Thursday May 19, 2011 -Tonight at New York City Ballet a second all-new cast for Peter Martins' FEARFUL SYMMETRIES opened the evening which further offered a dreamy pair of Debussy/Robbins works and ended with Maria Kowroski in a light-hearted mood for THE CONCERT.
FEARFUL SYMMETRIES: *Hyltin, *Finlay, *T. Peck, *Stanley, *King, *Peiffer, *Ippolito, *Schumacher, *Villalobos
AFTERNOON OF A FAUN: Taylor, Hall
ANTIQUE EPIGRAPHS: Mearns, Rutherford, Lowery, Reichlen
THE CONCERT: Kowroski, *Tworzyanski, *Pollack, Laracey, Pazcoguin, Veyette, Muller, Laurent, Peiffer, J. Peck
The rhythmic vitality and the vivid instrumental colours of the John Adams score for FEARFUL SYMMETRIES propel the dancers thru the non-stop swirls of motion. There are moments when the Martins choreography seems repetitive but overall this energetic ballet is exciting. How impressive that the Company could offer two such strong casts in a single ballet in a single week. Tonight we had excellent dancing from Tiler Peck and Sterling Hyltin, partnered by two ascendent young men from the corps de ballet: Chase Finlay and Taylor Stanley. As the allegro couple, Lauren King and Allen Peiffer danced with flair despite one small partnering gaffe. Troy Schumacher, Giovanni Villalobos and Ralph Ippolito made the most of their swift combinations. The demi-soliste couples and female corps of six added to the visual textures of the piece, mirroring the music with propulsive energy.
Above: Claude Debussy. Nothing could have provided a better contrast to the relentless Adams score than the two Debussy masterpieces in which conductor Faycal Karoui is so wonderfully at home. The score of FAUN exudes a sensuous perfume and that of EPIGRAPHS conjures up ancient rites of sisterhood in some distant Grecian landscape.
In AFTERNOON OF A FAUN, Craig Hall and Janie Taylor generated a haunting atmosphere of innocence and awakening sexuality as they moved with narcissitic grace thru this slow duet in which two dancers meet in an airy studio and find themselves as much intrigued by one another as by their own reflections. With hypnotic beauty the two dancers cast a spell over the silent House in this fascinating performance.
In ANTIQUE EPIGRAPHS four priestesses and four novices meet near some long-forgotten temple to dance their quiet rituals in celebration of nature and of their feminine community. Savannah Lowery's impeccable phrasing made her opening solo so purely pleasing to behold. In deep blue, Rachel Rutherford and two of the younger sisters dance a lyrical trio; it was sad to think that this might be the last time I will see Rachel dancing, especially since she is on such fine form. Tall and serene, Teresa Reichlen dances with the four acolytes, and then Sara Mearns with her lush style brings a touch of the sensual to her solo. Far from being in the 'also-danced' category, Gwyneth Muller, Amanda Hankes, Gretchen Smith and Marika Anderson used their individual beauty and expressiveness to add greatly to the atmosphere of this unusual and poetic work.
I sometimes sneak out early when THE CONCERT is the closing ballet but I wanted to see Maria Kowroski tonight in one of her signature roles; when you think of Kowroski's range and the way her signature is on so many ballets in the repertoire - from Siren to Swan Queen, from Girl in Green to the Angel in SERENADE - it's a clear tribute to her versatility and to the many facets of her personality that she can seem so perfect in so many different ways. Tonight, letting her hair down (literally), Maria was a grand-scale comedienne at the center of this Chopin/Robbins charade. Her comic skills were matched by Andrew Veyette and Gwyneth Muller with their excellent timing and amusing expressions. Georgina Pazcoguin and Austin Laurent were among the many cameo appearances in this ballet, and pianist Nancy McDill strove to keep her recital on track despite her unruly audience.
NYC Ballet production photos by Paul Kolnik.