Jump to content

NYCB, Paris 2016, Theatre du Chatelet


Recommended Posts

Seeing that there were no reviews (well, not that I could see and not that there need to be) on the links listings this week for NYCB in Paris -a city - like NYC itself - so key in terms of BALLET history (as opposed - but not in exclusion to - other much cherished dance forms.) ... and given that this form is, after all, The BALLETcoForum I thought I would add a few.  I have been at all the performances since the NYCB opening at the Chatelet - under the Les Etes de la Danse banner - on Tuesday.   

 

First, the music.  THE MUSIC!  It is being burnished by the spectacular (and very young) L'Orchestre Promethee under the guidance of (Briton) Andrew Litton.  What joy it is to see the music from my perch in the Categorie 5 Amphitheatre burst to life as much in the pit as on the stage.  It is a thrill to hear members of this orchestra still rehearsing and working with each other when you come in AND DURING THE INTERVALS.  I come early now just to hear the music as I am dashing up those copious stairs.  No rushing out of the pit for these young players.  Not at all.  They proudly stand and take their rightful bows - in their place of honour at the end - and then turn and applaud the dancers above.  In all – it is heartwarming.

 

Second, the audience.  THE AUDIENCE!  I have stopped feeling embarrassed by my school-boy French.  Perhaps it's the result of the Brexit release.  (I mean that as a good thing.)  We can after all ALL NOW be OFFICIALLY foreign.  There can be no going back.  Well, I assume not in my lifetime at any rate.  The British peoples have spoken and quite rightly their voice must be honoured. I know I have – now as a foreigner - made a goodly number of friends over the week - all French - (It is so different from Covent Garden – Up in the Chatelet’s amphi it is almost ENTIRELY a native born audience – you ONLY hear French) and they are all so - SO - knowledgeable about ballet.  They have ALL seen so much and such a wide variety of BALLET [i can’t speak for other dance forms] and are ever hungry for more.  It's as if it is in their blood.  Well, this is Paris.  IT IS!

 

They keep asking me about Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake as if I MUST have seen them.  I explain that there is little hope of these things EVER now showing up in London given (i) the lack of appropriate venues - [we now know as of Friday after all that the Coliseum will be stocked throughout next summer - well, for a 15 week period - with a new musical called BAT OUT OF HELL - not my kind of thing but I'm sure many here will enjoy it] and (ii) a certain coolness towards Ratmansky's work itself given his initial British critical and - by virtue of many here - popular response.  I explain that I only have been able to see many of his key works by companies either native in Paris or New York or by those visiting those same (e.g., SFB at the Chatelet under Les Etes de la Danse’s egis in 2014).  Indeed I explain that I myself will be coming to PARIS to see the ABT Sleeping Beauty (September) and the Ratmansky Swan Lake (November) there danced by the La Scala Company. Still they all - well, the ones I've met any way - different at every performance - seem to know about the British BALLET scene - as much, say, as the Miami one.  They are eager to see Cathy Marston's Jane Eyre by Northern Ballet (I don’t know … Will it come to London?) and wonder why there are so many principal male guests in ENB's Corsaire which they saw the week previous.  [They all seemed to love that AND Cesar Corrales it seems.]  

 

One thing is certain they are not cool AT ALL in their response.  I spoke briefly to Peter Martins on the street.  He laughed and said 'I've never seen my dancers look so happy'.  Certainly I’ve have never seen City Ballet get so many curtain calls.  You can see the look of shock on the dancers' faces.  They don't get received like THIS at the Koch Theater (there I've said IT - for me that building will always be NYS Theater – the House Balanchine helped to build) unless it is a Farewell.  The Chatelet curtain will keep going up.  At the end of Mozartiana Sara Mearns burst into tears as she was brought forward for the ninth time.  She put her hands forward in disbelief.  We all understood.  Robbie Fairchild grabbed at his heart and threw it out to us after his second Apollo.  It's very much a two way communication.  

 

The spirit of celebration as engendered by Balanchine (all the works have been Balanchine this week) and the life enriching NYCB ensemble seems to overflow beyond the theatre.  Yesterday was Gay Pride in Paris.  The parade went right past the theatre.  You went through security going into the theatre yesterday … and then going out because you went into – you had no choice - the parade area.  The spirit was wonderful.  I saw this elderly – and very well attired – French matron just in front of me being grabbed by this half naked lad in seeming American Indian attire – all bells and feathers - and they laughed as they danced in the street.  They were BOTH French.  Later I saw one of the NYCB corps dancers (and let me tell you they have – as a company - never looked so well rehearsed) jump onto one of the floats and party up a storm.  He would later appear in Symphony in Three Movements that evening.  It was all a celebration of life; one overcoming the very real security threats that this city has all too recently known.  A thrill.

 

I see I haven’t even mentioned the dance yet – It has been largely wonderful.  I will come back to that.  I must dash now as I’m meeting some of my new found friends … and later going to see Balanchine’s Brahms-Schoenburg Quartet (one of my all time favourites – Has it ever been seen in London? – I’m not sure – I’ve never seen it there) and also the premiere of the Peck ballet by the POB at the Bastille.  (Sadly London has yet to even one [Justin] Peck ballet – although it has seen the one and only contemporary piece he made for the LA Dance Project.  Cement Crisp – for what it’s worth gave that – FIVE stars.)  

 

Will revert.  

Edited by Bruce Wall
  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Bruce,

 

Many thanks for the review of City Ballet's performances.  Much appreciated.  One small point.  Andrew Litton, the music director of City Ballet, is not a Briton, but an American, born in New York.  Though recently appointed as our music director, his connection to City Ballet goes way back to his days as a student at Juilliard.  His girl friend at that time was a dancer at City Ballet, and he saw many performances because of her.

 

Any further news of the company's Paris performances would be most welcome.

 

WH

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bless you for your correction, Whinola.  Much appreciated. 

 

Last night NYCB literally feel apart.  

 

Well, let me be more specific.  

 

The trim first Abi Stafford's (in the first Movement of Western Symphony) and then the effervescent Tiler Peck's (in Tarantella) costume rudely came away.  Ms. Peck caught hers in the circumference of her tambourine whilst zealously bashing it.  In the end she simply employed that folly as a joyous prop. Her devout audience exploded in oh, so well deserved rapture.  

 

That this woman is now a phenomenal star in the WORLD’s ballet firmament simply cannot be questioned.  You watch in awe.  What can’t she do?  She has this seemingly almost superhuman capacity to phrase in the midst of tremendous speed and still have space to share her own unique fillip whether it be the tilt of a head replete with that life enriching smile or the toying of one of those extraordinary limbs.   In just the last week she has made (i) the third movement of Symphony in Three Movements, (ii) the first movement of Symphony in C (not as well danced in my experience since Merrill Ashley), (iii) a stunning interpretation of the second movement of The Four Temperaments stretching Balanchine’s magic to a point where you could hear an audible sigh from the audience as she was removed from the stage after that stunning PDD and last night (iii) in a historic rendition of Tarantella UNIQUELY and ENTIRELY her own.  That London audiences will now most likely NOT have an opportunity to see such wealth – to experience this education - breaks my heart.  The loss – unquestionably – is London’s.  

 

If I were a betting man I would stay that history will see Osipova and Peck as the two standout ballerinas of the first quarter of the 21st Century.  Of course this largely has to do with the roles they have originated.  With Osipova that, of course, includes a lot of core Ratmansky – be it his Flames of Paris or Firebird or the middle ballet in the Shostakovich Trilogy.  Of course, she also has major McGregor and Wheeldon entries.  With T. Peck it includes a great swathe of those plus Scarlett – a plethora of others - and – OF COURSE – Justin Peck, (no relation) who has done as many ballets as his years on major world stages; 28 that is and one contemporary work.  (Again only the one contemporary work has been seen in the London, which is perhaps fitting as our capital is now (thanks in large part of the efforts of Alaistair Spaulding) a core contemporary world fulcrum.  [Perhaps there should now be a separate site called ‘ContemporaryCoForum’ to specifically focus on this valued aspect, not that, of course, some overlap is and should be expected.  Or perhaps ours should now more accurately be christened ‘DanceCoForum’.  Personally I think the ballet aspect needs as much support as it can get.]  I have heard at a LBC Mr. O’Hare speak warmly of J. Peck’s work.  Sadly I fear he has now missed the boat if he wanted a work built specifically on the RB.  Peck has said publically – and reiterated the same when I casually spoke to him on the ground floor of the Koch – that he feels that it no longer serves his better purpose to travel around the world to make ballets.  It simply robs him of too much time.  (One has to remember he is still a dancer with the NYCB.)  He wants to DO MORE of the creative production itself with the Company he knows best (NYCB) and allow the world to buy/share the his choreographic output should interest prevail on their part.  (If you ever find yourself in a happy place to be able to speak to him I would encourage you to do so.  He is very approachable and entirely open – although one senses he is not about to suffer fools easily.)  

 

Some other scattered notes:-

 

Tiler Peck shared her Tarantella with Joaquin De Luz.  De Luz defies time.  He must easily be in his middle 40s but dances with the zeal of a teenager a la Edward Villella just as he did with ABT (although he was never seen with them in London).  He did the same in his only performance last week opposite the ever illustrious Megan Fairchild in the ebullient Tchaikovsky PDD.  What a dramatic dazzle Fairchild has gained now that she is back from her year ON THE TOWN on Broadway.  Indeed it feeds all she does.  This is a different dancer from the one last seen in London in 2008.  It was also truly glorious to again see this PDD performed AT SPEED.  The audience exploded at the glittering spark of gallantries this thrill fest can entail.  Another artist who has gained in dramatic prowess (not that it was lacking before) from his Broadway stint is Robbie Fairchild.  His Apollo so clearly told the incredible tale of maturity.  Never have I seen that circle where the young man becomes a God so potentially realized.  Fairchild’s eyes were laden with both potential and – at the same time – awareness of the responsibility to come.   That said it is clear that Robbie Fairchild is currently out of shape.  Things that before were SO easy for him are now more effortful.  I must say that I find the fact that he is to spend – I’m told – another YEAR doing An American in Paris in London somewhat alarming.  He has so much to give in the ballet.  Surely there must be others.  I would imagine someone like Andrew Veyette might make a good stab at it.  (London saw him sing as Riff in the West Side Story Suite).  Also I would love to see a black Jerry.  I think that would give a wonderful twist to the tale – and would certainly be appropriate to the personage of the times depicted.  

 

Whereas T. Peck is filled with ever dependable silken steel the amazing Sara Mearns is velvet emotion.  This is a dancer very much in the mould of Osipova; both give 110% of themselves at every performance.  When they are good they are outstanding; when things go wrong they too can be appalling in the extreme.  Mearns gave an example of both last week.  Her first Polyhymnia was, it must be said, a car crash.  She started that fabulous solo off the music and firmly stayed there.  She thrashed; she bashed but it was all to little avail.  Still she was out there batting.  I admired her courage in that same.  Still it was with some trepidation that I went to see her second performance in that role.  I needn’t have worried.  It proved as ravishing as have her performances in Mozartiana (two) – where she appeared for all the world as Grace Kelly on pointe – as well as a truly luminous second movement of Four Temperaments where she has partnered by that extraordinary artist, Tyler Angle.  What can one say:  This chap now has it ALL in the Jock Soto – and perhaps more specifically from a physical stature perspective – Peter Boal mould.  I can think of no finer compliment to give him than that.  His performance in the Tschaikovaky Piano Concerto No. 2 (part of which you will know as Ballet Imperial) was among the finest performances I have seen by a danseur noble ANYWHERE.  The fact London audiences will miss these enormous attributes is – at least for me - heart wrenching.   What stands out among all of this, however, is the talent of the NYCB Company as a whole.  One knowledgeable French lady who I have befriended and who has watched NYCB since Balanchine was still in his choreographic prime said that she had not seen the corps as well drilled in a long time.  She had last seen NYCB on their home front in April.  (I agreed having last seen them in NYC in February).  Many dancers stand out.  If I had to mention just one I would say Joseph Gordon.  You are going to hear much more of this lad – or at least I hope that you will.  He is a class act.  That third movement of Symphony in C sang in the lustrous gleen of the full Balanchine mold. .  

 

Speaking of Pecks (Justin that is – not Tiler – no relation – short I assume of his obvious admiration of her balletic prowess and I – for just one – can’t now imagine anyone not joining in).  I attended the second performance of Peck’s new ballet (Entre Chien et Loup/Between Dog and Wolf? To Faure’s Concerto pour deux pianos et orchesre en re mineur, 1932) for the Paris Opera Ballet (POB) housed within the luxurious expanse of the Bastille.  It is refreshingly sourced in a balletic voice without any unnecessary extremities being forced and yet still being unhesitatingly contemporary in tone.  (To wit: I saw no female crotch thrusts here.)  What has impressed me in all of the five different Justin Peck ballets I have been lucky enough to see thus far is his ability to choreograph for an entire company of dancers.  He has skills to move mass in a unique way that still holds to the balletic milieu.  It is never simply a matter of focusing on one, two or three dancers but of the whole – and he moves them in a language that is uniquely his own, musically acute and dramatically exciting.  At the opening of this ballet – [beautifully designed – and using a laser element very much akin to that Mr. McGregor can sometimes favour but never in a fashion where it might ever pull focus] - the dancers begin with discs of primary colours on their faces.  At first I thought I wasn’t going to like this – but I changed my mine.  It made the reveals all the more potent.  The two glorious pas de deux for the sinuous Sae Eun Park (rose) and the impactful Arthus Raveau (violet) were theatrically potent while never stepping out or away from the glory which is very much affixed on the whole.

 

I found myself longing to see this Peck work again as soon as it was finished.  Happily I can because there is a FREE matinee on Bastille Day (14th July) which – as it happens – is also my 61st birthday.  I myself can’t think of no finer birthday present.  Honestly I can’t.  I will see that … then go to NYCB and watch a programme finishing with Le Palais de Cristal and then walk into the Tullieries to see the full 35 minutes of fireworks.  

 

Also I can think of no better way to celebrate an Independence Day that the free performances being given by the POB and the Comedie Francais.  I would like to suggest that we members of BcoF might begin a campaign and write to Mr. O’Hare (and Mr. Norris at the NT) suggesting that a free performance be presented by the RB and the NT – to all comers – first come; first served – on the occasion of the first British Independence Day, 23.6.2017.  How exciting would that be?  VERY I think.  I found myself musing how close so many of these Independence celebrations are.  The British is now the 23rd of June; the Canadians celebrate the same on 1st July; famously the Americans hold their Independence celebration on 4th July and the French, of course, on the 14th July.  All within a month.  Perhaps it has something to do with the warmer weather. 

 

Second on the POB bill was the first performance by the second cast of Balanchine’s Brahms-Schonberg Quartet (the POB premiere of that same with the first cast was held the night before).  The physical production was ravishing in terms of the rich construct of its costumes such as can only rightfully be expected from as heavily subsidized entities as the POB or the RB.  The romantic wealth of the first movement amongst all that tulle was honoured by Dorothee Gilbert and Mathieu Ganio, ably assisted by Ida Viikinkoski who had also enriched Peck’s Entre Chien et Loup as the ‘vert fonce’).  Sadly things started to slide from there.  By the time of the Fourth Movement – my favourite – the Company – while giving it their best shot – was stymied by the detail Balanchine demanded by the speed.  Karl Paquette is a dancer I have long enjoyed but now I fear he is simply past this challenge – as much as he gives all with his best foot forward.  How one longed for a Damien Woetzel.  The young Laura Hecquet was here sadly all legs and arms akimbo and away from the musicality demanded by Balanchine – a far cry from Farrell, Whelan or – and how I cherish these memories – Monique Meunier.  I very much look forward to seeing the POB first cast in the Brahms-Schonberg on 14th July and I’m sure the Company as a whole will better grow into this fine work in time having now been graced with the opportunity.  That opportunity is ALL.  Balanchine truly taught the 20th Century to DANCE.  

 

I must really run now.  I have to begin my programme in the prison at 1350 and it is now 1316 and I have to get there and get through security which is now ever an exact science.  Still I’m not going to let those lads down.  The freedom they are finding in this dramatic outing is truly heartwarming.  This notation is simply by way of saying please forgive the awkward flow of my consciousness herein ensconced and certainly any errors my dyslexia may have wrought above.  I just wanted to make good on what I had previously promised.  

 

Bless you all, Bruce. 

Edited by Bruce Wall
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi, Bruce,

 

Many thanks for your second review.  Had to smile at your comments on Sara Mearns.   There have been the train wreck nights which made me swear never to see her again in this or that particular role,  then she would come back with a stunningly brilliant performance.   Something of a force of nature.  It's good to hear that Tyler Angle is being appreciated.  He and Andrew Veyette are the finest partners the company has at present, and Tyler has the added virtue of being able to handle the big girls (Mearns & Reichlen).  

 

Thank you again for the reviews.  Much appreciated.

 

WH

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Have a few minutes and so I thought I’d add a few more thoughts about the NYCB performances.  This is largely because in my last outing I (amazingly) failed to mention the glory that Adrian Danchig-Waring has so obviously become.  This young man – [in the mould of Tiler Peck who seemingly defines afresh each role she dances for a new generation a la Farrell – her Serenade Waltz girl in two performances this week being nothing less than a spectacle of climatic buoyancy and breathtaking stretch] – Danchig-Waring etches each undertaking with his heart – each historic mesh of balletic moments are forged anew.  The space around him simply crackles.  His partnering in the third segment of the Company’s first outing of Serenade last week was nothing less than a play unto itself.  I have never seen this role – nor the partnering - so well defined.  It was always a hair-shivering conversation.   

 

Jann Perry in the DanceTabs review felt that Ask le Cour’s Phelegmatic in 4Ts was less than ‘impressive’.  I agree.  La Cour does not invest.  He never does.  He never has.  His strength is quite simply his size and the fact that he can partner larger women.  In a similar light Danchig-Waring’s Phelegmatic sang a sorrowful tale that went straight to your heart.  He paints stunningly with his hands.  He does so in toto. He more than fills every moment with an individuality that is far from any dancer's commonplace.  Would that Parry could have seen the opening performance of the NYCB Paris season – in the same programme she reviewed. She would then have been able to see both Peck and Danchig-Waring in their full glory.  The critic’s occasionally sweeping generalisations would then have had reason to alter methinks. 

 

The first outing of Robbins’ West Side Story Suite (as seen in London in 2008) on this particular NYCB sojourn was a rather wan affair I fear.  I feel confident Robbins (were he still with us) would have immediately run backstage and had a field day.  

 

Chase Finlay as Tony looked everything.  But then he always does given his God graced sun-kissed danseur body ideal.  Still – as is equally so often the case - the potential stops short.  His feet are rarely pointed (when they should be) and all is forged in a general framework irrespective of what the choreography may be.  Heaven knows Robbins ALWAYS was and remains about detail.  Robbins – like Ashton - LIVES there.  Robbins ALWAYS has.  I myself well remember being alarmed when finding myself backstage at State Theatre and hearing – in the distance - the volume of Robbins’ screams in the face of a young dancer (who will remain nameless) who had seemingly fudged a simple gesture that the master choreographer felt key in DANCES AT A GATHERING.  At the time it seemed every bit as brutal (from a vocal perspective) as Tsiskaridze’s moments of manhandling of those fragile young Russian dancers in the documentary shown on RT late last night.  (Of course that may have been culled in its emphasis by an editor.)  Chase, however, would HERE have been rightfully chastised as much by Robbins in WSSS as by Balanchine for his performance in the first movement of Western Symphony – although one suspects that Balanchine may not have gone in for that.  ‘Our boys don’t fight’ he used to say.  I suspect he might just have moved on;  dancers being flowers and all that.  I don’t find one take any worse or better than the other.  It is just a different kind of caring.  Indifference, of course, is the real crime.  It's like those people who insist they don't like something and then can't - or simply won't - tell you why.  Infuriating.   

 

The scope of the difference in WSSS was blessedly VERY CLEARLY to be seen in the second performance.  The curtain went up and there was Adrian Danchig-Waring – even looking for a moment like that soul-filled wonder that was – and I assume still is - another Robbie – Robbie La Fosse.  (One remembers that it was Robbins who brought La Fosse into NYCB from ABT and that La Fosse originated the depiction of Tony in ROBBINS’ BROADWAY for which he quite rightly got a Tony nomination – some time before this NYCB realisation of the same and which production – if memory serves – was realised largely to fill proverbial coffers.  [british audiences have to remember that NYCB has nowhere near the level of public subsidy of any of the major British companies, then or now.)  [Listen to this very reflective reunion interview with members – including La Fosse – of the original ROBBINS’ BROADWAY cast here.  It is VERY instructive about the detail Robbins’ deemed entirely necessary to his whole.]  

 

Danchig-Waring filled every pour of the Chase chasm with intelligent pith and animated passion.  It changed everything and made the ending – with all the dancers singing – including such talents as Joseph Gordon and Troy Schumacher (himself a skilled choreographer) - as incredibly moving as it was meant to be.  The role of Maria/Juliet is here simply a cipher.  It was danced by the same dancer as in the first cast but now she had a beating heart thanks to being held in Danchig-Waring’s reflection.  The fights which had been artificial in the extreme on Monday were here electrifying.  Robbie Fairchild – bless him – one of nature’s Tonys - is no Riff; try as ably as he might.  Andrew Veyette (as London saw) is far more adept; far more believably proletariat.  (Veyette lost his body mic while dancing but still managed to bat his song up to the 5th etage whereas one struggled to hear Fairchild with the amplifying unit firmly affixed but two days before.).  Whereas Justin Peck (much as I hugely admire the enticing balletic thrill of his choreographic genius) was but awkward and misplaced as Bernado.  Not so the boy from the Bronx, Amar Ramasar.  He’d grown up with gang warfare and you believed his every movement; his every look; his every word.  Robbins’ truth was honoured there as it was in Ana Sophia Scheller’s Anita which was much more explicit in its Puerto Rican accent both in song and dance than in the hands of her first cast counterpart.  This is especially impressive when one remembers that English is not Scheller’s first language and that this particular evening marked her debut in the role.  Well done Girl.  

 

One final note:  Sara Mearns continues to delight while going out on her considerable and ever individualistic if not idiosyncratic limbs.  Her Piano Concerto No. 2 was exotically perfumed with Rita Hayworth allure while her Western Symphony third movement Miss was rife with Mae West snap only that it was the gams not a handbag that was being zealously swung.  Still those always knowing smiles succeeded in warmly embracing both.

Edited by Bruce Wall
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Bruce, it was good to meet and talk with you on Monday and Tuesday. Please keep the reviews coming as I look forward to hearing about the rest of the season. I only wish it had been possible for me to attend more performances.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Pulcinella,  It was lovely to meet you and DonQFan as well.  I'm glad you got home safely.  

 

Last night - LAST NIGHT - was the standout programme thus far. THAT IS FOR SURE.  Certainly it has made my trip ENTIRELY WORTHWHILE.  (Well, that - and the work of the lads in the prison as well.  They are proving a joy.) 

 

It was the Wheeldon/Ratmansky/Peck Programme.  ALL were stunning new works; well, Paris premieres.  The company was on FIRE.  

 

The Wheeldon - ESTANCIA - was a narrative event that was strap-filled with ingenuity.  This was very much about story through ballet in the Ashtonian sense but with an openness; a freedom that came from its Southern American setting.  Tiler Peck and a truly outstanding Tyler Angle were just MAGNIFICENT; both heart-stopping in their dramatic detail - as was the whole company.  

 

The Ratmansky was so rich in the kind of wit that one used to find in Ashton - wit deployed entirely through the balletic steps themselves.  It was wonderful to see how the whole NYCB ensemble - whether they be principal or corps member - were so equal in their core responsibilities.  Sterling Hyltin shone in the Wendy Whelan role (and I hadn't seen it since that time) and the men - THE MEN - the ever wonderful Tyler Angle, Adrian Dachig-Waring, Gonzalo Garcia; Joseph Gordon (mark my words this boy will be a star - not perhaps seen in London - but cherished by ballet lovers the world over); and the ever enchanting Amar Ramasar - the glory of that smile is life enriching - glistened.  Together and apart they shone - and their partnering was a masterclass in and of itself.  Sara Mearns last night - in the role she originated - was perfumed a la Kay Kendall - or was that Carol Lombard - No, no, no.  I know.  It was Claudette Colbert - with humour shot through truthful soul.  The privileged French audience adored the whole in a way I understand the British no longer could ... but then they obviously in their considerable number LIKE Ratmansky.  The two chic French ladies were standing and screaming 'Bravo' at this work's end ... and joining solidly in the communal rythmic claps.  For the record the curtain raised and lowered seven times.  

 

That would, of course, have been all fine and well ... but this particular evening, however, was HISTORIC for a reason.... On the 12th Curtain Call for Justin Peck's magnificent undertaking 'Everywhere We Go' the 28 year old master choreographer was pulled out on the stage - unwillingly it seemed - replete with baseball cap - and crowned in audience volume as what surely - at this point - must be the crown of the BALLET choreographic voice of the 21st Century.  Is this deserved?  From what I've seen IT IS.  The cheers, THE CHEERS; pounding and drumming were entirely celebratory ... and the theatre - one the size of the Coliseum - was FULL on a night when France not only played Portugal but WON.  Getting through the Marais last night took some doing I can tell you.  

 

Indeed we were ALL winners last night ... and not just because the stunning talents of Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle danced twice - and because so many other key players were on hand - but because each choreographer chose to celebrate the whole rather than any one small segment; because there was no hunts in any dark for any dancer; because the design for each piece gave entirely way to the genius of the dance being presented as a whole; because ALL was refeshingly rooted in a voice built in, through and around BALLETbut still each voice was entirely original.  I haven't seen anything cumulatively this BALLETICALLY potent - from an original perspective - FOR A LONG TIME.  

 

I think it is clear now who - when Peter Martins finally shakes off this mortal coil - not only might take over - or is it up? - the reigns of NYCB - but MUST.  Justin Peck could not have developed his EXTRAORDINARY voice - and his ability to move entire legions of ballet dancers - were it not for Balanchine .. but his voice - PECK'S VOICE - is uniquely his own.  

 

And last night's score - THE SCORE - by young Sufjan Stevens - WAS EQUALLY AS consequentially red letter.  I've not seen an audience rise up in face of a score in this fashion at a BALLET since Glass let loose IN THE UPPER ROOM for Twyla Tharp at that original opening performance for ABT.  Stevens is going to be just as important - AS SIGNIFICANT - a composer on the world front and will - it's clear - be the Stravinsky to Peck's genius.  He did after all compose the music for Peck's first major mainstage ballet hit, The Year of the Rabbit.  (If you want to see that equally stunning peice - it is in the HET Ballet rep.)  As much as I like and admire Joby Talbot - and I sincerely do - this music - the score for EVERYWHERE WE GO leaves his work in the dark.  This is so fresh ... so forward leading .... I MUST GET A COPY - IF IT IS AVAILABLE - GIVEN THAT IT WAS AN ORIGINAL NYCB COMMISSION - FOR MY IPOD.

 

Did I like it :: You betcha ... I LOVED IT.  

Must go now ... Have to eat something before another NYCB treat tonight ... Another All Balanchine programme.  (Won't hear a complaint from me on that score) .... especially as Tiler Peck is again dancing twice :)

Edited by Bruce Wall
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great reviews Bruce - lovely to meet you too!  I certainly enjoyed Monday and Tuesday's performances my stand outs are Western Symphony, that stunning Tarantella with Tiler Peck and Joaquin deLuz and then Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto No2 on Tuesday and Serenade. I may yet go to the matinee of the Wheeldon/Ratmanksy/Peck triple...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, DonQFan, I do so hope you can make the matinee ... The thrill of Thursday night still lives with me.  

 

I hadn't intended to write a 'review' ... more simple ramblings I think .... when I checked in on line having got out of the prison yesterday.  I had just meant to respond to dear Pulcinella's kind note.  

 

One thing I should clarify ... the reason why I felt Thursday night at the Chatelet Theatre was 'historic' ... i.e., the crowning as a 21st Century master BALLET choreographer of Justin Peck was simply because it was IN PARIS ... Why?  Well, here this substantive theatre was filled that evening with people who had come for BALLET - completely away from any (or at least away from any large amount of) local cliques - such as you always get, say, at the McGregor openings at the ROH in London who will roar at anything ... and who are most often determinedly cross-over specialists.  Let's be clear:  This was about BALLET - pure if not so simple.  Certainly I don't think you would get this in London ... and I'm fairly sure - sadly - you wouldn't now find it in NYC.  The Koch is NEVER filled for programmes like this.  Let's be honest:  NEVER.  The dance-boom that I was a privileged period there is no question ... and many of the people who not only drove that period but avidly supported it are sadly no longer with us.  Also the atmosphere in Paris is STILL different.  The arts educational regimes have paid off.  It is tangible.  You can see that fact reflected in the response of the NYCB dancers themselves.  As ever in Paris, Robbie Fairchild is jumping up and down.  He knows why.  This feeds him - as it does his wife - the ever luminous Tiler Peck - and last night in 4T's Fairchild was TRULY mesmeric ... as were Sara Mearns and that GREAT danceur, Tyler Angle ... and Ramasar .... so soulful in his rendition of Phlegmatic.  In my mind's eye I could feel the sadly late Albert Evans pound the air.  'Yes, yes, YES!' I heard him hollar.  

 

Thursday's was an immediate - if objective response - from an informed - a VERY well informed in BALLET - audience.  Their history propelled the determination of their informed voice.  Robbins too knew this all too well.  As he publically stated it was for this reason that he chose the Paris Opera Ballet as the substantive receptacal  for his balletic outpourings in Europe.    

 

But don't just take my word(s) about EVERYWHERE WE GO .... Alastair Macauley (the British born dance critic of the NYT) ... said (and I'll limit myself to the BcoF sentence guidelines) at the work's 2014 NYCB Gala premiere ... Peck's 'mastery of complex geometries is where his virtuosity is most evident ... In several scenes, all brilliant, Mr. Peck juxtaposes a horizontal line ensemble with a vertical one; something different and momentous happens each time.  We leave the theatre intoxicated; our heads full of multiple layers of the choreographic art' ... and one last sentence, Macauley informs that EVERYWHERE WE GO - which was far from Peck's first major ballet - 'suggests that young Mr. Peck can do anything he wants with ballet; a virtuoso of the form.'    

 

I will so look forward to the day when when London might sample some of this glory; one sourced entirely in a BALLETIC idiom.  Perhaps it will be when one of the major Russian ballet companies visit - much as was the case with Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH - again created for NYCB - and first shown to British audiences by the Mariinsky Ballet Company.  

 

Hats off to Peter Martins for sticking - through ALL these years - STRICTLY to the balletic idiom.  He has always insisted that ANY choreographer who worked with NYCB - no matter what their background - must stay with that same - much as Balanchine had determined.  Choreographers couldn't just fly in and create as per their own established comfort zone.  Mark Morris said that his work with the NYCB Choreographic Institute was amongst his most rewarding and challenging in this regard.  History has now shown it has paid dividends for him and many others.  I think one of the young British choreographers who too has stuck to this way of thinking - to the BALLET idiom itself - is young George Williamson.  I would love to see George get more opportunities in the UK ... and completely understand why he has twice been cherished  at the NYCB Choreographic Institute - George told me that he 'had never seen dancers so motivated' - as much as with HET Ballet ... I myself was delighted when his new story ballet for the Lithuanian National Ballet proved such a triumph. Quite right too.   (Was that reported here?  I'm not sure.  I didn't see anything about that myself ... but I have been travelling for work so much I could well have missed it.)   

Edited by Bruce Wall
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given that this prison in Paris is on its luncheon lock-down, I am going to steal a few minutes to simply say what a continuing joy it is to see consecutive performances by this one company; especially one doing 29 different BALLETS in three weeks.  (Les Etes de la Danse gave a similar opportunity with SFB a couple of years ago when they also performed a similar number of different BALLETIC works over the same time frame.)  

 

I had oh so regretted having to miss the RBS performance, always a highlight of any year (the more detailed of your kind reviews have to some degree made up for that) and the Osipova contemporary programme (which since I made my Paris arrangements has of course noted a September Sadler's return and is also now being broadcast on Sky next week).  Still this concentrated opportunity to catch up with NYCB is proving a total joy.  (I also had the opportunity to see a MAGNIFICENT production of Aida - with a stunning performance by Daniella Barcelona as Amneris - at the Bastille on Sunday.  So many people were absent due to the Euro 2016 football finals that I was able to sit in the first row of the first ring for just five Euros.  That said, I did have to miss the Wimbledon men's final.  (I must confess finding it a tad ironic having paid my license fee in the UK NOT be able to gain access to BBC broadcasts when in Paris due to 'territorial restrictions' while we are still - at least for the moment I believe - technically 'part' of Europe.)  

 

For any who may be interested Les Etes de la Danse will be presenting the Joffrey Ballet next year and Houston Ballet the year after that and HET National Ballet the year following. Please know I'm certain all of those companies will present a ballet/contemporary mix which may appeal/feel more comfortable to some hereabouts.  Again, you will be able to see these fine companies over an intensive time frame (three weeks) offer a considerable diversity of fare.  It will not sadly be at the Theatre du Chatelet as it closes on 8th January with the last performance of 42nd Street for a two year rennovation programme.  I have heard they may well use the Theatre de la Ville - famous, of course, for performances by Sarah Bernhardt amongst others - just across the street.  Paris is truly blessed with a considerable variety of venues appropriate to feature the world's major dance companies outside, of course, of the POB itself.  

 

It was a real privilege to watch Taylor Stanley take over the male role in the first movement of Western Symphony.  That final solo came out all guns blazing and perfect placement at speed.  What a joy this young artist is ... as is the wonderful corps member David Prottas ... who very much stood out for me in WSSS and last night in his featured performance in the second cast doing Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition.  This is, I think, the sixth time I've seen that ballet - and even post Whelan - it continues to grow ever more magical and engrossing in its intricacy and wit.  In that same performance of Western Symphony mentioned the ever zealous Sara Mearns further glorified that last movement easily inspiring the wonderfully spirited Zachary Catozaro in his portrayal of a lusting cowboy.  I have no idea what drug Mearns was on during that element on Saturday afternoon ... but whatever it is I want some of it.  Jann Perry in DANCETABS may have felt that NYCB dancers (in the one performance she reviewed) did not have 'many multiple, multiple pirouettes - they have to move too fast for such virtuosity.'  I beg to differ.  Ms. Perry needs I think to get out to more - or certainly to more varied - NYCB fare.  In this one movement - the WS Third - Ms. Mearns gave a masterclass in fouettes - throwing in triples and one quadruple - often au couvent - and ending in a perfect second which Osipova herself sometimes does not accomplish - although Rojo ALWAYS does.  How I wished that the Royal Ballet might invite her - not to dance in Acosta's Don Q - that would clearly be a waste of her time and a slight on the RB's own very talented established and upcoming personnel - (to wit I personally feel that the RB should ONLY bring guests in - short of a dire emergency - who have explicit and internationally recognised experise in a specific repertory such as is the NYCB case historically) but to give - if only for an hour - a masterclass on how best to deliver consistent Italian Fouettes to the talented RB soloist ladies who do - or would like to tackle - the Queen of the Dryads in that same production.  In that particular performance of Western Symphony's last movement Mearns delivered eight rock solid Italian fouettes on spot and then a further four turning on the diagonal with pirouettes interspersed in between'.  The audience indulged their delight with frequent bursts of applause.  Well deserved.  Once again, Ms. Mearns:  BRAVA!

 

I'd like to end this sojourn with a word of praise for the extraordinary Amar Ramasar.  What a fantastically well rounded artist he has become.  I remember vividly his earliest days in the corps when he always appeared to be something of a card.  What a thrill to see this young lad from the Bronx - one who first became engaged in ballet through NYCB's own schools' outreach programmes featuring SAB students - develop into a master partner, such a strong technician and - perhaps above all - such a wonderfully dramatic artist.  His performance last night as the lead stallion in Wheeldon's Estancia was THRILLING in its theatrical detail through dance.  (There was part of me really wanting to see him - just once - with the Bolshoi in Spartacus - and I don't even like the ballet.)  You could practically hear Ramasar bray through that mussle on his face .... and his smile in the next ballet ... the unmittigated joy of THAT SMILE ... in partnering the ever inspiring Tiler Peck in the Ratmansky was simply life affirming.  It is still glistening in my memory.  More and more I am finding myself grateful for this young artist's majestic humility in dance as I was for young Preston Chamblee's stunning partnering of Unity Phelan in Martins' intriguing The Infernal Machine.  Can it only be two years ago since he was doing the last movement of WS in his own SAB showcase?  I believe it was.  How wonderful too that NYCB is celebrating racial diversity through such genuine technical and theatrical talents that would surely speak anywhere.  

 

As I said to one American lady who was bemoaning the Trump factor on the way out:  'NYCB is one reason to be proud to be an American'.  I meant that sincerely ... even though I renounced my own American nationality - one I once worked - through work - SO hard to gain - in early December of last year in Bratislava.  I had to pay $2,350 to exercise my 'inalienable right' on that occasion ... but some principles are worth it .. or at least I felt so at the time.  The politic she was referring to had simply defeated my boundaries as well ... and I wanted to note that change for my own historic record if nothing else.  No one will or should care but me of course.  Still, my pride in the continuing potential that IS NYCB remains steadfast.  There's part of me that thinks it always will and - perhaps selfishly that - like Balanchine - this must surely belong - like Robbins, Wheeldon and now Peck - to a larger world; to time ... for time is what they so majestically toy with  :)   

There is so, SO much to be grateful for.  

 

I've just now heard the bell that marks the free-flow of prisoners herein.  Back to another session's exitement ... and then another NYCB performance ... this one with the entrancing drama of Balanchine's La Valse.  Can't wait :)

Edited by Bruce Wall
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few comments about last night's performance/cast - billed as the 'Soiree en hommage a Violette Verdy'.  This was a very special presentation - where each ballet was performed to French music - be it Gounod, Ravel or Bizet - and one of the ballets (Sonatine) was actually created on the glowing gifts of Ms. Verdy by our 20th Century Master Choreographer.  I realise there may now be some here who will not have heard of this extraordinary worman.  This is entirely understandable as her career was largely based in the ballet capitals of Paris and New York but her educational input was surely felt worldwide and she did have a local connection in the British capital having been a soloist for a period of two years with what was then London Festival Ballet (now ENB) at - amazingly enough - the time of my own birth - which - as of tomorrow - will have been 61 years ago.  

 

How extraordinary it was to see La Valse again.  I much prefer the drama of Balanchine's take on Ravel's score over Ashton's unusally (well, unusal for Ashton I mean) generic one - much as I prefer - on the whole - Ashton's rendering of Shakespeare's MSND over the two act Balanchine version - although the latter does have that ravishing second act PDD.  In La Valse Balanchine not only encaspulates the theatricality of the music in the build of is own dramatic narrative but encapsulates through the choreography itself (and Karinska's entrancing costumes) the very essence of the French national characteristic - including waving the various perfumes of their sometimes austere chic - which is in and of itself, of course, an oxymoron.  Sterling Hyltin played the lead female - that Faustian femme all too fatale in the end - with a dramatic skill to equal the very best of the RB's fine artistry be it Osipova's unforgettably besotted Natayla Petrovna or Francesca Hayward's truly magnificent Manon.  Hyltin - a dancer unrecognisable today from the very young artist seen with NYCB on the Coliseum stage in 2008 - was simply electrifying as the catalytic icon in this ballet - a role Violete Verdy oft celebrated.   In fact I think it is quite the best thing I have ever seen Hyltin do - and I have been lucky enough to see her perform a wide variety of assignments.  I am SO pleased this performance is to be recorded.  It fully deserves to be.  Hyltin's ravishingly astute portrayal was every inch as revealatory as was Amar Ramasar's intoxicating figure of death.  Both even now loom in my mind's eye.  

 

The Symphony in C continues too to loom large - in terms of its unique speed; a speed with an expansive precision one just does not oft see on local stages.  Certainly I have not seen that first movement better danced (and that includes at NYCB) since the time of Merrill Ashley (which was when I first saw the ballet)  Today it is etched by the truly extraordinary gifts of Tiler Peck.  One sits in awe at her ability to make what you know is SO difficult appear as if it was the easiest thing on earth - and do so with such musical grace.  Tyler Angle's partnering in the second movement continues to be yet another master-class in the art form.  This is a prince among men.  What made this performance stand out for me however was Peter Martins bravery.  Here - in Paris - in a performance which is to be immortalised - he has thrust a young APPRENTICE - one Alston McGill - into the third movement's female lead.  Nerves obviously played a part - as she took a major spill upon entrance - but she got herself up immediately - no dusting necessary - and danced as if the joy of her art depended on it.  It did and she burnished it with pride.  The audience got on board and championed her.  She was also caringly partnered - such an important art form in and of itself - by the ever precise and proud Anthony Huxley.  London won't have really seen this dazzling and easy technician who is graced with wonderful musicality and now, sadly, probably won't.  (Well not under the Martins' banner.) It is London's loss.  The speed and dazzle of Huxley's entrechats would make even Sarafanov blush I imagine.  Again Taylor Stanley brought keen honour to the fourth movement and the entire company ensured that the NYCB flag - colourfully unfurled - fly proud.  The largely French audience - as ever so dedicated - so informed - so rightly demanding - and SO numerous - (no fiscal losses on this tour methinks) - celebrated the achievement of one and all.  

 

But one final note - in light again of a few of Jann Perry's generalisations in Dancetabs - and based on what I have sometimes heard in the ROH hallways:  Contrary to sometimes popular opinion NYCB dancers do NOT just do neo-classical or contemporay ballets.  This, I fear, is now simply inaccurate.  Yes, of course, they dance a huge range of Balanchine (he created 420 ballets after all), Robbins, Peck, Wheeldon, Scarlett, Ratmansky and a host of other dance makers who are even now (if not just lately) contemporary - including the one piece that McGregor has created on NYCB.  HOWEVER ALL of these artists will have additionally appeared in Swan Lake (where Sara Mearns has been hailed not only in the US but in Europe for her O/O), in Sleeping Beauty (where Tiler Peck has too been hailed as one of this Century's great Auroras - sadly missed by London); in Romeo and Juliet; in Coppelia, in La Sylphide; in The Nutcracker, etc.  The balance of their stamina is I think better honed now in a classical sense than has ever perhaps been the case in the past.  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just have to drop in - on this French holiday - my birthday - to make a few comments about today so far.  This is not strictly about New York City Ballet but it is about Peck and Balanchine and, heck, you don't get Paris through a more NYCB prism than that. 

 

The morning started off with the historic military parade - and kindly the predicted rain kindly held off.  It was a heroically fevered affair .. but I still think the British handle this kind of spectacular affair better than anyone else.  Then on to the Bastille (with the tricolours flying VERY high indeed) where the annual complimentary performance by the national opera/ballet company is traditionally held in the opera house there located.  The event was ticketed this year for the first time due to security reasons.  All tickets had disappeared within two hours of opened for attainment.  In the past thousands of people had queued many hours to rush in the doors and fill the thousands of seats first come, first served.  Not now.  Consequently I was surprised when I rolled up – a tad before one hour in advance of the performance.  I didn’t have a ticket.  Though I had made up two little signs – one for each hand – requesting but one ‘billet’.  I saw two lines of literally hundreds – if not a thousand people.  They must be the ticket holders I thought waiting to go in.  Someone must have a spare.  

 

I started at the front of one line and began to work my way down – signs and smile ready and in place.  People almost immediately started to crowd around me.  Suddenly I heard: ‘Hey Monsieur’ (or words to that effect) ‘we’re ALL looking for tickets!’.  This was the returns queue.  At precisely that moment a few of my new-found French friends (who have piled with me into the Chatelet to devour the NYCB adventures) came along and pulled me aside.  ‘We have a ticket for you.  Happy Birthday’.  It proved to be a wonderful gift.  

 

It's been a long time since I've been in a theatre where a performance started with people standing for the national anthem.  Here the La Marseillaise was played with such proud fervour by the Paris Opera Orchestra..  'We WILL Overcome' they - and those standing - seem to demand.  (One of my friends reminded me that one of the orchestra members had been killed in the November terrorist attacks in Paris.)  I was genuinely moved.  I'm sure I will equally moved when 'God Save the Queen' proudly cries out on the occasion of the first UK Day of Independence, 23.6.17.at what I pray might be the first free 'people's matinee' to mark that day by the Royal Ballet.  

 

What a difference a cast can make.  I very much enjoyed the new Peck piece before … as I’ve noted before … and was deeply appreciative to watch it again better understanding how it toys not only with the hue of colour but – most markedly – with its shifting temperature through the talented bodies of a second cast of young POB dancers.  At 25 minutes ‘Entre Chien et Loup’ is a wonderful whole and pierces and evaporates aside its enchanting Poulec score.  So, SO much potential lies in this young man’s hands.  It is a true honour to observe the development of his oeuvre.  I pray that London may one day get a chance to sample these intriguing balletic wares.  

 

The real difference, however, lay in the POB of Balanchine’s landmark BRAHMS-SCHONBERG QUARTET.  Indeed this was the only piece of music on the bill today for me (out of one Peck and five Balanchine treats) that wasn’t French.  

 

Why was it now different you ask?  I’ll tell you.  Whereas in the first cast I saw – in fact the production’s second - Dorothee Gilbert and Mathieu Ganio had enchanted in the enchanting first movement – and I did to some degree miss their appropriate hauteur on this round – it was the rest was almost indescribably improved here.  Now you could actually SEE the shape of the Balanchine genius without squinting into one’s memory.  You could sit back and thrill and that’s exactly what this lucky audience did.  

 

In the intoxicating second movement Amandine Albisson was able to enrapture by enveloping at least a hint of Balanchine’s wit such as was sourced for the role’s originator Patricia McBride (who happily was still dancing the role when I first saw the ballet.  Albisson was able to do so by having the distinct advantage of being in the experienced arms of Stephane Bullion.  

 

However it was in the final two movements that the difference mentioned was really FELT.  Balanchine’s third movement of this masterwork (has it ever been seen in London?) is as long as many of his shorter ballets.  (The entire work is 50 minutes long – so about as long as the entire first act of Scarlett’s Frankenstein.)  NOW – quite suddenly the POB Company looked ravishing in the piece whereas before they had only been awkward.  In this movement they were led by an insolent Myriam Ould-Braham and a TRULY ravishing Mathias Heymann.  What an intoxicating joy this dancer has developed into.  His second solo was veritable meal of happiness longing to be devoured.  He flew as high as the music demanded; his placement was as easy as his smile.  This was a musical and balletic thrill.

 

Now, let me tell you:  If I had to take one – just ONE Balanchine movement to some desert island somewhere - one those few movements I would strive to chose from would be the fourth movement of THIS ballet.  (Surely this has been seen in the UK somewhere/sometime?  Alison, perhaps you can fill us/me in.)  The first time I saw this work – now one of my favourites -  the creators of this movement in the original 1966 producton (Suzanne Farrell and Jacques D’Amboise) were still stunning the world with it.  Still perhaps the performances I remember to this day more fondly than any others – (although it is ALWAYS almost IMPOSSIBLE to FORGET Suzanne) – were those of Damien Woetzel (one of the 20th Century’s GREAT danseurs) and Monique Meunier.  NOW – TODAY - It was SO much more easy to sit back and recall the joy of those memories while watching the very fine efforts of Alice Renavand and Josua Hoffalt.  Whereas the earlier pair simply didn’t get ‘IT’, this grouping were at least within the bounds of this FANTASTICAL room, one rife with motifs of Hungarian folk dances seen through a balletic prism of genius.  

 

It was – as I said – a wonderful – and entirely enriching - gift by my wonderful new friends.  I am I promise more than grateful. 

Edited by Bruce Wall
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a final notation to say that the end of the NYCB season was truly spectacular.  The Friday night was SO moving.  The entire company was in street clothes as the curtain rose and speeches were made about the only way they knew how to defy the terrorists and the horror of the night before in Nice was to dance ... and then DANCE THEY DID.  Because of its latter content, Justin Peck's EVERYWHERE WE GO took on a special significance that evening.  It sent shivers down my spine ... and made us all appreciate just lucky we were to be alive.  I, myself, had been standing on a bridge in Paris watching the fireworks from the Eiffel Tower the night before - as were some of the NYCB dancers.  There but for God ...

 

The final Saturday was glorious - both matinee and evening ... and it was made ESPECIALLY so by having some wonderful chats with two wonderful ladies, DonQFan and SheilaC.  Bless you both.  It was also wonderful to have a chance to celebrate with so many of my new French friends.  These three weeks have been a privilege.  For a moment if made me recall so many of the experiences I knew during the dance boom in a NYC which - short of NYCB - no longer exists in current reality.  .  

 

You can still see the live relay of the final NYCB/Les Etes de la Danse performance here:  http://concert.arte.tv/fr/balanchine-new-york-paris-au-theatre-du-chatelet   I've just dipped in and out ... but it is wonderful that it is truly just an open relay recording of the ballet.  No fuss; no attempts at any overarching commentary (not that intermission features at their best aren't wonderful things) and happily you don't get a lot of unnecessary close ups which cut off the view of the actual choreography.  You just get ballet - front and centre ... and you can pull through the real time intervals.  I would love to hear what experts like FLOSS thought ot La Valse ... and of course here is a chance to glimpse the divine Ms. Peck in the first movement of Symphony in C; Tyler Angle (a lot of Ti/ylers I know) give YET ANOTHER masterclass in partnering in the second movement and - SO MOVING - that young SUMMER APPRENTICE - Alston McGill fly about in the third and fourth movements.   For me her smile at the end of the third says it all.  This is a tiny lass who knows how dance huge.  Good on you, Girl ;)

 

Above all you get to hear an echo of the wave of enraptured sound of the Parisian audience for ballet.  Sadly you don't get to see Robbie Fairchild grab at his heart or jump up and down (as he always does in Paris) or the truly OUTSTANDING Amar Ramasar (who has become one of my favourite dancers) end up clapping along rhythmically with the audience.  His child-like glee is every bit as infectious as is the NYCB's Company's passion - in their current whole - for their dedicated art form.  It is a BALM for the soul.  No wonder Peter Martins on the last night said that Paris was 'our most favourite city to dance in outslde of New York'.  I couldn't myself imagine any better for ballet just now.

 

Yes.  Those three weeks were a gift.  A French friend has already written me to say that NYCB has already said they will be returning with a full programme of contemporary ballet choreography ... which means a boat load of Justin Peck.  That's AOK with me.  Those cheers on Saturday afternoon had been every bit as long, hard and well deserved as they had the previous Thursday which I spoke about above.  Bring it on I say.  Can't wait.  As ever, I only wish London audiences might someday (post the Martins' regime as it won't happen now before) have a taste of the same.  It is very much worth sharing.  Who knows, maybe by that time Ms. McGill will be a principal.  A happy thought to end on indeed.  

Edited by Bruce Wall
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can only endorse Bruce's reviews - I thoroughly enjoyed the 4 performances I saw.  Stand outs for me are Tiler Peck/Joaquin deLuz in Tarantella (coping with that costume malfunction at such speed was no mean feat either), Western Symphony, Walpurgisnacht, La Valse and the fabulous finale piece Symphony in C with all the wonderful leads.  I am so glad Bruce pointed out the talents of Alston McGill to me before the performance by Bruce - she's definitely one to watch for the future a super dancer indeed.

A couple of curtain call pics - Walpurgisnacht and Symphony in C

CnpNj7MWIAAtV0K.jpg

Lauren Lovette, Sara Mearns, Adrian Danchig-Waring

 

 

CnpK8ZQWEAAXbFe.jpgTiler Peck and Andrew Vyette and (far right) Teresa Reichlen

Edited by Don Q Fan
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

One of the programmes NYCB performed in Paris is currently available on Arte France.It is the all French programme of Balanchine ballets beginning with Walpurgis Night which uses music by Gonoud composed for the last act of Faust.Then there are two ballets using music by Ravel, a pas de deux called Sonatine, which is followed by Balanchine's La Valse which is a sort dance of death.This ballet combines two unconnected scores by Ravel. The programme ends with Symphony in C.The whole programme is just under two hours long.

 

You can find the programme by typing "Arte France Balanchine" into your search engine. I have no idea how long it will be available.

Edited by FLOSS
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...