Oberon's Grove

Charles Askegard's Farewell @ NYC Ballet

Sunday October 9, 2011 - Charles Askegard (photo: Rosier) gave his farewell performance at New York City Ballet this afternoon. A dancer renowned for both his magnificent partnering and elegant style, Charles's departure leaves a place in the New York dance scene that will be difficult to fill. But for now at least we need only to say "A bientot" and not "Au revoir": Charles will continue as a force in the dance world as he and former ABT principal ballerina Michele Wiles team up to create Ballet Next, due to debut at The Joyce on November 21st.

Above: Charles Askegard guesting in NUTCRACKER with Maria Kowroski, photo by Chris Clark. The Kowroski/Askegard partnership has been an ongoing joy for NYCB-goers over the past several seasons. This afternoon they danced together in the DIAMONDS pas de deux and in the final movement of Balanchine's EPISODES.

Farewells tend to evoke memories, and I have so many from Chuck's performances which have always remain clearly in my mental scrapbook. One notable Kowroski/Askegard triumph that I'd always hoped to see again was Helgi Tomasson's PRISM (Paul Kolnik photo above). Wendy Whelan has been partnered by superb cavaliers in her many luminous renderings of the SYMPHONY IN C adagio, but there was one special night when Balanchine, Bizet and Terpsichore all smiled in unison on the Whelan/Askegard partnership. Of the zillion or so Sugar Plum pas de deux I've seen, a performance with the rare pairing of Charles with Abi Stafford stands out as a testament to the art of ballet partnering.

During his NYCB career the many moods of the Balanchine repertoire were celebrated in Chuck's performances in STARS & STRIPES, SERENADE, FIREBIRD, FOUR TEMPERAMENTS, CORTEGE HONGROIS and LIEBESLIEDER WALTZES...

...and he was unforgettable in ROBERT SCHUMANN'S DAVIDSBUNDLERTANZE, above with Kyra Nichols.

Charles's Balanchine choices for today's gala gave us Maria Kowroski first in a tutu (DIAMONDS) and then in a leotard (EPISODES); she and Charles danced as one and the high emotional temperature of the occasion was marked by shared smiles between the dancers. Though it seemed to me that Maria was on the verge of tears, she danced radiantly in what must have been a bittersweet performance for her. They have always looked sensational together and the audience saluted their partnership with sustained applause as Maria swept into a deep curtsey to her cavalier.

Three other excellent partnerships made EPISODES very impressive to watch today. Abi Stafford with Tyler Angle, and Teresa Reichlen with Ask LaCour have danced this ballet earlier in the season and they were all looking super this afternoon, An exciting match-up of Jennie Somogyi with Sebastien Marcovici gave a fresh slant to Concerto.

In an uncharacteristic exploration of the dark side, Charles has had a revelatory success in Robbins' IN MEMORY OF... (Kolnik photo, above) which he chose to be part of his farewell programme today; I've seen him in this ballet with Darci Kistler, Kyra Nichols and Wendy Whelan and he is just spectacular in it. (Jerome Robbins personally coached Askegard in the role).

Charles Askegard & Wendy Whelan in IN MEMORY OF... Photo by Paul Kolnik.

Today Wendy was extrordinary both in her dancing and her richly detailed characterization of a young woman stalked by Death. Wendy fights a tremendous battle with Death but in the end she cannot withstand his brutal assault. She later appears -gorgeously - as an ethereal spirit. Jared Angle is passionate and tender as her mortal lover. Charles Askegard as the Death figure gave a sinister, relentless performance, developing a hot-wired intensity in his long duet with his victim. The corps are first seen as villagers and then as angels. They danced beautifully, the girls so pretty in their muted pastel dresses.

As the dancers were bowing I wondered who will succeed to this role on which Charles has put an indelible stamp. I must mention also Kurt Nikkanen's excellent playing of the Berg concerto with Andrews Sill on the podium.

The gala ended with WESTERN SYMPHONY, Balanchine's cowboy ballet (Kolnik photo, above). This has been a classic Askegard role for several seasons and he danced it today - opposite a sexy and provocative Sara Mearns - with a mixture of laid-back charm and easy bravura. The cast also featured outstanding performances from a vivacious Rebecca Krohn with Jon Stafford (on a whirl with his patented air turns), and Adam Hendrickson's handsome daydreaming cowpoke with Megan Fairchild as his pretty, witty Muse. They danced brilliantly.

Then the big royal send-off for Mr. Askegard commenced as a parade of ballerinas each exchanged large bouquets for a hug and kiss from the well-beloved cavalier. The Company's male principals all swarmed on together and enveloped Charles in a congratulatory huddle. As the curtain rose and fell several times, Chuck tried in vain to get his ballerinas to come forward and bow with him. But for once the peerless partner was left on his own to face the music: a standing ovation and waves of affection sweeping across the footlights.

360° Dance Company @ Dance Theater Workshop

Saturday June 4, 2011 matinee - Above, Yi-Chun Wu's photo from Que Color Tiene El Amor?, a passionate duet created by Ricardo Flores and performed by 360° Dance Company in their programme at Dance Theater Workshop. En route to this matinee performance I ran into Josiah Guitian who I'd just seen at his Rioult rehearsal earlier in the week. Josiah was also heading to DTW since a friend of his was among the 360°dancers.

The duet Que Color Tiene El Amor? was one of the highlights of the afternoon, thanks to the dancers Danelle Morgan and Martin Lofsnes who were photographed by Kokyat in an earlier rehearsal (above). Their physical beauty and intensity created a sensual atmosphere of the complex mysteries of romantic relationships.

The most provocative aspects of today's performance - in addition to the Flores duet - were three very dissimilar solos. The first, a sexy come-on with a tongue-in-cheek wittiness about is was Spike Heel, danced by Hana Ginsberg. Martin Lofsnes danced Time Is Money, created by Jane Dudley in 1934 and set to a spoken poem. Kokyat and I watched Martin preparing for this powerful solo last week. His physicality and the suppleness of his movement were vastly pleasing to watch. Likewise, dancer Alessandra Prosperi gave an impressive and very satisfying performance of another Jane Dudley solo, Cante Flamenco (1946).

Photo of Jane Dudley, above. Read about her here.

Of the three larger-scaled works, the most satisfying was SAND. Danced by six young women who had participated in the Company's repertory workshop, SAND moved well and had the benefit of fine music by Arvo Part. The young dancers did very well.

In WHAT WAS STILL IS (a premiere) a powerful performance by Jerome Stigler kept the work in focus despite its being a bit too long; the dancing both here and in Ms. Prosperi's concluding SATSANG was uniformly powerful - the dancers are beautiful with strong personalities - but both works need editing. WHAT WAS STILL IS was the better-structured of the two; in SATSANG a rather pop-oriented score did not persuasively underline the choreographer's ideas, some of which were quite attractive.

Que Color Tiene El Amor?, the three solos, and the setting of Part in SAND best held the imagination. and the dancers, especially Ms. Morgan and Mssers. Lofsnes and Stigler, were so pleasing throughout.