Category: Ballet

Ballet Next: New Works-in-Progress

Above: Michele Wiles of Ballet Next

Monday October 21st, 2013 – Ballet Next had a huge turn-out (intentional pun!) for their choreographic exhibition at Ailey tonight. Three works being created for the Company’s upcoming season at New York Live Arts were shown, all performed to live music under the direction of cellist Elad Kabilio.

The dates for the Ballet Next performances at New York Live Arts are January 13th – 18th, 2014; further information will be forthcoming.

Above: violinist Mario Gotoh played the Chaconne from the ‘Partita #2′ for the pas de deux entitled Bach 260, choreographed by Robert Sher-Machernndl, and danced by Michele Wiles and Mr. Machernndl (photo below).

This duet, anchored in the classic vocabulary, takes a contemporary overlay with elements of pursuit and capture carrying the dancers about the space in movement that both sustains and sometimes counter-acts the Bach score, which Ms. Gotoh played so beautifully.

All the Drops of Water
is a duet choreographed by Michele Wiles and danced by Tiffany Mangulabnan and Ms Wiles (above). The music, a lyrical quintet by Max Richter, was performed by Hajnal Karman Pivnik and Ms. Gotoh (violins), Caroline Gilbert (viola), Mr. Kabilio (cello) and Ben Laude (piano). The musicians were seated literally inches away from me – in fact, I could read Hajnal’s score – while the two dancers in deep blue with their hair down seemed like contemporary nymphs. The choreography has a restless quality, inter-laced with moments of repose and tenderness.

Surmisable Units is an ensemble work with choreography by Brian Reeder. The dancers (above) are Tiffany Mangulabanan, Michele Wiles, Steven Melendez, Kaitlyn Gilliland, and Brittany Cioce. The score, Steve Reich’s tricky and repetitive ‘Piano Phase‘, was played by Peter Dugan and Ben Laude.

The choreography utilizes the space in quirky ways, with the dancers sometimes standing behind the two pianos (which are center-stage) and executing semaphoric arm gestures. At times the dancers wear metallic-silver face masks, making them anonymous. Solo dancing is woven in, and the combinations echo the speed and articulation of the relentless musical pulse.

Above: Kaitlyn Gilliland and Michele Wiles in Surmisible Units.

The large crowd of Company friends and supporters seemed very taken with the dancing and the music; I look forward to seeing these works in their staged settings at NYLA in the new year.

October 21, 2013
Lar Lubovitch @ The Joyce – Program B

Above: Kate Skarpetowska and Brian McGinnis in Lar Lubovitch’s CRISIS VARIATIONS; photo by Kokyat

Sunday matinee October 20th, 2013 – Lar Lubovitch Dance Company‘s 45th anniversary was celebrated this afternoon at The Joyce as the Company marked the finale of their two-week season. Two familiar works – Transparent Things and Crisis Variations – were followed by a trio of new pieces: a stunning all-male ensemble work called As Sleep Befell, a new duet choreographed by Company dancer Kate Skarpetowska entitled Listen, and an over-the-top cowboy caper Crazy 8s. If the dancers were feeling any end-of-season fatigue, it didn’t show. They danced their hearts out.

Lar Lubovitch was inspired by the Picasso painting ‘Family of Saltimbanques‘ (above) for his 2012 ballet Transparent Things, set to the Debussy string quartet in G-minor. With the score performed live onstage by the Bryant Park Quartet, the union of music and dance was celebrated by the charming characterizations of the six dancers, each costumed exactly like a figure in the painting.

This ballet weaves a very particular spell; the melding of art, music and movement gives it a Ballets Russes feeling – Diaghilev would approve, I am sure. The musicians played so well, and the dancers excelled. Attila Joey Csiki gave a wonderfully expressive performance as the Harlequin figure, his movement so fluent and graceful. As the quartet’s third movement draws to a close, the dancers invade the musicians’ space and wriggle their way between the chairs; as the light fades, Attila gently lays his head against the cello. A lovely murmur passed thru the house at that moment.

But the quartet has another movement still to come, and although it seemed to me that a perfect ending might have been forsaken, the actual end of the ballet is equally well-judged and drew more sighs of admiration from the crowd. The dancers – Katarzyna Skarpetowska, Laura Rutledge, Brian McGinnis, Clifton Brown and Reed Luplau (a dreamy Blue Boy) – were all endearing as individuals and, in addition to Attila’s perfect rendering of Harlequin, made the ballet a poetic experience.

Lar’s CRISIS VARIATIONS is set to a nightmarish score by Yevgeny Sharlat which features the unusual juxtaposition of harpsichord and saxophone; glimmers of melody shoot thru a dark, dense cloud of sound. This turbulent ballet is essentially an extended pas de deux for two remarkable dancers: Kate Skarpetowska and Brian McGinnis. Their partnering is risky, passionate but unromantic, and they perform it with unfettered physicality and angst. The ensemble – Nicole Corea, Laura Rutledge, Jonathan Alsberry, Reed Luplau and Anthony Bocconi – lay down, writhe. pile up, and periodically seem to try to escape from this ongoing dream. The ballet ends on a quizzical note as Kate suddenly vanishes beneath a mound of bodies.

Both of these first two works seem to have taken on new depths and fascinations since their premieres, showing that the more we devote ourselves to watching dance the more we will see.

Above: from AS SLEEP BEFELL, photo by Steven Schreiber

After the second intermission, new works were brought forth: the first of these, Lar’s AS SLEEP BEFELL, was a staggeringly beautiful experience. Once again the unity of music, dance and setting combined to please, and to seduce. The musicians of Le Train Bleu are ranged in a semi-circle at the rear of the stage: all dressed in casual summer whites, they are barefooted. They strike up Paola Prestini‘s multi-hued score, conducted by Ransom Wilson. A tall, white-gowned priestess -vocalist Helga Davis – begins her chant which takes her from distrubing growls in chest voice to uncanny, sustained high tones; a throaty quality imbues her singing with a raw earthiness.

Ranged on the floor are six male dancers – Clifton Brown, Jonathan Alsberry, Reed Luplau, Anthony Bocconi, Oliver Greene-Cramer and Tobin del Cuore. They are bare-chested and wearing long diaphanous white skirts. They rise in a tribal ritual of dance that is primitive, sensuous, and hypnotic to behold. Expressive port de bras, fluid torsos, and long, muscular legs emerging from the white gowns create an alluring vision of male beauty. To a seductive rhythm, they link arms and sway in unison: a provocative passage.

AS SLEEP BEFELL might be viewed as a male counterpart to the sisterhood Jerome Robbins created in his masterpiece ANTIQUE EPIGRAPHS. Both ballets evoke communal rites and timeless visions of ancient realms and forgotten gods.

Above: Nicole Corea and Reed Luplau in LISTEN, photo by Steven Schreiber

Kate Skarpetowska also turns to the music of Paola Prestini for her new pas de deux LISTEN. This duet will eventually be half of a longer work but even as it stands now, it’s another excellent entry into Ms. Skarpetowska’s catalog of work. In a shaft of bright light, Nicole Corea and Reed Luplau seem to be having a conversation set against Ms. Prestini’s elaborate clockwork score. The movement is restless and quirky as the energy passes back and forth between the two dancers. The interjection of a soulful cello theme brings a new element to the ballet; then Nicole suddenly vanishes, leaving Reed to dance an animated solo.

Nicole and Reed make a perfect pairing, and I’ll look forward to seeing the resolution of this duet. This was my fourth experience with Kate Skarpetowska’s choreographic work; in her musicality, her sense of visual poetry, and her imaginative use of both the physical and emotional characteristics of her dancers, she is already taking a distinctive place in the choreographic community.

Above: from CRAZY 8s, photo by Phyllis McCabe

The afternoon ended with a terrific little ballet called CRAZY 8s. After a half-century of creativity, a choerographer is entitled to a bit of fun, and Lar Lubovitch took off on a totally unexpected tangent with this piece which spoofs hoe-downs, square dancing, the Grand Ole Opry, the rodeo, and the whole cowboy culture. The score is a fractured mash-up of Wild West rhythms, square dance calls, and a country-Western heartbreak song. The dancers, clad in garish bright yellow tights and ten-gallon hats, threw high-falutin’ artsy hogwash to the prairie winds and set to it with tongues-in-cheeks and a glint in their eyes. A special howdy-do to Jonathan Alsberry for his crazy/sexy-boy solo. This deft little romp sent the crowd home in high spirits.

October 20, 2013
San Francisco Ballet @ Lincoln Center

Above: San Francisco Ballet‘s Vitor Luiz and Vanessa Zahorian in Helgi Tomasson’s TRIO; photo © Erik Tomasson

Saturday October 19th, 2013 (evening) – Welcoming back to New York City one of the world’s greatest ballet companies: San Francisco Ballet! I had hoped to attend both of the Company’s programs during their first week at Lincoln Center, but things didn’t turn out that way. When the Company were last here in 2008, I went to see everything they offered, and I fell in love with all the dancers. Fortunately tonight I was able to see many of those beautiful dancers again, though I missed some other favorites – like Lorena Feijoo and Taras Domitro. I very much admired the Company’s programming, bringing works to New York City that we’ve not seen before.

Above: the Company in Helgi Tomasson’s TRIO; photo © Erik Tomasson

Helgi Tomasson’s TRIO, which opened the performance, is a four-movement work in the Romantic style danced before an antique/Renaissance backdrop (by Alexander V Nichols). Mark Zappone’s costumes, in shades of wine and dusty Autumn flame, set the dancers off beautifully. Tomasson’s ballets always please the ear as well as the eye: TRIO is danced to Tchaikovsky’s richly melodic Souvenir de Florence.

After a striking entrée where the ballerina is held aloft, the gorgeously elegant, the dark-haired Vanessa Zahorian swirls thru lovely supported pirouettes and covers the space beautifully with her joyous dance; her cavalier, Vitor Luiz, shows off some unusual flourishes in his combinations. Their duet, backed by the ensemble, is filled with demanding partnering motifs; they gave a wonderful performance, setting the tone for the entire evening.

Above: Sarah Van Patten and Tiit Helimets in TRIO; photo © Erik Tomasson

New York City has Wendy Whelan and San Francisco has Sarah Van Patten: I feel these two dancers might be sisters under the skin. Ms. Van Patten’s striking presence and passionate physicality transcend the steps and music. In the adagio of TRIO she appears first in a sensual duet with the marvelous Tiit Helimets; we are basking in their expressive perfection when the charismatic Anthony Spaulding suddenly appears, making his own claim to the ballerina. The trio’s passions and tensions ebb and flow thru their pas de trois, a finely-crafted dance drama.

Maria Kochetkova, a petite ballerina with who radiates enormous charm and technical authority, dazzled the audience with her ebullient dancing; she and her vividly handsome partner Davit Karapetyan led the ballet’s third and fourth movements which range from classic partnering à la Russe to some stylized motifs that maintained the ballet’s freshness.

Among the ensemble, soloist Hansuke Yamamoto made an outstanding impression. This Tomasson ballet made me crave a revival of his 2000 Beethoven work for New York City Ballet: PRISM.

Martin West
conducted the Tchaikovsky score for TRIO and also had the baton for the evening’s second work: Christopher Wheeldon’s GHOSTS set to music by C F Kip Winger.

Above: Yuan Yuan Tan and Damian Smith in Wheeldon’s GHOSTS. Photo © Erik Tomasson.

Christopher Wheeldon’s GHOSTS, which premiered in 2010, is performed by an ensemble of dancers in gossamer white beneath the pallid glow of a full moon. CF Kip Winger’s score has a cinematic feel, with passages of Romantic styling mingled with quirky, more angular effects.

Christopher Wheeldon (who was on the Promenade this evening during the intermission) describes GHOSTS as a “mass gathering of souls … creating only atmosphere, not story.” The ballet’s marriage of music and mood evoke a dreamworld in which the dancers move with sonnambulistic grace, often falling to the floor only to rise again in a restless quest for some elusive sense of closure.

The ravishing Yuan Yuan Tan and her superb partner Damian Smith perform an ethereal pas de deux; Seeing Yuan Yuan Tan onstage again reminded me of a very special hour Kokyat and I spent in Jessica Lang’s studio two years ago when the ballerina was rehearsing with Clifton Brown for an appearance at Fall for Dance.

Sofiane Sylve (above in a © Erik Tomasson photo) is a more restless spirit: the beauteous ballerina is still
missed here at Lincoln Center where she danced as a principal at New
York City Ballet from 2003 – 2007. Sylve in GHOSTS casts a spell in her pas de trois
with Mr. Helimets and Shane Wuerthner.

Soloist Clara Blanco, a
particular favorite of mine during the Company’s last New York visit in
2008, stood out among the ensemble…I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Above: from Wayne MacGregor’s BORDERLANDS, photo © Erik Tomasson

BORDERLANDS, a 2013 Wayne McGregor ballet, has a strong contemporary feel and demands great stamina and focus from a dozen of the Company’s generously talented dancers. Set in an enormous bare-walled enclosure, the stage is first bathed in steely-grey light; this will shift to Autumnal gold for the central pas de deux and then to vivid neon blue as the ballet moves to its end. The dancers wear shorts, displaying their leggy allure. They often stand or kneel around the edges of the space to observe their fellow-dancers.

In this austere, stylized ballet the music of Joel Cadbury and Paul Stoney ranges from the kozmic and other-worldly thru a cinematic/romance to a rock-like statement and a final anthem. The dancers move with athletic intensity; the choreographic and partnering demands are strenuous and the dancers come and go throughout the work: their relationships uncharted, sometimes mechanical and always mystifying.

The San Francisco dancers threw themselves with complusive energy into this unusual movement style: particularly excellent work from Frances Chung and Mlles. Sylve, Van Patten and Kochetkova, and from the ever-fascinating Mr. Spaulding.

Above: Maria Kochetkova and Lonnie Weeks in McGregor’s BORDERLANDS. Photo © Erik Tomasson

All photos in this article are copyright: Erik Tomasson.

Repertoire and dancers: Saturday evening, October 19th, 2013:

Trio
Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson
Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Conductor: Martin West

Vanessa Zahorian, Vitor Luiz
Sarah Van Patten, Tiit Helimets
Anthony Spaulding
Maria Kochetkova, Davit Karapetyan

Ghosts
Choreographer: Christopher Wheeldon
Composer: C.F. Kip Winger
Conductor: Martin West

Yuan Yuan Tan, Damian Smith
Sofiane Sylve, Tiit Helimets, Shane Wuerthner

Borderlands
Choreographer: Wayne McGregor
Composer: Joel Cadbury and Paul Stoney
Conductor: Martin West

Maria Kochetkova, Jaime Garcia Castilla
Sarah Van Patten, Pascal Molat

Frances Chung, Carlos Quenedit
Sofiane Sylve, Anthony Spaulding
Koto Ishihara, Lonnie Weeks
Elizabeth Powell, Francisco Mungamba

October 19, 2013
Premiere Performance: Intermezzo Dance Company

Friday October 18th, 2013 – Since I was involved in the early planning stages of these first performances by Craig Salstein’s Intermezzo Dance Company. I can’t really write about their premiere performance tonight at the 92nd Street Y with any sense of detachment – not that we should ever be detached from dance. But of course I loved the music – the Verdi string quartet and a fantasia on themes from his opera A MASKED BALL (all played live by the Wyrick Quartet) – and the choreographers and dancers all came thru with flying colours. And the audience was simply loaded with dance-world celebrities.

With three sold-out performances, Intermezzo‘s off to a fine start, and I know Craig has some exciting future plans – which can’t, as yet, be announced.

Hopefully I’ll soon have some production photos to share.

October 18, 2013
Fall for Dance 2013 – Program 2

Above: Dance Theater of Harlem in Gloria; photograph by Matthew Murphy

Saturday September 28th, 2013 – The annual – and very popular – Fall for Dance festival is underway at New York’s City Center. Tonight was the first of three programs – out of five being offered – that I’ll be reporting on. The theater was packed, of course, and there was nary a peep from the audience during the dancing, but plenty of genuine enthusiasm after each work.

Above: Nrityagram (Surupa Sen & Bijayini Satpathy) in a photo by Uma Dhanwatey

Nrityagram is one of India’s foremost dance companies; for nearly 20 years, Surupa Sen and Bijayini Satpathy have taken traditional Indan dance all over the world while also commissioning new compositions from leading Indian classical musicians. Tonight the the two dancers opened this Fall for Dance performance with Vibhakta (2008, choreographed by Surupa Sen). Inspired by the belief that creation begins when The One splits into
two and becomes Ardhanārīśvara (…’the Lord who is half-woman’…), this duet was performed to live music played by a small ensemble of excellent musicians seated stage right. Wearing gorgeous costumes of red, gold and pink, with jingling bells on their anklets, the two dancers cast a spell over the House with their graceful synchronized moves, long balances, accentuated footwork, and elegant gestures.

Most of the audience seemed to enjoy 605 Collective‘s offering, Selected Play, more than I did. I’ve seen this type of dancework countless times in recent seasons: the dancers clad in everyday clothes doing everyday dance moves to a vaguely ominous soundtrack. It was well-performed and well-lit, but there was nothing to set it apart from the many other similar works in this style that I have seen.

With the City Center stage stripped back to the bare walls and lighting scaffolds, HeadSpaceDance from London performed Light Beings, a duet choreographed by Mats Ek and set to Sibelius’ Andante Festivo. The dancers – Charlotte Broom and Christopher Arkill – burst joyously onto the stage and filled the space with witty combinations which seemed to gently spoof the traditional steps, port de bras and partnering motifs of the art of ballet. Their dancing, wth droll facial expressions, drew constant laughs from the crowd. The piece was a fun interlude and – at just under ten-minutes duration – showed that the choreographer understood the concept that brevity is the soul of wit.

Above: Da’Von Doane and corps de ballet of Dance Theatre of Harlem in Gloria; photo by Matthew Murphy

Gloria, choreographed by Robert Garland and performed by Dance Theatre of Harlem to the classic sacred work by Francis Poulenc, was s striking finale for the evening. The dancers, clad in rich hues of blue, forest green and chartreuse, moved thru Mr. Garland’s well-structured choreography with assurance and commitment. The girls are on pointe and the vocabulary is classic, but with some fresh accents that give it a distinct flavor; a troupe of small girls from the Company’s school also participate in this ballet. In leading roles, Ashley Murphy and Da’Von Doane looked superb. The combined effect of Poulenc’s uplifting score, the beautifully-lit space, and the very attractive dancing evoked an enthusiastic ovation from the audience.

September 28, 2013
TAKE Dance: Dark Mourning

Above photo by ‘M’ Apisak Vithyanond; Elise Drew and Kile Hotchkiss in the foreground

Friday September 27th, 2013 – TAKE Dance presented the premiere of Takehiro Ueyama’s DARK MOURNING at Symphony Space tonight. The programme further featured a new duet entitled A BAITED SOUL created by Kazuko Hirabayashi and danced by Jill Echo and Take Ueyama, and a revival of Take’s FLIGHT which was created in 2010.

I’ve been following TAKE Dance since 2008, when my friend Sophie Bromberg first mentioned the Company to me. Take was one of the first to bring dance bloggers into the fold, and he has often shared his creative process with me. In May 2011, Take’s evening-length SALARYMAN seemed to have attained a peak – both theatrical and choreographic – for the Company. Tonight, watching DARK MOURNING, I felt that Take has surpassed himself yet again. This somber new work, in which movement, music, and silence are meshed into a cogent whole, expresses both the terror and tranquiity of death, and presents a haunting view of bereavement.

To the tolling of bells, a black-clad dancers appear as shuffling mourners moving across the darkening landscape. We are reminded at first of Take’s 2009 creation FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW; but DARK MOURNING takes a very different path. Take’s musical choice of the Kronos Quartet’s Lachrymae Antiquae gives DARK MOURNING a timeless sprituality. In structuring the work, silences are as profound as the Renaissance-inspired music.

Alternating ensemble passages – marked by fluid movement – with four solos, Take presents his dancers at their most compelling. Kile Hotchkiss, appearing nearly nude in a pool of dazzling white light – a sharp contrast to the prevailing gloom – appears as a fallen angel, his long limbs and expressive hands simply spellbinding. In a long black gown, Kristen Arnold evokes images of Martha Graham with her expansive gestures of mourning and supplication. John Eirich, showing his customary disdain for personal safety, gives a restless athleticism to his bold gymnastic combinations. And Gina Ianni ended the work as a broken spirit, her blonde vulnerability succumbing at last to the inevitable. Lynda Senisi, Elise Drew (now dancing with Limon) and Brynt Beitman completed the cast for this impressive new creation, a work which I hope to experience again soon.

Take Ueyama and Jill Echo performed the Hirabayashi duet, A BAITED SOUL, which was inspired by a Japanese ghost story. To the lonely sound of a flute, the two dancers appear in ritualistic moves in a state of courtly wariness that evolves into tempestuous conflict. Smoke wafts across the space, and Jill carries a decorative rose-hued parasol, sometimes hiding behind it. The back curtain is opened as Take begins a long, physically demanding solo to the sound of chant. As the voice becomes distorted the dancer’s movements suggest he is trapped in a spirit world. It was of course wonderful to see Jill and Take dancing together, and Anthony Aiu as a mysterious black-clad attendant also made his mark here.

In a work inspired by flocks of birds banking or racing across the Roman sky, the revival of FLIGHT has taken on a new visual dimension: the costumes have been changed, so that the dancers who – at the premiere – appeared as brown-clad starlings, now look like doves in their gossamer white trousers and shirts.

Barry Wizoreck, a former Paul Taylor dancer, appears in FLIGHT‘s opening solo which Take had originally danced himself. Projections of swarming birds appear, and the dancer casts a shadow as he moves in a state of quiet wonder. A quartet of dancers – Gina Ianni, Elise Drew, John Eirich and Kile Hotchkiss – dance the second movement, sometimes in unison and sometimes perched in their arrested trajectories; John Eirich again erupts with a dazzling combination. In a dynamic, turbulent build-up, more doves appear. Dancing to Philip Glass’s Meetings Along the Edge, the large ensemble moves fast while the quartet moves slowly: a striking justaposition. Barry Wizoreck reappears, wandering cautiously among the fluttering doves as he scatters white feathers on the ground.

The performance was well-attended and well-applauded; among the audience were four beloved Taylor women from different generations: Linda Kent, Karla Wolfangle, Rachel Berman and Amy Young.

Performers:
Kristen Arnold, Brynt Beitman, Jill Echo, Elise Drew, John
Eirich, Kile Hotchkiss, Gina Ianni, Lynda Senisi, Marie Zvosec &
Take Ueyama with Jesse Dunham, Jamison Goodnight, Jillian Hollis, Lauren
Elise Kravitz, Anthony Aiu and Barry Wizoreck (Guest Artist)

Music by Philip Glass, Ana Milosavljevic, Kronos Quartet,
Terry Riley, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Houzan Yamamoto

Lighting Design: Lauren Parrish
Costume Design: Jesse Dunham, Elena Comendador

September 27, 2013
A Balanchine Evening @ NYC Ballet

Above: Mr. B with Mourka

Wednesday September 25th, 2013 – This evening’s all-Balanchine programme at New York City Ballet was a veritable parade of favorite dancers. The audience, at least in my immediate vicinity, seemed comprised of long-time NYCBers; in fact I seemed to be at the lower end of the age spectrum. It was an attentive crowd, though rather subdued in terms of expressing enthusiasm.

Any evening that begins with Faye Arthurs onstage is off to a beautiful start; the ballerina – partnered by Zachary Catazaro – danced the opening theme of Balanchine FOUR TEMPERAMENTS. This ballet is for me the most spectacular of the Balanchine black-and-whites, not only because of its marvelous steps and structuring, but the Hindemith score seems to me a true 20th century masterpiece.

Lauren King and Allen Peiffer (who literally danced all night) took the second theme, crossing the stage with semaphoric gestures; the melodic sway of the third theme brought forth yet another impressive partnership: Ashley Laracey and Justin Peck. All three couples danced to perfection.

Robert Fairchild’s Melancholic had a restless grandeur about it: what a compelling stage presence! Meagan Mann and Georgina Pazcoguin circled the handsome danseur, deploying their extensions to dramatic effect. Tyler Angle replaced his brother Jared in the Sanguinic pas de deux; I do not recall having previously seen Tyler paired with Savannah Lowery but it turned out to be an interesting match-up, with Tyler bringing a touch of classic nobility which dovetailed with Savannah’s authoritative contemporary style. In Phlegmatic, Adrian Danchig-Waring seemed to have descended from Mount Olympus: his striking physique and intense focus were engrossing. Ashley Bouder gave a stunning Choleric, her dancing – vivid and grandly secure – was marked by sustained balances and a rich feeling of commitment. In the pit, guest conductor Carolyn Kuan led this splendid score with passionate élan, and pianist Cameron Grant made a significant contrbution to the ballet’s atmosphere.

EPISODES is basically a series of four duets, three of them performed with attendant corps dancers. Clothilde Otranto and the NYCB musicians gave clarity to the quirky Webern pieces which comprise the ballet’s score, ending with the composer’s imaginative tribute to Bach in a setting from Musical Offering.

Abi Stafford and Sean Suozzi were finely-matched in the ballet’s opening Symphony; their articulation of the steps and their fluent work as partners made me wish to see them together in other ballets. Three couples echo the principal pair: Marika Anderson with Russell Janzen, Gwyneth Muller with Allen Peiffer and Gretchen Smith with Andrew Scordato. This entire opening movement, with the stage bathed in an unusual verdigris hue, was absorbing to watch.

Things then take a darker turn as Teresa Reichlen and Ask LaCour appear in pools of light and dance a mysterious succession of five brief duets, their relationship physical but unfathomable. The ballet’s sense of mystery extends to the ethereal Janie Taylor’s appearance in Concerto; dancing with Sebastien Marcovici (who is just back from a hiatus), Janie retains the allure of being the Company’s most enigmatic ballerina.

EPISODES ends with a gorgeous ritual: a corps of fourteen female acolytes weave patterns around the central couple: Maria Kowroski- looking supremely divine – and her noble consort Jonathan Stafford. The two principal dancers, so well matched both in physique and in their ability to make expressive nuances count in these abstract ballets, were superb.

Principal ballerina Megan Fairchild talks about Balanchine’s DUO CONCERTANT here. When Chase Finlay sustained an injury onstage last week, forcing him to withdraw from his immediate-future performances, I wondered who might partner Ms. Fairchild in this evening’s performance. My thoughts ran to Jared Angle, who had danced DUO so perfectly at Yvonne Borree’s farewell. And sure enough: Jared it was, stepping into the ballet tonight with his signature nobility of style and peerless partnering abilities.

Kurt Nikkanen and Cameron Grant performed this panoramic Stravinsky score – it veers from playful to deeply expressive – with impressive musicianship. The ballet is an ideal vehicle for Megan Fairchild, sweeping her from girlish impetuosity to womanly tenderness on the brilliant changing modes of the rhythms and harmonies of the instrumental voices. Jared was by turns playful, protective and poignant as he interacted with his ballerina; their partnership was a rewarding one to experience, and the audience – heretofore rather reserved in their reactions to the evening – greeted the dancers and musicians with warm applause. Now I’m wanting to see the Megan/Jared duo in other ballets.

From its iconic opening diagonal of sleekly white-clad, pony-tailed ballerinas to the final ritualistic tableau as the dancers kneel or raise their arms (in homage to Balanchine and Stravinsky, I imagine) SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS is one of NYCB‘s treasures. Excellent demi- and corps work in tonight’s performance, which opened with the vitality of Daniel Ulbricht’s remarkable high leaps; Ana Sophia Scheller, letting her hair down, shows us that a first-class tutu-and-tiara ballerina can also be a dynamic contemporary stylist. Rebecca Krohn looked stunning in her deep-rose leotard and danced with abandon, matched by Andrew Veyette’s speed and clarity. In the central pas de deux, one of Balanchine’s more effective, Sterling Hyltin and Amar Ramasar were at their finest. Earlier, Sterling had made a swift trajectory, circling the stagetwice in pique turns at ever-increasing speed. Amar’s charismatic presence, his commancing partnering and his generosity as a dancer make him an invaluable member of this troupe.

As the work soared forward to its energetic conclusion, propelled by Carolyn Kuan’s baton, one felt yet again the great genius of Balanchine, and the continuing pleasure of experiencing his works, year after year.

THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS: Arthurs, Catazaro, King, Peiffer, Laracey, J.Peck, R. Fairchild, Lowery, T. Angle, Danchig-Waring, Bouder

EPISODES: A. Stafford, Suozzi, Reichlen, laCour, Taylor, Marcovici, Kowroski, J.Stafford

DUO CONCERTANT: M. Fairchild, J Angle

SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS: Hyltin, Scheller, Krohn, Ramasar, Ulbricht, Veyette

September 25, 2013
Images from NYC Ballet’s Balanchine Evening

A series of Paul Kolnik’s photographs from last night’s Balanchine programme at New York City Ballet. Above: Jared Angle and Megan Fairchild in DUO CONCERTANT.

Amar Ramasar & Sterling Hyltin in SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS.

Janie Taylor & Sebastien Marcovici with the corps de ballet in EPISODES.

Tyler Angle & Ashley Bouder in THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS.

My thanks to Mr. Kolnik and the NYCB press office for providing these photos

September 25, 2013
Bouder/Veyette SWAN LAKE @ NYCB

Above: New York City Ballet principal artists Andrew Veyette and Ashley Bouder in SWAN LAKE; photo by Paul Kolnik

Saturday evening September 21, 2013 – When New York City Ballet announced Peter Martins’ SWAN LAKE for their Autumn 2013 season I was hoping we’d have a 2-week run with some new Swan Queens; but instead there were only six performances (all, seemingly, sold out) and the dual role of Odette/Odile remained the property of three of the Company’s top interpreters: Sara Mearns, Teresa Reichlen, and Ashley Bouder.

Tonight was an opportunity to re-visit the Bouder traversal of this very demanding dual role. In this video, Ashley speaks of her constant work in the studio, endeavoring to bring her interpretation of Odette up to the level of her Odile. Tonight she seemed to have reached – and even surpassed – her goal.

A key element in making tonight’s performance so enjoyable was the lack of audience distractions, which so plagued the first half of the previous evening’s SWAN LAKE. Tonight we were seated amongst well-behaved folks who seemed keenly focussed on the stage throughout the performance; even the annoying late-seating was far enough away from us to be tuned out. It makes an enormous difference in one’s appreciation of the performance when there’s nothing to infringe on the powers of concentration.

And so from the very first notes of the prelude to the final heart-rending departure of the doomed Odette, the evening was among the most enjoyable I have spent at NYCB in recent seasons.

Clothilde Otranto paced the music beautifully: full-speed ahead when the drama called for propulsion; tenderness and a sense of lingering when love – or the loss of it – was the theme. The powerful ending of this SWAN LAKE – from both a visual and emotional standpoint – hits home every time, and Peter Martins’ remarkable vision of the ballet’s final moments tends to make me forgive some of his lapses in other productions.

For people like me who simply adore the NYCB dancers, this ballet affords one of the most satisfying ways of savoring so many favorites all at once: from well-established principals to the newest apprentices, SWAN LAKE is a chance to revel in the enormous variety of faces, forms and personalities who make up this phenomenal Company. And so from curtain-up to curtain calls we are immersed in NYCB on a personal level.

The sixteen corps dancers and the flock of small children who appear in the Prince’s Act I birthday festivities have plenty to dance, and they danced up a storm. As the opera glasses wander about the scene, you can pause anywhere and watch someone like Likolani Brown or David Prottas exuding their talents – both in terms of technique and stage-craft. This is not an anonymous bunch of automatons going thru the motions, but lively individual personalities doing what they love.

Troy Schumacher gave a dazzling virtuoso display as the Jester – a demanding role in which the character, in this production, never overstays his welcome. Antonio Carmena as Benno danced with generous spirit and space-filling bravura: his jumps and turns clear and vivid. He shared the pas de trois with two of our recently-promoted soloists: Ashley Laracey and Lauren King, both dancing with sweet assurance. Marika Anderson’s Queen was excellent: her distinctive features reacting to the dramatic situation, her height and bearing setting her apart from her subjects.

Andrew Veyette’s Siegfried was both impressively danced and instinctively well-acted; his portrayal of the lonely boy facing a destiny that doesn’t suit him was remarkably resonant. It’s no wonder that in his magical encounter with equally unhappy Odette he seems to have found his soulmate. That his love for her is her eventual undoing is the basis of the tragedy; his unwitting duplicity, concocted by Rothbart, leaves the bereft Prince on the brink of suicide at the end of the ballet. Andrew moved thru the events of the prince’s coming-of-age – his discomfort at having to choose a bride, his joy when his beloved suddenly appears in the ballroom, his desperation when Rothbart’s ploy is revealed – with a sense of natural nobility mixed with hapless naïveté; his final collapse in a state of deepest despair was so moving. All evening Andrew’s dancing – his lithe and effortless virtuosity – was aligned to his masculine grace and skillful partnering, making for a portrayal that was thoroughly satisfying in every way,

Ashley Bouder’s technical sorcery and her sense of theatrical vitality have always made her Odile an exciting event. Not only is she undaunted by the role’s virtuoso demands, she simply revels in them – and she even adds her own flourishes. The character – sly, enticing, peerlessly confident – has always been a triumphant Bouder realization. Meanwhile, Odette – despite Ashley’s impeccable dancing – has seemed to just slightly elude the ballerina in terms of poetry and expressive nuance. Tonight she seemed to have moved deeper into Odette’s soul and found the needed resonance there: this seems to have come about both thru hard work and thru the natural virtue of the ballerina’s maturing into womanhood. Her Odette tonight was moving, passionate, tragic. Her performance of the iconic dual role is now a complete work of art, though I feel with certainty that she’s not one to rest on her laurels: I suspect the next time we see Ms. Bouder in this ballet she will have taken things to yet another level. But for now: a triumph.

As I remarked earlier, the evening was a feast for devotees of the Company: the Four Cygnets were especially well-matched and accomplished tonight: Sara Adams, Alexa Maxwell, Sarah Villwock and Kristen Segin were among the finest teams I’ve ever seen in this tricky piece.

Presenting themselves as candidates for marriage to the Prince, six ballerinas dance a lovely set-piece in which each steps forward in turn to make her mark: Faye Arthurs, Likolani Brown, Meagan Mann, Jenelle Manzi, Mary Elizabeth Sell and Lydia Wellington all looked lovely in this piece, one of my favorite passages in the production. Faye, of the lyrical extension, was also seen as the Vision of Odette.

Megan LeCrone looked superb in the pas de quatre, with Ana Sophia Scheller and Erica Pereira completing the trio of dark-haired beauties, and the amiable partnering and handsome virtuosity of Gonzalo Garcia making me wish he’d been cast as Siegfried this season (could we not have a Scheller/Garcia SWAN LAKE next time around?)

Georgina Pazcoguin gave off incredible star-power in the Hungarian dance, and the handsome and rather rare Craig Hall matched her for intensity and charisma. Janie Taylor’s intoxicating presence lured my opera glasses in the Russian dance, with Ask LaCour looming over her, part predator and part slave. In the Spanish quartet, Gretchen Smith and Gwyneth Muller imbued their steps wth a flamenco flourish, their yellow fans a decorative asset; Andrew Scordato and Taylor Stanley looked dashingly sexy. Allen Peiffer, always a handsome Neapolitan lad, now has a new village lass to charm: Kristen Segin was excellent and she and Allen are a delightful match-up.

As the Black Swan pas de deux unfolded, brilliantly danced by Bouder and Veyette, a tall newcomer to the stage, Silas Farley, showed an already keen flair for stagecraft with his manipulative, faux-courtly Rothbart.

And so we come to the end: at the lakeside where they had met, Odette and Siegfried are now torn asunder. The power of their love has vanquished Rothbart, but his curse endures. Odette vanishes amidst the swans, and Siegfried collapses in remorseful despair.

ODETTE/ODILE: Bouder; SIEGFRIED: Veyette; VON ROTBART: Farley; QUEEN: Anderson; JESTER: Schumacher; BENNO: Carmena; PAS DE TROIS: Laracey, King; PAS DE QUATRE: LeCrone, Scheller, Pereira, Garcia; HUNGARIAN: Pazcoguin, Hall; RUSSIAN: Taylor, laCour; SPANISH: Smith, Stanley, Muller, Scordato; NEAPOLITAN: Segin, Peiffer; PRINCESSES: Manzi, Mann, Sell, Brown, Wellington, Arthurs

September 21, 2013
Reichlen/T Angle SWAN LAKE @ NYCB

Above: New York City Ballet principal artists Tyler Angle and Teresa Reichlen in SWAN LAKE; photo by Paul Kolnik

Friday September 20, 2013 – I’m an admirer of the New York City Ballet‘s Peter Martins production of SWAN LAKE, even though the first time I saw it (with Kyra Nichols in her only performance of it) I found it a great eyesore. I had vowed never to see it again but of course, this Company is my Company and how could I let anything deter me from seeing such Swan Queens as Miranda Weese, Wendy Whelan, Jenifer Ringer, Maria Kowroski, Jennie Somogyi and Sara Mearns? I soon made peace with the sets and costumes (basically by simply tuning them out), and on second seeing realized that there is no more potent ending for this ballet than that which Peter has crafted.

Non-stop dancing and just enough mime propel the ballet forward. The familiar set-pieces are there, and Peter brings especial vitality to the villager’s dance in the opening scene and (truly lovely) the would-be-brides set piece which just precedes the arrival of Odile.

This evening’s performance had its ups and downs. There was a bit of ragged playing from the pit here and there, and it seemed to me that Daniel Capps’ tempo for the White Swan pas de deux was just a bit too fast for Teresa Reichlen and Tyler Angle to make the maximum poetic effect. But much of the first lakeside scene was nullified for me by audience distractions (whispering mother and child behind me; a woman munching on cashews from a plastic cup; someone texting). I retreated to the 5th Ring for the second half of the evening and was far better able to concentrate there.

The opening scene, where Siegfried’s friends from the village have come to celebrate his birthday with a party of the castle terrace (they’d never be allowed inside the royal residence per se) is one long dance-a-thon and the sixteen corps dancers were a pleasure to observe thru my opera glasses: corps-watching heaven. But apparently many in the audience had never seen chidren onstage so there was a lot of ooohing and aaaahing when the small fry appear (they danced very nicely).

Harrison Ball (above, headshot by Paul Kolnik) scored a hit as the Jester; he was one of several dancers making role-debuts tonight. Lithe and agile, Harrison moved thru the virtuoso demands of the choreography with flair. Later, at the ‘official’ birthday party of his master, I very much liked Harrison’s facial acting throughout the Black Swan pas de deux: he seemed to be the only person at court to sense that something was amiss with this Odile woman and her sinister escort.

Amanda Hankes, a natural aristocrat, made a youthful Queen. Taylor Stanley’s handsome Benno (debut) was another feather in this dancer’s cap; watching the vivacious Lauren Lovette in the pas de trois was a treat, and I liked the touch of rubato Ashly Isaacs brought to this attractive set piece.

As the partiers went romping off, leaving the Prince, Benno and the Jester frozen in a gesture of farewell, the stage was set for the drama to begin. At this moment, NYCB decided it was time for a round of late seating, so we had the patter of feet, the urgent whispers, the bright glare of flashlights. The mood of the ballet was successfully broken.

Teresa Reichlen’s opening jeté seemed to proclaim that the ballet could now move into the realm of poetry, but it was at this point that the distractions all around me commenced. Restive audience members are the bane of ballet-going: if you prefer to chat with your daughter, eat, or text, why did you come to the theatre?

So despite being aware of Tess’s lovely attitude poses and deep back bends, and of Tyler’s pale and urgently tender personification of the Prince, much of this scene went for nought. I couldn’t wait to escape; I even thought of simply going home, but it seemed so unfair – this triumph of indifference – and there were dancers coming up in the second half that I really wanted to see.

Tess was at her grandest as Odile, wonderfully predatory as she manipulates the hapless Tyler. Coached by the ultra-tall and sinister Ask LaCour as Rothbart, Tess used the role’s faux-Odette motifs with canny skill: a mistress of deceit. Her solo was gorgeously danced and she whipped off a blazing set of fouettés, followed by the sustained balances up the diagonal. Tyler’s solo was a beautiful paragraph of polished bravura. The pledge…the shock of betrayal…the desperate rush to the lake…

The final scene, built on the prince’s hopeless notion the damage could be repaired, was movingly played by Tess and Tyler. Odette knows her chance has been lost; when the Prince again raises his hand in pledge, she pulls his arm down and wraps it around her torso. This will be their last moment together. But now Rothbart must be defeated: in the brilliant coup de foudre the couple make a last stand for love and Rothbart is destroyed. But the curse has not been broken. In those last heart-rending moments, Siegfried tries in vain to forestall Odette’s transformation. But she vanishes among the ranks of the swans, leaving him to contemplate his failure. In this final parting, Tess and Tyler personified the despair of shattered hope.

Back-tracking to the ballroom, there was lots of fine dancing – commencing with Harrison Ball’s playful number with three small jesters. The prospective brides arrive: in pastel frocks, the girls weave solo passages into a very charming ensemble: Sara Adams, Likolani Brown, Megan Johnson, Jenelle Manzi, mary Elizabeth Sell and Lara Tong each took the opportunity to shine. But despite this bevy of beautiful choices, the Prince demurs.

The pas de quatre, a virtuosic set-piece, brought forth Savannah Lowery, Rebecca Krohn and Ashley Laracey each looking lovely and with accomplished dancing. But something was amiss: Chase Finlay, after squiring the girls thru the opening segment, did not perform his variation. And in the coda, Chase seemed to be marking. If Chase had sustained an injury, let’s hope it’s quickly remedied. I was left wondering how the conductor knew to skip the male variation music.

In the swirling Hungarian number, Gretchen Smith threw a dash of paprika into her role-debut dancing; Justin Peck was her rather somber and very impressive beau: now that Justin is taking the choreographic world by storm, we sometimes forget what a great presence he has as a dancer. Jennie Somogyi and Adrian Danchig-Waring (another newcomer to his role) were daringly provocative and physically fearless in the steamy Russian dance. New senoritas in Spanish – Meagan Mann and Lydia Wellington – vied for our attention with their footwork and their yellow fans; Daniel Applebaum and Zachary Catazaro (debut) were the dashing toreros, In a particularly appealing match up, Lauren Lovette and Devin Alberda (his debut) were the Neapolitan dancers, displaying Lauren’s piquant charm and a touch of devilry from Devin.

The House was full to the rafters, and Tess, Tyler and Harrison were strongly cheered. Ask’s curtain call, drawing the villain’s booing, recalled Albert Evans in the same role: a glacial staredown, and a swirl of the cape. I ran into Albert during the intermission, handsome as ever.

ODETTE/ODILE: Reichlen; SIEGFRIED: T. Angle; VON ROTBART: la Cour; QUEEN: *Hankes; JESTER: *Ball; BENNO: *Stanley; PAS DE TROIS: *Lovette, Isaacs; PAS DE QUATRE: Laracey, Lowery, Krohn, Finlay; HUNGARIAN: *Smith, J. Peck; RUSSIAN: Somogyi, *Danchig-Waring; SPANISH: *Wellington, Applebaum, *Mann,*Catazaro; NEAPOLITAN: Lovette, *Alberda; PRINCESSES: Manzi, Sell, Johnson, Brown, Adams, Tong

September 20, 2013