Beautiful Dreamers: Wendy & Gonzalo

Saturday evening May 17, 2008 - I was expecting to see Janie Taylor's debut in OPUS 19/THE DREAMER tonight but when Rob & I arrived we found the notice in the Playbill saying that Wendy Whelan would be dancing. I was disheartened at first but the performance turned out to be one of the most memorable of this ballet I've ever seen. Backed by a superb corps, Wendy and Gonzalo drew us in to the nocturnal world that Prokofiev and Robbins have created. Gonzalo has his ideal role with The Dreamer; he captures the restless longing of the man who seems to be seeking his ideal in a timeless dreamscape of wafting, elusive figures. Last week he had seemed just about perfect but tonight both Rob and I felt that he was even more poetic in his expression and that his dancing had a tremendous sense of flowing elegance.

Wendy seemed to be sensing from her first entrance that a powerful performance was in the making and she gave the finest performance of this role out of the dozen or so  that I've seen from her. The more explosively accented gestures were delivered with perfect clarity. In the hypnotic, floated passages Wendy reveled in her smooth legato and she sensed the music's pristine quality (enhanced by the solo violinist Erin Keefe) with impeccably sustained phrasing thru the arms and hands. Wendy and Gonzalo basked in the audience's great enthusiasm and they came before the curtain three times.

ANDANTINO was a very attractive curtain-raiser and danced with creamy smoothness by Megan Fairchild and Joaquin de Luz. They surpassed their performance of last week both in the calibre of their individual dancing and in their response to the music. 

I really wanted to see LES NOCES again but I need to be up and out the door rather early on Sunday for the AIDS Walk. Not being as young as I once was, I felt it would be prudent to go home for some extra sleep and so I left Wendy and Gonzalo dreaming, their heads resting on one another's open palms. It's such a beautiful, calming image.

Comments

[Sarah]

I finally posted my review of this program (including the stuff you missed pre-AIDS walk) and a review of Double Feature which I actually wound up going to on Sunday afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed!http://allwillknow.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-york-city-ballet-review-robbins.html

[Philip]

I'll be there on Friday and also Saturday and Sunday matinees...fingers crossed for JT...

[Bob]

Sarah, I have seen Double Feature several times now and the amazing thing is that I find myself enjoying it more and more every time I see it. The performances on Sunday were exceptionally good, especially the star turns of Damian, Ashley and Tom. What Susan Stroman has created here is quite remarkable and it does pull in a new audience that might not be ready for some of the more traditional ballets in the repertory. I know that Stroman is very much in demand on Broadway and has many other commitments, but the company really should try to persuade her to do another piece for them. I had heard a rumor a while back that she might be choreographing a new ballet to the music of Cole Porter for NYCB but nothing seems to have come of that.

[Philip]

Cole Porter is such a brilliant songwriter...I'd go just for the songs!