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!
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.
Sunday November 21, 2010 matinee – The Columbia Ballet Collaborative under the artistic direction of Elysia Dawn gave an afternoon of dance at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center with a new work by Pennsylvania Ballet’s Choreographer in Residence Matthew Neenan starring New York City Ballet principal dancer Amar Ramasar, as well as a premiere work by CBC’s resident choreographer Emery LeCrone. The programme also featured new works by Zalman Grinberg, NYCB soloist Adam Hendrickson, Summer Jones and Amanda Lowe. Photo at the top: from a rehearsal of Emery LeCrone’s new CBC work entitled Palindrome; photo by Kokyat.
The afternoon started well and built from there; each choreographer’s voice was clearly expressive and there was a fine variety of musical styles to keep the ear as content as the eye.
Summer Jones presented Sound in One Movement to a violin solo composed and played ‘live’ by Philip Wharton. Structured with an opening duet followed by a quartet and then an ensemble passage featuring a prominent pas de deux couple the choreographer showed an interesting grasp of having different people doing different things at the same time; the attractive music helped to blend these elements into a cohesive whole.
Matthew Neenan, resident choreographer of Pennsylvania Ballet, set the andante of Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in A minor as a pas de deux for Elysia Dawn and New York City Ballet principal dancer Amar Ramasar. Both dressed in black, the dancers performed this duet with a quiet tenderness that never became saccharine. With his inherent star power, Amar could easily have turned this adagio into a personal showpiece but instead he gallantly kept the focus on his beautiful partner.
“A wonderful voice, not suited for singing” was my initial thought on hearing Joanna Newsom for the first time singing Sawdust and Diamonds as the score of Amanda Lowe’s Then and Never. I’d had the same reaction the first time I heard Alanis Morisette – til she won me over with The Uninvited. Anyway, after a few moments Ms. Newsom and her harp started weaving a spell. And the choreographer took up the thread and wove it into a really impressive piece for nine women which had an Isadora Duncan feel (or was I having a Duncan hangover from last night?) but which also had a clarity of structure that was refreshing in its appeal. The nine girls took the music and the choreographer’s vision and gave the piece a transportive feminine energy.
Last week Zalman Grinberg set Debussy to very appealing effect at the Young Choreographers Showcase. Today he scored again using a familiar piece (Chopin Impromptu #4) and creating a trio for three sylphs on pointe (The Impromptu Fantasise) that seemed on the face of it to be a reverie in romantic-style classicism; by incorporating subtle contemporary touches here and there Zalman gave the piece a unique quality. His three ballerinas – Caitlin Dieck, Kara Buckley and Katie Kantor – were attractive components of the work’s success. I look forward to following Zalman’s choreographic work in the coming months; he seems to have something unique to say and he isn’t afraid to use the classics as a basis for expression.
The afternoon was on an impressive roll and New York City Ballet’s Adam Hendrickson took up the torch with a wonderfully satisfying piece entitled Sun Will Set. The gently rhythmic score by Zoe Keating evoked cradles, rocking chairs or the endless thrum of a spinning wheel as this Americana ballet evolved with imaginative clarity. Four women in plain soft-coloured shifts gather, glean and weave in a gestural language of repetitive tasks. From their busywork, each has a solo phrase just long enough to make a personal impression before stepping back to the collective. Music, movement and mood were finely integrated; the piece really drew me in. Kudos to the four girls – Sophie Alpern, Lauren Alpert, Lauren DeMaria and Alexandra McGlade – who gave life to Adam’s vision. Past works of Adam’s that I’ve seen tended to feature virtuoso passages for male dancers; in extending his range here, I felt that Adam’s moving steadily along on a unique choreographic path. I will be watching to see where it leads him.
Above: Kokyat’s photo of Erin Arbuckle rehearsing Emery LeCrone’s Palindrome. Here Emery has produced another intriguing dancework to add to her treasury with Palindrome, a dark work set to an often ominous-sounding score culled from music of Chris Clark and Venetian Snares. Four dancers – Erin Arbuckle, Rebecca Azenberg, Paul Busch and Richard Isaac – move thru this stark soundscape with powerful individual performances.There are duets – Erin and Paul, Rebecca and Richard – and a passage of communal port de bras that seems to communicate some ancient language. The choreography flows forward and then at a point everything flows in reverse. Kokyat and I had seen a developmental rehearsal of this piece early on in the process, and a second rehearsal when it was fully set (photo of Erin Arbuckle above by Kokyat) but in the costumed and lit final product there was still a lot to discover.
Manhattan Movement and Arts Center is becoming one of my favorite destinations in the New York dance world. From ballet classes taught by Deborah Wingert to watching Joy Womack rehearsing an Avi Scher solo, Kokyat and I have had some great times at MMAC in recent months. I always look forward to going there.
Thursday October 28, 2010 – Avi Scher is creating a new duet for New York City Ballet artists Ana Sophia Scheller and David Prottas and he invited Kokyat and me to watch a rehearsal down in SoHo tonight. This pas de deux will be presented at the Young Choreographers Showcase at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center Theatre, 248 West 60th Street (between 10th and West End Avenues) on Sunday evening November 14th. Tickets available here.
Avi tells me that this duet will eventually become part of a larger piece that he is working on entitled DreamScapes.
Ana and David are two of NYCB‘s most attractive and charismatic dancers; I always love watching them onstage so it was exciting to observe them in the studio. Their partnership creates an intense and shifting dynamic and the choreography takes wing from that with some really expansive moments (above)…
…as well as a kind of intimate tension that keeps the focus of the duet on the relationship.
Here is a gallery of Kokyat’s images from this rehearsal:
In addition to Avi Scher’s newest creation, the Young Choreographers Showcase will feature works by Emery LeCrone, Ja’ Malik, Justin Peck and Zalman Grinberg.
Oberon's Glade 