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PETER MARTINS’ NEW "MIRAGE"

 

 

Photos by Paul Kolnik. Top: Robert Fairchild and Kathryn Morgan under Santiago Calatrava’s magnificent set; bottom: Erica Pereira and Anthony Huxley.

Earlier this week NYCB put on its last premiere of the season, artistic director Peter Martins’s Mirage. The ballet is set to music by Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, which was commissioned especially for this ballet, as was another set by architect Santiago Calatrava. Before the performance Mr. Martins and Mr. Salonen were awarded Letters of Distinction from the American Music Center for this ballet.

To be honest, I was kind of preoccupied with something and will need to see the ballet again to focus my attention more fully, but at first glimpse I found the music to be rich (Salonen actually conducted the orchestra for this ballet only)- particularly the violin parts (the violin soloist, Leila Josefowicz took a bow with the dancers at the end and received huge, well-deserved applause) and the Calatrava set to be awesome. Choreographically, I was particularly struck with an image that kept recurring where a man partnering a woman would hold her out to his side, and she’d begin facing the audience with her back leg up in arabesque, her arms outstretched like a plane, then would slowly rotate underneath her partner’s arm and end up facing the ceiling. The theme seemed to be aviation, flight, birds maybe, and I found that particular movement pattern to be original and compelling, and, judging by the “ooohs!” in the audience whenever it happened, I’m thinking I’m not alone.

There were three main pairs: Robert Fairchild (filling in for an injured Chase Finlay) and Kathryn Morgan, Jennie Somogyi and Jared Angle, and Erica Pereira and Anthony Huxley, and an ensemble. Everyone danced really well. I’m always particularly struck by Robert Fairchild and his brilliant, full-out lines.

The set, though, kind of stole the show in my opinion. It began as a bird-like structure with outstretched wings at the back of the stage behind the dancers. Throughout the ballet it slowly changed form, rising and moving above them, then lowering its “wings” until it resembled a crab’s claw, then closing into a circle, then opening back up again and rotating so that now its front piece, resembling a beak, looked out at the audience, as if the giant bird was preparing to fly out at us. I found myself entranced by that huge, ever-changing structure. And its movement seemed to coordinate well with the music, which was at times eerie, at times more mellifluous, and then would soar into a climax. I’m just not as sure that the choreography was as accordant, and that’s why I need to see this ballet again.

Also on the program were Balanchine’s moving Prodigal Son, starring Joaquin De Luz as the prodigal and Maria Kowroski as the siren, and the fun and flashy Western Symphony in which Rebecca Krohn, Craig Hall, Robert Fairchild, and Sara Mearns stood out. Such a fun ballet with those crazy cowboys and saloon girls, and the Tombstone-like set made me homesick for Arizona. I had to make myself Mexican food for a late-night snack.

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SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE SEASON 7, WEEK 2

What were the judges on this week? I feel like they were playing the devil’s advocate or something; I completely disagreed with practically every pronouncement they made.

1) Cristina and Pasha Paso Doble: Judges loved her. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, which means she didn’t deliver to me. I thought she did all the steps right and she tried hard to make her body shaping proper (the hips need to be really far forward in PD) but her form just wasn’t perfect, and next to his it was all too obvious. She kept up though, and some of the lifts tricks were really difficult. She just didn’t blow me away.

2) Adechicke and Allison Contemporary: Judges didn’t like him that much. I loved him.

Continue reading “SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE SEASON 7, WEEK 2”

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ALBERT EVANS FAREWELL

 

 

Photos by Paul Kolnik (top, of Albert Evans during final curtain call, bottom with Wendy Whelan in Herman Schmerman)

Sunday afternoon longtime beloved principal with NYCBallet, Albert Evans, gave his final performance. He danced two roles he is well-known for – the pas de deux from William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman, with Wendy Whelan, whom he’s often been partnered with, and Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments (he danced the third variation – “Phlegmatic”). It was perfect – -a humorous, playful pas de deux and a very serious, emotionally moving classic Balanchine ballet. He danced both fabulously. I haven’t seen Herman Schmerman much, and he made me want to see it again. And he danced “Phlegmatic” so well, with such precision and intensity (honestly, better than I remember seeing it danced previously) it made me take notice of a Balanchine ballet I honestly haven’t much liked before.

Also on the program was La Source, a pretty in pink ballet by Balanchine set to Delibes and danced very well by Joaquin de Luz and Megan Fairchild in the pas de deux and Lauren King as leader of the ensemble. I have in my notes “dive!!!” which means Megan must have dove into Joaquin’s arms with brilliant gusto!

And in the middle was The Lady with the Little Dog, a newish ballet by Alexey Miroshnichenko that premiered last season, danced again very well by Sterling Hyltin and Andrew Veyette. I think they re-staged and / or re-thought it a bit because it seemed so much better this time. I remember liking parts of it last time; I really loved it this time. The lifts are stunning and it’s very emotionally moving with lots of climactic build-up. I think it’s more focused on the couple this time and the “angels” are more functional and less involved in the choreography and I think that made a big difference. I always love Sterling’s little dog. This time he (or she?) wanted to be picked up a lot.

Anyway, Albert Evans is quite the character and his curtain call was probably the most celebratory I’ve seen at City Ballet. I said on Twitter that it was of Julio Bocca-esque proportions! Of course everyone – audience and the dancers – loves him, and many of the female dancers came out and did a little dance with him when giving him their bouquet. He did several little goofy dances himself, with lots of Rocky Horror Picture Show-style pelvic thrusts. He picked up one of his bouquets and flung it out to the audience. Then, he took off his shoes. Oh and he had a glass of champagne, brought out by a group of male principals. See, what I mean – Julio Bocca all over again! Crowd went wild, and didn’t want to leave the theater.

Since it was a nice day, after the performance I sat outside on the benches near the stage door with Oberon and we waited for Albert to emerge. He never did! Well, he probably did after several hours – Philip and I imagined he was getting plastered with Wendy Whelan and Maria Kowroski (neither of whom emerged either during the time we sat there) and his other regular female partners. A good hour after we’d been sitting out, a dancer came out and talked with Philip a bit and told him she just saw Albert inside yakking it up with everyone and he was still in his ballet clothes. So we decided we’d be waiting all night and we’d better leave. Did get to meet a lot of dancers though — all very charming and immensely polite and gentlemanly! Amar Ramasar, Robert Fairchild, Troy Schumacher (who made me want to dig back into Proust – have the tomes of his work but have never gotten around to cracking them open), Craig Hall, Tiler Peck, Abi Stafford… those are the ones I can remember. Fun day!

For more on Evans’s career, Oberon has a really good write-up with lots of photos.

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GUEST POST ON "PUDGY PENGUIN PERUSALS"

The wonderful Kaye, who writes the charming book blog Pudgy Penguin Perusals, has a rather long write-up on my book today, for which I am immensely grateful!

I am really so grateful, beyond words, for all the bloggers who are helping me get the word out about my first book. The book blogging community is really tremendous – it’s got to be the largest arts blogging community in existence – and I’m so thankful for it and for all the wonderful writers who are so willing to help a first-time novelist get her start! Because I don’t think there’s anything harder than starting a writing career in this current publishing climate.

Anyway, thank you again, Kaye!

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SWAN LAKE: VERONIKA PART AND CORY STEARNS

Here are some fabulous curtain call pics from last night’s Swan Lake at ABT. They’re taken by the wonderful Kokyat, and were sent to me by Oberon.

Thanks so much, you guys!

Veronika was divine in the role, as always. She and NYCB’s Sara Mearns are most definitely my favorite Odettes. Cory replaced Marcelo Gomes as Prince Siegfried, who was out due to injury (I don’t think serious; he is still listed for upcoming performances this season). So it was kind of a double replacement since Roberto Bolle was originally supposed to dance the role but he is also out with injury.

This is my first time seeing Cory in the role and I thought he did a fine job. He acted the part very well. I really believed he was a prince. He was very regal yet personable and boyish at the beginning. He conducted himself like royalty but also like a friend to his buddy Benno and to the villagers as they danced for him. He visibly became more angsty as his mother, the queen, told him he must choose a bride, and then he was clearly smitten with Veronika’s swan when he ventured upon her at the lakeside. I believed he was falling in love with her. The way he’d lay his head on her shoulder was so endearing. At one point it even looked like he kissed her neck! And then in the second half I believed he was seduced by her Odile and was devastated when he found out it was all an evil trick. He really acted it perfectly, in my opinion. He was charming, sweet, innocent, taken advantage of, in love, seduced – all of that, and he showed everything clearly.

I think he still has a ways to go as a dancer though. He didn’t have the power of Marcelo or the beautiful shaping of David Hallberg. He does have the potential to make beautiful lines though. I was talking about that with several other balletomanes afterward. But I think he gets nervous and tired. In the first scene his dancing was brilliant. His jumps had great height and were majestic and really emanated “prince.” But as the ballet went on he seemed to wear out a bit, and I can’t be sure since I’ve never had a reason to memorize the male choreography, but it seemed like at points (especially during the Black Swan Pas de Deux in the second half) that he took out some jumps and simplified some of the steps. Which was smart if he was concerned about being too tired to do some of those difficult lifts and assisted turns.

But as a commenter (and new Veronika fan!) just remarked in a comment on one of my previous posts (scroll down to bottom of comments), it’s a women’s ballet anyway. It’s more important that Odette / Odile be compelling. And Veronika never fails with that! She seemed a bit more confident on opening night dancing the Black Swan with Marcelo, but she still seemed pretty trusting here and they partnered well together.

Overall, very good performance!

Oh, also, Jared Matthews replaced Daniil Simkin as Benno. Not sure why. Hopefully Daniil is not injured because I’d really like to see him dance this part. Swan Lake continues through this Saturday. I’ll probably go once more. Maybe more 🙂

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DAY OF SLEEPING BEAUTIES: ALINA COJOCARU AND NATALIA OSIPOVA

 

Alina Cojocaru and Jose Carreno in Sleeping Beauty, photo by Gene Schiavone. (My favorite pose in all of life – no hands fish dive 🙂 )

 

And Natalia Osipova and David Hallberg as Aurora and Prince Desire, photo by Rosalie O’Connor.

So, I spent another Saturday at Lincoln Center, watching back-to-back Sleeping Beauties. This is probably my least favorite ballet — neither the story nor the choreography really speaks to me – but I was curious to see Alina Cojocaru in the role (it’s supposed to be her best and she’s was guesting for only one day from the Royal Ballet in London), and now that I’m an official Natalia Osipova fanatic, I must see her in everything she’s in.

So, matinee was Cojocaru. I thought overall she was really lovely and did as much as she could with what to me is a bland role. She was fresh, girlish and inquisitive in the first part when she’s meeting all the cavaliers and before she pricks her finger, then is more beatific and ethereal in the vision scene (where Prince Desire, out hunting, envisions her and then is led by the Lilac Fairy to her bed where he’ll kiss and awaken her – I don’t know how many people know the ballet), and then is full of grown-up, sophisticated charm in the third part when she marries the prince. A lot of ballerinas don’t really distinguish between the various stages of the ballet – their Auroras are the same throughout, so I liked that Cojocaru did this.

I just have to say, I’m sorry but for the first part of the Rose Adagio (where four cavaliers present her with roses, at the beginning) I couldn’t stop focusing on her feet.

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GOTHAM GAL ON SWALLOW

The fabulous blogger, Gotham Gal (diary-style blog about New Yorky things she does – eating out, going to various performances, reading books, etc.) has written a little review of Swallow. It’s on the right-hand side-bar under “Books of the Moment.” Right now it’s the one listed at top. She says she “swallowed it up, no pun intended,” calls it “chatty and engaging,” and “a great beach read.” 😀

I’m a big fan of Gotham Gal so am really psyched! Thank you thank you Gotham Gal!

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ALL DAY AT ABT: ALL AMERICAN AND ALL ASHTON PROGRAMS

Last Saturday I had my first crazy ABT day where I spent the whole day at Lincoln Center, seeing both matinee and evening performances. I’ll do the same tomorrow with two Sleeping Beauties – can’t miss Alina Cojocaru (who I’ve never seen before) guesting from the Royal Ballet in the lead, and then in the evening the spectacular Natalia Osipova.

Anyway, last Saturday the matinee was their All-American program; the evening was the All-Ashton. The All-American opened with Twyla Tharp’s Brahms-Hayden Variations, which I’m sorry to say is the first Tharp that’s bored me. I just couldn’t connect to it. It had none of her trademark thrilling throws and lifts and clever partnering or dramatic, actable parts, and none of her enlightening contrasts between ballet and other forms of dance. Not that I saw anyway. I think the excerpt the company performed during the opening night gala was the only part I liked. There were good dancers – Marcelo Gomes, Stella Abrera, Herman Cornejo – but they didn’t seem to have that much to work with. It was just kind of lyrical gaiety. Like Mark Morris.

 

Then was Paul Taylor’s Company B, which is always fun – especially when Craig Salstein dances the hotly dorky guy in “Oh Johnny Oh” and Herman Cornejo the flashy “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” but somehow it lost some of its magic on the large Met stage. I don’t know – I think it plays better at City Center – you somehow miss the silhouettes in the back at the Met, or you don’t connect them to what’s happening center stage as well.

 

And last was my favorite of the day, Robbins’ Fancy Free, this time starring Sascha Radetsky (image above, from here) as the cocky, sexy Latin sailor, Carlos Lopez as the dreamier one, and Daniil Simkin as the little acrobatic one. The two main women were Maria Riccetto as the girl in yellow whom the guys originally approach, and then Isabella Boylston as the girl in pink who momentarily gets interested in hot cocky Latin guy. Well, Sascha Radetsky completely took my breath away here. Before he had his momentary hiatus in with Netherlands Ballet, I’d always thought he was cute and a very solid, precise dancer, but he couldn’t act. I think he must have taken acting lessons in the Netherlands because he’s just so much better now. I really believe him in each role I’ve seen him in. And he really inhabited this sailor. He was really so compelling to watch; I couldn’t even focus on Daniil and his crazy sky-high jumps with Radetsky on the same stage.

Hehe, but one thing that really stood out for me was Isabella Boylston’s back-leading! All throughout ballroom training we were yelled at ad nauseam  — not just me but all the women — for constantly back-leading. And that’s because grown women generally pick up dance steps a lot faster than grown men (not necessarily true for girls versus boys but definitely true for men vs women for some reason). Anyway, it’s only now I really know why. It looks horrible. I know this is ballet with choreographed steps and not ballroom, but their characters are doing social dance so it really had to look like he was leading her in the steps, not like she was anticipating what he’d so and then turn herself or make the move before he led her to do it. It ended up looking like she was in control, and he’s supposed to be seducing her here. I’m sure they’ll get it with more practice, it just looked obviously wrong and out of character. But maybe that’s just my ballroom training talking because they definitely got the most applause.

 

The Ashton program opened with Birthday Offering (image above from Dance View Times), which ended up being my favorite piece of the night. Absolutely gorgeous costumes (by Andre Levasseur) and what lovely variations with fast, fancy, very original footwork for the women. Stella Abrera, Simone Messmer, and Gemma Bond in particular stood out to me. Hee Seo (my favorite Juliet) danced as well – not in love with the choreography for her variation as much but she has the most beautiful Alessandra Ferri feet. She and Veronika Part both!

Then came the Thais Pas de Deux, which was performed by Jared Matthews and Diana Vishneva. I can’t wait to see Hee Seo and Sascha Radetsky perform this at the end of the month. I saw them in rehearsal and they really took my breath away. They’re so sweet together, and they really bring out the beauty of the choreography in a way that Diana and Jared as a partnership just didn’t, in my mind. Diana and her melodramatic curtain calls really crack me up. At first they annoyed me but I’m beginning to accept that they’re part of the performance for her and they’re just her. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll find it endearing.

But as far as her dancing, she’s hit or miss with me. I haven’t gotten around to writing about it yet, but I absolutely loved her in Lady of the Camellias. She brought so much more to the role than Julie Kent had the day before and she really brought me into the drama of it all – she and Veronika Part both (who danced the Manon role). And her dancing was gorgeous. She and Marcelo were excellent in that. A performance to see again and again (if ABT would only make a DVD of it…)

Then was The Awakening Pas de Deux from Ashton’s Sleeping Beauty, danced by Veronika Part and David Hallberg. It’s funny but choreography can look so completely different on different bodies and it looked like a wholly different piece than when Paloma Herrera and Cory Stearns danced it on opening night.

Finally, was The Dream, Ashton’s version of Midsummer Night’s Dream. Honestly, I was getting really tired by this point and I’ll have to see it again. I did really like Cory Stearns as Oberon. He is another dancer who’s a hit or miss with me but I found his Oberon was endearing while still being rather demanding with Titania up front. He did a good job, and he dancing was beautiful. Alexei Agoudine was a lot of fun as Bottom (who’s on pointe here, unlike in the Balanchine version and has a lot more to do), and Daniil Simkin was Puck. I enjoyed his Puck but found myself unable to get Daniel Ulbrich’s Puck out of my mind. I’ve been told I have to see Herman Cornejo in this role. And so I hope to before the season ends.

In between performances I had ice cream in the park behind Lincoln Center cinemas, where I saw Blaine Hoven and Marcelo, and then I went and had a glass of wine in the outside patio area of the newish Alice Tully Hall cafe. It’s nice out there when it’s warm, which it was for part of the time. So far we seem to be having another chilly summer. Tomorrow I have two friends who, happily, are as crazy as I am, so I will have people to hang with instead of just my book 🙂

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ALEX WONG WOWS JUDGES & AUD IN FIRST COMP ON SYTYCD

With this. Wow. He’s not just an excellent dancer with superb technique – which you’d expect of a Miami City Ballet principal of course! He just danced that with so much meaning. So much more than the rest of them. That was really wonderful. And thank you to Adam Shankman for getting the name of his company right 🙂

So, as for the new format of the show: well, if it’s going to be this way throughout the season – where the returning dancers dance their specialty – then I’m okay with it. I really loved seeing Pasha and Anya dance Latin and Twitch hip hop, in particular.

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MORPHOSES REHEARSAL – JESSICA LANG MAKES ME WANT TO DANCE AGAIN…

Tonight I was invited by the Guggenheim Works & Process peeps to a Morphoses rehearsal. Funny, I kept expecting Christopher Wheeldon to be there… but of course he wasn’t. This was really special because it was a first rehearsal; the dancers were just meeting the two choreographers whose work they’ll be performing in September in Martha’s Vineyard, and in October here in NY. I’ve never been to a rehearsal that early before – usually the choreographers don’t want an audience until the work is complete or nearly complete.

The two choreographers were Jessica Lang and Pontus Lidberg. They’ve each been commissioned to set a dance to the same David Lang score. Always fun to see what different artists come up with to the same piece of music. This was very lyrical music, part of it choral, and they had the same five dancers to work with – three women, two men.

First we saw Jessica Lang, and her choreography was very lyrical, very classically balletic, very pretty.

Continue reading “MORPHOSES REHEARSAL – JESSICA LANG MAKES ME WANT TO DANCE AGAIN…”

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NATALIA OSIPOVA MUGGED

 

I really hesitate to post this in case my mom still reads my blog. She’s an avid Law and Order watcher and she’s always thinking if I go for 24 hours without calling or emailing her it must be because something’s happened to me like what happens to everyone on Law and Order, and because L&A is on every day and I live in the same city, every day, every hour in New York City people must be getting attacked and going missing and what not…

Anyway, according to the New York Times, none other than Natalia Osipova, the Bolshoi dancer guest starring with ABT this season, whom everyone and their dog – including me – is going on and on and on about being the greatest dancer extant, was mugged yesterday after watching a performance of Sleeping Beauty at ABT. The Times isn’t specific about exactly where she was attacked, but apparently it happened near the Met, as she was crossing Amsterdam Avenue, in the early morning. Two men came up behind her, hit her in the face and ran off with her bag, which contained pointe shoes and a small hammer she uses to shape them. Thankfully, she seems to be okay and will still dance Sleeping Beauty this weekend and Romeo and Juliet in two weeks.

It’s just crazy though. This is what New York used to be like in the Dinkins era, pre-Guiliani, like over 15 years ago, when I first moved here. Now we’re reverting. I guess the effects of the recession have finally hit.

Thank you to reader Roksolana for sending me the link.

Photo by Gene Schiavone.