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NYCB Opens Historic 75th Anniversary Season

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Bruce Wall

Bruce Wall

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You could feel the rapture on Tuesday night in the house that (to a large extent) Balanchine built.  I don't sadly have time any longer to write reviews for BcoF given my work load, but I simply couldn't let this pass without mention.  The sense of thrill was palpable.  The 2023 NYCB Fall Season opened with a week of Jewels.  This Fall Season is ALL Balanchine.  Isabella Woodward - rife with her own native Parisian chic - was entirely redolent in the Verdy role in Emeralds.  Mira Nadon - continues to add natural ease - not to mention a caustic glint of humour in those all-persuasive eyes - to her 1940's Hollywood glean.  Some people have 'star' written all over them.  This girl - as ever - has whatever that IS in spades.  Much as she did last winter when she was thrown into the intoxicating Stravinsky Violin Concerto in place of Sara Mearns here she - again in toy with Igor - made the 'Tall Girl' in Rubies her own.  The wit and wisdom of her voluptuous limbs all so precisely agog don’t just startle; they awe.  In Diamonds Mearns clearly had something to prove - and, boy, did she do it.  This lady needs a world-sized stage to blaze in and her principal turn in Diamonds was one that I'm certain has now already become legendary.  This was ballerina plus ... and then some.  She was writing history.  The spirit of Balanchine was I'm fully confident gleaming from his usual place in the wings.

 

This – after all is said and done - is the Company that built my appreciation for ballet and every time I take my seat in State Theatre I know it is here that I have ‘balletically’ come home.  The boy who grew up in Fourth Ring standing room went to yesterday's rehearsal.  (If you give $1,000 a year to NYCB you can go to three stage rehearsals per week throughout all of the annual seasons - plus Dress Rehearsals - as well as observe SAB classes - all on a complimentary basis - and that's in addition to the much appreciated ticket priority.)  These stage rehearsals are usually two to two and a half hours in length.  They are not 'staged' in the sense of the Royal's insights.  These are FOR the Company purely - not YOU.  You are ONLY there because of the largess of your privilege.  You are a fly on THEIR wall.  You are not allowed to speak or applaud.  The acoustic of this wonderful theatre is such that - as you can hear the people on stage - they can hear you - even in a loud whisper. You sit in the splendour of the First Ring - but not in the first row.  You might be seen.  The conductors sit aside the pianist to one side.  The ballet masters are on the stage – as are the dance covers at the back. 

Yesterday’s rehearsal featured two works.  The first was Stars and Stripes from the 2nd Movement forward.  There are 17 men and 41 women in this work.  The ever-stunning Roman Mejia – still SO young and even now clearly a major 21st Century star - and the ‘better-than-ever’ Megan Fairchild wittily commanded in the infamously dangerous delights of the final PDD.  Mejia’s feet as much as his wicked grin define wit.  ALL is fiercely classical of course.  This is, after all, Balanchine in Balanchine’s home.  It is always invigorating to watch the NYCB men.  Apart from their dazzling speed and precision in the two astonishing male campaign segments what makes them stand apart is the silent landings en mass.  Balanchine demanded that they be there to serve the music – whatever the music was.  Where there is to BE noise it is choreographed into the piece as part of the music.  At the end of the ravishingly demanding second mass male variation the sound of them marching off – and then back to salute the audience – radiates pride.  That sound in and of itself – the marching I mean, is, indeed, profoundly moving after the expanse of the beautiful balletic feats you have just witnessed.  These are blood and flesh entities who have resolutely served their country.

The second rehearsal segment – after a five-minute break – was Rubies.  The pianist actually ended up playing the whole score three times – only to have to play it again a few hours later.  Here was featured the young soloist – and I confess one of my favourites – Emma Von Enck and Jovani Furlan.  They were enticing and after they had finished their run-through you could see just what it had taken out of them.  Furlan gave out a howl as he bent over moving into the relative privacy of far-side lip of the actual proscenium – that which travels into the auditorium itself – where he found some well-deserved restorative peace.  Then on traipsed Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia – he being back for more.  They went through the central PDD – having an merry old time between the two of them.   He is always filled with joy – she is, well, .... she IS Tiler Peck – enough said.  Later last night you got the full meal – as they were featured in the stage performance of Rubies.  It brought the house down – deservedly.  They were rightfully called back for an extra bow during the front of curtain calls. 

 

Still what made the opening evening even MORE special was the fact that there were 250 former NYCB dancers in the audience.  What a thrill it was for me during the intervals to wander about seeing the past meet the present on a balletic scale rarely known.  There was one moment I accidently caught with the glorious Stephanie Saland.  She looked ravishing.  She STILL looks ravishing – here in a glorious black dress.  She was moving about on the parterre level floor when she saw another woman from a little distance in the crowd  – a former dancer as she was wearing a badge they had all been given.  They looked at each other.  They leant forward.  They stared.  There were several moments of electricity.  Slowly smiles broke out and then you could see tears in Saland’s eyes.  They rushed together and embraced.  I have no idea who the other woman was – but that moment – in a way – was as restorative for me as it clearly had been for them.  The years had come together somehow.  What a thrill it was to see the likes of Farrell, Villella, Allegra Kent, McBride, Hubbe, Philip Neal, Edwaard Liang, Robbie Fairchild, Chistopher Wheeldon, Sofiane Sylve, Lourdes Lopez, Peter Boal, Judith Fugate, Heather Watts, Jock Soto, Damian Woetzel, Robbie La Fosse, Kyra Nichols, Katrina Killian, Jeff Edwards and so, so many others just milling about with the likes of Ratmansky, Justin Peck and an adoring world that has oh, so long surrounded them.  (There were some I had hoped to see like Baryshnikov and Kirkland that I didn't - but they may well have been there and I just missed them given the number. )  It was all for a great cause.  Certainly they had been and remain at the root of my appreciation for the art of BALLET; one that my heart is proud to champion. 

 

The final wallop of inspiration came at the very end of Tuesday night when all 250 of the former NYCB dancers – including three ladies who had been on stage at that very first ‘official’ NYCB performance in 1948 – all came on stage and joined the current company.  That was well over 300 people.  It was something I shall always remember.  It was entirely life enriching.  I would not have missed that moment for the world.  I will hold it in my heart as long as I live.  I will attach a little film from Wendy Whelan’s IG feed.  It does, I think, speak for itself.    

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxbaivrgpXK/ 

 

 

 

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Felt so guilty all day today - as I had misnamed the exquisite Ms. Woodward.  She is, of course, Indiana Woodward - but that should take nothing away from my praise for her glorious performance.  Dropped into the NYCB rehearsal today - no Ms. Woodward on its two hour bill - but a busy day for the incredible Ms. Nadon - who was in all three pieces featured: Balanchine's whimsical Bourrée Fantasque; Emeralds (in which Ms. Nadon debuts tonight in the Verdy role) -- both so very French -- and Apollo with the magical Chun Wai Chan soon to make his debut in the title role surrounded by three 'tall' ladies inclusive of Nadon's first stab as Terpsichore.  He is a dancer vivid in his classical purity and musical intelligence.  In all a treat; no question of that - with so very much more to come.  Enjoy ENB's T&V at Sadler's.  Sorry I will miss it but will, as ever, look forward to the BcoF reports.  

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I just wanted to explain why the pianist (who is also the featured pianist in the performances) was made to play the entire score of Rubies repeatedly in the rehearsal - even though the only people rehearsing at any one time were the two principals and the 'Tall Girl' soloist.  When the corps sections are being played during the rehearsal the stage is empty.  This is simply to give the dancers an idea of the stamina required in order that they might figure out for themselves - given that they are their own instrument- how best to achieve the necessary fortitude to entice; nay, to shine in the measure of the whole work.


It proved very effective I can tell you.  Emma Von Enck and Jovani Furlan MADE their role debuts in Rubies tonight and were electric.  She already has such detailed musical wit in her canon and supreme balletic artistry delivered with the simplest of means.  Her dramatic attack in the role was on a knife edge and cut through the hearts of the audience.  Each exit she made was trailed by knowing applause.  You could see as Furlan was coming up to the final section a mask of concern slightly cloud his countenance.  In his starring section it disappeared.  He knew he had managed himself well enough to arrive and drive he did.  When both came on for the finale the playful grin on his handsome face telegraphed the fact that he had succeeded in crossing his own finish line.  His final kicks were exclamation marks of pure pride.  

 

All principal roles in this evening's performance were, in fact, NYCB role debuts.  This is clearly a company of World-Class depth.  Mira Nadon simply melted into Emerald's lush music as a kind of Audrey Hepburn in today's balletic firmament.  She was beyond impressive; she was stimulatingly luxurious.  She, like Meija - and they are both of the same generation - both still in their very early 20's - (in fact Nadon turned 21 just before her appearance with Tiler Peck's recent fine programme at Sadler's Wells) - is not JUST I suspect a leading balletic dancer for HER time - but one for ALL time.  I can't wait to see what Justin Peck, Forsythe and Ratmansky create for both - much as I can't wait to see what McGregor continues to create for the likes of Sissens, Richardson and Kaneko.  All fine artists within - and this vital - WITHIN their specific milieus/dedicated idioms.  There is going to be so, so much more to celebrate from all within the realms of their dedicated Company's artistic definition under their current long-term leaders no question. 

In Diamonds tonight Isabella LaFreniere had the kind of dramatic size she wrought in her NYCB Firebird debut last year.  Hers was an able enchantress - one initially rich in radiant smiles oh, so carefully placed to enrapture the imagination of the truly stunning Chun Wai Chan, her prince of a partner also in a NYCB role debut.  In the final walking section of the PDD you got the sense that this creature's game had slightly backfired given that her own conscious appeared to now be rising to haunt.  The tilt of her head as the final kiss was delivered to her hand vividly shared its relief as she momentarily closed her eyes and looked skyward.  Chan was simply astonishing throughout.  The score is played - as is all music at NYCB - to strict original tempi - which you don't always hear in other places.   This is one area where there are NO exceptions - much as it was under Balanchine's own regime.  The accents here are always STRICTLY enforced.  Balanchine was, himself, a more than able pianist and always arrived with the scores propped under his arm.  In his second solo variation Chan's thrilling turns a la seconde were delivered with progressive Baryshnikov-Woetzel speed in total tandem with the hugely increasing rhythm of the score itself.  (If you want to get a sense of what this feels/looks like watch Woetzel in the first NYCB film of Nutcracker in his coda variation.  It is something you don't often see.  Well, at least I don't.)  They blind in their own right.  Here the resulting exultation was pin-prick euphoric.  You could audibly hear the audience gasp before they responded in kind with utter jubilance.  That carried on right to the ecstatically exuberant end. 

 

I don't exactly know what was going on, but I have never seen such a queue - especially of young people - as there was tonight at the State Theater box office.  I asked one of the stationed volunteers and they agreed, saying these people had started to arrive early.  That is heartening in the extreme.  Long may it continue.  

  

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With all due respect, bridiem, I am now of the mind that Diamonds at least should never be performed at Sadler's Wells.  The PDD - yes, of course - the work; NEVER.  Emeralds and Rubies can be contained.  I type this knowing you will think it cruel.  I have come to believe that it is more than equally cruel to the artistic work at hand to distort it in such an extreme fashion simply to accommodate.  Did NYCB ever dance Jewels in London?  I'm not sure.  In Paris certainly.  I had understood that when they appeared in London early on (i.e., during Balachine's lifetime) they did the City Center settings of the works created - much as Peter Martins himself highlighted they did for Symphony in C at the Coliseum.  That would be rightfully fitting at intimate venues like Sadler's Wells or the rightfully admired ROH.  As Freniere literally ran across the capacious State Theater stage last night in the opening segments of the Diamond PDD - and you have to remember that Balanchine himself was key to that stage's construct - she reminded me of Farrell - my watermark for this work - whose own dashing bound and ultimate end rise instituted her Diana's initial control over all and sundry; one which remains vivid in my mind's eye even now.  Such is simply not possible within the stunning restraints of the Wells. 

 

The space is core to the work itself.   When Balanchine oversaw the filming of that PDD it was in expressly dedicated studios to accommodate such.   I remember hearing Jack Palance speak about the copious arrangements that Balanchine demanded simply in protection of his choreography.  (That said the floor those artists danced on for that little adventure were concrete!)  Of course there is leeway but surely it has to be on the better side of the artwork's own compromise when it comes to the OVERALL work.  Otherwise who does it serve? 

 

The reality of this REALLY  hit home to me with that one movement from Peck's Everywhere We Go that the Australian Ballet attempted in that Sunday matinee.   That stunning work was brutally squished out of all RIGHTFUL proportion - and I'm sorry but I thought it a vicious act - simply to fit the ROH's confines for the sake of their Anniversary gala.  I appreciate that the audience's enjoyed what they saw - but it wasn't really Peck's work as HE envisaged it.  Who was being served here?  Again I'm sorry to be blunt - it was unfair to them, nay, it was unfair to YOU because it was unfair to the overall artwork itself.  The piece would NEVER have got the response it did in Paris were it not to have been at the Chatalet.  I don't know whether Hallberg had specific permission for that.  I suspect not.  It's a good thing too that Peck, himself, wasn't there or I suspect there might have been action afoot even now.  To my mind there should have been.  Having watched him any number of times command the troops in NYCB rehearsals I know just how meticulous he is. 

 

I completely understand - and admire - Sir Simon Rattle for walking from his LSO commitments when the powers-that-be completely backed out of their own promises to him to build an appropriately current world-class concert hall for our wonderful city of London.  He was I believe entirely right to do so.  HE WAS DOING IT ON OUR BEHALF.  He was protecting the art FIRST, so wanting it to fittingly serve the British public in their own right.  Surely they (i.e., WE) deserve no less.  Would that there were more like him. 

 

Would there be a person ever do the same for ballet in London?  I sincerely doubt it.  I think if there were to have been it would have happened by now.  There isn't as far as I can see a truly SUBSTANTIAL need - especially when resources are spread so thin.   I can't imagine now the Royal, say, ever doing the Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet much as I would selfishly love  it as it is one of my desert island ballets, alongside Symphonic Variations and A Month in the Country.  That said even I know at heart THEY SHOULDN'T now do it for a number of reasons - and I think Kevin O'Hare is wisely aware of this - and I say this in all sincere admiration.  At least I say he seems to be aware given his stated dance ethic, programming and long term planning outlines.   Yes, leave the Brahms- Schoenberg and its like to companies whose current prime focus is the balletic idiom itself; but certainly - overall -  and this is key - leave it to ones with the physical capacity to honour the works as written.  OK that piece can frequently looks muddy in Hamburg and Paris - and sometimes can do at NYCB - but at least you can SEE the overall framework of the piece itself ... THAT'S THE POINT - and thereby give artists AND THE AUDIENCE the rightful opportunity to 'hear their dance' in its rightful measure..  

 

Can you imagine NYCB doing Manon or, heaven help us, Mayerling or the splendour of Woolf Works or the Dante Project?  It would be HORRIFIC in the extreme.  That much I know.  I can just see it.  Those pieces need the very constraints to rightfully flourish. Without them they can lose focus.   Certainly Manon often swims agog at, say, the New York Met - much as Cathy Marden's telling Jane Eyre did.  The NYCB artists themselves are not built for the dramatic contortions, the contractions, the hyper-extensions that our glorious Royal team now have as their dedicated birth right; nay, are rightfully trained for.  If you want to see NYCB artists in the works they ARE born to dance in - the Balanchine, the Robbins, the Ratmansky, the Peck, etc. - and I would certainly encourage you in that aim - then they are right I think to insist that you should see them in a space where the works as created have an equal opportunity to breathe.  

 

Sir Alistair Spalding has made his name because he knows his audience.  He has cleverly curated such.  He has framed a programme for NYCB that will suit his budget, works that kindly adhere to his space (and I have a sneaking suspicion Peck will have had a say in Spalding's selection of his own work,[i.e., 'choose from these']) and above all the audience HE wishes to serve and build.  I for one thank him for taking the responsibility that I well know lies behind those efforts.  

 

Now on to my own work.  

 

 

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Emeralds

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If NYCB brought Jewels to London before I was born or before I was old enough to be taken to ROH/Coliseum etc, I wouldn’t know, but as far as I know, @Bruce Wall, I don’t think NYCB have ever brought the full length Jewels to London. Anyone here attending ballet prior to 1968 able to tell us? 😊 The full Jewels will need to be performed at ROH or Coliseum though- the Sadler’s Wells stage is too tiny for it. Would love to see NYCB at ROH dancing Jewels 💎or any other Balanchine and Robbins! (Just those two choreographers, not anybody else, considering how difficult and rare to get NYCB over here, and because we don’t want them to have poor box office takings.)

 

PS I too would have preferred something else from AusBallet’s unique repertoire eg Merry Widow - even just a pas de deux! - or an excerpt from their version of Coppelia, instead of Everywhere We Go. And I would love to see NYCB bring Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet to London- gorgeous ballet, but needs to be danced in proper Balanchine style. 

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Bruce Wall

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1 hour ago, Jane S said:

NYCB brought Jewels to Covent Garden in their 1979 season - my diary tells me that I saw it then but sadly I don't remember much about it.

 

Oh, JaneS, how I wish you did.  I would have loved to read about it.  Yesterday's performances were truly thrilling.  Tiler and Roman were - amazingly - in still yet another league.  How do they do it?  How do you define his force of nature?  His passionate love the of balletic artform just rockets forth in a manner that is obviously entirely natural to him.  How lucky are we just to be in that audience.  (TALKING OF WHICH:  It's so wonderful to be in a full State Theater crowd.  Another dedicated volunteer told me that at it's height on Friday - when I had queried - there were 600 people in the Box Office queue.  It did strike me at the time as remarkable.  Totally understandable - and oh, so heart warming to see.  It was pelting down rain yesterday but there they were again.)  Can my eyes be deceiving me?  Is Peck's back really reaching the fluidity it so enjoyed prior to that major injury?  It seems so.   I don't want to miss a moment of such.  And Nadon redefines everything she touches - as does Woodward.  It was so impactful to see Emma Von Enck and Furlan now that they didn't have the pressure of their debut.  They SO dazzled in their natural rapture.  You could feel them letting go.  That girl is as effervescent as a bubble caught up in the brightest rainbow light.  So special.  The focused purity of Chan's exquisite classical genius harks back to the NYC dance boom of the 70's/80's.  It's of an extreme you just don't see elsewhere nowadays.  I won't dribble on about NYCB performances from this point forward.  I understand that it's really not appropriate here.  I wholly agree.  I only started this strand in the BcoF fold because of the extraordinary (i.e., historic) nature of Tuesday.  I felt it unique enough that it should be marked as I said I think in my very first sentence.  The remainder is just blessedly standard NYCB (albeit high) fare and, of consequence, not required for highlighting elsewhere.  There is so much that is local to BcoF to note and cherish and that SHOULD take rightful preference over all on these boards.  Enjoy.  Certainly I - in deep appreciation - will do.  

 

 

 

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Ondine

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11 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

I won't dribble on about NYCB performances from this point forward.  I understand that it's really not appropriate here

 

Oh do carry on dribbling. Please! 

 

Here's a little glimpse of Mira Nadon.

 

 

 

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Thanks for that clip, Ondine.  Amazingly when it was filmed Nadon would still have been a teenager and Mejia - who briefly appears here would only have been just 20.  (He's now 23).  Nadon again shone this afternoon as the Tall Girl.  Sara Mearns - in the farewell performance of her partner, the sensitively lithe Russell Janzen - gave yet another etching of historic proportion.  She insists that you hold your breath throughout that stunning PDD - and with good reason - it is entirely provocative in its electric charge.  She more than earned her crown of diamonds today.  Yet another full house paid their respects with a rapturous return.  

 

This will be, as I have said, a good place to end this limited coverage which ONLY commenced as a result of the historic nature of last Tuesday's event given that Jewels ended today and it's back to the Balanchine rep again starting on Tuesday.  I will leave you with four clips of the extraordinary Mr. Mejia - who London really has not seen in this classical outings - and something tells me that local opportunities to see him will be extremely rare if history is anything to go by.  He is a self-confessed 'total bunhead'.  You can tell.  He literally envelopes every audience member in that vast sponge which clearly is his imagination.  

 

(i)  Here you can see him rehearsing the first solo in Rubies - which he did this week as noted above - (You will be interested to see how old - certainly compared to the Royal's stunning array of rehearsal spaces - the NYCB studios appear.  You have to remember that State Theater, itself, - the Lincoln Center home of NYCB - opened in 1964 which is no longer young.  That said, just think of all the great ghosts who haunt those walls.  Enjoy: - https://www.instagram.com/p/CxVnNM7Aw-2/?hl=en

 

(ii) Here you can see him in Balanchine rep he will dance next week - (a) from the a stage rehearsal (not the one I reported on above) as the Captain in Stars and Stripes and (b) in the Fourth Movement of Western Symphony.  This latter clip is actually excellent as it will clearly illustrate the vastness of the State Theater stage as compared, say, to the charming intimacy of the ROH.  You see just how much distance these dancers have to cover when at home - and so stamina is even MORE key for them when taking the full measure of any role as choreographed by Balanchine (or re-choreographed in this case) expressly for this facility. 

 

(iii) Here you will see him - as he says - having some 'fun with Giselle'.  This will be much more familiar territory for UK locals but certainly not for dancers on the NYCB docket.  (Although that said they now do a full length Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, La Sylphide and have long had Balanchine's MSND, enchanting Coppelia and, of course, Harlequinade.)  I doubt Roman was coached in this second act segment.  I'm fairly sure he will have taught himself.  Interesting to see that it was K J Takahashi, a NYCB member, (who was also with him in Tiler Peck's show at the Wells) that held the phone camera for him on this occasion.   K.J. went to Roman's parents' ballet school - where they first met and became friends.  It is, of course, instructive to remember that it was on this very State Theater stage that the famous recording of Giselle by ABT with Baryshnikov and Makarova was made.  Some things you just can't forget - like those extraordinary brisés.

 

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18 hours ago, alison said:

Before you vanish again, Bruce, can you tell me what happens with the hand kiss at the end of the Diamonds pdd at NYCB?  I'm not convinced I've seen it done "properly" over here for a while.

 

In haste - as I am very tired - but will strive to answer your question, Alison - 

 

Do you mean what happens at the point of the kiss on the hand at the end of the Diamonds PDD?  All the ladies - as per Farrell - are looking out.  (I notice this is not always the case in UK stagings).  What they do next - before the stage reverence - is, it seems, up to them.  I have described LaFeniere's treatment.  Mearns and Janzen yesterday were total joy.  Given that it was his retirement performance they seemed to go through every possible emotion in that extraordinary PDD.  Their ultimate unity was unquestioned; nay this was its celebration.  On this occasion - at the juncture of the kiss - Mearns turned to Janzen and warmly smiled.  Their history flowed.  She had been brave throughout - but here she was struggling to keep her emotions in check - much I'm sure as she clearly intended to do.  He rose and pressed her head to his chest and she turned into it seeking it seemed a moment of privacy in spite of the cheering throngs.  He sheltered her with his arm and escorted her off the stage - before both came back on for a formal call; the audience braying having demanded such.  

 

As usual with NYCB farewells, there were the performance standard two - occasionally three - in-front-of curtain calls for the primary soloist(s) and principals.  That is always the case.  (These things are very regimented.  They have to be at NYCB; they perform a larger repertory annually than any other company on earth.)  Then - as per tradition - the curtain rises with the retiring dancer left solitary on the stage for the audience to honour.  Shortly thereafter begins a parade of current and past dancers from the stage left wing one at a time with a single rose each.  This too is a well established tradition.  They present their rose - greet the retiring dancer affectionally - and then form a line with applauding others.  Refreshingly there are NO speeches.  Any words spoken are private - as seems most fitting.  Sara was first out of the proverbial gate this time with her white rose and I noticed Maria Krowoski, Teresa Reichlen, David Prottas and Adam Luders among the returning fold, though I know those names will probably mean understandably very little to BcoF readers.  At a certain point - all the remainder of the Company - both dancers and staff join those already on the stage.  Yesterday there were many dancers in the house too I noticed.  Certainly Robbie Fairchild was there and the ABT principal James Whiteside was sitting not far from me.

 

I sincerely doubt I will write very much if at all from this point forward on NYCB - perhaps an overview if I find I have time - and certainly if there is another historic point of reference to note.  (I'm not aware of any in the Fall season at this point.)  Of course I'm sure I will share my impressions of the Sadler's programme.  That will seem most appropriate for here.  As I say I really see little point otherwise as the readers hereabouts will largely be unfamiliar with the majority of the works referenced and it doesn't now seem key when there is SO much to celebrate on this Forum's home turf, i.e., the Royal's newly devoted pathway and the detailed adventures of ENB, NB, SB, BRB and the like.  Best to focus on those I think - again short of key historic markings such as the NYCB celebration last Tuesday.  I will be at the Nijinsky Gala in Hamburg in July - Neumeier's last - and that too will be equally historic.  I'm sure I will contribute to the commentary hereabouts on that as well.  Those kind of events are clearly special. 

 

Also, Alison, as I think I mentioned to you at the Wells when I saw you at the Ailey programme, my own personal work schedule here is now considerable as - not all at the same time - I will be in NYC for three large projects for three and a half months per year - and as of now - each of those will be ongoing for the foreseeable future.  (Of course, I have planned them during NYCB seasons given that is a key pay-off for me as I don't now and never have taken a salary for the work I do.)  Things have been just so difficult in the UK that I have taken the difficult decision to go where the most meaningful work is fully functionally possible - simply because we can but live in whatever time we do and, as ever, the clock will wait for no one person.  I must say it was disheartening in the extreme for me to read last week that the OECD in its future economic forecasts has placed the UK as the second lowest - only just above Venezuela; itself a former economic stronghold.  I do understand - and will accept their guidance.  The British arts will now need maximum support from their native patrons.  That much is vividly clear - and I - without hesitation - certainly will do my utmost to help fulfil that goal - insofar as I am able - during those periods when I am back home and away from the forced necessity of increasing foreign demands.  I realise full well I am lucky to have them.  They too seem to come with time ... and, of course, work.  Speaking of which ... I STILL have things to attend to before I sleep - and now it is already tomorrow I see .... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Could @Bruce Wall or other members who have attended NYCB this year tell me if you can get casting by clicking on the NYCB website? I’m sure I used to be able to see it on the website (could have mistaken this for another US company’s website though!) the week before the performance but can’t find it now. No rush, but anyone who’s seen it, would be grateful if you can tell us. Thanks! 

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Silke H

Silke H

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26 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Could @Bruce Wall or other members who have attended NYCB this year tell me if you can get casting by clicking on the NYCB website? I’m sure I used to be able to see it on the website (could have mistaken this for another US company’s website though!) the week before the performance but can’t find it now. No rush, but anyone who’s seen it, would be grateful if you can tell us. Thanks! 

 

Hi @Emeralds - try this link: NYCB Fall 2023

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Ondine

Ondine

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Ages ago I made a new post re Allegra Kent, with links to three You Tube films of her discussing her life, training, including with Nijinska,  dancing, and Balanchine.  It vanished without me having a clue why. They really are something special though. She's an utter joy.

 

So I thought I'd give it another go in this thread, without the direct links (the person who did the filming / made the films / is also the person who did the filming, Allegra Kent is his friend) as there is a new one:

 

Markie Polo  Marcus Galante  @BalletBabyBoy

https://www.dancio.com/about-marcus-galante

 

7 Deadly Sins. Miss Allegra Kent reminisces about the ballet.

 

 

Allegra Kent, for whom the ballet was created, recalls Mr. Balanchine and Lotte Lehman as well as the creation of this masterpiece that is now, sadly, lost.

 

Others in the series:

 

Allegra Kent remembers her teachers Bronislava Nijinska, Carmelita Maracci and Mr. Balanchine.

 

 

La Sonnambula with Allegra Kent

 

Allegra Kent speaks about one of her great roles.

 

Allegra Kent of the NYCB's Tour of Russia 1962

Interview with Allegra Kent as she reminisces about the 2 month tour or Russia by the New York City Ballet in 1962

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Jeannette

Jeannette

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Last night’s Fall Gala was full of glamour (Vanessa Williams as a vocalist in Balanchine’s Who Cares?) and new costumes (by a Carolina Herrera designer, also for Who Cares?).

 

The Fall season’s lone non-Balanchine work - Jerome Robbins’ Glass Pieces - garnered my vote for the night’s highlight, as it was danced sparklingly by the full company, particularly the synchronized men in the final “gangbusters” movement…and the ethereal mid-section pdd by Unity Phelan and Adrian Danchig-Waring, seemingly a modern take on La Bayadere’s Shades, with a line of female corps members against a blue backdrop,  expressing a modern take on Petipa’s 19th-C movements. 
 

I’ve  loved the full Who Cares? (Balanchine/Gershwin) in the past but last night’s “nightclub gala version” featured small groups & soloists, rather than the full edition…with new designs by a Carolina Herrera artist  that resembled ballroom dancer wear/street wear. This is - what? - the fourth set of designs for this ballet? The original Karinskas had frilly skirts while my favorite second set, by Ben Benson (ca 1980-2012)  were sleeker but in keeping with the Radio City glamour of the piece. While some soloists were formidable, I unfortunately have to keep in mind Ashley Bouder, who doesn’t seem to be in the right performance shape these days…I’ll remember seeing her in olden days, when her I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise was a treasure in the House of Balanchine. 
 

 

 

 

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alison

alison

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Copying this in from another thread:

  

2 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

So agree.  Perhaps Tiler Peck could join in.  With her SM following that would sell a good number of tickets I'm sure.  Certainly the NYCB house was sold for last night's Fall (i.e., Fashion) Gala.  They could also bring in a lot of local Leeds celebrities for Northern Ballet I'm sure.  I passed Margot Robbie (you know, Barbie) last night going into State Theater - all very glam with her VERY LONG pink train - (seemingly with a life of its own) - and was delighted to be able to have a brief chat with the entrancing Alexa Maxwell and Amar Ramasar on the way out.  Tiler Peck literally blazed her way through 'Fascinatin' Rhythm' and Megan Fairchild was wryly steaming in The Man I Love - all in their sequin rich but blessedly non-impeding creations by Wes Gordon for Caroline Herrera.  Could have done without the guest singers though.  Certainly the female contingent sounded extremely strained - especially next to such world class dancers and such a fine orchestra.  The days of Ethel Merman alone commanding those very same boards in that very same music - and that without a microphone - are long gone I fear.  (How I remember that very same programme with Mary Martin singing 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' prone on a tower of period suitcases, Renata Scotto intoning 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow', Julie Andrews proudly strutting forth with her 'Burlington Bertie' whilst Carol Channing relished her 'Little Girl from Little Rock' and the indomitable Leontyne Price embellished - as ONLY she could - 'What I Did for Love'.  How lucky we were to have been able to catch such sounds in the flesh.  That's what makes Galas special - i.e., GALA - surely.)  

 

A film with a witty take on the extraordinary highlights of Northern Ballet's history would certainly save time from what can often be wayward speeches - and be something they could additionally use as a fundraising tool in the crucial months to follow.  Here's the effort that was shown just before Glass Pieces last night.  What a wonderful testament that world encompassing ballet is to New York City much as Infra is for the Royal to London.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if, say, Kenneth Tindall could fashion something appropriately more intimate to celebrate not only his fine company but also the wit and wisdom of the rightly searing Northern ripeness of Leeds itself.  You just know that Alan Bennett for one would be on his feet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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dance fan

dance fan

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On 04/10/2023 at 15:43, Emeralds said:

Could @Bruce Wall or other members who have attended NYCB this year tell me if you can get casting by clicking on the NYCB website? I’m sure I used to be able to see it on the website (could have mistaken this for another US company’s website though!) the week before the performance but can’t find it now. No rush, but anyone who’s seen it, would be grateful if you can tell us. Thanks! 

You can always find the latest Principal casting by clicking on the home "hamburger" (the two horizonal dashes, then hover over the first entry "Season & Ticket" and the pop up window will have Principal Casting near the bottom.

 

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Emeralds

Emeralds

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2 hours ago, dance fan said:

You can always find the latest Principal casting by clicking on the home "hamburger" (the two horizonal dashes, then hover over the first entry "Season & Ticket" and the pop up window will have Principal Casting near the bottom.

 

Thank you for the tip, @dance fan! 

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Jeannette

Jeannette

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Last night’s All-Balanchine triple bill was a program made in heaven, ending in the most majestic note: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no 2, led by today’s most queenly ballerina of the company, Sara Mearns, divinely sure in technique and airs! The gallant Tiler Angle was her steadfast prince, while Emily Kikta spread pearls of joy as the leading female soloist. The corps made the work an absolute pleasure…spot-on in the linear and circular patterns.

 

The evening began with Apollo, one of Balanchine’s gems from the Diaghilev period, here performed without the “birthing scene” that we see at ABT and the Mariinsky. Adrian Danchig-Waring rendered a noble and mature Apollo, exploring the qualities of his three muses: the lyrical Terpsichore (Unity Phelan),  the loquacious Polyhymnia (Emily Gerrity), and mercurial Calliope (Sara Adams). Phelan was gorgeous as Terpsichore, one of many leading roles assigned in this season…including the ethereal lead in the night’s middle ballet, La Sonnambula…

 

Sonnambula is a rarity in the repertoire. What a delight to experience this work again! Phelan - coached by an early exponent, Allegra Kent - was precious in her sleepwalking bourrees during the vital pdd with the poet (Taylor Stanley). Ashley Laracey was compelling as the nasty Coquette, whose gossip causes the final tragedy. I adore the early divertissements during the ball scene, with pride of place going to the Harlequin’s bouncy solo (Daniel Ulbricht in his element)! May the NYCB keep this ballet alive for years to come!

 

 

 

 

 

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Don Q Fan

Don Q Fan

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3 hours ago, Jeannette said:

Last night’s All-Balanchine triple bill was a program made in heaven, ending in the most majestic note: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto no 2, led by today’s most queenly ballerina of the company, Sara Mearns, divinely sure in technique and airs! The gallant Tiler Angle was her steadfast prince, while Emily Kikta spread pearls of joy as the leading female soloist. The corps made the work an absolute pleasure…spot-on in the linear and circular patterns.

 

The evening began with Apollo, one of Balanchine’s gems from the Diaghilev period, here performed without the “birthing scene” that we see at ABT and the Mariinsky. Adrian Danchig-Waring rendered a noble and mature Apollo, exploring the qualities of his three muses: the lyrical Terpsichore (Unity Phelan),  the loquacious Polyhymnia (Emily Gerrity), and mercurial Calliope (Sara Adams). Phelan was gorgeous as Terpsichore, one of many leading roles assigned in this season…including the ethereal lead in the night’s middle ballet, La Sonnambula…

 

Sonnambula is a rarity in the repertoire. What a delight to experience this work again! Phelan - coached by an early exponent, Allegra Kent - was precious in her sleepwalking bourrees during the vital pdd with the poet (Taylor Stanley). Ashley Laracey was compelling as the nasty Coquette, whose gossip causes the final tragedy. I adore the early divertissements during the ball scene, with pride of place going to the Harlequin’s bouncy solo (Daniel Ulbricht in his element)! May the NYCB keep this ballet alive for years to come!

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds wonderful! 

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Bruce Wall

Bruce Wall

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Every day during this month long festivity is - at least for me - like Christmas.  It's a gift that keeps giving - and then some. 

 

This afternoon, Mira Nadon - much as she has done in her debuts in Emeralds and the Stravinsky Violin Concerto - fascinated all with a uniquely absorbing perfume as Terpsichore much as Jeanette related.  Steps you thought you knew came alive with a different tenor.  Such is her considerable gift.  Then, later - and the reason for THIS post - Tiler Peck stepped onto the stage in the TPC2 and, simply .... well, simply made history. 

 

I know many others have movingly related hereabouts on how they have wept when the many great Royal artists triumph in the MacMillan heroes/heroines we are privileged to see on a regular rotation at their home address.  Certainly I can be moved by such - I well remember the sincerity of Bonelli's silent cries often hitting the pit of my stomach at the end of Manon.  Still, this afternoon I found tears ACTUALLY strolling down MY face.  There had been no great drama manipulating such - certainly not in the formal sense.  There had been no betrayals; no harlots, no suicides, no fights ('Our boys don't fight' Balanchine insisted); nor any rapes.  NO.  These were tears of pure joy.  Why?  Tiler Peck WAS the music  this afternoon - here played in the pit with a rapturous and rightful tempi one certainly is not always accustomed to in British ballet houses.   She is SO fast she can toy with the phrases and then seemingly stop their notes on a proverbial dime.  They are apparently plastic to be moulded in the heat of her balletic plastique.  In Balanchine's concerted embrace she makes you SEE the music; certainly she makes you hear it in another way.  She devours space in a way you won't see in London simply because there is no balletic stage large enough to honour such within the appropriately huge scope of these masterworks.  That scope is, of course, true of other NYCB dancers no question.  They are built for it - THEY HAVE TO BE - much as Balanchine intended when knowingly the theatre itself was constructed.  STILL there are those - like Farrell, like Whelan in appropriate roles - who could/can actually command the air.  Peck is just one such rarity.  This afternoon she was also gloriously partnered by the balletically effervescent Joe Gordon.  Pity any soloist who has to play second fiddle to that combined kind of artistry.  

 

But, still, why the tears you ask?  I can tell you.  When Peck returned from her career threatening injury she was - as ever - great - NO QUESTION - but, understandably - slightly diminished.  I rapidly stored treasured memories of the extremities of her rapture in my memory bank.  I thought I might never see them again.  Still I had thought as noted above that her back was showing signs of ultimate recovery in Rubies.  Were my eyes deceiving me?  This afternoon Peck PROVED that she is back to the very heights of her glory.  There is a God.  Truly.  This is a life enriching gift to us all and she was - as ever - seeing that it was shared with her devoted audience.  

 

My tears simply were an acknowledgement of that joy.  It was an innate response.  It was well worth weeping over.  I felt blessed; Nay, I FEEL lucky. 

 

I hold the memory of her music this afternoon in my heart even now.  It is now scorched in its very fibre.  

 

 

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