Tag: New York City Ballet

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MAURICE KAPLOW’S FAREWELL PERFORMANCE WITH NYCB

 

Thursday evening longtime New York City Ballet principal conductor Maurice Kaplow gave his final performance with the company. I had never been to a conductor’s farewell before, and, of course, part of what made this extra sensational was that the newishly mobile orchestra pit (photo above) was raised to stage level for part of the program.

There were four pieces in the program: Melissa Barak’s recently premiered Call Me Ben (the only piece Kaplow didn’t conduct), which was followed by Euryanthe, the Barber Violin Concerto, and ending with Western Symphony.

Euryanthe was only an orchestral piece – no dancing, by Carl Maria von Weber. When Kaplow first took the podium, everyone cheered, which grew into a standing ovation as the orchestra pit rose. One thing I didn’t realize (we’ve only seen the pit rise once before, during the first NYCB program following the Koch theater’s renovations last year) was that the conductor can’t stand at the podium while the pit is rising and falling; he must step down into the musicians’ area. When the pit was finally level with the stage and he climbed up to the podium, he looked out toward the applauding audience and took a grateful bow. Euryanthe was really beautiful, with a lovely, almost sentimental (given the occasion) violin section, followed by an exciting drum-heavy climax. It was nice to see the orchestra for once, and to be able to focus on the music.

Peter Martins’s Barber Violin Concerto really blew me away. I’d never seen it before, and I have to say it’s now one of my favorites of his.

 

Pictured from front to back: Megan Fairchild, Sara Mearns, Jared Angle, and Charles Askegard. There are two couples in this piece – one a classical ballet pair, the other a modern dance duo, and at first they dance each with their rightful partner, then the two members of the modern couple break apart and dance with the opposite sex ballet dancer. When I interviewed So You Think You Can Dance’s Billy Bell a while back, he’d laughingly said something to me I found funny, that as a hopeful choreographer he sought to “break” ballet dancers, meaning he wanted to get them to loosen up, not be so rigid and controlled with such straight, upright posture, and get them to really move. This piece reminded me of that. At first Sara Mearns’s classical ballerina in pretty satin pointe shoes wants nothing to do with this crazed barefoot Jared Angle, but eventually she realizes he’s not so bad and they do a quite nice pas de deux together.

Same with Megan Fairchild and Charles Askegard, except choreographically they were more fun, and Megan totally blew me away and made me think she is really a modern dancer. She was the most compelling person onstage and I couldn’t take my eyes off her, despite the fact that one of my big favorites, Sara Mearns, was up there with her. Megan looked like a real Paul Taylor dancer but even more stunning. Her character really taunted Charles Askegard’s classical danseur, jumping on his back, wrapping her flexed feet around his middle, darting in between his legs, really kind of climbing all over him. He looked tormented, then eventually relented and they danced a pas de deux together too. Interestingly, people giggled throughout this part – where Megan’s modern girl is taunting Charles’s classical man –  and the critic next to me who’d seen the ballet many times before said he’s never heard people laugh at that section, that he didn’t think it was supposed to be amusing but more raw. Maybe it was because of their size difference — Charles Askegard is the tallest dancer in the company (I think he’s 6’4) and Megan’s this tiny little thing who looks rather doll-like. I found it cute and flirtatious and now I don’t think I’d like it if I saw it done more raw, though I’d love to see other dancers do it. I’d love to see this ballet again.

Also, as the title of the piece would imply, there’s a really beautiful violin solo (played by Arturo Delmoni), where the violin almost sounds like a human voice.

Last on was Balanchine’s Western Symphony. Andrew Veyette danced the male “Rondo” role and after seeing Robert Fairchild in this role last week I thought I’d never be able to see another dancer do that part. But, whoa, Veyette completely floored me. He was on fire as he kicked his heels up high in the air, sexily do-se-doed toward Teresa Reichlen (who was stunning as well as the female lead in that section), then whipped her off into the wings where he pretend kissed her. She’ taller than he is and at first I thought they weren’t a good match, but they kind of played up their height differences. I loved it.

As usual during the curtain call, the maestro came out onstage and took a bow. But of course this time he didn’t merely motion down toward the orchestra, directing the applause at them, but took the stage alone, and, like the retiring dancers, was greeted by a row of dancers bearing bouquets. Eventually, the entire orchestra came up bearing flowers as well. Peter Martins came out onstage and hugged him. Very sweet. Then, Martins led the orchestra (joined by the audience) in singing “Happy Birthday,” so apparently it was Kaplow’s birthday as well. He’s been with the company for 20 years. I’ll miss seeing him in the house.

Photos by Paul Kolnik.

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MISSING ARIZONA

 

I haven’t been to Phoenix since early 2001 and I’ve been getting a bit homesick for the desert. Everything seems to be reminding me of the Southwest lately – even last night’s NYCB program with Melissa Barak’s new ballet, Call Me Ben, set in Vegas with its Santiago Calatrava-designed desert-themed backdrops, and then Balanchine’s Western Symphony with the cowboys, saloon girls and Old Tombstone-looking stage piece.

 

 

Albert Evans and cast in earlier NYCB Western Symphony production, taken from Explore Dance. Photo above that of the main street in Tombstone, AZ, taken from the city’s website.

I have to get out there soon.

In the meantime, just ordered this book, which looks like the perfect proverbial beach read.

The photo of the little guy at the top of the post, by the way, is taken from the Facebook page of my childhood friend who operates a kind of traveling zoo featuring reptiles native to Arizona, exposing children to and creating respect for their unique little charms.

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MORE PHOTOS OF CALATRAVA’S AWESOME MIRAGE SET

 

Above are a couple more photos of Peter Martins’ new Mirage ballet, which I wrote about here, that better showcase Santiago Calatrava’s stunning architectural set. I’d described how it closed at one point, and you can see that in the bottom photo, and I’d forgotten to mention that in the end it radiated a rainbow of color (top photo). Photos are by Paul Kolnik and are taken from Marina Harss’s excellent write-up in The Faster Times.

Funny, I recently discovered The Faster Times (I know Marina but I know her as a New Yorker writer) and was really amused to see that my very first ballroom teacher (the one who’s ultimately responsible for the title of this blog) is their ballroom critic!

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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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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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TWO MORE NYCB PREMIERES: "LUCE NASCOSTA" AND "CALL ME BEN"

 

It’s been a season of new ballets and principal dancer farewells at New York City Ballet, and, between that and all the goings-on at ABT, it’s hard to keep up! I realized when meeting a blog reader yesterday at Philip Neal’s farewell performance (so nice to meet you, Vanessa!) that I hadn’t yet written about the last two premieres and people were waiting. I was going to wait until I’d seen each once again, but at least with one of them I won’t get that chance since there was a programming change.

 

Anyway, Maura Bigonzetti’s Luce Nascosta (two photos above, cast in top, Teresa Reichlen and Adrian Danchig-Waring directly above. All photos by Paul Kolnik): I really don’t know what to think of it. The title is translated in the program notes as “Unseen Light”. The stage was very dark except for a Santiago Calatrava moon-like disc, which throughout the course of the ballet expanded into multiple discs. Everyone was in black (costumes by Marc Happel), the men in flare-legged pants and the women in tight black tops and big ruffled skirts that resembled trendy Latin ballroom costumes from a couple years back.

The dancing was at times in ensemble, at times in pairs, but the partnerships changed. It seemed that Tiler Peck and whoever she was partnered by were kind of the leaders, and Maria Kowroski and whoever was partnering her at the moment, kind of concluded the action, with everyone else in between.

The music was gorgeous – by Bruno Moretti, but I didn’t think it accompanied the choreography well at all. The music was like something you’d see in an action-packed movie, like Mission Impossible, at times dark and eerie, at times melodramatic with crescendos like you’d hear when the hero’s coming to save the day. Seriously, perfect for a big summer blockbuster. Here … dunno? And weird because they collaborated closely, the choreographer and the composer…

I thought there were some interesting moments and some original movement, but overall I didn’t feel it added up to much of a whole. My favorite part of the choreography was when all the men were dancing in ensemble. Craig Hall began this rather African-looking movement sequence, then Sean Suozzi joined him, making the movement look more balletically lyrical than African, which made it all the more interesting to me – how the same movement looked on different bodies. Then, other men began to join until it looked ritualistic and celebratory. The women had less interesting movement — one recurring theme was when the women went on pointe, their legs splayed intentionally awkwardly, and they’d hold the balance on pointe while the men kind of darted around them, like the women were frozen. In another recurring theme toward the end, the women went sliding across stage into the men’s arms. The several times Tiler Peck slid like this into Gonzalo Garcia it made a loud, slapping sound. But that didn’t happen with any of the others. I didn’t know if that was intentional or not. The whole thing had a kind of threatening vibe. At times it seemed the women were the threat to the men, at other times the opposite.

The whole thing made me think black widows in the moonlight…

I’m interested to know what others thought of this one. Any thoughts? Critics seem genuinely divided, which I find exciting – often they all hate or all love the same thing.

And the premiere before Luce was Melissa Barak’s Call Me Ben, a story ballet about Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, the gangster, and his founding of the Flamingo, the first Vegas nightclub.

 

Robert Fairchild played / danced the part of Bugsy or Ben – the ballet sought to humanize him, focusing on the person and his ideals rather than the gangster, and it did so simply by having endearingly sympathetic Fairchild play the lead! Jenifer Ringer, who looked like a true Hollywood leading lady throughout, played his girlfriend, the one who swindles him, making other gangsters think he’s taken the money himself and fled, eventually leading them to kill him.

I thought the duets were really beautiful. Robert and Jenifer looked really good together, like a leading romantic couple in a movie. And the ballroom-y period costumes (by J. Mendel) were absolutely gorgeous. I really liked the sets, again by Calatrava, as well. More than his sets for any of the premiere ballets I’ve seen thus far this season (well, with the exception of Wheeldon’s Estancia), these seemed particularly suited for this ballet, evoking warm starry nights, palm trees, the Vegas-y climate, basically.

 

I think where the ballet fell apart for me was with all the speaking. Barak has said in interviews that she didn’t think she could tell the story purely through dance so she used spoken word as well. But there was too much spoken word, and the dancers were often so out of breath from dancing it took them a while to begin their lines. And that didn’t look natural. Something like this would work in a movie, obviously, where there are separate takes of each scene, but onstage with seriously exhilarating dancing, it took away from the realism. Plus, besides Vincent Paradiso, none of the male dancers really evoked gangster. Tyler Angle and Daniel Ulbricht, great as they are as dancers, just did not convince me that they were hit men. And at the end, when Ulbricht came out for his bow, it was funny but it seemed like people began their usual hearty applause then let up when they realized they didn’t really see Daniel Ulbricht. He didn’t do Daniel Ulbricht things.

And that makes me think maybe she didn’t need to have any talking. Why couldn’t Ulbricht have done his usual pyrotechnics as his expression of his character’s murderous nature?

It seems from interviews Barak has given, that she was given a score (by Jay Greenberg) that she really didn’t know what to do with, and since the score had already been commissioned she had to come up with something in a short period of time. It’s interesting how these ballets are being commissioned because when I heard Benjamin Millepied speak about his new ballet at a Guggenheim Works & Process event recently, he mentioned that he and his composer, Thierry Escaich, worked together, talking about what the music evoked and how that would be visualized, but that Calatrava designed his set for that ballet independently. So, all throughout Why Am I Not Where You Are, I was wondering whether Millepied meant for his color-clad dancers to be hailing from another world, mainly because of that space-like object of Calatrava’s. But Millepied hadn’t meant for that at all — it was just the set he got, which had nothing really to do with his ballet.

Is this how collaborations used to work in Diaghlev’s day though? I just assumed Stravinsky and Balanchine and Chagall all worked together to create a work of performance art. I mean, how else could Firebird have been created?

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PHILIP NEAL’S FAREWELL PERFORMANCE

 

Yesterday afternoon, Philip Neal gave his farewell performance with New York City Ballet.  He’s been a principal with the company since 1993. He danced two of Balanchine’s most beautiful ballets — Serenade (photo above, with Jenifer Ringer), and Chaconne (below, with Wendy Whelan). In Serenade, he danced the part of the guy whom the fallen girl falls for, and he danced the main male lead in Chaconne. He and Wendy danced so beautifully in that. It was the absolutely perfect  ballet to end your career with.

Sandwiched in between those two ballets were excerpts from Balanchine’s Who Cares? with the main roles danced by  Sterling Hyltin as the snazzy girl in purple, Tiler Peck as the dreamy romantic girl, Ana Sophia Scheller as the quick-footed flirty girl, and Robert Fairchild as the poor guy who can’t choose between them. I can’t imagine anyone more perfect for that role than Robert Fairchild, though I’m told Neal danced the role himself earlier in his career and I can totally see him in that.

I remember him best as “Mr. Danger” who leads Janie Taylor to darkness in Balanchine’s La Valse, and of course as the happy hoofer smitten by Maria Kowroski’s stripper in Balanchine’s Slaughter on Tenth. And now I’ll think of him – with Wendy Whelan – in Chaconne as well.

I am told that he’s now moving to Palm Beach, FL with his partner. Lucky!

 

Photos by Paul Kolnik.

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YVONNE BORREE’S FAREWELL PERFORMANCE

 

On Sunday afternoon, principal ballerina Yvonne Borree gave her farewell performance at New York City Ballet. I always find farewell performances so sad, especially for the ballerinas, for some reason. And Yvonne just doesn’t seem old enough to retire! At all.

Anyway, it was a really lovely program and she looked beautiful. She danced the third, “Andante,”  movement in Balanchine’s Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet. She was partnered by Benjamin Millepied, a very good partner for her, as she looks very comfortable dancing with him, and when they first took the stage, the audience really went wild with applause — and really wouldn’t let up! That’s uncommon for NYCB fans – even with a farewell performance; they usually save their applause until the very end. And the applause wasn’t just clapping; people were really whooting and screaming and calling out “Yvonne, Yvonne!” I think I am not the only one who will miss her. At the end of each section, she got more applause and at the end of Brahms, she and Millepied got three curtain calls. She deserved it. And he did too — I think Natalie Portman is giving him some acting lessons because he’s really doing much better, not just dancing (he’s always been a good dancer) but really projecting as well.

Then came Wheeldon’s new Estancia, which grew on me. I think the dancers found the humor in it — or maybe they did before and I was paying too much attention to the choreography to notice, but it seemed they really vamped it up, with Tyler Angle failing hilariously miserably at taming Andrew Veyette’s “horse,” letting Veyette get away after Tiler Peck roped him all up nicely, then Tyler being felled and rolling around the floor, nearly sweeping Tiler off her feet (in a bad way). It was really cute. And the dancing is really marvelous.

Then, the performance ended with Yvonne doing a pas de deux with Jared Angle — another good partner for her (for everyone really) – Balanchine’s Duo Concertant, which I love.

 

I love how the couple interacts with the onstage violinist and pianist, with the music, and with each other, and yet it is at times a very abstract ballet with lots of angular shapes. And the end is gorgeous but bittersweet, as the stage darkens and the spotlight begins to highlight only her, her head, then various parts of her body, ending with her arm, in the air, reaching upward and outward. It almost made me cry.

And of course the applause went on and on, and all of her partners (besides Nikolaj Hubbe unfortunately) came out onstage to give her a bouquet. Damian Woetzel and Peter Boal got the most whoots.

I’ve only been coming to New York City Ballet regularly for about the past three or four years and I feel I didn’t get to see enough of her. My favorite performances of hers are the delicate, ethereal sleepwalker in Balanchine’s La Sonnambula, which I think she danced with Sebastien Marcovici, and in that ballroom-esque ballet with the art deco mirror of Peter Martins that I love but no one shares my feelings about … 🙁 Can’t think of what it’s called right now but she was always Nilas Martins’s partner. I loved it. And now, my other favorite of hers is Duo Concertant, which I’d never seen her dance before.

Apparently, she’ll still be around. According to Oberon, she’ll stay at NYCB’s School of American Ballet and teach.

Photos by Paul Kolnik.

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CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON’S ESTANCIA

 

Last Saturday night was the premiere of Christopher Wheeldon’s new ballet, Estancia, at New York City Ballet. Everyone in the audience seemed to go wild over it. When it ended, I overheard people saying they didn’t want it to end, and others saying they thought it was his best work, and in the lobby, several of my friends said they really liked it. I thought it was so so. And definitely a departure from Wheeldon’s usual.

Estancia is a story ballet, set to to music by Alberto Ginastera, that takes place on a ranch (Estancia is Spanish for ranch) in the Argentine Pampas (countryside). A young city man (Tyler Angle) is smitten with country life, and a girl he meets there (Tiler Peck), particularly after he watches her tame a horse (Andrew Veyette). The ballet is his attempt to woo her, and of course at the start she wants nothing to do with him and his annoying urbanity (he wears a suit throughout), but eventually she overcomes her prejudices and lets herself fall for him. He ends up proving his adroitness at being a rancher by taming another horse (Georgina Pazcoguin).

The dancing was all very good — Pazcoguin and Veyette were wonderful as the wild horses, and the T(i)ylers were perfect for these roles. Tyler Angle is always so good at those deep longing romantic lunges toward his partner. For the most part, though, the choreography was a bit blah, I thought. Except for some interesting backwards walks, that looked at bit like moonwalks, performed by the “horses,” the choreography seemed like nothing I hadn’t seen before, which is unusual for Wheeldon. The romantic pas de deux  between the leads were pretty but the lifts were rather basic.

The Ginastera score was originally commissioned in 1941 by Lincoln Kirstein for a ballet to be made by Balanchine to be shown when Kirstein’s American Ballet Caravan toured Buenos Aires. But the Caravan disbanded and the ballet was never made. I feel like Wheeldon, or someone at NYCB, felt the need for closure on the project. It had the feel of something out of a bygone era, particularly with the horses – you really don’t see dancers galloping around stage these days in horse costumes. But it doesn’t seem as corny if you think back to Firebird, for example, with all the forest creatures.

The sets were designed by architect Santiago Calatrava (and NYCB is showing a short film about his work and his collaboration with the choreographers every time his sets are used this season). They consisted of water-color-looking paintings displayed on the back wall, one of a countryside, another more abstract one of horses (I think – because of the storyline, but maybe they were bulls … they seemed to have horns).  Anyway, all in all, it was a fine ballet but didn’t blow me away like it did many others.

Two other ballets were performed, both by Balanchine — Danses Concertantes, with my favorite, Gonzalo Garcia and Sterling Hyltin in the leads, and Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet in which Yvonne Borree danced particularly well partnered by Benjamin Millepied. It’s going to be sad to see her retire this Sunday afternoon.

Above photo by Paul Kolnik.

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WAYNE MCGREGOR’S OUTLIER

 

 

Some photos of the new ballet, which premiered last Friday at NYCB, by Paul Kolnik. Top is of Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall, bottom is of cast with Gonzalo Garcia and Sterling Hyltin front and center.

I liked Outlier if mainly because it provided something different for New York audiences, and the dancers seemed to love dancing it, perhaps to be challenged by a different movement vocabulary. Music was to Thomas Ades and was generally sharp and made for an unsettling vibe, which the movement complemented. Cast was all principles: in addition to Hyltin, Garcia, Whelan, and Hall, there were Ashley Bouder, Maria Kowroski, Tiler Peck, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Joaquin De Luz, Robert Fairchild, and Amar Ramasar. Dancers mainly danced in male / female pairs and movement was intentionally awkward, with lots of sharp, angular lines,  jutting, hyper-extended limbs, at times rubbery-looking as a foot would go from pointed to flexed in a split second, and there were lots of kind of sliding motions in the upper body, which is uncharacteristic of ballet – classical anyway. The whole thing felt alien, ominous, something seriously awry.

Maria Kowroski, Wendy Whelan, and Robert Fairchild shone, as I think they have the bodies most suited to this kind of movement. The audience gasped audibly and some laughed in astonishment when, at one point, Maria Kowroski did an arabesque penchee with her lifted leg in attitude and she swung her leg up so fast and with such force (intentionally) that she looked like she was completely jointless. Then she wrapped her bent knee around her partner’s head — I think it was Amar but can’t remember for sure. She looked like a spider. And Robert Fairchild is really becoming one of the greatest male dancers around – at least that I know of. He can do anything and with such precision, not to mention massive amounts of stage presence.

Lighting (by Lucy Carter) was really cool as well, starting out a bright red, with an almost kaleidoscopic image on the back wall,then turning cream-colored and solid, and creating at times rather ominous shadows that highlighted the bizarre movement.

My main problem with the whole was that it didn’t really seem to go anywhere. A story never seemed to take hold and the movement and overall feeling you had remained the same throughout. Maybe I just need to see it again though.

Outlier was shown with two other, completely different ballets – Balanchine’s beautiful Serenade in which Kaitlyn Gilliland really moved me, and his Cortege Hongrois, with Sara Mearns dancing the part of the classical ballerina to splendid perfection with the very capable Jonathan Stafford as her partner, and Sean Suozzi and Rebecca Krohn ever entertaining as the Hungarian folk dancing duo.

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PURO DESEO, PNB AT THE GUGGENHEIM, BALANCHINE LEOTARDS AND ROBBINS & ASTAIRE

 

Photo of Luciana Achugar’s Puro Deseo, from NYTimes, taken by Chad Batka.

You guys, I am really sorry but there are several things I’ve seen lately that I don’t have time to write about. So, I’m linking to other writers’ reviews. The first is Luciana Achugar’s exploration of the occult, Puro Deseo, which premiered recently at the Kitchen. I generally agree with NYTimes’ Gia Kourlas that Achugar needs to go a bit deeper with this piece, but this is a strong start, and parts of the performance I found very compelling, such as when, toward the beginning, Achugar is wearing a large black cape and moving back and forth in a diagonal pattern across the stage, and every time she backs up, toward a light projector, she casts an ominous shadow that eventually eats up the entire theater. Very cool lighting effect that achieved the result she was aiming for. At points her partner, Michael Mahalchick, would contort his body in ways that were both creepy and unsettling but also ultimately human. At times her movement would mirror his, and at times she’d react off of him, sometimes writhing on the ground seemingly in erotic pleasure. This is what I thought needed to be developed a little further – the connection between eroticism and the occult, but regardless, ever since Tere O’Connor’s Nothing Festival a couple of years ago, Achugar has become one of my favorite experimental artists and I always love seeing her new work.

Second, is Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Works & Process event at the Guggenheim over the weekend. I loved seeing James Moore and Carla Korbes again, and especially Seth Orza. Moore’s performance of a beginning excerpt of Balanchine’s Prodigal Son, and Korbes and  Orza dancing an excerpt from Balanchine’s Apollo were, to me the highlights of the evening. But here is Oberon with far more detail on the evening than I can provide right now.

Also, last week I saw two NYCB programs – one comprised of some of Balanchine’s most famous leotard ballets (Symphony in Three Movements is always a favorite of mine, especially in contrast with Concerto Barocco), and an evening of Robbins during which I was blown away, once again, by Gonzalo Garcia as the poetic figure in his Opus 19 / The Dreamer. And, call me a goof (because everyone else seems to hate it), but I always love to see Robbins’ I’m Old Fashioned, with the dancers performing a balletic interpretation of Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth as a movie excerpt of the latter two dancing plays on a screen erected at the back of the stage.  Anyway, here is Macaulay on the Balanchine program and Roslyn Sulcas on the Robbins.

Review coming soon of Wayne McGregor’s new Outlier, although I said some of what I have to say already on Twitter. I’m actually really enjoying tweeting about performances. I find Twitter a useful device for paring down sentences to the essentials. Of particular use to verbose people like me anyway 🙂