Tag: New York City Ballet

Dance Against Cancer: Tech Rehearsal

Monday April 25, 2011 – Since I was unable to attend the Dance Against Cancer benefit performance at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center this evening, I had the good fortune to be invited to watch the technical rehearsal which started at noon today. Above: a snapshot I took of Matthew Rushing of the Alvin Ailey Company. Matthew was the first artist to tech today.

A lot goes into staging a dance production and while the major companies have lighting and sound crews and stage directors and stagehands all on staff, for a one-time gala like DANCE AGAINST CANCER, all these elements need to be brought together at the venue in a short span of time on the day of the performance. Having performers from several companies on the programme, the gala coordinators need to mesh schedules with classes and other rehearsals that the dancers might be involved in. Since several of the gala participants are member of NYC Ballet, they were having their traditional Monday off in the midst of preaparing for their opening week of Spring Season which starts on May 3rd. Stars from Ailey, Lar Lubovitch, Keigwin & Co and Carolina Ballet along with special guests Martin Harvey, Alex Wong and Tara Jean Popowich all had to be scheduled for tech sessions for the individual numbers in which they are involved.

What happens at a tech rehearsal? Musical and lighting cues are coordinated; spacing, timings, entrances and exits, even the bows are all worked out in minute detail so that the dancers will know their way around the performance space and the wings. Musicians who are playing ‘live’ for the individual numbers also get a feel for the space, find out where to enter from (invariably in the dark!) and how they will maintain visual contact with the dancers during the showing.

Dance Against Cancer is presented by MMAC‘s Erin Fogarty and New York City Ballet’s Daniel Ulbricht.

Here is the announced programme:

On The Other Side; Choreography: Benjamin Millepied; Dancers: Janie Taylor and Tyler Angle
Love Songs; Choreography: Larry Keigwin; Dancers: Kristina Hanna and Aaron Carr
Mozartiana (excerpt); Choreography: George Balanchine; Dancer: Maria Kowroski
Untitled World Premiere; Choreography: Robert Fairchild; Dancers: Tara Jean Popowich and Alex Wong
Little Rhapsodies; Choreography: Lar Lubovitch; Dancer: Attila Joey Csiki; Piano: Kathy Tagg
Tatum Pole Boogie; Choreography: Daniel Ulbricht; Dancer: Daniel Ulbricht
Untitled World Premiere; Choreography: Earl Mosley; Dancer: Matthew Rushing
Who Cares (excerpt); Choreography: George Balanchine; Dancers: Sterling Hyltin and Amar Ramasar
Untitled World Premiere; Choreography: Attila Bongar (Principal at Carolina Ballet) Dancers: Lara O’Brien and Attila Bongar
Carmen (excerpt); Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon; Dancers: Maria Kowroski and Martin Harvey
After the Rain; Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon; Dancers: Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall; Piano: Cameron Grant; Violin: Arturo Delmoni

I’ve arranged with photographer Erin Baiano, who is shooting the actual performance, to have some of her images for my blog. They will be posted here soon.

April 25, 2011
Balanchine/Martins/Robbins @ NYCB

Sunday February 27, 2011 matinee – Today’s programme at the New York City Ballet featured a Balanchine/baroque masterpiece, a visually striking Martins ballet (photo above) set to a fascinating contemporary score, and the festive Robbins/Verdi FOUR SEASONS as a finale. The Company now leave for a week of performances in Hong Kong, and will be back at Lincoln Center for their Spring season opening on May 3rd.

SQUARE DANCE: M Fairchild, Huxley

MIRAGE: Somogyi, J. Angle, Laracey, Finlay, Pereira, Huxley (solo violin: Lydia Hong)

THE FOUR SEASONS: JANUS: J. Peck; WINTER: Janzen, Pereira, Alberda, Tworzyanski; SPRING: Muller, Mearns, T. Angle; SUMMER: Anderson, Reichlen, R. Fairchild; FALL: Seth, Bouder, Veyette, Carmena

The opening SQUARE DANCE again featured Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley in the leading roles. This is ideal casting of the ballerina role; it could have been created just for Ms. Fairchild as it shows off her polished technique and lovely presence to perfection. Anthony Huxley was again very impressive both in his allegro work and in the slow, expressive solo with its deep backbends and silky port de bras. He and Megan showed a more intense connection with one another than at the earlier performance, and both separately and as a partnership they offer a highly enjoyable vision of this vivid and demanding Balanchine ballet. Excellent corps work.

Ashley Laracey (Joe Anderson photo from the NY EXPORT: OPUS JAZZ project) is a dancer who always stands out among the bevy of City Ballet’s corps ballerinas and I am always so happy to see her in a featured role. In MIRAGE she danced with Chase Finlay, the Company’s rising young cavalier; they looked great together and Ashley showed off her beautiful extension, swift pirouettes and a lyrical style that is uniquely her own. Chase was excellent here, confirming his ascendent trajectory.

Jennie Somogyi’s innate dramatic quality instills a sense of urgency into her duets with Jared Angle, always the perfect partner. It’s been great to see Jennie so often this season, and Jared shows her off superbly in this ballet. Erica Pereira’s technical clarity works wonders in a contemporary setting and Anthony Huxley followed up his beautiful SQUARE DANCE with a fine performance in the Martins, notably his airy opening solo. The four corps couples deserve special mantion, both for their fine dancing here and for their uniform excellence all season: Callie Bachman, Brittany Pollack, Kristen Segin and Mary Elizabeth Sell with Ralph Ippolito, Troy Schumacher, Andrew Scordato and Christian Tworzyanski.

At its premiere, the composer Esa-Pekka Salonen had conducted his own score for MIRAGE; tonight Andrews Sill had the complexities of this dense, colorful work well in hand and Lydia Hong played the demanding violin part – a real physical workout – with complete command.

In THE FOUR SEASONS, set by Robbins to neglected ballet music from Verdi operas, Justin Peck summoned the seasonal deities – Russell Janzen, Gwyneth Muller, Marika Anderson and Henry Seth – who in turn escorted their respective courts onto the stage. Erica Pereira made a very pretty impression as the shivering maiden in Winter, with Christian Tworzyanski and Devin Alberda as her cavaliers. Sara Mearns swirled serenly thru the many pirouettes of Spring and looked luscious while her partner Tyler Angle gave an excellent performance with some majestic grand jetes. Their four back-up boys – Giovanni Villalobos, Allen Peiffer, Austin Laurent and Ralph Ippolito – looked handsome and danced handsomely. The tall and radiant Teresa Reichlen was provocative in Summer and Robert Fairchild was ideally cast as her cavalier, a new role for him this season.

Ashley Bouder and Andrew Veyette tossed off the spectacular technical fireworks of Autumn with boundless supplies of energy and pirouettes, and Antonio Carmena’s sexy and ingratiating Faun followed Bouder’s lead and tucked in some Plisetskaya kicks in addition to his other virtuoso feats.

A very sizeable audience today and nice to see so many of the faithful on the Promenade at intermssion.

February 27, 2011
Millepied/Balanchine/Robbins @ NYCB

Wednesday February 23, 2011 – A really nice evening at New York City Ballet tonight with two beautiful Balanchine masterworks as the centerpiece, opening with a recent work by Benjamin Millipied and ending with a Jerome Robbins classic that still feels quite contemporary even though it’s a quarter-century old. Top photo: Sterling Hyltin & Tyler Angle in Benjamin Millepied’s PLAINSPOKEN, photographed by Paul Kolnik.

PLAINSPOKEN: Hyltin, Taylor, Reichlen, Somogyi, T. Angle, Marcovici, Ramasar, J. Peck

VALSE-FANTAISIE: T. Peck, De Luz

SQUARE DANCE: M. Fairchild, *Huxley

GLASS PIECES: Laracey, Hankes, Lowery, Whelan, Finlay, Thew, Tworzyanski, Hall

The curtain rose on the Millepied and I felt certain I was going to like it much better than I did the last time I saw it. The music is very good (especially the ‘Sterling Hyltin’ section), and the eight dancers looked great. But as the work progressed I found my interest fading, despite the high level of dancing and the individual personalities of some of the Company’s best and brightest stars. The audience applauded dutifully at the end but failed to muster a call for the dancers before the curtain. My feeling is that we won’t see PLAINSPOKEN again; as well-danced as it is, there is nothing in the ballet that really grabs the viewer either musically, emotionally or technically.

Thereafter the performance soared steadily upward with superb dancing from Tiler Peck and Joaquin de Luz in VALSE-FANTAISIE. Backed by a lovely quartet of ballerinas – Amanda Hankes, Ashley Laracey, Gretchen Smith and Lydia Wellington – Tiler gave a stellar performance where her musicality, technical wizardry, personal beauty and her elegant joy in dancing Balanchine’s steps combined in perfect measure to delight the audience. Joaquin tossed off the virtuoso passages with his accustomed brilliance. Watching Tiler and Joaquin is one of the great pleasures of ballet-going these days and they were at their finest tonight.

In SQUARE DANCE, Megan Fairchild has one of her most appealing roles. Whether wafting into balances or embroidering the stage with her fancy footwork, she gave a wonderful performance. Her partner was Anthony Huxley, debuting in his role with impressively precise technique. His quiet lyricism in the expressive slow solo kept the audience engaged, and he and Megan swept thru the allegro passages with easy charm. The audience responded enthusiastically to their dancing, calling them out three times before the curtain: a well-deserved success. The ensemble of twelve was comprised of excellent dancers from the NYCB corps and they all deserve mention: the ladies – Likolani Brown, Alina Dronova, Lauren King, Meagan Mann, Kristen Segin, Mary Elizabeth Sell – and the gentlemen: Devin Alberda, Cameron Dieck, Ralph Ippolito, Austin Laurent, Troy Schumacher and Giovanni Villalobos. They added so much to the pleasure of watching this beautiful Balanchine creation.

Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall danced the adagio of the concluding GLASS PIECES with cool intensity; the audience scarcely breathed as these two gorgeous dancers cast their spell, abetted by the mystery of the Philip Glass score. An excellent sextet of demi-solistes – Ashley Laracey with Chase Finlay, Amanda Hankes with Joshua Thew, and Savannah Lowery with Christian Tworzyanski – made a vivid impression in the first movement, and of course the finale of this ballet is a treat for corps watchers.

It was nice to see the house packed to the rafters tonight. Perhaps the sold-out SWAN LAKES this season have generated a desire among newcomers to the ballet to see more of the Company’s rep and more of this great troupe of dancers. I hope the management are planning a couple weeks of SWAN LAKE in the Autumn: strike while the iron is hot! In addition to generating good box office and buzz, there are some potential Swan Queens and Siegfrieds in the Company who I’d like to see have an opportunity.

February 23, 2011
Pointe & Pirouettes @ MMAC: Wendy Whelan

Monday February 21, 2011 – New York City Ballet’s principal ballerina Wendy Whelan gave an afternoon class at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center as part of their day-long Pointe and Pirouettes event. I asked Matt Murphy, dance photographer de luxe, to meet me there and he was happy to since he is as big a fan of Ms. Whelan as I am.

Wendy’s classroom was filled to capacity with dancers from many levels. Rather than ‘talking down’ to some of the youngest dancers, Wendy set the pace and complexity of the exercises and combinations quite high, giving the girls a taste of what they’ll need to be prepared to do as they dance into the future. Wendy gave gentle and helpful corrections, mixed in with more specific remarks about body placement and keys to projecting the movement into the performing space.

One thing she spoke of which I think is sometimes not given enough attention in class is using the eyes while you are dancing. Not only must you watch where you are going, but you need to look to your hand in an extended port de bras or to your foot in develope to say to the audience: “Look how beautiful this movement is!” Sure enough, I’ve seen her do this so many times when watching her from my high/side perch at NYC Ballet performances: she’ll look right up along her arm and hand and right into my eyes. This kind of contact draws the viewer into the dance and makes it personal. How wonderful to find among the photos Matt sent me this very image, above. (Of course all the professional ballerinas know this ‘eye-language’, but there’s something extra captivating about peering thru your opera glasses into Wendy’s gaze.)

I loved her barre excercise based on envelope, a move I hardly ever think about – and how beautifully she executes it. This in fact was one thing about the class that I found most intriguing: how difficult it is to look at anyone else when Wendy Whelan is in the room. But despite the allure of watching her demonstrate, she deflects attention to the students; she treats them all as colleagues and fellow travelers on the path that turns work into art.

Despite the studio being filled to bursting, I couldn’t help but wish that even more students could have had the benefit of taking Wendy’s class.

There were a few dancers in the room that I recognized from other visits to MMAC…

…including the young ballerina Amy Gilson (above) who caught my eye and Matthew’s lens.

One of the most distinctive and delightful people in the New York City dance world, Deborah Wingert – an outstanding teacher and priestess of Terpsichore in her own right – took Wendy’s class. Kokyat and I are especially enamoured of Ms. Wingert and her lovely spirit.

As the class flew by, I felt an urge to clamber up onto the piano and set the clock back by a half-hour or so just to keep Wendy and the dancers there a bit longer.

I’ve saved the best for last. I am not sure how Matthew managed in this crowded and bustling studio setting to capture this portrait of Wendy but I am so glad that he did, and I’ll let him keep the secret of this capture all to himself. It’s one of my favorite images ever of this fascinating dancer.

My thanks to Wendy, Francois Perron, Matt Murphy, MMAC‘s Erin Fogarty and the publicist Michelle Brandon Tabnick – and all the dancers – for a beautiful late-Winter day full of dance.

All photos by Matthew Murphy.

February 21, 2011
Sara Mearns in CORTEGE HONGROIS

Paul Kolnik’s photograph of New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns in Balanchine’s CORTEGE HONGROIS. Read about the performance here.

Click on the image to enlarge.

January 30, 2011
Scheller’s CORTEGE/Revival of OUTLIER

Saturday January 29, 2011 – Ana Sophia Scheller’s debut in the prima ballerina role of Balanchine’s CORTEGE HONGROIS was a big attraction for me this afternoon at New York City Ballet. Kokyat photographed the Argentine ballerina last November when she appeared with Avi Scher & Dancers.

CORTÈGE HONGROIS: *Scheller, Askegard, Laracey, *Hankes, Lowery, Suozzi
intermission
OUTLIER: Bouder, Kowroski, T. Peck, Hyltin, Whelan, Ramasar, R. Fairchild, *Alberda, De Luz, *Tworzyanski, Hall [Solo violin: Nikkanen]

The two ballets are so well-contrasted in every regard, making for a really satisfying visit to the ballet this afternoon. Andrews Sill was on the podium and gave the Glazunov a lush romantic treatment; along with the excellent violinist Kurt Nikkanen, the orchestra made the OUTLIER score so darkly radiant.

Ana Sophia Scheller’s Raymonda is a gorgeous princess, regal but not haughty. With her classic poise, technique and beauty, the ballerina gave her dancing a special sense of allure and mystery. One especially lovely moment came near the end of the adagio when she swirled through a series of pirouettes which seemed almost to be in slow-motion: really dreamy. I’ve always loved watching Scheller and would give anything to see her as Kitri, Gamzatti, Juliet, Giselle, Aurora or Swanhilda. Her originally-announced partner, Jonathan Stafford, was replaced by Charles Askegard whose fluent partnering I think we tend to take for granted, but we shouldn’t.

Savannah Lowery and Sean Suozzi were a grand gypsy couple. They rightly conveyed an underlying sexual tension during the slow opening of the czardas, then burst into joyous swirling dance when the tempo quickens. (Sean’s upcoming debut as the Prodigal Son is circled in red on my calendar: February 8th). The solo variations were danced tonight by Ashley Laracey and Amanda Hankes, much to my delight, and the pas de quatre danced by Mlles. Adams, Brown, Dronova and King was extremely fine. The big corps look superb in the green-white-gold costuming and the whole ballet is such a pleasure to watch…and to hear.

I really liked Wayne McGregor’s OUTLIER at its premiere last May and thoroughly enjoyed seeing it again this afternoon. It’s vastly dfferent from anything else in the repertoire; there are some production photos here. In the above Paul Kolnik photo, Tiler Peck in the ballet’s opening moments.

The ballet begins in silence: a vivid circle of red illuminates the stage floor as the orchestra starts to sound the very quiet opening phrases of the Thomas Ades score. Then Tiler Peck and Craig Hall begin to move slowly, almost warily at first. The work proceeds, highlighted by a series of duets: Maria Kowroski and Robert Fairchild, Robert with Amar Ramasar, Wendy Whelan with Craig Hall (to an especially gorgeous theme in the score). Debuting Devin Alberda has a duet with Sterling Hyltin, both dancers so light and luminous in their movement. An ensemble passage is danced to an intriguing tom-tom rhythm with strings and woodwinds. Meanwhile, the lighting is really striking throughout the ballet – it’s good to see it from ‘above’. Ashley Bouder looks great with her hair in bangs and with her stellar dancing taking on an restless element. Christian Tworzyanski and Joaquin de Luz are wonderful to watch although – along with Wendy Whelan – I wish they had more to do. In fact OUTLIER is one of those rare works that I wish was longer! I’ll catch it two or three more times this Winter because who knows when we might see it again.

January 28, 2011
Another SWAN @ NYC Ballet

Due to the extraordinary demand for tickets, New York City Ballet have announced an additional performance of the Peter Martins SWAN LAKE for Friday February 11th. Sara Mearns is scheduled to dance Odette/Odile that evening. Photo of Sara by Damon Winter.

It’s amusing to hear people attribute the great interest in these SWAN performances to the recent film BLACK SWAN. But the last previous revival of Martins’ SWAN LAKE was also a sellout, and that was long before the movie was made.

January 27, 2011
Fantastic POLYPHONIA @ NYC Ballet

Wednesday January 26, 2011 – Christopher Wheeldon’s POLYPHONIA returned to the New York City Ballet repertoire tonight in a striking performance with a cast led by Wheeldon muse Wendy Whelan. Photo of Christopher above is by Peter Hapak.

Opening the evening was the stunning image of the NYCB corps women, pony-tailed and is white leotards, in the iconic diagonal which heralds the start of Balanchine’s SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS. Moments after curtain-rise, Daniel Ulbricht came bounding into view; he was soon joined by the vibrant Sterling Hyltin in a high-jump contest: so great to see these two very accomplished dancers giving such vitality to their every move. Savannah Lowery has been out for a while but she came roaring back with a grand performance where she pulled off a triple series of pirouettes climaxing each set with a wonderful Balanchine-off-kilter moment. Sean Suozzi’s energy stood out. In the pas de deux, which starts with that whimsical tune, Abi Stafford and Sebastien Marcovici looked great together; I cannot recall having seen this partnership before and it’s a good one. The ten demi-solistes kept my opera glasses on high alert and the corps girls – including some of the newest Company faces – did well. Faycal Karoui and the orchestra gave the Stravinsky score a fine flourish.

Wheeldon’s POLYPHONIA premiered at NYCB in 2001; for me it’s the work that put the choreographer on the map. I was at the first night and was bowled over by it. And I had the same reaction to tonight’s performance. The Ligeti piano music, by turns quirky and mysterious, was played by Cameron Grant and Alan Moverman. Mark Stanley’s lighting sets the dancing off with some marvelous shadowplay, and the deep-purple Holly Hynes costumes are an added asset.

No one speaks Wheeldon with such clarity and expressiveness as Wendy Whelan; returning to this role that was crafted on her body, the great and enigmatic ballerina astonished once again with her supple movement, daringly stretched poses and her flair for creating drama from the abstract. Everyone who recalls Jock Soto in this ballet will have kept a mental gallery of images of the great Whelan/Soto partnership: they were unforgettable together. But Tyler Angle has put his own stamp on this work with his cool, magnificent partnering and his dancing, which in the past couple of years has taken on a unique lustre. He’s now among the most riveting danseurs I’ve encountered over the past four decades. Photo of Wendy and Tyler above by Erin Baiano.

Power and beauty seem to have been the watchwords in casting this revival, encapsulating in the 30-minute work the current state of NYCB’s roster: an embarassment of riches. Teresa Reichlen and Amar Ramasar are spell-binding not only in physical allure but in the way they channel their personal magnetism into the movement. They are just so great to watch together. Tiler Peck continues to show us in every performance what an astonishing and versatile dancer she is: her technique amazes, her ever-deeping artistry is a true pleasure to behold. In their enchanting waltz, Tiler and the equally impressive Andrew Veyette made me smile in admiration. Andrew has really got the knack for being a contemporary cavalier, and he and Amar turned their duet into a highlight of the ballet.

Sara Mearns danced with quiet radiance in her solo (created originally on Alexandra Ansanelli) and added another compelling performance to her catalog. Her Raymonda in CORTEGE HONGROIS last week was equally fascinating, these two ballets testifying to her expressive range. In the company of these stars, Chase Finlay looked wonderfully at home, his dancing and partnering not only impressive in the moment but also as a promise of things to come.

Normally I don’t stay when I’M OLD FASHIONED (Paul Kolnik photo, above) is the closing work on the programme due to my general aversion to Hollywood or Broadway-style ballets. But Maria Kowroski is having such a glorious season that I felt like I really wanted to see her dancing tonight. She was just splendid of course, dancing with Tyler Angle (who subbed for his brother Jared). And Rebecca Krohn and Jenifer Ringer looked and danced divinely as well, partnered by those handsome dudes Justin Peck and Robert Fairchild respectively. The corps looked spiffy and the choreography is actually pretty good.

But tonight I realized what’s always really killed this piece for me. No, it’s not the comparison people always make between how Fred and Rita move in the film to how the NYCB dancers move onstage. No, that doesn’t irk me: Fred and Rita are in their element and the ‘live’ dancers are working in a hybrid style for all that it’s grounded in classic technique.

No, it’s the music that ultimately makes this ballet unappealing to me. Of course the actual Jerome Kern song I’m Old Fashioned is a gem. But Morton Gould’s arrangement of it is lackslustre, and it’s sad to see great dancers dancing to third-rate music.

The ballet also suffers from cliches: “You bumped into me!”, “That guy cut in on me and stole my girl!” “Let me gaze at the skyline for a moment.” After a while, despite the excellence of the dancing, the piece makes me restless. But it was good to see Maria, Becky and Jeni.

January 26, 2011
Images from POLYPHONIA

Photographs by Paul Kolnik from the current revival of Wheeldon’s POLYPHONIA at New York City Ballet. Read about it here. Above: Teresa Reichlen and Amar Ramasar.

Above: Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle.

My thanks to the folks at NYCB for their swift photo service!

January 26, 2011
NYCB NUTCRACKER 2010 #5

Wednesday December 29, 2010 @ 2:00 PM – Today’s treat: candy canes!

In the final week of New York City Ballet‘s annual NUTCRACKER season I decided to brave two matinee shows – knowing they’d be packed with tiny tots – in order to see some of my favorite dancers who have taken on new roles in this ballet this Winter. This afternoon I saw Lauren King as the Dewdrop and Vincent Paradiso as Drosselmeyer. Both of these dancers had made their debuts in these roles earlier in the month. Tomorrow I will see our newest Sugar Plum Fairy, Rebecca Krohn who just debuted in this role opposite Zachary Catazaro (another first-timer).

In the week between Christmas and New Year attendance sometimes falls off a bit at the NYCB NUTCRACKER but today the House seemed pretty well packed. Aside from one terribly loud cellphone ringing, the audience was pretty well-behaved.

Vincent Paradiso’s Drosselmeyer (seen in a backstage photo, above) is dance-oriented in its movement and his characterization is detailed and fully-formed. It seems that, aside from some basic blocking, the NYCB Drosselmeyers can develop the character each in his own way. Vincent leaves off the arthritic old-man stuff; just having white hair doesn’t automatically make you a senior citizen: my hair was completely white by the time I was 30. Vincent plays Drosselmeyer as a vigorous gentlemen, young and strong enough to lift Austin Laurent’s soldier doll and carry him back to his gift box after his solo. Using his arms and hands beautifully, Vincent’s is clearly a dance-based portrayal, and in fact he broke into a jig at one point and even added a touch of flamenco footwork. His rapport with the individual children and with the party guests was easy and natural. As the party was winding down, Vincent began sizing up the room and planning his magic spells for the upcoming scene where he will make everything grow. It’s good to see such a polished and well-thought-out portrayal – the latest in a long line of Drosselmeyers at NYCB that stretches back to Jerome Robbins and to Balanchine himself.

The party scene seemed especially pleasant today, perhaps as an antidote to Ramtamsky’s unfortunate concept as presented in the new ABT version. Amanda Hankes as the graceful Frau Stahlbaum and Henry Seth as her spouse welcomed their guests elegantly and worked hard to keep their naughty son under control. Aside from Austin Laurent’s tall soldier, Sara Adams and Callie Bachman were sweet and charming as Harlequin and Columbine. In the snow scene I very much enjoyed watching Lauren Lovette while in the meantime trying to figure out who some of these new faces in the corps belong to.

Teresa Reichlen’s Sugar Plum Fairy is so dreamy to watch: her beautiful floating-on-air quality in the solo is matched by the gentle radiance of her facial expressions. Her two big jetees just before she leaves the stage to the Spanish dancers were so remarkably stretched out and silky. In the pas de deux, Tess and her cavalier Ask LaCour use their height to exude a regal feeling; they moved securely thru all the many dangers that Mr. B has set in their path and reached a climax with an exciting balance from the ballerina. If Tess was an opera singer instead of a ballet dancer, she would be one of the great lyric sopranos of all time. I’m looking forward to what the coming Winter repertory season might have in store for her.

Mary Elizabeth Sell and Daniel Applebaum danced Spanish; Mary looks superb and – speaking of balances – she had one phenomenal one. She reminds me more and more of Alexandra Ansanelli, quite a high compliment in my book. She and Daniel were going great guns with some wonderfully spacious dancing; Daniel had to put a hand-down in the final pose but it really didn’t spoil the effect of their flavorful dancing.

The long-limbed Gwyneth Muller danced Arabian with evocative fluidity of movement; when viewed from above the dancer in this piece casts a triple shadow. Giovanni Villalobos was a musical and technically precise Tea, and Adam Hendrickson spiced up his Candy Cane by increasing the speed of his hoop-leaps as he came down the center line. Later in the finale Adam added an extra jump thru the hoop as he made his exit. Erica Pereira’s Marzipan reminds us how difficult this solo is – and how easy she makes it look. Cameron Dieck’s Mother Ginger has become a more detailed characterization in the course of the season; I expect we’ll soon see Cameron as lead dancer in Spanish and eventually as the Sugar Plum cavalier. He’s too princely of a dancer to keep him in a hoopskirt for very long.

Kokyat photographed Lauren King (above) when she appeared in a Zalman Grinberg pas de deux (with Vincent Paradiso partnering her) at the Young Choreographers Showcase at MMAC earlier this year. This fetching young ballerina caught my eye right from her first appearances on this stage and it was simply a great pleasure to watch her Dewdrop today. She was wonderfully quicksilver in her movement and with a smile that so clearly shows her pleasure in being able to dance as she does. After seeing her in the Grinberg duet, I feel certain she will be dancing Sugar Plum – and several other major roles – very soon. Georgina Pazcoguin and Rebecca Krohn were the demi-flowers, both thoroughly lovely.

Although the Balanchine NUTCRACKER has had a bit of friendly competition this Winter from the new ABT/Ratmansky setting at BAM, today’s performance at New York City Ballet – coming at a point in time when the dancers, musicians and stage crew are probably suffering keenly from NUTZ-exhaustion – served as a reminder that this timelessly classy version with which Mr. B brought the Tchaikovsky score back to prominence is the one that will endure. Its old-world charm may seem dated to some people, but its perfect fusion of music and choreography makes it indispensable.

From spotting the cat in the Stahlbaum’s window (who has been sitting there for a half-century) to that stunning moment at the end of the Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux when the ballerina lets go of her partner’s hand in a sustained balance, the Balanchine NUTCRACKER continues to cast its spell, however often I see it.

December 28, 2010