YAGP GALA 2012

Friday April 27, 2012 – Winners from the 2012 Youth America Grand Prix competition joined a constellation of great dancers from the world’s top companies for this gala evening at Lincoln Center. New ballets by Jiri Bubenicek, Marcelo Gomes and Justin Peck were premiered. Unfortunately, what could/should have been a memorable dance experience was marred by jarring flaws in the presentation and an audience who seemed to think they were at a basketball game. 

Not to dwell on the negatives, but a 7:00 PM start time means you’d better have the curtain up no later than 7:07. It was 7:20 and we were still sitting there, twiddling our thumbs as the fashionably-late crowd drifted down the aisles to their seats. Women teetering past us hilariously in way-too-high heels looked absurd. But despite not starting til 7:25, there were still large numbers of even-later latecomers and they were all allowed to stagger around in the dark trying to find their seats.

Worse still were the idiotic couple -TV personalities (I use the term loosely) supposedly – who hosted the evening. Their lame jokes, inept reading of a prepared script, and complete lack of personal dignity or charm gave the evening an air of low-class entertainment that even the great dancers who appeared after the intermission could not thoroughly dispel. Ballet is one of the last bastions of beauty and civility; why reduce it to a crude reality show?

Then there was the audience with its large percentage of screaming, whooping adolescents blended with adults who chatted throughout and came and went from their seats at whim. A disastrous second late-seating took place after the break as they darkened the house lights and started Justin Peck’s new ballet (the main reason I attended) long before the crowd were back in their seats. So, more distractions disrupted Justin’s work and the excellent dancing of Teresa Reichlen and Robert Fairchild. Inexcusable.

With these distractions, the first half of the gala went for nought. Although the Competition winners who danced in Part I were announced, I mostly had no clue who I was watching. A couple of the boys made outstanding impressions, but the announcer referred to a solo from LA SYLPHIDE as being from LES SYLPHIDES. A beautiful ensemble piece by Choo San Goh marked the high point of Part I, along with a dazzling performance of the DON QUIXOTE variation by a Korean boy whose name I know not.

Furiant, Justin Peck’s ballet to a beautiful Dvorak score (played live, and ravishingly) was rather lost in the shuffle of the post-intermission seating debacle, but I could tell it’s another nice addition to Justin’s catalog, and hopefully we can see it again under more favorable circumstances. Tess Reichlen and Rob Fairchild look wonderful together though I could have wished that Robbie had worn a fitted top rather than the billowy blouse. I continue to commend Justin Peck not only for his choreographic imagination but also for his inspired musical choices. So far, in my view, he hasn’t made a single false creative move.

Tamara Rojo gave a luminous performance in the mysterious duet for woman and goldfish entitled Life Is A Dream (choreographed by Fei Bo). The ballerina begins seated in a pool of light; opposite her is a second light-pool with a fishbowl globe holding a single, swishing goldfish. Intrigued by the fish, the dancer moves about the space in a reverie. Really nice.

Herman Cornejo’s marvelous dancing of his self-choreographed solo Tango Y Yo was a brilliant vignette, but Jose Manuel Carreno and his partner Karina Smirnoff couldn’t match Herman for sheer artistry; their tango was a more gaudy, reality-show version. And at one point Jose seemed about to lose control of Karina.

Yolanda Correa Frias (Norwegian Ballet) and Yonah Acosta (English National Ballet) paired successfully in the CORSAIRE pas de deux, the bare-chested and handsome Jonah winning applause for every leap and pose; the ballerina has a lovely quality but what was with the rhythmic clapping during her solo? Disgusting.

Marcelo Gomes (would that he had danced!) choreographed a movement-rich duet for his ABT colleagues Misty Copeland and Alexandre Hammoudi. Entitled Toccare, the pas de deux is set to a colorful contemporary score by Ian Ng, played live by the adorable-punk violinist Charles Yang and pianist Dmitri Dover. Misty and Alexandre make a radiant pair, and the ballet was further enhanced by huge black-and-white still images of the two dancers projected on the back wall. The images, by Jade Young, were so striking that they might have over-shadowed the dancing; but Marcelo, Misty and Alexandre made sure the whole performance was finely integrated. Bravi tutti!

Alicia Amatriain and Friedermann Vogel from Stuttgart Ballet gave a spacious rendering of the Cranko Romeo and Juliet pas de deux. The dancers held the audience in the palms of their hands with their lovely lyricism, though I found myself thinking that Sean Lavery’s version of this duet surpassses Cranko’s as a distillation of an immortal love.

Jiri Bubenicek’s Gentle Memories brought the great Mariinsky ballerina Ekaterina Kondaurova to the stage. This woman made such a stunning impression when she danced here in Gotham at the Mariinsky’s last visit (time for an encore, dear Russians!).  Looking splendid in a long deep-rose gown, La Kondaurova held the center of this ballet as three men (Islam Baimuradov, Otto Bubenicek, and Jon Vallejo) vied for her favor. Yet in the end it was the pianist Simon Mulligan who won her heart. Mr. Mulligan played Karen LeFrak’s melodious yet very au courant score impeccably. This ballet and these performers generated a unique atmosphere; I’d love to see this piece again – and Justin’s and Marcelo’s as well. A single viewing of a new ballet is never enough. 

Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin were announced to be dancing Esmerelda but they certainly looked like Diana and Acteon to me. Ms. Rojo seemed a bit out of focus early on but by the time she reached her uncanny set of fouettes she was back on the gold standard. Mr. Polunin danced quite grandly and together they brought the gala to a rousing conclusion.