Oberon's Grove: Nikolaj Hubbe's Gala at NYC Ballet

Sunday February 10, 2008 - Do you think being born in a country that has a king has anything to do with it? Over the decades I have seen many noble, princely dancers but Nikolaj Hubbe has that intangible spirit of regal bearing that sets him slightly apart from all the other City Ballet men. Wei pointed it out during the last run SLEEPING BEAUTY: all of the various princes looked handsome, carried themselves with dignity and danced wonderfully but Nikolaj had that last little iota of poise that says "I am a Prince!"

This afternoon the packed house at the New York State Theatre bid a warm and vociferous farewell to this Prince of the Dance. Farewells are always moving, but this one seemed especially significant to me in that it meant we are losing someone who is virtually irreplaceable. It wasn't an afternoon steeped in sadness because we know where Nikolaj is headed and that he is still going to be a vital force in the dance world. But there was a wistful feeling of knowing that we're unlikely to see anyone with Nikolaj's particular gifts on the New York ballet stages at any time in the future.

Apollo is a key role Hubbe's career at New York City Ballet and he danced it today with utter security and perfect expression. The superb APOLLO photographs of Nikolaj here (all from Roy Round's great book ROUND ABOUT THE BALLET) will give us something to recall of his portrayal of the young god. Sometimes at galas, dancers are so keyed up by the emotions of the event that they dance on sort of by rote to avoid letting their feelings get the best of them. This was not the case with APOLLO today and I might say that it was the best performance of this ballet I've ever seen. Not only is Nikolaj a really godlike and still youthful Apollo but his three muses were all sensational and danced with remarkable grace and poetic lyricism. I'd rank this as one of Ashley Bouder's greatest performances to date in that she found an ideal balance between the serious and playful aspects of the role while dancing with astounding strength and musicality. It's high time Rachel Rutherford was made a principal; she dances principal roles beautifully, is wonderfully fluent in all aspects of the repertoire, and she has that intangible prima 'look'. She was great today and looked super later on when she appeared to present flowers to Nikolaj.

Wendy Whelan's achieved the seemingly impossible today by surpassing her own high standards in this ballet; I've seen her dance it a dozen times but she was so technically luxuriant and arrestingly musical today that she went beyond seventh heaven into some unexplored realm of the stratosphere. She and Nikolaj have been great friends as well as colleagues and she has often referred to him as her brother. There was a lovely moment in APOLLO when, seated on Nik's knees, Wendy flashed him this undiluted grin of sheer joy. They went on to dance the adagio as only gods and goddesses can dance.

Faycal Karoui and the NYC Ballet orchestra contributed hugely to the magnificence of APOLLO today - one of Stravinsky's most inspired scores. APOLLO won a thunderous ovation; Nik had to take three solo bows and also came out with the girls several times while the audience screamed itself into a state of dementia. Finally, as Ashley and Rachel rushed off, Nik spontaneously grabbed Wendy and the house exploded yet again.

Nikolaj staged the Bournonville FLOWER FESTIVAL Pas de Deux for the gala which was danced with youthful vivacity by Kathryn Morgan and David Prottas. This should be kept in the active rep. Katie is one of those 'floating' dancers; she and David enjoyed a warm response from the audience.

ZAKOUSKI featured two couples today: Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette danced the opening duet very nicely and then Nikolaj and Yvonne Borree took over, longtime partners having a final jaunt. The curtain calls after this produced the afternoon's most moving scene as they exchanged deep formal bows signifying their mutual love and respect. Then Nikolaj took Yvonne in his arms and attempted to kiss away her tears.

And what is this picture of Helene Alexopoulos doing here, you may well ask. Because Helene turned the second intermission into a major feature of my afternoon. When I first saw her dancing, I thought Helene was the most beautiful woman in New York City. Nothing has happened over the years to change that opinion. While I was chatting with Tonya and Sarah during the intermission, Sarah noted that Helene was standing behind us. Refusing to let this opportunity slip by, I wished Helene a Happy Valentine's Day and met her daughter who has inherited all her mother's gorgeousness and then some.

COOL from WEST SIDE STORY was an audience pleaser though I would say Nik hadn't fully recovered his voice which was in such raspy condition at the Monday interview...either that or he was choking on his emotions. He looked like a teenager as he bounded out for his curtain calls in jeans and a tee-shirt.

Abi, Nilas, Sterling & Albert retained their familiar roles in WESTERN SYMPHONY and the Nikolaj and a very lively Maria Kowroski polished off the afternoon on joyous form - I've seen Maria dance this role superbly many times but she seemed to be giving it some extra pizazz today. Nik was a restless wrangler and the whole Company whirled into the finale with gusto.

And then the celebration began. A procession of ballerinas, each bearing a bouquet, greeted Nikolaj: Abi, Sterling, Maria K, Ashley Bouder (great frock, Ash!), Rachel, Megan, Yvonne, Wendy, Kyra (!) and Darci. There were prolonged embraces, tears and laughs. Then all the principal men came on, applauding Nikolaj as Peter presented him with red roses. Nik tried to draw Yvonne forward but she stepped back and left him bowing solo. Massive rain of rose petals & confetti and a barrage of tossed flowers. After several calls with the stage filled with dancers, the curtain finally rose on Nikolaj alone and he swept a gracious bow to each side of the house. Photo by Sarah, who has written about the gala here. And Tonya has covered it here with more photos.

Nikolaj ( Andrea Mohin/NY TIMES photo) revealed in an interview last week that he will be back in New York City this Spring to dance in a revival of WATERMILL at the expressed request of the Jerome Robbins Foundation. So the ovations, flowers and mass love he received today are not quite the last we shall see of him.

Some photos of Nikolaj: rehearsing with Wendy (photo by Kyle Froman); in SONNAMBULA (Roy Round); RUBIES at a gala with Paloma Herrera (Gene Schiavone) and with Alexandra Ansanelli and Ashley Laracey in EROS PIANO (Kolnik). "Goodnight, sweet prince"...for now.

Comments

What a tear jerker!

I was crying from the beginning of Apollo til the end of the curtain call with only intermission breaks. They should have handed out tissues at the start of the program.

I took some "illegal" pictures and posted them along with a review of my own...

http://allwillknow.blogspot.com

Great to see you and Wei!

Posted by: Sarah | February 10, 2008 at 11:07 PM

What an emotional afternoon - I could have used some of those tissues that Sarah referred to. It turned out to be one of the most memorable of City Ballet farewells. There were too many high points to mention them all but if one were going to put together a highlight film, one would have to include the brilliance of Nikolaj in Apollo, matched by his three muses, the absolutely delicious Flower Festival in Genzano pas de deux performed by Katie Morgan and David Prottas (yes, by all means keep it in the repertory), the exceptional chemistry between Nikolaj and Yvonne in Zakouskie, the fireworks set off on stage by a sexy Maria and ebullient Nikolaj in Western Symphony, and perhaps most memorable of all, the emotional farewells on stage at the end between Nikolaj and his principal ballerinas, in particular Yvonne Borree, whose tears and hugs and kisses told it all.

Posted by: Bob | February 11, 2008 at 12:02 AM

I agree that this was not only one of the most emotional performances I've ever attended at NYCB but also there was a heck of a lot of SPECTACULAR dancing. That APOLLO set a standard that is going to take a miracle to surpass.

Posted by: philip | February 11, 2008 at 12:12 AM