Haglund's Heel

ABT fails to learn from its mistakes

        Take away the smoke, laser lights, Kabuki makeup, and odd-for-the-sake-of-odd costumes, and what is left of Wayne McGregor’s Woolf Works are the same old neck rolls, rib rolls, arm rolls, twisting women to extremes, arbitrary limb jerking, walking around trying to look dramatic, and posing that we saw in his spectacular failure AfterRite six years ago. Basically, Wayne McGregor is posing as a choreographer. And ABT is posing so precariously on its last legs that many just want to knock it over, clear the rubble, and forget about it. It loses half of its Met Season, is unable to find a replacement venue, and then wastes a quarter of the reduced season on an insipid, worthless production for which it should apologize and offer every patron a refund. And also offer to pay for damages to each patron’s auditory nerve from the bombastic noise that was labeled as Max Richter music.

 

        What a disastrous waste of money, time, and everyone’s talent. Woolf Works has little - nearly nothing - to do with Virginia Woolf’s texts, style, themes, or life. The choreographer has used an association with Woolf’s writing and life as gimmicks to brand his work as having some intellectual value when in fact it is empty as a drum. We can be grateful that Wayne McGregor didn’t decide to use Joyce’s Ulysses as a basis for his nonsense choreography. Surely, the Irish Nationalists would have hunted him down.

 

        And yet, ABT is all pretend-smiles, hoping that if they put out media that all the dancers just love performing Wayne McGregor’s choreography that it will translate into audience acceptance. There were audible boos at yesterday’s matinee where fewer than a quarter of the seats were filled. Quite frankly, nobody cares if the dancers like the choreography. We know that they will basically do anything in order to get on stage. If ABT tells the dancers to don paper bags and yodel, they will do it and put out Instagram media that it is a wonderful opportunity.

 

        What is so distressing about the repetition of mistakes by the artistic management is that it has plans to bring something even potentially worse next year. ABT has chosen another non-balletic, modern dance choreographer who has made nothing of value worthy of being on the Met Opera stage and she’s going to apply all her ballet knowledge to Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment to create another magnificent and expensive debacle. ABT needs to stop recklessly swinging for the fences. 

 

        If people want a laser light show beamed out to the audience, they should go to Madison Square Garden where every gimmick is regularly employed. Big fail, ABT. Perhaps the biggest fail in its history.

 

 

ABT @ the Met Onegin 6/18

        If there was any question as to whether Lensky simply failed to get a shot off or chose to allow Onegin to kill him during their duel, it wasn’t answered on Tuesday night at ABT’s opening performance of Onegin in which Jake Roxander gave a terrific portrayal of Lensky’s ambivalence during Act II of John Cranko’s brilliant ballet based on Alexander Pushkin’s legendary poem. Roxander as Lensky, the brooding poet, who was humiliated in front of high society by his best friend’s flirtations with his girlfriend, initiated the duel with Onegin but seemed conflicted right up to the last moment as to what he should do. Neither Lensky nor Onegin could walk away from the challenge without injuring his own pride. And so the duel proceeded and concluded by shattering the lives of all four main characters.

        Debuting as Lensky, Roxander displayed theater skills equal to his heralded technical skills. His Lensky wore his heart on his sleeve when it came to Olga, dancing with her as though it was his life’s dream. When Onegin decided to have fun at his friend’s expense by flirting with Olga, Lensky at first shriveled in humiliation and then struck back in anger with a challenge to a duel. Lensky’s soliloquy which preceded the duel is one of the most beautiful balletic solos ever created for a male dancer. Roxander with his incredible physical control, flexible arabesques, and dramatic openness conveyed Lensky’s torment brilliantly. Toward the end of the solo, Lensky circled one leg behind him then the other to step backward. He then stopped as though realizing that there was no way to go back now. Still, we did not know what his decision going forward would be.

 

        Zimmi Coker was fresh perfection as Olga — a young aristocrat who failed to see Onegin’s flirtations as hollow and who was initially insensitive to their effects on Lensky. Energy radiated through her facial expressions and her scrupulous dancing. Together, Coker and Roxander looked like ABT’s future, the next great Giselle/Albrecht or Juliet/Romeo or Swanilda/Franz pairing.

 

        The evening’s main characters were portrayed by Cory Stearns (Onegin) and Christine Shevchenko (Tatiana). Their roles were dutifully danced, step by step, gesture by gesture during Acts I and II. Their bedroom PdD included lovely shapes in the lifts which also had a sense of daring. Tatiana’s character, however, was not differentiated from what we have seen in Shevchenko’s Juliet or even in Seven Sonatas. We saw Christine hoping to be Tatiana. The pulse was the same, the facial expressions were the same, the posture was the same as all that has come before. It’s never enough to genuinely feel like the character inside; one must artificially create and communicate in high volume who the character is. Internalized subtleties don’t read well from the Met Opera house stage. Stearns had more success in conveying his character’s boredom and callousness. He was able to almost immediately make the audience uncomfortable about who he was. Should we adore him for his cheekbones and good looks or should we despise him for his sense of entitlement? Onegin has long been one of Stearns' best roles along with Othello. They don’t tax his technique and allow him to dig deeply into the characters' psyches. His partnering throughout the evening was strong and highly coordinated. Gone was the look of terror on his face that we remember a decade ago when he danced opposite Dvorovenko’s Tatiana and he knew that she was going to throw every bit of herself and her soul at him.

 

        By the time we got to Act III, Stearns and Shevchenko managed to bring a good amount of drama to the final scene, even perhaps exaggerating Tatiana’s effort to break free of Onegin’s grip. There was a jolting effect that we hadn’t observed before. Musically, they were superb, hitting the crescendos in the lifts with maximum impact. Stearns was in a good place stamina-wise and in confidence and we were able to admire the dramatic arc that he brought to Onegin. We look forward to seeing how he and Shevchenko are able to further mine the treasure from Pushkin’s greatest poem and Cranko’s greatest ballet in their final two performances.

 

        The members of the corps de ballet were superb in their dancing and theatrical output. 

 

        A word about the behind-the-scenes drama that occurred the week before the opening when staging supervisor Reid Anderson apparently nixed the opening night cast of Devon Teuscher and Daniel Camargo. We don’t care what the reason was or whether Anderson was wallowing in his own sense of entitlement as the primary stager who exercised ultimate control over casting or was simply being erratic and difficult. Waiting until the final week to assert authority and up-end the theater plans of thousands of people was both unprofessional and detrimental to the reputation of John Cranko. The fact that ABT was not forthcoming with an explanation and more importantly silently allowed Anderson to jeopardize the run of Onegin, suggests that the new artistic director needs a firmer grasp on her own authority. We all know that we were gypped out of superb performances by Teuscher and Camargo. 

 

        The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Jake Roxander for his gripping portrayal of the poet, Lensky.

 

 

 

 

 

NYCB 5/14 – Contemporary Choreography I

        Tuesday evening’s Contemporary Choreography I program was not the spectacular, uplifting evening that we expected. 

 

        Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition was originally a hyperkinetic romp of artistry to Mussorgsky’s music which was inspired by an art exhibition of the work by Mussorgsky’s friend, painter Viktor Hartmann. Since the premiere of Pictures at an Exhibition nearly ten years ago, Ratmansky's homeland, Ukraine, has been shattered by Russian ethnic aggression which has, for the time being, re-shaped his artistic output. His most recent creation for NYCB last February, entitled Solitude, drew its inspiration from a journalist’s photo of a Ukrainian father kneeling over his son who had just been killed by a Russian bomb. Somehow Solitude with its clear imagery, some of which was also in Ratmansky’s earlier Pictures, reverse-informed that earlier work on Tuesday and made it decidedly more political than it was originally. The characters in Pictures at an Exhibition were far more dark, serious, and angry than they were a decade ago. When the men lifted the women from behind who then aimed one leg out in front like a rifle, it seemed to have a hostile and militaristic seriousness that was not present at the premiere in 2014. The solo for Baba Yaga, which originally depicted a whirling unhinged crazy character (Amar Ramasar) was on Tuesday more menacing when danced by Chun Wai Chan. Almost from the outset, the viewpoint from Solitude had suddenly influenced Pictures at an Exhibition. In any event, we’ve all seen enough of women holding their legs like rifles in Ratmansky’s choreography — and in Wheeldon's.  

 

        From a technical standpoint, Pictures at an Exhibition was strong and vivid. Mira Nadon’s uninhibited dancing in The Gnome was anything but the flailing abandon that audiences lapped up a decade earlier. Mira had absolute control over her wicked wildness. Her impulsivity was engineered to perfection. What a joy it was to witness this dancer apply her imagination to her art. Emma Von Enck, another protostar who is just heating up and was promoted to principal on Thursday evening, thrilled with her articulation and surprise punctuation of phrases. Alexa Maxwell showed great lyrical skills and promise in her adagio with Tyler Angle. A slight stuttering on an exit where she was supposed to rise from Angle’s torso was an insignificant blip in an otherwise beautiful pas de deux that brought us exquisite imagery such as Alexa “in flight” over her partner’s right shoulder.

 

        The opportunity to hear Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition played in its original piano solo form by Stephen Gosling is an opportunity that should not be missed. On Tuesday, his dazzling mastery over a grueling 35 minutes pretty much exceeded everything else on stage that night. 

 

        Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels received strong performances from Mira Nadon, Dominika Afanasenkov, Adrian Danchig-Waring and Joseph Gordon. It seemed a little subdued compared to the last performance of this ballet that we saw outdoors at Lincoln Center where Ashley Hod, Davide Riccardo, Emilie Gerrity, and Peter Walker devoured the choreography like a school of sharks and in doing so sent the Damrosch Park audience into a feeding frenzy.

 

          Gianna Reisen’s Play Time should be renamed Waste of Time. We cannot complain enough about the waste of money, time and talent that this nonsense represents. NYCB should be embarrassed about allowing this piece back on its stage. Actually, NYCB should be punished for allowing this piece back on its stage. There weren’t 30 seconds of watchable choreography. If the idea behind Play Time was to be obnoxious, juvenile, and TikTok-ish, well then, success! This piece had no chance whatsoever of succeeding because its musical foundation was sawdust. 

 

        Glass Pieces completed the evening with a gorgeous PdD by Unity Phelan and Adrian Danchig-Waring. How can we not miss the length of line that Maria Kowroski brought to this ballet? However, Unity’s lines were beautifully shaped, and Adrian’s extraordinary partnering created an effortless quality that nearly looked celestial. The soloists in the Rubric section were an odd collection of dancers who were either emotionally flat or trying way too hard to be dramatic —  while intentionally throwing their ribs out as far as possible. The Corps de Ballet was mostly fine on this first night, but lacked energy. Samuel Melnikov as the first man out of the gate during Akhnaten covered the stage impressively with his length and power.

 

        The HH Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon piano man Stephen Gosling for his superb solo playing of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

 

 

NYCB Tonight!

Very much looking forward to hearing Stephen Gosling play this tonight at NYCB:

 

NYCB Spring Gala 5/2 Gimmicks and Gowns

        New York City Ballet galas are never about good taste. Wear all your jewelry, find a dress that borders on ostentatious, judge everyone’s state of thinness — that’s what they’re about.

        So last Thursday’s gala began with the company sparkling in some of its most precious jewels, Rubies, but then it waltzed out works that were the equivalent of Kmart jewelry — no offense to Kmart intended. Both new pieces — instead of being celebrated at a gala — should have been workshopped and gone through out-of-state "try-outs” followed by critical editing before landing on the New York stage. NYCB’s habit of just throwing stuff out on stage to see if it works before (and without) providing oversight from producers and editors wastes a lot of money. 

 

        Justin Pecks’ new pas de deux for Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia, Dig the Say, confused gimmick and theme. It was desperate to be cool, right down to the rag headband that Mejia wore to insure that we understood that the dancer was engaging in sweaty sport as though we wouldn’t get that from watching him bounce a red ball against the wall. The dance was a crazy quilt of Tiler's and Roman's' favorite steps which now show up in this choreographer's works like tired cliches. Inviting the PUBLIQuartet to force Vijay Iyer’s erratic and esoteric composition onto the audience was, again, desperate to be cool. We’re all constantly wowed by what Tiler and Roman can do in terms of classical technique, but why waste it on drivel? In a short time, ABT’s Aran Bell and Gillian Murphy will be guesting with NYCB for an evening. Why not reciprocate with a guest slot for Peck and Mejia in ABT’s Le Corsaire or Don Quixote? Just thinking out loud here . . . 

 

        Amy Hall Garner’s Underneath, There Is Light, can be commended for effort for how it swept lines of dancers across the stage and promoted dramatic moments that only the choreographer could possibly understand. The costumes, black for the first part of the dance and sunny cream for second part of the dance, tried to help us along in understanding the title and concept. But the hodgepodge of music and steps just didn’t amount to very much. 

 

        Contrast all this with the Balanchine/Stravinsky Rubies excerpt from Jewels that thrilled with its themes, musicality, structure, and individual interpretations. We’re not sure that we have ever seen anyone go after Rubies the way Mira Nadon did in the gala performance. Hers was such a bold in-your-face performance that she nearly made the audience blush — while it also headed for cover. Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley delivered the always-appreciated superb performances — their energy and wit driving their sparkling rapport. The corps de ballet was in fine form. Piano soloist Stephen Gosling ripped into the Stravinsky score and spurred the dancers right to the outside edge of possibility. It was a tremendous performance from all.

 

        Oftentimes when new works premiered by NYCB have not succeeded, their problems have begun with the choice of music. In coming seasons, what we need is a program offering along the lines of Conductors’ Choices where NYCB’s full team of conductors chooses an evening of music that will enthrall and uplift the audience, and then the company invites choreographers to make new ballets to it. Some smart choices would be Brahms, Mozart, Bruch, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven. Then, NYCB’s marketing department should take aim at the audience in Geffen Hall and tantalize them with solicitations of “Come hear the greatest classical music in the most comfortable seats in all of Lincoln Center” and “Tired of trying to enjoy great classical music while sitting in a chair that is like an economy seat on Spirit Airlines? Come across the plaza and sit in our plushy seats with lumbar support AND extraordinary leg room while we play gorgeous Brahms and Mozart. The concession food and drink are the same, and customers don’t have to walk the length of an airport terminal to find a bathroom.You’ll never want to leave.”  This is simply a helpful suggestion — if NYCB wants better new works, it should start by demanding better music.

 

        The H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Jada Dubai creation that features all the Jewels - Rubies, Emeralds, and of course Diamonds, is bestowed upon Mira Nadon for her stylishly uncompromising Tall Girl in Rubies.

 

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

NYCB 2/15Ratmansky's "Solitude" - The impact of a child's death

        Someone else’s child. In a far away chaos. The world doesn’t even blink. And the chaos carries on.

        Alexei Ratmansky blinked. In his new work Solitude, which is set to Gustav Mahler’s Funeral March and Adagietto and premiered by New York City Ballet last evening, Ratmansky focuses on the brutal aftermath and highest cost of war — the deaths of innocent children. He dedicated his ballet to the children of Ukraine who are victims of the Ukrainian/Russian war.

 

        The inspirational source for this new ballet was a widely published photo image of a Ukrainian father kneeling next to his dead young son who had just been killed in a Russian attack. Through a choreographic lengthening of the focal point, Ratmansky tried to magnify further the impact of that photo. The curtain rose on a father, Joseph Gordon, kneeling next to his dead son portrayed by Theos Rochios, a student from the School of American Ballet. As Gordon knelt motionlessly, the dancers engaged in pairs nearby, tugging at one another in a choreographed argument of both beautiful and strained images. As the women were lifted high by the men, they thrashed their legs -- their movement seemingly rooted in anger, mourning, and disbelief. The many interesting lifts in this ballet also created war-like imagery. Men and women aggressively pushed and pulled on one another with none seemingly making headway. The duality of these images was fascinating. Were we witnessing the unimaginable pain of people who lost loved ones or were we witnessing the argument of war, itself — or both? Mira Nadon, KJ Takahashi and Owen Flacke in soft black leotards were the ever present fatal consequences enmeshed within the other swirling bodies. There is some risk in making death glamorous by conveying it with beautiful people in sexy costumes even though the entertainment industry has been doing that forever. However, Tudor didn’t in Dark Elegies. Nor did Taylor in Company B. Nor did Jooss in The Green Table. 

 

        Following the Third Movement “Funeral March,” Joseph Gordon, the grief-stricken father, slowly rose from his dead son's side to dance an extensive and explosive solo to the “Adagietto” in which he expressed his agony through long stretches of frenzied allegro interrupted by moments of stillness as he contemplated the reality of his son’s death. "Adagietto" has long inspired choreographers because of its inherent serenity that evokes sadness even though Mahler reportedly composed it as a love letter to his future wife. Despite Mahler’s intent to express profound love in his music, choreographers have, apparently, heard something altogether different. Oscar Araiz, John Neumeier, and Roland Petit discovered magical but relationship-troubled pas de deux within the music. Maurice Bejart choreographed a cathartic solo for Jorge Donne through which he rambled and ranted until he finally fist-to-palm smashed whatever it was that he loved and blew the ashes into the air. Gordon who has become a company standard-setter for clean, powerful allegro here was at times too lightweight to convey the heaviness of the father’s heart. The death of a child is a crippling tragedy, not one that inspires the parents to great heights of accomplishment. (Blame the choreographer for that, not the dancer.) Nevertheless, no one should miss Gordon’s remaining performances of this role, because he is just getting started.

 

        At the end of Solitude, we were left wondering if perhaps the ballet was Ratmansky’s own solitude as he navigates through what has become a personal, unthinkable tragic war that the rest of the world is not doing enough to stop. It’s complicated. The pot has to be careful not to call the kettle black. America has committed wartime atrocities like what we are seeing in the world today. No other country stepped into America's way when our soldiers massacred infants, children, women and elderly men, and gang-raped women and girls nearly 56 years ago at My Lai. No other country stepped into America’s way this month when it bombed targets in Yemen that also killed civilians. It’s complicated.

 

        We highly recommend a trip to the theater to see Ratmansky’s new ballet. The NYCB Orchestra’s performance of the two Mahler works was passionate and sublime.

 

        Also on the program was Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements in which Isabella LaFreniere, debuting in the fushia-pink leotard role, gave a commanding performance. Her entrance on stage basically blared “PRINCIPAL BALLERINA HAS ARRIVED!” All of a sudden, the other two principal dancers, soloists Ashley Laracey and Erica Pereira, kind of shrunk into the crowd. That’s not really fair because Ashley was subbing for an injured Tiler Peck and also debuted in Solitude right before Symphony in Three Movements. She started out very strong, but then lost steam right when more steam was needed. Ashley’s partner Adrian Danchig-Waring’s love for this ballet was on full display. The pulse of his dancing was vivid and strong, and his movement was perfectly weighted into the ground. Anyone who wants to see Balanchine’s black & white at its best, best not miss Danchig-Waring. Jules Mabie debuted as LaFreniere’s partner. We noticed last spring that suddenly Mabie didn’t look like the skinny adolescent who joined the corps a few years ago. He’s been maturing quietly within the corps, almost unseen, and  now suddenly looks like an adult — a strong one who was a very able partner to LaFreniere. Erica Pereira and David Gabriel weren’t quite fireworks. Nor did Erica give the effort that she normally does when dancing opposite Daniel Ulbricht in this ballet.

 

        At times the corps de ballet was so messy and limp that we thought maybe they’d been rehearsing via texting. However, Christina Clark, Savannah Durham, Naomi Corti, and Olivia Bell were da bombs — even their ponytails were weaponized. Small quibble: Naomi and Savannah should trade places in the opening line of white leotards, because Savannah is taller and should be next to Christina. Anytime we can see the wingspans of these Boeing ballerinas flying next to one another is a bonus.

 

        The evening’s program opened with Jerome Robbins' Opus 19/The Dreamer. Unity Phelan and Taylor Stanley led the cast in a serviceable performance. Kurt Nikkanen killed us with his solo violin playing of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major.

 

        The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Joseph Gordon for his riveting portrayal of the father in Ratmansky’s Solitude.

 

 

NYCB 2/6 & 2/7 The Four Temperaments & Liebeslieder Walzer

        It seems we're all a little temperamental these days. The world is out of balance; so why shouldn't our temperaments be off, too? But thanks to Balanchine, who in 1946 turned temperamental off-balance into brilliance with his masterpiece The Four Temperaments, we can sit back and briefly enjoy somebody else's bad moods. Paul Hindemith's rich and intense string score serves as the loom and warp for Balanchine's genius weft.

        On Tuesday and Wednesday, NYCB presented the Winter Season's first Balanchine ballets after two weeks of other choreographers' works. Some of us are of the opinion that every season should open with a major Balanchine work, not anybody else's.

        Tuesday's performances were jittery at times with marked improvement on Wednesday. The Theme section began with Olivia Boisson and Samuel Melnikov. Olivia dances this role frequently, and it highlights her beautiful placement, legs and feet, and her equally beautiful demeanor. This was Samuel's debut, and he partnered Olivia accurately, but not smoothly -- in comparison to Olivia's previous partner, Lars Nelson. For this particular PdD, the great height difference between the two dancers did not serve the ballet well. Olivia MacKinnon and Kennard Henson danced the second Theme, and Sara Adams and Davide Riccardo danced the third Theme. All were satisfactory. Blocking Haglund's vision was the memory of a revelatory performance of the third Theme by Alexa Maxwell some seasons back.

        Sebastian Villarini-Velez performed Melancholic as a replacement for Anthony Huxley. Sebastian, who has had an ongoing issue with turning on his jets full force for every step of every ballet whether it's a glissade or grande jete, was obviously trying to modulate his phrasing but just didn't have the idea down yet. Modulating is not simply about using less force or less energy. Unfortunately, it often looked like his lines of energy truncated in the middle of his arms or legs. The expected flexibility in his back was not present in the dramatic backbends. Haglund kept thinking how incredible Davide Riccardo will be in this role if he ever gets the chance to dance it.

        Modulation is the key to success. Yes, yes, yes, there is that famous Balanchine quote about using energy: "What are you saving for?" However, Balanchine never told his dancers that their variations should be suicide missions. There are dancers today who will risk everything on stage. Not only does it thrill the audience, but the audience becomes addicted to it. They want to see every performer dance to the very edge of disaster. Quite simply, it is addictive to the balletomane like the blood sports were addictive to the spectators in the ancient Roman arenas. Thrilling, yes, but at what cost? Wouldn't we rather have had Harrison Ball modulate his performances if it meant that we would be able to enjoy his dancing for a few more years? Modulation doesn't mean holding back or scrimping on energy -- it's smart dancing and wise choices.

        Isabella LaFreniere gave extraordinary performances in the Sanguinic variation on both nights. She slipped out of some turns on the first night but otherwise, my word, she was glorious in the breadth, accuracy, and musicality of her dancing. Preston Chamblee did a good job partnering her, and he squeezed out some pretty fine batterie in his variation. The Sanguinistas (Olivia Bell, Gabriella Domini, Quinn Starner, Rommie Tomasini) were all fierce and focused, but we kept following Bell's movement for its precision and the quickness & ease with which she got to each position.

        Adrian Danchig-Waring articulated Phlegmatic's dysfunction perfectly. The droop of the arm and wrist conveyed his apathy. He was slow to react to all around him until his four no-nonsense therapists (Christina Clark, Naomi Corti, Savannah Durham, and Malorie Lundgren) arrived on the scene to extricate him from his indifference with their pillar presence and monumental attitudes.

        Emily Kikta wasn't just Choleric -- she was looking for a fight. No one in his right mind would take on those weaponized legs of hers. So incredibly angry, but again, modulation was in order here. Modulation would have inserted a dangerous unpredictability into Choleric: unpredictability as in when a snake prepares to strike. But Kikta definitely made one ornery, quarrelsome Choleric with ferocious jumps and spins. Hoping to see more of this dancer in the Spring Season than we have this Winter Season. We don't understand the short shrifting.

        Liebeslieder Walzer was touching and pretty. We appreciated the fine tenor voice of Blake Friedman who sang our favorite parts of Brahms' Opus 52 & 65. How many different ways are there to waltz, and what can a waltz convey if in heeled shoes and heavy satin versus pointe shoes and airy tulle? The dancers in the heeled shoes were polite society whose passions were a distinct under-current. But once the pointe shoes and tulle emerged, so did the true inner life of the party. Sort of. These performances were lovely -- filled with grace and harmony -- but for some reason, less than magical. Even Mira Nadon's opulent imagination could not bring up the thespian skills of the others. Why aren't we seeing Andrew Veyette and Daniel Ulbricht cast in this ballet? Whatever...

        The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Isabella LaFreniere for her exemplary dancing in Sanguinic. In the Balanchine black & white canon, illustrating his bold architecture is everything. She understands it.

 

 

 

 

ABT contract negotiations When Push Comes to Shove

        ABT dancers have put their feet down in solidarity to force management to come to a fair contract agreement after many months of stalled negotiations. The dancers have authorized AGMA to call a strike at any time including for the purpose of disrupting the upcoming sold out engagement at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC this month.

        This company's Board of Directors should stand up and take responsibility for failing to prepare for the consequences of the Met Opera yanking three weeks away from the company's spring season. Why didn't this board secure another venue during the several years for which it had notice? Why isn't this board bringing in more money in one of the richest cities in the world with a rich devotion to the arts?

        The dancers' deserve a fair contract. SHOW THEM THE MONEY!!!!