cracking open from the east coast to the left coast.

On Saturday night the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago presented the world premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker. Chicago's most handsome crowd was on hand and in a festive spirit. The city loves its Joffrey Ballet – and with good reason. The company continues to deliver high quality ballet and innovative works that dovetail with the city's own reputation for excellence in architecture, academics, culture, medicine, and quality of life. When Haglund brushed shoulders with Mayor Rahm Emanuel during intermission, it seemed like he was possibly lost in a reverie about “what could have been” if he had accepted the Joffrey’s scholarship offer back in the 1970s when he was a student at the Evanston School of Ballet. He probably realizes now that he could have inherited all of Gary Chryst’s greatest roles rather than spending so many years toiling as a public servant.

This new Nutcracker, which has replaced Robert Joffrey’s and Gerald Arpino’s production that the company danced for 20 years, is Chicago-centric. It is set during and in the months leading up to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, aka the Columbian Exposition, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World. Chicago’s bid to be the location for the World’s Fair was created by the famous Chicago architect Daniel Burnham and beat out New York’s, St. Louis' and Philadelphia’s bids. Design and construction were mammoth undertakings by the city’s most brilliant and accomplished architectural, engineering, and construction firms. Chicago, after all, had already built the world's first skyscraper with its revolutionary steel frame, and the city’s movers and shakers were convinced that the sky was their limit. At the time, Chicago was a city whose one million inhabitants included more immigrants than American-born residents, and it was mostly these immigrants and unemployed students – 25,000 in all – who ended up building the World’s Fair. This new Nutcracker offers a hearty nod to their accomplishments in addition to more than a few parallels.

Choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, an immigrant, for the Joffrey Ballet which is led by Ashley Wheater, an immigrant, this Nutcracker is danced by a company comprised of more than 50% immigrants from all parts of the world. And yet, when watching the company at the world premiere on Saturday night, Haglund could not help but notice how these dancers who never saw a performance of the Joffrey Ballet under Robert Joffrey’s direction possessed the unmistakable drive, energy, focus, and physical diversity of the company that Haglund first encountered in the 1960s. Goodman, Singleton, Zomosa, Fuente, Holder, Burke, Danias, Blankshine – all such unique artists who Robert Joffrey (the American born son of immigrant parents – Italian mother and Afghan father) along with Gerald Arpino (of Staten Island) molded into a company that truly broke new ground on the ballet stage.

Wheeldon’s Nutcracker eschews the sugary affluent home life that many other productions successfully and beautifully portray in favor of a portrait of a struggling immigrant single mother (Victoria Jaiani), a sculptress by trade, who is bringing up her daughter, Marie (Amanda Assucena), in a shack within a neighborhood overrun by (lifelike but also adorable) rats. The mother sculpts the golden statue that would become emblematic of the Chicago World’s Fair. In Marie’s dream, her mother becomes the living statue who dances to the music that we customarily associate with the Sugarplum Fairy and the Grand Pas de Deux. Marie also dreams about the many World’s Fair Pavilions that were being constructed, and in this ballet serve to stage performances by Spanish dancers, Arabian dancers, Chinese dancers, Venetian masked dancers, an oversized Mother Nutcracker on stilts, and unique to this production, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Buffalo Bill never actually made it inside the World’s Fair but set up his own little show outside the fairgrounds. Wheeldon invited him inside.

Act I showed the Workers at the Fair as opposed to the traditional well-heeled party guests. A small “Charlie Brown” type Christmas tree was delivered to Marie’s house and was joyously decorated by the family. When Marie and her brother retired for the night on the floor, her dream began. The tree grew to an immense height through a combination of stagecraft and cinemacraft. The soldiers and the rats clashed ferociously. Swords swung, teeth bared, and a cavalry arrived on horseback. At the premiere performance one of the horses suddenly suffered what appeared to be four broken legs at one time downstage in the center of all the action. While the rider struggled valiantly to get his horse back up on its “feet”, the battle action continued around him. He simply could not get that horse up and moving again. The little soldier pleaded in the direction of the dark stage wing. Suddenly a group of rats and soldiers appeared and pulled him and his horse off the stage and into the wing. But this took so long that we began wondering if it was part of Marie’s nightmare and whether we should prepare ourselves for the customary/horrific end for any horse who suffers a broken leg. Let us mention that these were not the first broken bones associated with this production which we’ll elaborate on later.

The Snow Scene included Snowflakes, Snow Soloists, and Ice Cavaliers. Wheeldon’s corps configurations were as complex as stellar dendrites and sectored plates of crystals and ice ridges. Sometimes the dancers arms whirled straight outward as tree-like branch forms that really do make up snowflakes. While we have seen these ultra-straight arms in Wheeldon’s choreography before, this was the first time they made perfect sense. While the Snow Scene patterns were interesting and the dancing was very energetic, it seemed at times more highly organized than magical.

Victoria Jaiani as Marie’s mother and The Queen of the Fair (aka the golden statue) conveyed regal beauty and authority in every step. However, her costume included a long gold skirt of heavy material that was reminiscent of the dowdy skirts that Martha Graham was fond of using in her choreography. True, the costume very closely resembled the skirt worn by the actual golden statue, but it also lent an awkwardness to the dancing, especially in the Act II pas de deux which was so superbly performed by Jaiani and Miguel Angel Blanco, the Great Impresario of the Fair, against a backdrop of a turning Ferris Wheel – an invention specifically for the Chicago World’s Fair. At least for the PdD, Wheeldon could have altered the skirt to medium length golden/bronze tulle. Since this was all part of Marie’s dream about her adored mother, we imagine that a less drab styling would have been welcome. The choreography was skillfully assembled but it was not as musically sensitive as we expected.

Throughout the choreography there was a reluctance to exploit, engage, or even recognize Tchaikovsky’s glorious musical climaxes. When the music swelled to its most beautiful, the dancers sometimes were simply walking to the next position or standing still. It didn’t work the way it worked in An American in Paris, Wheeldon’s Tony Award-winning Broadway musical.

Sometimes there is a tendency for professional dancers to mock and make fun of grand musical climaxes among themselves – not in performances, but in rehearsals or in the casual environment. We’re not making a specific reference to the Joffrey Ballet which has a highly respected reputation for serious discipline at all times, but rather to what we have observed in New York’s own companies where Wheeldon cut his choreographic chops. The gigantic lift, the overly-sensational ending to a pirouette are ripe for ridicule and faux cheers among dancers themselves. The choreographer has to let go of and ignore that behavior when creating dances. In Wheeldon’s works, we see a definite trend toward cerebral, less emotional dance texts that use the music but don’t reveal it. The Nutcracker includes some of Tchaikovsky’s most stunningly beautiful music, but in this case, the choreography seemingly did not try to rise to its level. The musical climaxes were mostly ignored or treated like a period at the end of a sentence.

The unlikely choreographic highlight of this Nutcracker was the Arabian duo of Christine Rocas and Fabrice Calmels who have been dancing with the Joffrey for 10 and 15 years, respectively. Their choreography included the slow, delicate entwining of limbs that Wheeldon has perfected, but it was made spectacular by the sheer size of Calmels and the incredible beauty of both dancers. Their entrance was magnificent. Perched on one knee atop Calmels’ massive shoulder with the other leg extended in arabesque, Rocas reached close to 11 feet up in the air as she was carried out of the wing and along the back of the stage. For Calmels this was no flashy trick, however. He was the epitome of the exotic, mysterious, devastatingly handsome character out of One Thousand and One Nights who worshipped this beautiful woman with every step. It was possibly the most sultry, steamy, on the verge of combustion Arabian Nutcracker dance that Haglund has ever seen. Just look at the expression on this woman’s face:

Photo by Cheryl Mann (former Hubbard Street dancer)


The Spanish Dancers – (actually one Mexican - Anais Bueno; one American - April Daly; one Japanese - Yoshihisa Arai; and one Georgian - Temur Suluashvili) – dispensed their choreography with suitable Spanish flair. Dylan Gutierrez as Buffalo Bill shot around the stage with wild grand allegro, trick roping, and finished by pulling his pistols out their holsters.

Hopefully, the choreography for the Chinese Dancer, Fernando Duarte, will be totally re-thought by Wheeldon. It looked like he intentionally tried to invoke stereotypes rather than revealing a culture.

Marie, Amanda Assucena, and The Nutcracker, Alberto Velazquez, were both immensely likable in their roles and danced superbly.

Perhaps the cutest use of the children’s cast was the group of skinny-legged walnut-heads that appeared toward the end. On cue, their walnut heads opened up and the kids turned and tilted their heads in Shirley Temple Bright Eyes style.

The end of the ballet was anti-climatic, to put it mildly. Marie awoke to observe her mother and the Great Impresario falling in love at the kitchen table. It made her very happy, but in no way represented the great Tchaikovsky music.

There is much to admire in this new Nutcracker, but there is much to revise as well. The Nutcracker story within the concept of the Chicago World’s Fair is a story worth telling – a story worth shouting. But once the fantastical puppetry and effects created by Basil Twist and the wonderfully creative lighting by Natasha Katz are stripped away, we are left with choreography that does not yet measure up to that which it is supposed to replace.

But much applause goes to the creative team and to the Joffrey Ballet for pulling together this ambitious new Nutcracker. As you can see from this brief video, the Chicago audience warmly appreciated the effort. (That's our choreographer on crutches.)

 

We certainly do have an H.H. Pump Bump Award to bestow upon Christine Rocas and Fabrice Calmels for their mysterious, magnificent, sleek and very sensual performances in the Arabian pas de deux:

 

observations 12-2

The few comments that we've been able to find so far on social media after last night's Iowa City preview premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's new Nutcracker for the Joffrey Ballet are pretty ecstatic. Here's a shot from inside the brand new Hancher Auditorium on the U of I campus courtesy of the alumni association Twitter feed. Haglund is proud to be a U of I alumnus:

This new theater, a replacement for the Hancher Auditorium that was destroyed in floods several years ago, looks stunning. The old one was pretty spectacular also. When Rudolf Nureyev came to Iowa City to perform in Sleeping Beauty, he had the gall to complain that the wings were too big and too drafty for him.

So far, it sounds like the only major glitch in the new Nut has been our choreographer breaking his ankle last week after a backward step into the pit – apparently not while excoriating a dancer as happened with Jerome Robbins.

This video about Basil Twist's contribution was just uploaded yesterday. The rats, omg ...

Current forecast for the December 10th world premiere in Chicago includes 23 degree temps, mild winds, and a 20% chance of snow. That doesn't look so bad – on paper.

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The Royal New Zealand Ballet is searching for another new artistic director to replace Francesco Ventriglia who has decided not to renew his contract when it expires in the coming year. There have been dancer complaints of mistreatment by the AD, and several artists and staff have left or are about to leave the company, including Lucy Green who blossomed so dramatically under the direction of Ethan Stiefel. She has announced that she has accepted a soloist position with the Queensland Ballet which is led by the legendary Li Cunxin.

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It's very exciting to hear that the Lincoln Center Festival will once again present some fantastic ballet next summer. With the NYC Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, and Bolshoi Ballet sharing the stage for five performances of Balanchine's Jewels, you can bet that the demand for tickets will out of the universe. Hopefully, the Bolshoi will seize the opportunity to get some NYCB advice for their Diamonds team which has kind of gone off the deep end lately, although we have some of the same problems here, too. Where, oh, where did the idea come from that Diamonds is about the pain of giving childbirth?

 

 

Oh, Turkey Nuts

A lot of people wonder why Odette and Odile never appear on the stage at the same time if they are truly different characters. Of late, there has been a Russian propaganda effort to spread Fake News to the effect that they might be one and the same. (Egad, those Russians.) Well, here is some foolproof proof that Odette and Odile are certainly not the same person – or the same whatever.

 

 

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We're very excited to start this Nutcracker Season tonight at NYCB. Let's hope things go more smoothly than at the dress rehearsal on Wednesday – which we will not go into other than to say oy.

The third week of casting includes an enticing match up of Rebecca Krohn and Russell Janzen along with Lauren King as the Dewdrop Fairy on Sunday, December 11 at 5pm. We hope to make it back in time from our whirlwind jetting to Chicago on Saturday for the Chicago premiere of the Joffrey Ballet's new Nutcracker by Christopher Wheeldon. Actually, our first hope is that we get into O'Hare on time on Saturday.

The Wheeldon/Joffrey production has its "first" premiere on December 1st at the new Hancher Auditorium on the campus of the University of Iowa where the Joffrey has a long, loving relationship with the Hawkeye Community. They premiered their previous Nutcracker choreographed by Robert Joffrey at the old Hancher Auditorium in 1987, the year prior to Robert Joffrey's death. The company seems to be calling these Hancher performances technically previews; so, maybe the Chicago opening will be designated as the world premiere. It doesn't matter.

Wheeldon has set this new Nutcracker during the time of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair that celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' arrival in the New World. The Chicago Columbian Exposition, as it was called, was designed by several of the many famous architects who were at the forefront of the Chicago Style of architecture: Daniel Burnham, Charles Wellborn Root, Frederick Law Olmstead, and Charles Atwood. It was the first World's Fair that included a section for amusement rides; and that, ladies and gentlemen, marked the first appearance of the Ferris Wheel. What, oh, what will Basil Twist make of the Ferris Wheel?! We can't wait to see. Besides Twist, the creative team includes folks from Wheeldon's An American in Paris.

The traditional libretto has been tweaked a bit. Marie is not one of the rich kids; she's poor. And there are a ton of individual characters which you can observe from the opening night casting in Iowa City:

 

Given the crankiness of the O'Hare airport workers these days, we probably should have booked an earlier flight on December 10th so as to avoid delays caused by their antics. Our fingers are crossed for a smooth trip into the Windy City and back out again without being blown off course.

 

observations 9-8

Just 10 days until the start of NYCB's fall season. The opening night gala is sure to be an interesting one with four premieres including three by the company's own dancers (Lovette, Walker, Peck) plus one by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa AND the return of the dresses.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. A mostly brand new crew of beauties will be waltzing about in those exquisite Valentino creations in the Finale of Bal de Couture. (Just the finale.) It's clear that every lady in NYCB is dying to be draped in that obscenely expensive Italian silk and whisked away to strains of Massenet's Eugene Onegin. It's only fair that these dresses be shared by as many ballerinas as possible before they end up on mannequins in a museum somewhere.

At the opening night gala, the new piece by Peter Walker will feature among the dancers Emily Kikta performing to her father Thomas' guitar composition which he will be playing.

Ashley Bouder will return to the stage on Friday night in Vienna Waltzes with a repeat on Sunday.

We can't wait for the return of Stravinsky Violin Concerto and Symphony in Three Movements on Wednesday and Saturday.

Let's go let's go let's go. (And let's remember to manage our expectations for those premieres by NYCB's dancers.)

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If you missed the livestream of the Joffrey Ballet's rehearsal of their new Nutcracker by Christopher Wheeldon, you can watch it here. (The playback was acting up a while ago, but hopefully it will stream smoothly later on.) It's very worthwhile viewing IMO.

Haglund will attend the premiere in Chicago in December. He originally planned to go to the "out-of-town" previews/world premiere on the campus of the University of Iowa (an alma mater) during the first weekend in December, but it turned out to be a lot less expensive to fly to Chicago than to Cedar Rapids. Besides, the chapel on campus is where Haglund made his first matrimonial mistake, and it's not a place he longs to revisit.