Balanchine: Three Masterworks

Wednesday April 30, 2008 - Normally I don't skip opening night of New York City Ballet season but Tuesday's programme just didn't entice me. I'm going to be attending so frequently this Spring that waiting one more night to start my season did not seem like a problem - though, of course, I found myself thinking about the dancers last evening while I was sitting at home. Matt Murphy reports on the gala here. Tonight's all-Balanchine programme was the ideal way to kick off the nine-week season at the New York State Theatre: three of the choreographer's signature works with just a smattering of fresh casting to add to the appeal.

Peter Martins stepped before the curtain and we all feared some last-minute injury was going to cause a cast change or even the substitution of a different ballet, but he simply wanted to ask us to rise in tribute to Mr. B who died twenty-five years ago today. Peter's words were simple and moving.

Normally SYMPHONY IN C closes the programme but tonight it set the evening off to a brilliant start. Bizet (photo) wrote a score that is perfect for dance and Balanchine gave us a perfect setting of it. The Staffords (Abi and her brother Jonathan) led off an evening of really enjoyable dance with a perfect rendition of the opening Allegro Vivo. Abi's clarity of the steps, her sharp sense of the music and her clear enjoyment of what she is doing always give me so much pleasure. Jon looks wonderful, his easy air turns  in first one direction and then the other are delightful. Gwyneth Muller and Savannah Lowery were the stately demis partnered by Christian Tworzyanski and Rob Fairchild. It was good seeing Marika Anderson back among the corps after an absence.

Sara Mearns and Charles Askegard brought a nice sustained quality to the adagio despite the fact that Maestro Karoui still takes it too fast for my taste. I've heard his reasoning and it is sound but sometimes things make more sense in theory than in practice. Sara was luxuriantly poised and Chuck compellingly  attentive with his polished partnering. Ashley Laracey and Faye Arthurs were super-demis with Devin Alberda and Austin Laurent. I managed to keep an eye on Faye later with her flourishing extension in the finale of this ballet.

I was particularly happy to see Gonzalo Garcia giving what I think was his finest performance to date at NYC Ballet in the third movement where everything came together for him: high, sailing jumps; fluent turns; elegant arms and hands...and of course he is a great-looking guy. Really impressive. Despite taking a fall, Megan Fairchild was fine stepping in for Ashley Bouder. Glenn Keenan was looking sleek and assured; I very much enjoyed watching her and Kyle Froman together with their winning smiles and clear sense of enjoyment. Saskia Beskow and Henry Seth were an equally fine couple.

Tiler Peck's solo opening the finale was a gem; her sparkling turns set the tone for the brilliant sequences that followed. In an outstanding performance, Sean Suozzi nailed every combination and brought that extra dash of brilliance that makes you focus on him in a stage full of talent.

When the curtain rose on Stravinsky's SYMPHONY IN THREE MOVEMENTS with the diagonal of girls in white it just seemed so good to be 'home' with my favorite dancers. Then Daniel Ulbricht came whizzing down the diagonal and electrified the audience with the first in a series of bouncing leaps, tucking his knees up and then landing with the  silky silence of a cat. Sterling Hyltin (beautiful hair!) got into the bouncing  mode and the two of them kept Sarah and I in a state of delight throughout the ballet. Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans always make this classic Stravinsky pas de deux seem fresh - like you've never seen it before. Earlier Wendy's rapid double circling of the stage in pique turns wowed the audience. Speaking of catlike landings, Albert is  the master...his dancing so cushioned and pliant. Savannah Lowery looked very impressive and flashed an unbelievable extension. The potent dancing and vivid dramatic thrust of Adrian Danchig-Waring's performance were riveting - one of the most exciting of the Company's rising generation of men. With this quintet of demis - Faye, Pauline Golbin, Glenn Keenan, Saskia and Amanda Hankes - it's a wonder I found time to watch the principals at all.

A Gwyneth Muller/WINGER photo of the NYCB girls getting ready for WESTERN SYMPHONY. Tonight's performance of this cowboy ballet was a lot of fun. Jennifer Tinsley-Williams used her strong technique to dazzle the good-natured Nilas Martins. His casually secure partnering works well here. Adam Hendrickson is very congenially cast as the Rhinestone Cowboy and Kathryn Morgan - making a role debut a week earlier than expected - was really lovely in her solo. They were a persuasive partnership til Katie boureed out of Adam's dream and then he whimsically rode off into the sunset. Soon-to-retire virtuoso Damian Woetzel sparkled yet again in one of his most beloved roles while Teresa Reichlen, her stage presence and facial projection having developed exponentially in the past year, reveled in set of multiple fouettes  and flipped up her skirt like a practiced coquette. Later, while the others were dancing up a storm, Damian lured Tess to the proscenium for a heavy petting session.

Two news items: beloved longtime soloist Tom Gold will bid farewell to the Company with a perfomance of DOUBLE FEATURE on May 22nd. And in the lobby I was intrigued by a video clip of Gonzalo Garcia rehearsing OPUS 19/THE DREAMER with Janie Taylor.

I love going to the ballet with Sarah. We met up with Susan, Evan and Juan. Evan, who was sitting in Row C, reported on the effects of watching Daniel Ulbricht's high-powered leaps at close range.

Comments

[Deborah]

A wonderful review, Philip. Thank you!
I especially love how you focus on what each dancer brings to that particular ballet.

[Evan]

Lovely review! I've seen all three of these ballets close the program, suggesting that they're not only classic Balanchine works, but also crowd-pleasers. I thought that Symphony in Three Movements (one of my favorites) would be a hard act to follow, but then I absolutely loved Western Symphony! It was a very fun way to end the evening.

[Sarah]

and I love going to the ballet with YOU!

A wonderful night, made all the more touching by the importance of the date. Although the night was fantastic, the company is a tiny bit rusty, but I know it's only a matter of days for them to shake off the cobwebs!

I'm looking forward to many MANY nights at NYCB over the next two months!

[Philip]

Rusty? LOL...some of the dancers may also have "over-enjoyed" the previous night's gala party!