We had a complete changing of the guard this past year. Meet Finale a/k/a Gala Grand Finale Sugarplum Fairy. Five months old. Born in a junkyard at the side of a busy highway.
We had a complete changing of the guard this past year. Meet Finale a/k/a Gala Grand Finale Sugarplum Fairy. Five months old. Born in a junkyard at the side of a busy highway.
Posted on December 25, 2024 at 07:22 PM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (18)
Posted on October 19, 2024 at 02:05 PM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (2)
Posted on October 12, 2024 at 11:56 AM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (2)
. . . before pointing us the wrong way into the water.
Posted on October 10, 2024 at 10:46 AM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (0)
The final performance of the Masters at Work series included successful debuts for Unity Phelan, Peter Walker and Miriam Miller in Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2. All three clearly had decided beforehand that any errors were going to come from giving too much, not too little. Not only was Unity competent and beautiful, but she was able to add elements that none of the other current interpreters could — such as an arabesque that rose above 90° and a breathtaking and beautifully placed a la second extension that was exclaimed by a magnificently arched foot. Her joy came across as authentic. Her energy was not compromised in any way. Her turns and grand allegro were on the money. This was a very, very good debut performance with the promise of future spectacular ones. We’re not sure why at times Unity seemed rushed — perhaps from trying to make every movement as large as possible or perhaps from her realization that this was a one & done performance that she wanted to make the most of. We wish after the first dismal performance by Sara Mearns, management would have made a complete substitution with Unity.
Posted on September 27, 2024 at 05:14 PM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (10)
How freakin' lucky are we at the ballet to be able to listen to a program of four of the greatest composers to ever live! Tschaikovsky, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich. That is one huge musical program -- more substantial than what one will likely hear these days at Geffen Hall. NYCB not only comes through with the biggest ballet but with the biggest music played brilliantly by the New York City Ballet Orchestra. Call us grateful.
In some respect the ballerina in the Preghiera section of Balanchine’s Mozartiana serves Tschaikovsky’s adaptation of Mozart’s Ave verum corpus like the choir of voices serves Mozart’s hymn. They both tap into the divinity of the music allowing its humanity to flow freely as song. Tiler Peck used reserve and texture in her eloquent interpretation on Wednesday evening. The reserve was the hard part while the musical texturing was innate. Her elimination of the extreme cambré didn’t go unnoticed but it didn’t soil the performance either. Tiler’s elegant curves in the elbows and the length of the triceps in the upper arms revealed a new eloquence in her port de bras that, if one can even imagine, enhanced her storied musicality. The subtle peeling apart of the palms to open a fifth position overhead was one of many details in this exquisite performance.
Posted on September 27, 2024 at 11:51 AM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (0)
The highlight of Saturday evening was Lar Lubovitch’s Each In Their Own Time, a pas de deux he created for New York City Center’s Fall for Dance Festival in 2021 to Johannes Brahms’ Eight Piano Pieces. Lubovitch was 79 years old when he created this dance to Brahms’ 188-year-old piano cycle using a style of choreography steeped in the classical ballet idiom several hundred years old and reflecting the 20th Century influence of Jose Limon. The end result was a sensitive, universal, timeless portrayal of two human beings connecting through dance, connecting through music, connecting via their educated instruments that allowed them to speak with unusual eloquence.
Posted on September 22, 2024 at 10:23 PM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (2)
The theater doors sprang open and in we ran on the first night of New York City Ballet's Fall Season. As if in a game of Hide & Go Seek since June, we had counted a hundred days with our eyes closed and now we were on the hunt for Balanchine.
Boy oh boy, did we ever flush out of hiding a magnificent performance of Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 by Tiler Peck, Chun Wai Chan and an energized corps de ballet. Following a polite, somewhat colorless grand allegro solo by Olivia MacKinnon in the opening moments where she wove in and out of a circle of corps women and danced her steps spiritedly, Tiler calmly walked from the upstage wing to the center of the stage and began a master class in what it means to be a ballerina. She is in terrific physical shape with new length in her port de bras and upper back & neck. Her speed seemingly required no force — almost as if her joy propelled her. Watching Tiler embrace Tschaikovsky was to watch a dancer literally living the music. As much joy as it was for her to dance, we hope she understands the incredible joy it brought to the audience. Chun Wai Chan was the perfect partner and seemed to find a new comfort in releasing emotion. Beautiful batterie and grand allegro although the size of that grand allegro may have gone down since his Houston Ballet days. The composite elegance of Chan and Peck was so natural and effortless that it made their pas de deux a dance of one.
Posted on September 21, 2024 at 05:09 PM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (12)
Posted on May 17, 2024 at 02:23 PM in New York City Ballet | Permalink | Comments (9)