Oberon's Grove

Ian Spencer Bell's PASTE-UP

Wednesday May 22, 2013 - Ian Spencer Bell's PASTE-UP was performed at City Center Studios this evening. On entering the studio, the dancing area has been created: a square has been taped off on the floor, studded along its perimeter with large light bulbs. The viewers are seated along all four sides of the square; as the house lights dim, the self-illuminated space comes to life.

There is no music for PASTE-UP though one of its sources of inspiration is Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. The only sounds we hear are the voices of the dancers calling out individual words.

The ballet commences with the ten dancers leaping across the space one by one; they repeatedly execute flying jetés from one side of the square to the other, or on the diagonals. As each dancer's jump reaches its apex, he/she calls out the word "Lift!". Yes, I know: it sounds terribly simplistic - even naive - but in fact it weaves a particular spell.

A trio evolves, danced by Ian Spencer Bell, Lindsey Jones and Joshua Tuason (above), and the word being said now is "Left!". The movement vocabulary expands cautiously, with straight-armed salutes and more variety of steps and self-expression.

Switching to "Loft!", the full company enter the space; they begin to touch one another, there are partnering elements and lifts along with seemingly improvisational self-contained solos. The work's opening leaping patterns are repeated, now executed in trios.

Introspection comes in Ian's solo; we seem to be eaves-dropping on the dancer as he works alone in the space. He's talking to himself: musing on Britten and on the music only he can hear, quietly infatuated with the sound of his own voice. Other dancers intrude, calling out things like "a beautiful melody!" where there is none.

Above: Stevie Oaks, Lindsey Jones and Courtney Lopes

In an animated quartet - Lindsey, Joshua, Courtney Lopes and Stevie Oakes - the individual instruments of the orchestra are named along with descriptive words. The finale builds with the full ensemble, their voices becoming more urgent and their dancing more extroverted and complex. One by one the dancers exit, leaving Ian alone in the twilight, his voice fading to nothing. 

I have described the facts of PASTE-UP but it's rather more complicated to describe the atmosphere of the piece which has an odd intensity and a dreamlike quality. It evokes memories of innocence and of the simplicity of dancing alone, unobserved, discovering oneself with music that comes from within.

Ian's works are distinctive and seem to evolve from simple and highly personal musings, finding a connection to the viewer thru the movement and the expressive gifts of his individual dancers. He certainly has a unique place in the current NYC dance scene and I look forward to seeing more of his work. 

Appearing in PASTE-UP are: Ian Spencer Bell, Lindsey Jones, Courtney Lopes, Stevie Oaks, Mara Driscoll, Debra Bona, Oceane Hooks-Camilleri, Sally Kreimendahl, Vani Ramaraj, Joshua Tuason, and Justin Rivera. The lighting design is by Nicholas Houfek.

Photos by Taylor Crichton.

Somogyi's Back! @ NYC Ballet

Above: NYCB's Jennie Somogyi in a Henry Leutwyler portrait

Tuesday May 21st, 2013 - Principal dancer Jennie Somogyi has returned to New York City Ballet after being sidelined with an injury for several months. Tonight was my first chance to see her since her return and she gave a super-charged performance in Ulysses Dove's RED ANGELS. NYCB cognoscenti scatttered throughout the house gave her a hearty cheer when she stepped out for her bows. It's wonderful to have her back.

The house was fairly full tonight - including about half of the Fourth Ring - though I know there were people outside who really wanted to come in but who could not afford the available tickets. I'm going far less often myself, because it's just out of comfortable reach financially.

Guest conductor Leif Bjaland opened and closed the evening conducting two great scores: Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings and Stravinsky's Firebird. In the Tchaikovsky, he gave a somewhat more spacious feeling to the music than we've heard here in recent seasons: the fast passages were lively but not frantic, and he was adept at bringing out the inner voices that intertwine in the serenade's melodic arcs.

Curtain-rise for SERENADE still puts a lump in my throat; despite a couple of tiny faux pas tonight the ballet was beautifully danced, and of course it's a corps watcher's paradise. The recent promotion of some of the Company's loveliest ballerinas to soloist means that we'll see these girls less frequently onstage; but tonight three of them - Ashley Laracey, Lauren King and Georgina Pazcoguin - retained their familiar places in this Balanchine masterpiece.  The entire ballet was a feast for my opera glasses as one appealing vision after another moved across the stage in their swirling pale plue tulle.

Sara Mearns danced with silken beauty, handsomely partnered by Jonathan Stafford. Ashley Bouder's marvelous sense of the music allows her to sail on the score's melodic ebb and flow, pausing here and rushing forward impetuously there; her peerless technique and expressive face invest the role with many felicitous details. Rebecca Krohn gave a radiant performance, her lyricism at full-flight and so attractive to behold. It seems to me that both Ashley and Rebecca would be ideal in the 'waltz girl' role, and I'm hoping they'll each have the opportunity soon. Adrian Danchig-Waring made a striking impression both in physique and face; his deep immersion in the ballet's unspoken drama was spell-binding.

So exciting to see RED ANGELS again; it's a favorite ballet of my friend Arlene Cooper, and I was glad to spot her from above this evening. Mary Rowell has played every performance of this ballet that I have ever experienced and she's phenomenal, turning her electric violin into both a percussive and melodic vessel. In sleek physique-defining red body tights, the four dancers appear in introductory solos, then in duets, second solos, and a brief coda for all.

Amar Ramasar gave a magnificent, stellar performance of expansive and space-filling dance wedded to undeniable sex appeal. Jared Angle has followed in the footsteps of Peter Boal as the Company's most poetic male dancer; in this case it's poetry with an edge and Jared reads it with power and clarity. Teresa Reichlen's long-limbed amplitude and cool allure are perfect here, dancing with sharp attack and soaring extension. Ms. Somogyi, her body in Olympian condition, was intense and keenly aware of the sensual energy that pulses thru the Einhorn score. Throughout, the four dancers communicate in a rich gestural dialect. Mark Stanley's lighting is a major factor. The audience whooped it up for these exciting dancers and their vivid one-woman rock band.

Clothilde Otranto took up the baton for a definitive change of pace with the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. Andrew Veyette stepped in for Joaquin de Luz and won continuous rounds of applause for his swift and scintillating turns and leaps while the charm and delicacy of Megan Fairchild's dancing exuded lyric grace, reaching an apex in a set of delicious fouette turns in the coda. The audience loved them, and rightly so.

Maria Kowroski's imperial Firebird was the perfect finale for this parade of super-dancers. The elegant ballerina shaped the elusive avian creature into a poetic statement, creating a compelling reverie in the haunting Berceuse. Earlier, her fluttery evasions and eventual taming were finely wrought in gesture and expression and - needless to say - her long legs are an exceptional asset. I love Jon Stafford in this ballet (he replaced Ask LaCour tonight) for his sense of wonderment and almost naive heroism. He and Savannah Lowery as the captive princess gave a charming account of their courtship, surrounded by a bevy of maidens consisting of some of my favorite ballerinas. The girls - I know - take this scene with a tongue-in-cheek quality. For me it's quite beautiful, as is the Stravinsky score - his finest in my view, and wonderfully played tonight under Mr. Bjaland's baton.

SERENADE: Mearns, Bouder, Krohn, J. Stafford, Danchig-Waring [Guest Conductor: Bjaland]

RED ANGELS: Reichlen, Ramasar, Somogyi, J. Angle  [Solo Violin: Rowell]

TSCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX: M. Fairchild, Veyette   [Conductor: Otranto]

FIREBIRD: Kowroski, J. Stafford, Lowery, Catazaro [Guest Conductor: Bjaland]

Explanation

Chamber Music Society: All-Mozart

NOTE: This programme will be repeated on Tuesday May 21st at 7:30 PM at Alice Tully Hall.

Sunday May 19th, 2013 - For their final Tully Hall concerts of the 2012-2013 season, Chamber Music Society chose an All-Mozart programme. It's always an extra pleasure when the music you are hearing dovetails nicely with the book you are reading: I just happen to be finishing MOZART'S LAST ARIA by Matt Rees as this CMS concert looms up on my calendar.

The three works heard today were written within a five-year period (1782-1787) and they remind us of the "what-might-have-been" works that Mozart might have penned had his life not tragically ended at such a young age. Mr. Rees' book deals with the composer's death and the mystery that surrounds it. I saved the last chapter to finish in conjunction with today's concert.

The programme offered a generational mingling among the players, with the established greats of the chamber music world being joined by younger artists in each of the three works. Thus the lovely young pianist Seyeon Kate Lee took the central role in the opening Trio in B-flat Major, playing with Society headliners Ani Kavafian (violin) and Timothy Eddy (cello). Ms. Lee, in a ravishing deep-midnight gown, produced shimmering tone and wafted the work's melodic cascades into the house with deft assurance. Ms. Kavafian and Mr. Eddy played with scrupulous musicality and grace.

Of the musicians, it was Mr. Eddy who had the busiest evening, playing marvelously in all three works. In the E-flat Major Horn Quintet, the youthful violinist Benjamin Beilman maintained a rapport with his viola counterpart, Lily Francis. Paul Neubauer lent his distinctive artistry in this unusual configuration which calls for two violas rather than two violins.

Radovan Vlatkovic (above) took center stage for the Quintet; his velvety timbre and polished technique making me regret that I put my horn aside after high school. It's such a heartfelt sound, and as Mozart weaves the strings around the central melodies intoned by Mr. Vlatkovic I fell into a nostalgic reverie.

Timothy Eddy opened the concluding Quintet in C-Major with a fanfare-like phrase; he, Mr. Beilman and Ms. Francis played nobly. In the work's andante, Ms. Kavafian and Mr. Neubauer established a dialogue of motifs that seemed to presage the era of operatic bel canto. In the allegro finale - sumptuously played by the ensemble - this longish work suddenly seemed to be hastening all too swiftly to its end. 

Chamber Music Society provides a perfect haven for music lovers, drawing audiences that have a serious craving for great music. Not only is the level of playing superb, but the ambiance of Tully Hall is the perfect temple in which to experience such artistry: spacious enough for the music to envelop us but so intimate that we can read the musicians' expressions and watch with delight their subtle inter-actions. The Society's 2013-14 season is full of promise - read about it here.  

The players:

Soyeon Kate Lee, piano; Benjamin Beilman, Ani Kavafian, violin; Lily Francis, Paul Neubauer, viola; Timothy Eddy, cello; Radovan Vlatkovic, horn

The repertory:

• Mozart Trio in B-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, K. 502 (1786)
• Mozart Quintet in E-flat major for Horn, Violin, Two Violas, and Cello, K. 407 (1782)
• Mozart Quintet in C major for Two Violins, Two Violas, and Cello, K. 515 (1787)

All-Martins @ New York City Ballet

Above: Robert Fairchild and Sterling Hyltin in CALCIUM LIGHT NIGHT; photo by Paul Kolnik. Click on the image to enlarge.

Saturday May 18th, 2013 matinee - My first NYCB performance of the Spring 2013 season. It's unusual for me to have missed almost three weeks of repertory, but the programming during the American Music Festival wasn't really to my taste and even though there were ballets (and dancers) I really wanted to see, they were matched with others that I wanted to avoid. However, this afternoon's line-up and casting were impossible to resist.

Some people would not want to sit thru an all-Martins programme, but these are four of his best ballets and each set to an interesting score. I could have wished for BURLESKE or MORGEN, but they would not have fit in the "American" theme. Still, I'll hope to see them revived one day.

The afternoon opened with Peter's first ballet, CALCIUM LIGHT NIGHT (1977) and at the end of the programme I felt it was the most engrossing and distinctive of the works shown. A rectangle of flourescent lights hangs overhead, and the stage is wide open to the wings. Robert Fairchild, dressed in deep blue, leans casually against one of the lighting towers. Then he erupts in the first of a series of solos; this is pure dance at its most riveting and Rob was spectacular in his covering of space and his complete technical assurance. The movement flowed through his body like a natural force creating a vivid portrait of one of our greatest dancers. Sleek and gorgeous in red, Sterling Hyltin is the perfect match for Robert in this ballet; she moves about the rectangle of light with cool allure, always slyly in touch with the viewer. Her dancing is fresh, pristine. As follow-spots hone in on the two dancers, they join in a double pas de deux of really inventive partnering motifs. Andrews Sill and the Company's intrepid musicians delivered the Ives vignettes with quirky assurance.

Charles Wuorinen's score for Peter's RIVER OF LIGHT (1998) is a sonic marvel in its layered density and rhythmic variety. A vast array of percussion instruments seemingly takes up a third of the pit and the players have their work cut out for them; otherwise it's all strings and keyboard, with Maestro Sill keeping a firm hand on the tiller. Three couples have colour-coded duets: Erica Pereira and Jonathan Stafford (in white), Savannah Lowery and Amar Ramasar (in black) and Teresa Reichlen and Chase Finlay (in red). Then they switch partners for three more pas de deux. Logic might dictate that a third set of duets would follow, allowing each of the girls to have danced with each of the boys; but instead the stage floor is illuminated with a brilliant circle of light enclosed in a second circular path. The dancers step one by one into the central space, forming knots and movement cells, while others walk slowly around them; in the end the women are hoisted overhead as the curtain falls.

Erica Pereira, who should be dancing more frequently and in a wider repertory, shimmers in white, cool and elegant; Jon Stafford manipulates the petite ballerina, showing her off to fine effect. Savannah Lowery, imperturbable in black, is dropped into full splits by the sleekly handsome Amar Ramasar. Teresa Reichlen's long-limbed fluidity is matched by Chase Finlay, in his first season as a principal.

The "switch" pairs Erica with Chase (above, in Paul Kolnik's photo), Savannah with Jon, and Tess with Amar. It's a ballet all about partnering and the Wuorinen score and Mark Stanley's lighting give it a unique quality.

The soulful beauty of the BARBER VIOLIN CONCERTO was given a heartfelt rendering by Kurt Nikkanen and the orchestra, led by Daniel Capps. For the premiere of this 1988 ballet, Peter Martins had originally brought in dancers from the Paul Taylor Dance Company (Kate Johnson and David Parsons) and pitted them against a 'classical' couple (Merrill Ashley and Adam Luders); I've sometimes wished to see it done this way again - with, say, Eran Bugge and Michael Trusnovec - but the trend now it to have the 'contemporary' couple danced by members of NYCB.

You won't hear any complaints from me about today's "moderns" though: Ashley Bouder was superb - her over-sexed predatory dancing in the final allegro matched by an expansive array of facial expressions - while Jared Angle's poetic face and expressive arms and torso registered the oddly sinister lyricism of the 'loner' who spirits the classical ballerina away after drawing her into his world. Jonathan Stafford stepped in for Ask LaCour today in the danseur role; Jon's desperate attempts to withstand the tireless pesterings of La Bouder produced a droll vignette. Sara Mearns seemed a bit lethargic at first, but she soon found herself in the adagio with Jared - a duet in which her attempts to console him turn into his kidnapping of her. It's a very subtle passage, and Sara and Jared brought it off with just the right atmosphere.

Above: Adrian Danchig-Waring and Tiler Peck in FEARFUL SYMMETRIES; a Paul Kolnik photo

The concluding work - the only ballet calling for a large ensemble of dancers on the programme today - was FEARFUL SYMMETRIES which Peter choreographed to the John Adams score in 1990. Clothilde Otranto and the musicians gave the relentless and panoramic score the full treatment; the choreography is virtuosic and demands incredible reserves of energy. But, as in some Twyla Tharp works that I've seen, invention of movement sometimes seems stretched by the demands of the music and its length. Nevertheless, it's a crowd-pleaser to be sure and a real workout for the dancers.

Those two gorgeous dancers - Rebecca Krohn and Adrian Danchig-Waring - look magnificent, as do their agile counterparts Tiler Peck and Taylor Stanley. These two couples appear and vanish throughout the ballet, delivering copious paragraphs of partnering as the ensemble swirls about them. So good to see Ashly Isaacs back onstage in an allegro role. Anthony Huxley gave a dazzling performance, his stage presence now the equal of his technical brilliance. Devin Alberda, Daniel Applebaum and Allen Peiffer - three supermen in red - swept across the stage in high-energy combinations, and an octet of outstanding demi-solistes (Mlles. Gerrity, Mann, Smith and Wellington with the boys - Dieck, Prottas, Scordato and Tworzyanski - in hot pursuit) kept my opera glasses occupied. The cumulative energy boils over from time to time, yet the ballet ends tranquilly with the four principals finally coming to rest.     

CALCIUM LIGHT NIGHT: Hyltin, R. Fairchild

RIVER OF LIGHT: Reichlen, Lowery, Pereira, Ramasar, J. Stafford, Finlay 

BARBER VIOLIN CONCERTO: Mearns, Bouder, J. Stafford, J. Angle

FEARFUL SYMMETRIES: Krohn, Danchig-Waring, T. Peck, Stanley, Isaacs, Huxley, Alberda, Peiffer, Applebaum