New School at Ailey/Nikolaj Hubbe in WATERMILL

Saturday May 3, 2008 - Another day full of dance, starting at 2:00 PM at the Ailey Citicorp Theatre where dancers from the Eugene Lang College of the New School performed works by Karla Wolfangle, Rebecca Stenn, Wally Cardona, Eric Jackson Bradley and Takehiro Ueyama. It was my recent discovery of and interest in Takehiro's company TAKE Dance that tipped me off about today's performance; I wanted to see more of Take's choreography. His piece this afternoon, FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW, was what drew me there.

The works of the two Paul Taylor alumni, Wolfangle and Take, book-ended the afternoon and were the pieces I most enjoyed. In between, Wally Cardona's ALMOST REAL started imaginatively as the twelve dancers appeared somewhat timidly one by one, each with his own pattern of footwork. In the work the dancers seem unable to relate on a social level; they encounter one another but each remains in his own  limited sphere. Clever at first but it went on a little to long. The ten women in Eric Jackson Bradley's PRIVATE FAWN move expansively against an interesting score which starts with a solo guitar in the Spanish style and then veers from natural sounds (footsteps in march-like cadences across gravel or broken rocks; waterfalls) and more lilting themes. Rebecca Stenn also used chose good music (Goldmund) for her black-and-white piece, LEADING ONE SHADOW - THEN THEY TOO, featuring a lone man and a dozen women. Their dancing had an improvisational feeling.

Karla Wolfangle's PETITE SENSATIONS was very attractive; starting with recorded birdsong which later intertwines with solo piano music by Claude Debussy, the women appear in gauzy blouses and loose trousers subtly splashed with paint. A paneled screen, painted in Impressionistic style, stands at the back of the stage; as the dance progresses the women open the panels. Movement flows lyrically and the women sometimes adapt flying motifs or other birdlike gestures. The dancing seemed especially well-integrated to the music and produced a feeling of a peaceful relationship with nature.

Take's FOOTSTEPS IN THE SNOW  really created a unique atmosphere; using the music of Arvo Part created a spiritual feeling. The setting, black background and 'snow' on the stage, was hauntingly lit and the black-and-white clad dancers seemed to respond strongly to Take's musicality and sense of drama. Death and desolation close in at one point and it might have ended there but Take goes on to a more hopeful finish.

The young dancers, some of whom showed individual potency of movement and style, were fine. I would love to single out two or three but I could not manage to put names to faces.

In the evening, New York City Ballet with Wei.

Shortly before his farewell to New York City Ballet, Nikolaj Hubbe announced in an interview that his farewell was not really a farewell since he would actually be appearing at the State Theatre again at the expressed invitation of the Jerome Robbins Foundation in a revival of WATERMILL (photo: Erin Baiano/Paul Kolnik Studio). This ballet, which I'd never seen but about which I have read so much, was on tonight's bill with THE FOUR SEASONS. You can read an extensive note about the creation of WATERMILL at the NYC Ballet website here. The score is by Teiji Ito. In a dreamscape setting, Nikolaj as The Man looks back on his life. The muted sky and the pale moon which glows thru passing phases and three large sheaves of wheat create a memorable stage picture. A group of musicians, including the composer's daughter, are seated in dim light near the proscenium and play the score on traditional Japanese instruments. Nikolaj looks beautiful. Everything about WATERMILL in fact is perfectly integrated and artistically cohesive. But it is much too long.

Aside from a group of bare chested boys who run about the stage in formation and later some girls who wave and pass stalks of wheat, there is very little action. From The Man's memory, Kaitlyn Gilliland and Zachary Catazano appear in a dreamlike sexual encounter and there is also a rape-like scene where a young man (Matthew Renko) is brutally attacked by an evil spirit (Adam Hendrickson in a vivid portrayal). But the long stretches of inaction and meditation eventually wear the viewer down. WATERMILL is an hour long; it could - it seems to me - comfortably express itself in half that time. Several people left during the work, and there was a loud boo during the first curtain call.

During the intermission we retreated to the 4th Ring due to a rather large 'distraction' in our immediate area of the orchestra; that was fine as THE FOUR SEASONS looks good from 'above' and we also had a chance to chat with one of our favorite NYCBers, Laurel.

SEASONS provided a direct contrast to WATERMILL with it's wonderfully melodic Verdi score and colorful costumes. Megan Fairchild was charming in the skating motif and she was outstandingly accompanied by Antionio Carmena and Sean Suozzi and a very pretty group of 'snowflakes' including Erica Pereira and Katie Morgan. Sara Mearns danced with velvety smoothness in Spring and I was very impressed with Jared Angle's amiable partnering and very fine solo dancing. The quartet of bouncing boys were fun as always. Rebecca Krohn replaced Rachel Rutherford in Summer and she continues to impress me both with her dancing and presence; Tyler Angle seemed to me not to have quite gotten into this role yet (it was only his second opportunity) but he & Rebecca look well together.

Finally, in Fall, Ashley Bouder, Benjamin Millepied and Daniel Ulbricht blew the roof off the place as they pulled out all the stops and delivered wave after wave of turns, leaps, balances (Ashley at her most playful) and fancy footwork. The dynamic trio incited a chorus of cheers from the audience (even though many of them - unfortunately - seemed to have left after WATERMILL).

WATERMILL tired me out a little and I wasn't too focused on corps-watching tonight although Katie Bergstrom, Maya Collins and Dara Johnson all look particularly nice in their SEASONS costumes; I was sorry not to see  Pauline Golbin but Georgina Pazcoguin who stepped in for her was - as usual - emitting a lot of starlight from the ranks of the corps. Matt Murphy snapped Gina and Erin Baiano (nice tattoo!) at the NYCB opening night gala...and he wrote about it here.

Comments

[Deborah]

I was there last night too. I've seen Watermill several times, including the 1990 revival with Eddie Villella (who was in his 50's and still looked great), and then in 1991 when Bart Cook took over the roll. Although this ballet has grown on me -- partly because it's done so infrequently -- I agree that it could be significantly shorter. That said, the young dancers were superb, and Nikolaj
handled the non-movement of the ballet well. Plus it was a treat just to be able look at that truly handsome man! I also find find the music to be both hypnotic and lovely.

[Philip]

I think Robbins sabotaged his own work by drawing it out in such a prolonged way; it has all the elements of a masterpiece but like many masterpieces you can only look at it for so long. And the music has a lulling effect as well which doesn't make it any easier to stay awake.

[Sandi]

I was hoping you would post on Watermill. I saw it on Friday night and at first was enchanted, but soon grew impatient, despite my best efforts to be carried away by the piece. Also the high pitched whistle was nearly unbearable for me. I was tempted to plug my ears. I found the rest of the music to be quite lovely, and the cast was wonderfully commited to their roles, but it really went on so long that I was also tempted to leave. So glad I didn't though! I thouroughly enjoyed my first viewing of the Four Seasons- espeically Ashley and Danny in "Fall". Talk about contrasting pieces!! Wow.

[Philip]

Hi Sandi, that whistle as pretty excruciating but as you say the rest of the musical score was impressive. I'm finding that visions of WATERMILL have stayed with me since seeing it. I wonder why Robbins felt the need to prolong the ballet to the point where he began to alienate viewers?

[Bob]

I think that Robbins sometimes became so carried away with his artistic vision (in the case of Watermill, a vision apparently resulting in part from a drug-related experience) that he ceased to care about how it affected his viewers. Defenders of WATERMILL can philosophize all they want about what it means or doesn't mean, but in the end, I still find the piece (I refuse to call it a ballet because I still believe that a ballet should have at least some "dancing" in it) to be interminable and (beyond the first 15 minutes) unwatchable.

[Sandi]

I feel like Robbins was otherwise so "theatre-wise" that it's hard for me to believe that he could not sense the audience's alienation. Perhaps he wanted this to be the effect? Interesting Bob, that you say it resulted in part from a drug related experience. That does not surprise me. I also felt it was much more performance art than "Ballet" and would have perhaps reacted differently if I had been expecting that or had not bought a ticket to the NYC BALLET. ;-)

[Philip]

It was certainly one of the very few times I ever felt that I was about to doze off while watching my favorite dancers!

[monica]

I just want to speak up that I thought Watermill was mesmerizing! I only remembered later that it has the reputation for being too long, but that isn't how I experienced it myself. I think the music and sounds especially drew me in. That high-pitched sound (which didn't bother my usually sensitive ears) reminded me of summer insects. Reading Eddie Villella's account of the ballet in his autobiography was very interesting, and from what he says, Robbins and he both were shocked by the amount of disapproval. I'm on the side of being entranced by the piece!

[Philip]

It's good that the work has admirers; our friend Laurel is also a big fan of WATERMILL.

[Sarah]

I finally wrote my review of Watermill here: http://allwillknow.blogspot.com/2008/05/nyc-ballet-and-jerome-robbins.html

I was sort of in the middle of the road about it, but my mother really enjoyed it. To each their own, right?!?!?