Monday May 7, 2012 - The second annual Dance Against Cancer benefit gala - organized by Erin Fogarty and Daniel Ulbricht - took place this evening at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. A brilliant line-up of dancers appeared, dancing in support of this very worthy cause. Earlier in the day, photographer Matthew Murphy and I had the pleasing experience of watching part of the dress/tech rehearsal. Matt's images appear here.
I hardly know where to begin in describing this evening which was not only a thrilling dance experience but also a moving and deeply personal evening for so many of the participants and for those of us fortunate enough to be present.
Cancer touches every life. My mom died of stomach cancer in 1998 - ironically, it went undiagnosed until she was on her deathbed. In 2002 I lost my beautiful young friend, the Japanese contralto Makiko Narumi, to a very rare form cancer that ran rampant thru her body over a very short period of time. She was 33.
In a film presented at the start of this evening's gala, several of the dancers involved told their stories of loved ones lost to this disease; then in an uplifting and touchingly personal speech, the director of the New York chapter of the American Cancer Society spoke of the progress being made in the search for a cure. Between despair and hope, that's where cancer leaves us.
As someone who has the great good fortune to watch dance on a daily basis (all the while wishing I was doing instead of viewing) I have to say that this evening was an imcomparable experience. When it comes to dancers, my heart is ever on my sleeve. Meeting some of them afterward, my social ineptitude as always kept me from expressing myself as I truly wanted to; yet they were all so gracious, which I truly appreciate.
Seeing dance at close range is a revelatory experience in every way, and my first revelation came at the start of the evening when New York City Ballet's Teresa Reichlen and Craig Hall danced a duet from Christopher Wheeldon's DANSE A GRANDE VITESSE. I must say, I never really got this ballet until tonight. I had recently asked a choreographer-friend "What's so great about DGV?" and he replied that he felt it was kind of a textbook on contemporary ballet partnering. Watching Tess and Craig in all their charismatic glory, I realized that I need to see DGV again, and to watch it from a different perspective.
Two young choreographers were given the enviable opportunity of presenting their work on this stellar platform and they both stepped right up to the plate and hit home runs. A sexy, lively romantic triangle entitled LEAVE-TAKING was choreographed by Jason Ambrose and danced by him along with Michaela DePrince and Skyler Maxey-West to a Max Richter score. A self-choreographed solo excerpt to Bach (ALLEMANDE) was danced by the handsome Joshua Beamish, celebrating his birthday is high style. In between these two new works, a youthful performance of Embraceable You from Balanchine's WHO CARES? showed off the fetchingly fresh and lovely Lauren Lovette and also raised the question of why Daniel Ulbricht - dancing with modest charm and deflecting all the glory to his very pretty partner - hasn't been cast in this ballet (and several others) at NYCB? He's a natural.
ABT's Herman Cornejo choreographed a lyrical duet for himself and Carrie Walsh; entitled TWO SUNSETS, the work showed off their lovely partnership. Ms. Walsh is new to me, and a real beauty. Herman is such an extraordinary dancer and I am so looking forward to his Solor in BAYADERE at ABT this coming season.
In TALK, a mesmerizing solo danced to the incomparable voice of Roberta Flack, Clifton Brown's peerlessly expressive face and hands were captivating to watch. In the past couple of years I've had the chance to see Clifton dancing in both studio and big-stage settings; his work is always heart-rendingly personal and emotionally generous in addition to being impeccably danced.
In an unexpected programming change, Tyler Angle unveiled his Balanchine Apollo for the first time in Gotham, replacing an injured Robert Fairchild. Tyler has danced Apollo with Tom Gold's troupe on tour and there is a perfectly magnificent portfolio of photos of Tyler as the young god here. Yet gorgeous as those images are, seeing Tyler's Apollo onstage was a revelation. Tiler Peck was a perfect Terpsichore tonight and watching these two dancers who I have seen since their very first appearances onstage at NYCB was such a vastly pleasing and satisfying experience: they have both developed from frisky youngsters into marvelously assured and poetic dancers of the first caliber. And so this APOLLO excerpt simply knocked several NYCB devotees in the audience for a major loop. Now we have to see Tiler and Tyler together in the whole ballet.
At the dress/tech rehearsal I was so excited to see Matt Murphy's reaction to the great Martha Graham dancer Katherine Crockett. "She's a goddess," I told Matt as we waited for the lights to be set for her LAMENTATION VARIATION solo which was choreographed in an homage to Graham by Richard Move. As Katherine commenced to dance, Matt's jaw dropped - I knew he was going to love her - and he raced around the space to shoot her from every possible angle as she moved with unearthly control along a pathway of light. She ran the solo four times in the afternoon and then left the audience gasping after her glorious performance at the gala. It's rare to experience divinity in an up-close-and-personal setting. Once again I felt my great good fortune in witnessing such artistry and commitment as Ms. Crockett brings to her work.
The gala was now at a plateau of sheer splendor; I was experiencing palpitations, and sitting near me my friends Deborah and Alejandro were on the edge of their seats as Maria Kowroski and Amar Ramasar raced onto the stage and swept into that iconically angular pose that marks the start of Balanchine's immortal AGON pas de deux. I can hardly describe to you the experience of watching Maria and Amar who were often so close to me I could have reached out and touched them. It is enough to say that I think Mr B was sending them his personal blessing because their performance was breath-taking. I've seen them onstage dozens of times but I still can't get over how perfect they are. To watch them - both as dancers and as personalities - is just such a thrilling experience; words become pointless at times like this. You can only savor the moment, and the memory.
Having seen some of today's greatest Balanchine dancers tonight, there remained another gift from Mr B to be given to us in the person of Taylor Stanley who danced the solo from SQUARE DANCE with perfect poise and a beautifully centered emotional quality. At the rehearsal, the inimitable Deborah Wingert had suggested to Taylor a couple of very small technical nuances that made an already-great performance even greater. In the evening, he was truly hypnotic.
As all this emotion filled us to the bursting point, it was well to take a bit of a break as four young dancers from NYCB - Lauren Lovette, Ashly Isaacs, Anthony Huxley and Lars Nelson - joined Daniel Ulbricht in a romping segment from Peter Martins' A FOOL FOR YOU. Set to Ray Charles singing Mess Around, the piece provided a showcase for Daniel's matchless leaps and pirouettes which the audience devoured gleefully. Really nice to see Anthony Huxley again, after being too-long away. Lauren Lovette already has a fan club whether she knows it or not, and Ashly and Lars are among the bright young lights in the NYCB corps.
Matthew Rushing brought the evening to a close in a performance of Alvin Ailey's solo setting of Ray Charles singing Song for You. I can only tell you it was perfect and that people in the audience burst into tears watching Matthew dance. After the show, perfect strangers walked up to Matthew and embraced him, hoping perhaps that some of his grace and beauty might rub off. A great artist and a truly humble man.