Tuesday January 24, 2012 - Three works by Jerome Robbins, each featuring an ideal ballerina in its central role, were performed tonight at New York City Ballet. The music? Ravel, Berg, Chopin. What a great way to spend a cold Winter's evening! In the Paul Kolnik photo at the top, Wendy Whelan borne aloft by Jared Angle and Ask LaCour at the end of IN MEMORY OF...
The evening opened on a beach where the dancers, in pastel 1920s beachwear, cavorted to the Ravel piano concerto IN G MAJOR. Maria Kowroski (above in a Paul Kolnik) gave a radiant performance and Tyler Angle was a frisky young god in his solo. In the ballet's central adagio, the two dancers found a fine rapport and a sense of freshness that kept the audience spellbound as they shaped their long limbs into a series of beautiful snapshots. The final lift, as Maria's leg sweeps heavenward and her pointed foot seems to brush the sky, was thrilling. Excellent corps dancing: a neat moment when Maria is partnered by the tall and slender Austin Laurent made me wish that principals and corpsmen could dance together more extensively. IN G MAJOR has a striking backdrop by Erté, a designer perhaps forgotten nowadays but whose work resonates with Art Deco elegance. His set features a fanciful sunburst and dark outlines suggesting clouds and waves: a remarkably classy beachscape.
With George Manahan (of New York City Opera) as a guest conductor bringing out some lovely nuances in the score and pianist Susan Walters giving a polished performance at the keyboard, the musicians and dancers conspired to make this a wonderfully gratifying performance in every regard.
Mr. Manahan also took up the baton for IN MEMORY OF..., the poignantly dramatic work that Robbins set to the violin concerto of Alban Berg. The composer crafted this, his only concerto for solo instrument, in reaction to the death from polio of Manon Gropius (daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius) at the age of 22. Berg was deeply shaken by the girl's demise and wrote "To the Memory of an Angel" on the score's title-page. Tonight the City Ballet's concertmaster Kurt Nikkanen gave the work a lustrous performance.
Robbins sets the ballet in a three-part narrative where we first see the young woman dancing with her beau, later joined by friends. Signs of the girl's illness begin to manifest and as the corps stride in unison across the stage, the figure of Death appears.
In a long and intense pas de deux, Death stalks the girl (Ask LaCour and Wendy Whelan, above). She puts up a mighty struggle but in the end she is bested by his implacable strength. Her crumpled body is borne away as the stage fills with the corps, now white-clad angels, who eventually welcome the young woman to the celestial realm.
Of the many and varied roles in Wendy Whelan's repertory, the central character in Robbins' dramatic IN MEMORY OF... suits her most particularly well. Here she is able to convey the girl's passionate love of life, her confused state as Death begins to attack her, her frantic attempts to stave off the inevitable, and her luminous vulnerability as she succumbs. In the ballet's final moments, Wendy re-appears, now in virginal white with her hair down, moving among the spirits. Every element of technique, dramatic instinct and expression that Wendy embodies are filtered into this character and her performance is a complete marvel in every sense.
Ask LaCour, towering over the ballerina, brings an interesting sense of nobility to the Death figure. As he gains control over the girl's soul, Ask uses his long arms and expressive hands to keep her in his thrall even as she tries to escape. An excellent portrait. Jared Angle was handsome and gently ardent as Wendy's mortal lover, and I was especially happy to see Faye Arthurs back onstage - after a long hiatus - dancing with the very attractive corps ensemble.
Sterling Hyltin talks about her role in THE CONCERT here.
No performance at the ballet or opera these days can ever be free of audience distractions. I had such a nice seat for the evening but on returning from the intermission two idiot girls sitting a couple of seats away had brought in snacks and a bottle of water which they decided to enjoy during IN MEMORY OF... they were just far enough away so that shushing them was to no avail.
I therefore decided to move for the closing ballet; but having heard that the ushers now don't allow people to move to another part of the house (even if you've paid $100 and want to sit in an unused $29 seat), I decided to try watching THE CONCERT on the screen on the Promende. This did not work out too well, but at least got to watch Sterling and Joaquin de Luz for a while.
The saddest aspect of the evening was seeing the vast emptiness of the 4th Ring which was open but occupied by only 2 or 3 spectators. I'm simply at a loss to comprehend what the administration is doing to my favorite dance company. It's disheartening and alienating. They can spin it however they want, but empty seats are empty seats. It's especially depressing because the Company are dancing so well.
