(The deadline is approaching for moving articles from the Grove to the Glade. Here is the story of Philip Neal’s farewell performance at New York City Ballet.)
Click on the images to enlarge.
Sunday June 13, 2010 – Back in the day, I developed the worst crush on Philip Neal. He was a long-legged Southern boy in the New York City Ballet corps and he was just so nice-looking. Once I sat outside the stage door after one of his performances thinking I simply had to meet him or at least get a closer look. What did I hope to accomplish? I don’t know, but anyway he must have gone out via the lobby because I never got my chance. Much later, when he was a star and I was working at Tower, he came in a few times and I was always too shy to talk to him.
Philip was a bit coltish in those early days, not quite yet the polished danseur he was to become. What’s struck me about him is that in the last two or three seasons he has been giving some of his most memorable performances and I guess I just assumed he would continue to do so. But now the day of his farewell has arrived all too soon and I found myself sitting there watching this incredibly elegant dancer and wishing I could turn the clock back so we could enjoy him for another ten years or so.
Wendy Whelan and Philip Neal have been a dream partnership during these past few years that I’ve been living in New York City. At the holiday season each year, they take their NUTCRACKER pas de deux on the road and bring joy to people who rarely get to see dancers of this caliber live. I bet I’ve seen them in NUTCRACKER together twenty times, give or take, and it’s always an exquisite treat.
The other ballerina with whom Philip danced most frequently was Kyra Nichols. Here they are (above) in rehearsal and (below) in VIENNA WALTZES. My thanks to Kyle Froman for sending me these images.
As her career moved into its final stages, Kyra danced almost exclusively with Philip and there was something so elegant and courtly about their partnership. At her farewell, watching them dance together, it would have been impossible to imagine that Philip would be making his farewell so soon.
But: here we were, watching him dancing two of his finest roles for the last time, both by Balanchine: SERENADE and CHACONNE. In a recent revival of MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, Philip partnered Jenifer Ringer is a sumptuous rendering of the divertissement pas de deux. and their dancing today in SERENADE recalled that very special occasion. Megan Fairchild and Sara Mearns also danced beautifully and Ask LaCour made a princely impression in the other male role.
In a somewhat truncated rendition of WHO CARES? Robert Fairchild seemed a worthy successor to Philip Neal in this ballet, and there was delightful dancing from Tiler Peck, Sterling Hyltin and Ana Sophia Scheller.
In CHACONNE, the Whelan/Neal partnership seemed to be at its apex rather than at the point of drifting into memory. They are simply perfect together. Both Wendy and Philip seemed to be in a highly emotional state today and once or twice I thought they might just stop dancing and start hugging each other. And no one would have blamed them if they had.
All too soon the performance had swept by and Philip was being feted with streamers, confetti and flowers. Kyra Nichols presented him with a bouquet, and there was a procession of current NYCB ballerinas led off by Wendy and Jeni Ringer presenting flowers to the man who had made them all look so good so many times. Photo: Art’s Place.
Despite waves of nostalgia, especially during the heart-tugging music of SERENADE, it was in fact a joyous farewell since Philip has left us at the peak of his artistry and his future looks very sunny as he heads to Palm Beach, Florida to be with his partner. He will take up responsibilities as a stager of Balanchine and Robbins works and he says he will guest-teach at SAB whenever he is back in New York.
Bon voyage, and bonne chance!
Oberon's Glade 