New York City Ballet at Sadler's Wells Theatre, 7-10 March 2024

[Emeralds]

Thank you for the review and information about original casts @Bruce Wall- I'm glad that on the advance casting Sebastian Villarini-Velez will be in LL(OS) at the weekend performance - it's nice to see the originator of a role if possible. Looking forward to Woodward and Stanley in Duo Concertant too. I'm probably in a minority here but I liked Kyle Abraham's The Weathering fir the  RoyalBallet - possibly because I saw the second cast rather than the first- so I'm looking forward to seeing the whole ballet after seeing NYCB's clips online. I hope Sara Mearns might be given an extra show of Rotunda to make up for missing two performances  due to illness- but most of all I hope she has recovered quickly. 

[zxDaveM]

I'm afraid the James Blake music REALLY didn't do it for me - the only half passable tune was the sacriligious massacre of Joy Division's 'Atmosphere'. Hopefully by 4.30pm Ian Curtis can stop spinning in his grave

[Sim]

Can someone please tell me how long the programme actually lasts?  On the SW website it says 2h15m including two 20-minute intervals.  On the email I got reminding me to turn up today, it says the programme lasts 1h50m including one interval.  Which is it to be??  Thanks!  

[Bruce Wall]

Just have to post this - It's an overview article from the NYT on the NYCB winter season - (I think to come out in hard copy in the Sunday paper tomorrow) - and I agree with almost all of what they write - and lovely that they include video clips from the NYCB feeds.  (All performances by NYCB in NYC are filmed by multiple cameras controlled electronically from the media centre at the back of the stalls.  All NYCB principal and soloist dancers have access to their feeds - which is why you sometimes see them have immediate access to some stunning footage in their social media ('And here you can see me tonight ....') ..... This isn't just frivolous.  It's there for a very practical reason - and has been from the venue's opening in 1966.  This is another aspect that Balanchine led on.  These dancers dance more rep than any other company on earth.  (In Balanchine's day NO TWO PROGRAMMES WERE EVER THE SAME COMBINATION - JUST IMAGINE - THE MIND BOGGLES - AND I SAW A LOT OF THEM.)  The reason for the access is so that they (i.e., the dancers/creative staff) can meaningfully review their performances and also use other ones to learn roles in advance.  In the old days (i.e., before the media center was revamped this century) there were just two cameras.  There was a mid shot and a close up.  For those who may be interested - and may find themselves in NYC - you can see MANY OF THOSE in the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts.  You will have to get a library card - but I believe they are still very open to foreign nationals.  I notice now that some of this material is restricted but the vast majority of the old footage is not.  It is there for you to learn as well.  Moreover, it is entirely free of any charge.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/08/arts/dance/new-york-city-ballet-winter-season-solitude.html

 

So pleased to see them hail Solitude as the masterwork that it truly is.  I, for one, am not going to miss any of these upcoming Ratmansky premieres.  He is - at least for me and I know in London there are some who have really struggled with him - at the height of his powers and I'm convinced his work for NYCB is his very best.  Would there was somewhere in London to share these.  NYCB had suggested they might introduce a streaming service - but that seems to have gone by the boards.  The physical impact is just so vital in the live interactions I agree.  

 

So pleased to see Jules Maibe picked out for that 4Ts performance.  It was thrilling simply because it was unexpected.  It was one of those 'thrown on' situations - where fate had more of a hand than anything else.  David Gabriel (who is not here - much as the majority of the Company) IS thrilling and deserves ALL of the praise he receives.  Agree, there is NO QUESTION but that Emma Von Enck WILL be promoted to principal ... and I would put Alexa Maxwell (who IS here) in that mix.  BOTH RIGHTFULLY DESERVE IT.  

 

So, so much to celebrate.  

 

[bridiem]

8 minutes ago, Sim said:

Can someone please tell me how long the programme actually lasts?  On the SW website it says 2h15m including two 20-minute intervals.  On the email I got reminding me to turn up today, it says the programme lasts 1h50m including one interval.  Which is it to be??  Thanks!  

 

It was about 2.5 hours on Thurs night, inc 2 intervals and a pause.

Edited March 9 by bridiem

[Emeralds]

37 minutes ago, Sim said:

Can someone please tell me how long the programme actually lasts?  On the SW website it says 2h15m including two 20-minute intervals.  On the email I got reminding me to turn up today, it says the programme lasts 1h50m including one interval.  Which is it to be??  Thanks!  

According to the NYCB website the 4 ballets themselves add up to 92 mins in total. The intervals were 20 minutes each and there are two. The pause was 5-6 minutes. They started approx 3-5 mins late on the first night due to whatever reason (long queues still waiting to get to auditorium entrances?) So 92+20+20+5+3 is 140 minutes at least (2h 20min), give or take 3 minutes if they start briskly on time.

 

NYCB dancers get given enough time for applause and bows but there were no flower presentations and the women curtsey quickly- they do that NYCB quick Broadway style bob up and down with a bent foot instead of elaborate reverences onto the knee. You don't feel rushed if you want a quick curtain call snap but it's still much shorter than ROH.

 

Hence the 2h 15 min info (at least that long) is correct. 

Edited March 9 by Emeralds

[Bruce Wall]

@Emeralds, (i) Flowers at NYCB are reserved for either (a) new work premieres or (b) dancer retirements - where each dancer/person participating offers traditionally one flower and the directors bouquets.  In that way it makes them particularly special.  (ii) The full curtsies are done - but only during front of curtain runs, i.e., by soloists and principals.  I always find people like Tiler Peck and Indiana Woodward particularly gracious in this regard.  There are, of course, no front of the curtain runs at at Sadlers.  (That too saves some time -as there are always at least two - but they are much more quick than at Covent Garden no question.)  

 

Edited March 9 by Bruce Wall

[San Perregrino]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

Can someone please tell me how long the programme actually lasts?  On the SW website it says 2h15m including two 20-minute intervals.  On the email I got reminding me to turn up today, it says the programme lasts 1h50m including one interval.  Which is it to be??  Thanks!  

It’s longer rather than shorter . Thursday’s matinee started at 2.30 and finally ended at 16.50.

If anyone is looking I’ve just returned my ticket for tomorrow’s matinee to the box office. 

Edited March 9 by PeterS

[Cayetana]

NYCB Cast List - I found it quite easily on the SW webpage (https://sadlers-wells-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/03/NYCB-Casting-Sadlers-Wells-March-7-10-2024-NEW.pdf). I attach the PDF.

NYCB-Casting-Sadlers-Wells-March-7-10-2024-NEW.pdf

[Sim]

4 hours ago, PeterS said:

If anyone is looking I’ve just returned my ticket for tomorrow’s matinee to the box office. 

If I had one, I would be doing the same. 

[alison]

1 hour ago, Cayetana said:

NYCB Cast List - I found it quite easily on the SW webpage (https://sadlers-wells-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/03/NYCB-Casting-Sadlers-Wells-March-7-10-2024-NEW.pdf). I attach the PDF.

NYCB-Casting-Sadlers-Wells-March-7-10-2024-NEW.pdf 132.55 kB · 0 downloads

 

Thanks - I had that, but was looking for a copy of what was posted on the wall outside for each individual performance.

[fancyfree]

3 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Thanks - I had that, but was looking for a copy of what was posted on the wall outside for each individual performance.

Someone posted a copy on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4TT5jsIbdS/?img_index=3

[alison]

Thank you, and welcome to the forum, fancyfree.  Unfortunately, that wasn't the performance I saw.  I'd just assumed that the cast sheets would be officially posted somewhere, even if I don't know where to look for them.

[fancyfree]

19 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

What a difference a night - and perhaps a little recovery from jet lag - makes.  It was almost as if this was a different show tonight.

 

Quickly - On the DANCING ONLY - 

 

Rotunda - KJ went in for Sebastian VV.  (I won't spell out last names because no one at Sadler's gets a programme let alone a cast list so what difference can it possibly make).  Roman had not danced any one of his assigned Rotunda performances - two I think - at NYCB this past season and certainly he was not in the original.  (Not surprisingly this season because he was the male lead - but of course - of Tiler's new ballet and that came next on the bill.)  This made a WORLD of difference.  KJ and Roman are basically the same height - (Danny is MUCH shorter than SVV) - and so the balance in their duets was riveting.  The emotion in Roman's final variation was thrilling - perhaps even more so because I hadn't expected it AT ALL.  Well done, Roman.  He is so growing as a dancer.  (He's always been a star - no question of that - but this work certainly is perhaps not his explicit metier.  (For a very similar reason it was glorious too to see him grow in Lieberlieder Waltzer - where he partnered the glamorously TALL Unity Phalen.  He grew in that too.  In his second performance at least he didn't step on Unity's hem.)   It was ALL so much more balanced because of this and ALL and you could see aspects of the choreography - some very clever - which hadn't been noticeable (at least to me) before.  Megan (now dancing her own performance)was here partnered - as at State Theater - by Peter Walker - and a very good fist they made of the PDD too.  It's so different from Gilbert and Sara - but that I think can only attest to the strength of the Peck's construct.  Perhaps it's a choreographic grower.  

 

Duo Concertant - This was Indiana and Taylor's first bash at these roles and stunning they were in them too.  It was really VERY different from Megan and Huxley - but then that's the gift of Balanchine.  Indiana swept with a ravishingly innocent French chic.  Taylor was buoyant and playful in their response.  A thrill - and the audience responded in turn.  

 

Gustave - Tonight the effervescent Emily Kikta was in for Adrian DW.  Love Caroline Shaw's music (so hope one day someone makes a ballet to it) and tonight's grouping enhanced the pleasure of this conceit.  It was glorious to have four tallish girls - with Kikta (such a phenomenal dancer) with the already legendary Ms. Nadon - being here an equal match in both stealth and size.  It sang (at least for me) in a way it hadn't previously.  That said I'm not certain I'd rush to see it again.

 

Love Letter - THIS CHANGED THE MOST.  Why?  Because Sebastian Villarini-Velez (there I've typed it) or SVV as I have often typed before hereabouts was dancing the role HE ORIGINATED.  It made sense tonight in a manner it just didn't with Roman.  Roman was trying to make it into a showpiece.  It isn't.  SVV was telling the story he had helped form.  I have to confess - SVV is FAR from my favourite NYCB dancer - but credit where credit is due - He was excellent tonight - and deserved the reception he received.  It really altered the construct of the overall piece itself for me.  I'm now really looking forward to seeing it again at the Sunday matinee with this cast.  It was here just so much MORE of a whole because of it.  Olivia Boisson (such a lovely NYCB corps dancer) was in for her fellow colleague, Quinn Starner.  She too was incandescent.  (Both of these ladies have yet to receive any significant soloist responsibilities in New York.)  Softer than Starner (who had originated her role) I ADORED the SASS Boisson added to her second variation - and how she built the overall effect.  Well done, Olivia.  Because of this balance - Alexa Maxwell - who is such a find - (and will - alongside the vivacious Emma Von Enck clearly be the next female NYCB principals just because of their current castings) - was even MORE vivid.  This is the role that Tiler would have danced and I'm sure she would have been VERY proud of Alexa's work.  Also the lanky Peter Walker was blistering together with Olivia in that PDD.  When Walker IS good, he is VERY good.  (I type that having seen him be far less than good in other things - and having seen him once ALMOST dangerously DROP MIRA NADON - A crime against balletic history's nature.)  Loved the duet between him and Christopher Grant - (and doesn't Grant look potent in this - he manages to make that costume sing - now THERE's an achievement).  Watching them together with their now added Indian headdresses in that one section I came to realise that they are in fact there to symbolise the vibrancy of NYC street life.  They do so brilliantly - and AT LAST it makes total sense of the wit of the duet's end.  I've seen such reactions on the street myself.  IT IS INSPIRED, MR. ABRAHAMS!!!!  TOTALLY.   Because of the new-found overall balance this work actually ended tonight - rather than just stopped with the track as it certainly appeared to do at its Sadler's opening.  It was profoundly moving at that juncture when the lithe Taylor Stanley now heavily - at least here - ambled forward towards his amour.  Jules Maibe again was entirely sensitive in that portrayal - and I have a feeling this is quite a stretch for this lad - which may well have been part of the reason for casting him in it.  Watching it tonight - with all the meaningful changes - I'd love to have seen the very tall McKenzie Bernadino-Soares (how's that for name) have a bash in this role.  He's only in this ballet here.  He's that very tall svelte guy with frizzy hair who is ALL legs.  He never gets a chance to dance any - even small - soloist roles and I've seen him often picked out (or is that on) in rehearsals for correction.  'Oh, Mckenie' they'll call.  Something tells me he would be very good in this.  He always appears to be just so very vulnerable yet has and maintains the sweetest smile going.  Due to those gargantuan gams  he has - when fully stretched - the most stunning legato line - plus its clear he just so LOVES dancing.  It might have served this very well ... certainly given it a different twist - but, that said, I was HUGELY appreciative for Maibe's reserve and also his thrilling balance with the always intoxicating Stanley.  For me, tonight, this WAS a different work.  Thank you, SVV (and, again, I don't often say that believe you me) and ALL.  

 

 

 

Small correction: I believe the dancer who filled in for Quinn Starner is Olivia Bell, not Olivia Boisson. Names are very similar and they are both in this ballet. And they also look like they could be sisters, so very easy to confuse them.

 

[Bruce Wall]

Mea Culpa - That was me not having a cast list to hand.  Those programmes handed out at State Theater are most helpful in that regard. 

 

Olivia Bell is a stunning dancer.  She was second cast in Tiler's new ballet in the role India Bradley originated and meant to be opposite Olivia McKinnon - but sadly the latter Olivia was not able to dance that performance so Emma Von Enck again danced the role she originated.  No complaints here.  They were both stunning in it.  That's a lot of Olivias though.  I think Olivia Bell must one of the smallest women in the company - but that said she is all that much more entirely radiant.  

 

 

Edited March 9 by Bruce Wall

[Mary]

1 hour ago, Sim said:

If I had one, I would be doing the same. 

Very interested to hear your thoughts!

[Sim]

32 minutes ago, Mary said:

Very interested to hear your thoughts!

Tomorrow!  😁

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

If I had one, I would be doing the same. 

I take it Sim didn't like it? (Now I'm curious to find out what order Sim had her preferences in - but I can wait till tomorrow)  😀

 

1 hour ago, Bruce Wall said:

Mea Culpa - That was me not having a cast list to hand.  Those programmes handed out at State Theater are most helpful in that regard. 

For this visit, getting accurate cast lists have been like digging for diamonds. The website is issuing cast lists that are about 80-90% accurate only (eg they still had Sara Mearns down in Rotunda during the show and 2 days afterwards even though she was clearly too ill and didn't dance). Only one level had the accurate cast list on First Night.

 

I don't know why they don't have copies pinned next to the programme sellers' stalls on the wall so that you can see it and take a picture when you buy your programme/ice cream. I would say invest in several of those electric display boards that ROH and ENO have on every level since they already use TV monitors for trailers and for latecomers to see the show. But they really should announce late substitutions on the PA system before the curtain goes up- that's a basic courtesy to both the audience and the dancers. 

Edited March 9 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

Just wanted to add that it is also fantastic that Britten Sinfonia have been engaged to play for NYCB in Rotunda. At first I thought the company would want only to have their own musicians from New York to play for them but it's fantastic that they decided to ask UK-based Britten Sinfonia to play for the first ballet.

 

The ensemble are noted for their versatility, playing Baroque works like Handel's Messiah as beautifully as modern composers' works like those of Nico Muhly. Unfortunately, like ENO and Russell Maliphant Dance Company, they had their funding slashed to zero by Arts Council England in 2022 so it's great news that they've got this gig. 

Edited March 9 by Emeralds

[OnePigeon]

This was a ballet of two halves for me - and boy do I wish I’d beaten a hasty retreat at the second interval!  The Peck was fine, pleasant enough and well danced.  It was wonderful to see Megan Fairchild and Roman Mejia in this piece and it had me wishing I could see more of Mejia.  Duo Concertant was the piece I booked for and it lived up to my expectations: the music was beautiful, the dancing by Woodward and Stanley was lyrical, joyful and then poignant and very moving and the narrative had me shedding a tear at the end.  I’ve finally seen Balanchine danced by NYCB and I’m happy to have experienced it.  I could weep for the lost opportunity of what we could have seen though. If I could have left there on a high I would have had a much more positive afternoon because what followed depressed me.  
 

Gustave is just a big why?  The costumes were hideous, the semaphore crossed with stomach cramp choreography was dull and uninspiring and I just wanted it to end.
 

I had never heard of James Blake prior to this and let’s just say I wish I had remained ignorant because any enjoyment I may have found from the choreography (and I’m not sure I would have) was drowned out by the godawful racket coming out of the speakers - it was a loud, turgid horror show and the bass was vibrating uncomfortably at times. I don’t enjoy the blending of hip hop and ballet and this certainly hasn’t changed my mind.  I can’t remember the last time I was so relieved for something to end.

[Lizbie1]

Some thoughts on this afternoon from the train home:

 

Rotunda was a dud IMO, a waste of everyone's time. Boring music, boring choreography, whowever well performed. (I was also probably more antagonised than I should have been by the NYCB habit of wearing tights over leotards for practice. I know there's supposed to be some practical justification for it - though other companies seem to manage not to do it or at least wear shorts over them - but I can't help thinking of it as a "cool kids" thing that spread.)

 

I didn't much enjoy Duo Concertant either, shocking though this may be!* I imagine Balanchine was playing with the duo thing and possibly poking fun at the format, but the long periods when the dancers just watch the musicians were...odd. Maybe the dancers need to practice their staring! I'm not a Stravinsky fan so that didn't help.

 

I liked the Tanowitz! I thought the costumes were jolly, though I acknowledge the points made about their practicality. The choreography was at least distinctive, which is more than I can say of Rotunda. That's two out of two Tanowitz pieces I liked but most of the forum didn't, I don't know what that says about me. I can't remember anything about the music.

 

Best of all for me was the Kyle Abraham. I thought there was some fine choreography and great dancing. Can someone tell me if the first solo after Taylor Stanley's was danced by Olivia Bell? I thought she was super. I started out hating the costumes but they'd won me over by the end - miles better than the practice clothes or minimum effort greige underwear so often seen. Some of them reminded me of the middle section of Woolf Works. As for the music - for the first half it was uncomfortably loud (can someone remind the SW sound team that it's a theatre not a club?) but not otherwise annoying IMO; unfortunately when it went a bit quieter this meant that we had more of James Blake's whiney singing.

 

Sorry, not my most fluent bit of writing, but I'm tapping this out on my phone before I forget it all.

 

*Edited to add: of course there were some great moments in it - it's Balanchine! But it didn't work as a whole for me.

Edited March 9 by Lizbie1

[Bruce Wall]

Tonight London got Sara - that's Sara Mearns - in her  now one and only London performance of this run - in just one of oh, so many NYCB roles that she has originated - and we saw her in the solo variation and the PDD with Gilbert Bolden in Rotunda - (again the originator - and that when he was still in the corps) - and both glittered.  Again, this work was commissioned by/for the Wells and I understand it is to be retired after tomorrow.  Sara is a star in the old-time mold and she thrust forward with the dramatic weight that made the central segment of this work count mightily this evening.  

 

Again, this is NOT a programme that would EVER be done in this fashion at State Theater - or anywhere else I would imagine.  This is a programme devised by Sir Alistair Spalding and it clearly worked for HIS audience - and the capacity attendance was one of the most heartening things about this little adventure.  It made my heart weep when I thought of just how empty SFB had been.  Perhaps they too should have been programmed by Spalding.  He has clearly built his audience - and they adore him and his taste.  I doubt sincerely this will ever happen again in NYCB's regard.  There's not much in it for them really.  One thing it has proven to me I think is that things are best left in their proper spaces.  I so admire MacMillan and McGregor by the Royal Company on the ROH stage.  They are built to serve those works and they do so SO very beautifully in their appropriate environment.  Balanchine, Robbins, Ratmansky and Peck should stay at State Theater or its equivalent.  Each are there - in appropriate spaces - for a very significant reason and their purpose rightfully served with companies expressly trained to honour such  - and do glory - expressly in each particular construct.  (For this reason the Rotunda built for the Wells simply swam in the larger climb.)  Still, NYCB honoured their commitment - no one can now say that they didn't - which at the time would have just been JUST Rotunda and that initially negotiated at some distance before the pandemic.  They have at very least done that with pride .... baring the item below - which I have to confess truly SHOCKED ME. 

 

Why?  Well, there was something this evening that I have NEVER seen with NYCB before.  ONLY IN LONDON it seems.  In Love Letter Roman was dancing the role created by SVV.  Still, he only did PART of it tonight.  In this evening's performance that long central variation at the heart of the work WAS ENTIRELY MISSING.  Roman DID do it twice on Thursday - BUT NOT AT ALL TONIGHT.  The piece seemed knocked back.  I have no idea what's going on - but I have NEVER seen NYCB do any work where part of the core choreography was cut.  Certainly there was no announcement.  Most strange.   Why SVV could not have done the performance - and partner Quinn Starner - as he did Olivia Bell - I have no idea.  Heaven knows they he would have partnered both any number of times in NYC.  Was it to simply have Roman on the performance roster?  I assume that segement will be back when SVV does the final performance tomorrow.  I sincerely hope someone consulted Mr. Abraham.  

 

 

 

 

Edited March 9 by Bruce Wall

[postie]

'mixed' is the operative word for me. I don't want to say much. To repeat myself from another production, we are just so fortunate - spoilt - in what we have available here, and for it to be so well-founded and resourced.

 

Very gracious of the New Yorkers to include English music, including closing the show with Atmosphere.

[Bruce Wall]

54 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

Can someone tell me if the first solo after Taylor Stanley's was danced by Olivia Bell? I thought she was super.

This afternoon the performance you reference would have been danced by Olivia Bell, a relatively petite lady with a lot of delicate might.  She is in the NYCB corps.  

 

Edited March 9 by Bruce Wall

[Bruce Wall]

Too late with my corrections - have put them here.  One thing I don't understand is why the American equivalent to BcoF  - which clearly is on the same platform it seems - [e.g., on those occasions when the overall system goes down for BcoF it does the same for the American equivalent as well] - still the latter does NOT have the half hour time limit set for edits.  Is this a setting selected by the respective organisers?  It suggests that it must be.  Just asking.  I know as a self respecting dyslexic I am most grateful to be able to go in and correct myself.  I will keep seeing things backwards beyond the time limit.  Just saying .... 

 

Tonight London got Sara - that's Sara Mearns - in her  now one and only London performance of this run - in just one of oh, so many NYCB roles that she has originated - and we saw her in the solo variation and the PDD with Gilbert Bolden in Rotunda - (again the originator - and that when he was still in the corps) - and both glittered.  Again, this work was commissioned by/for the Wells and I understand it is to be retired after tomorrow by NYCB.  Sara is a star in the old-time mold and she thrust forward with the dramatic weight that made the central segment of this work count mightily this evening.  

 

Again, this is NOT a programme that would EVER be done in this fashion at State Theater - or anywhere else I would imagine.  This is a programme devised by Sir Alistair Spalding and it clearly worked for HIS audience - and the capacity attendance was one of the most heartening things about this little adventure.  It made my heart weep when I thought of just how empty SFB had been.  Perhaps they too should have been programmed by Spalding.  He has clearly built his audience - and they adore him and his taste.  I doubt sincerely this will ever happen again in NYCB's regard.  There's not much in it for them really.  One thing it has proven to me I think is that things are best left in their proper spaces.  I so admire MacMillan and McGregor by the Royal Company on the ROH stage.  They are built to serve those works and they do so SO very beautifully in their appropriate environment.  Balanchine, Robbins, Ratmansky and Peck should stay at State Theater or its equivalent.  Each are there - in appropriate spaces - for a very significant reason and their purpose rightfully served with companies expressly trained to honour such  - and who do glory - expressly in each particular construct.  (For this reason the Rotunda built for the Wells simply swam in the larger climb.)  Still, NYCB honoured their commitment - no one can now say that they didn't - which at the time would have been JUST Rotunda and that initially negotiated at some distance before the pandemic.  They have at very least done that now with pride .... baring the item below - which I have to confess truly SHOCKED ME. 

 

Why?  Well, there was something this evening that I have NEVER seen with NYCB before.  ONLY IN LONDON it seems.  In Love Letter Roman was dancing the role created by SVV.  Still, he only did PART of it tonight.  In this evening's performance that long central variation at the heart of the work WAS ENTIRELY MISSING.  Roman DID do it twice on Thursday - BUT NOT AT ALL TONIGHT.  The piece seemed knocked back.  I have no idea what's going on - but I have NEVER seen NYCB do any work where part of the core choreography was cut.  Certainly there was no announcement.  Most strange.   Why SVV could not have done the performance - and partner Quinn Starner - as he did Olivia Bell - I have no idea.  Heaven knows he would have partnered both of these ladies any number of times in segments of a vast array of works in NYC.  Was it to simply have Roman on the performance roster?  I assume that segment will be back when SVV does the final performance tomorrow.  I sincerely hope someone consulted Mr. Abraham.  If not the lack of respect for the material being served is manifold.  

Edited March 9 by Bruce Wall

[alison]

15 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Too late with my corrections - have put them here.  One thing I don't understand is why the American equivalent to BcoF  - which clearly is on the same platform it seems - [e.g., on those occasions when the overall system goes down for BcoF it does the same for the American equivalent as well] - still the latter does NOT have the half hour time limit set for edits.  Is this a setting selected by the respective organisers?  It suggests that it must be. 

 

It most certainly isn't set by the Moderators - at least, not here.  We have no control over that setting.

[Bruce Wall]

11 minutes ago, alison said:

 

It most certainly isn't set by the Moderators - at least, not here.  We have no control over that setting.

 

Thanks for letting me know, Alison.  It's just that I find it most strange that one has it and the other does not.  I will send a note and ask there how they managed it.  As I say, it is difficult as a dyslexic because you can read something back any number of times and think you see it one way and then on another realise that it simply isn't what you had thought it was in the first place.  Everything is every which wya.  You can think that words are there that simply aren't and yet you don't see it until its too late.  It's been damning me for decades.  

 

Edited March 9 by Bruce Wall

[Scheherezade]

NYCB at Sadler's Wells. Let's start at the beginning. Rotunda. I wasn't expecting to be wowed, but this? It started with a group session involving much running round in circles and, believe me, it didn't improve. Dull doesn't begin to describe it. It was so painful I felt in need of an anaesthetic. Around half way through, two audience members in my line of vision separately got up and very visibly walked out and I knew how they felt! One of them could only get out by dislodging people closer to the end of her row and as I counted them I felt a rush of envy at what I took to be four people lucky enough to be escaping together but inexplicably three of them came back. What a mistake!

 

On then to the costumes in this piece, and they were dire. They made the grey vest and knickers combos so often favoured in the RB's forays into contemporary dance look like haute couture. I have to say, though, that the men drew the short straw here, with one particularly unfortunate victim - the male half of the pdd with Sara Mearns (Gilbert Bolden III?) - wearing what could only be described as an extremely unflattering romper suit.

 

Very occasionally we were given half a glimpse of what this excellent company might have been capable of had it been given the chance to partake in something approximating engaging choreography. The lucky recipient of one such isolated occasion was (I think) Daniel Ulbricht but even he couldn't escape the curse of the dreaded running around in circles. What a waste! If this is Justin Peck, no thanks!

 

At least we had some Balanchine after the first intermission and, yes, it had its edgy, quirky side and it was beautifully danced by Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley, but it was far from being my favourite piece of Balanchine, and it wasn't nearly enough, and along with @Lizbie1 I could have done without the lengthy bits at the start of each segment where the two dancers stood awkwardly by the piano while the music played on.

 

We then had the pause before the Tanowitz where people got up and began to move towards the exit until they were sternly reprimanded and told to stay where they were. By this time, you will not be surprised to hear that my hopes for the rest of the evening were not particularly high but surprise surprise, I found that I didn't mind Gustave Le Gray No 1 at all. It might have been my high vantage point, right at the back of the second circle, but the unusual red costumes, the geometric patterns and the serene movements and interplay between the dancers were aesthetically rather pleasing. The music worked too, and apart from the somewhat unnecessary relocation of piano and pianist, sans stool, from one side of the stage to the other - (and the point of that was?) - I rather enjoyed this piece. And found it way more satisfying than any of Tanowitz's creations for the Royal Ballet.

 

Which leaves Love Letter (on shuffle), Kyle Abraham to James Blake, and - even bigger surprise - I really liked it. At last, a platform to show what these dancers could do, and if it was something of a love child of Playlist, Blake Works and the Orlando section of Woolf Works, it was none the worse for that. I loved the costumes, thought the music sat well on the choreography, felt the lighting and the shifting, wavy projections on the floor enhanced the mood that the work was looking to create and, best of all, the company seemed to be having a blast performing it. I did feel that it could have done with more of the rapid fire pieces and wonder whether these might have been the sections that @Bruce Wallreferenced as having been omitted from the evening performance. Either way, it brought a curate's egg of an evening to an uplifting and enjoyable close.

 

 

[postie]

That first section was like a teenage ribbon dance. Or it could have been lifted from the Moscow Olympics Opening Ceremony in 1980. Felt disappointed for the performers.

 

Edited March 10 by postie
grammar

[bridiem]

Just to mention that I think it's a good thing, even if sometimes inconvenient, to have a time limit for editing posts. People start reading and reacting to them very quickly, and if they're changed long after the event you'd never know if you were actually reading the final post. Typos etc don't matter in the whole scheme of things anyway; what matters is the essence of what's being said, which should not be changed after people start reading/reacting.

[San Perregrino]

10 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

As for the music - for the first half it was uncomfortably loud (can someone remind the SW sound team that it's a theatre not a club?)

Previous enquires/complaints have all told me that it is the visiting company/choreographer who determines the sound levels for their work(s) not Sadlers Wells staff.

[San Perregrino]

I love reading the diverse and mixed reactions of forum members. Thank you one and all.
As a company, NYCB has received a warm welcome in London as well it ought. The dancers don’t choose the work to be presented. 
However, this was definitely a missed opportunity.  For me, the programme presented this week has highlighted that turkeys are not just for Thanksgiving. 
I also give thanks that London is the home of two of the world’s best ballet companies and a third is a relative stones throw away in Birmingham. 
 

Edited March 10 by PeterS

[annamk]

On 07/03/2024 at 21:25, annamk said:

I enjoyed this more than my lowish expectations (because of the programme choices) although the bigger part of the pleasure was in seeing the dancers of NYCB rather than the programme itself. 

 

Rotunda - I muddled this up with another Justin Peck I'd seen and was expecting a sneaker ballet so it was a positive surprise to find it was danced in ballet shoes and more neo classical in style. I didn't much like the music and overall I agree with @zxDaveM above that it was just not particularly memorable but the dancers were wonderful. 

 

I've seen Duo Concertante before and it's not one of my favourite Balanchine works but it was brilliantly danced.

 

I quite enjoyed the Pam Tanowitz, unlike most of her other work I've seen at the RoH recently. It's her usual quirky choreography - the costumes were fabulous. 

 

I can see why Kyle Abraham's Love Letter (on shuffle) was programmed last. If you like James Blake music, funky costumes and lighting it will send you out on a high. It was not entirely contemporary in dance style unlike what I've seen of Abraham at the RoH.  I did enjoy it, maybe because it reminded me so much of Forsythe's Blake Works I.  Perhaps it was just the music, I'm not sure.

 

Very much hope that this sold out run will mean that NYCB come back very soon for a longer stay and with more programming variety. I'd love to see some Ratmansky, Robbins and more Balanchine. 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of varied opinions on here and it seems I changed my own mind from the Thursday to the Sat matinees ! 

 

Rotunda - I liked the music much more yesterday. I wouldn't want to see it on repeat but enjoyed it nonetheless. The practice costumes didn't bother me. Having seen what Roman Meija can do in Tiler Peck's programme it was disappointing that there was so little sense of what an exciting dancer he can be.

 

Duo Concertante - as on Thursday, super and the highlight.

 

Gustave Le Gray No. 1 - ok - ish. Interesting that it was danced by 4 women yesterday. 

 

Love Letter (on shuffle) - what happened between Thursday and Saturday ........ I went from quite enjoying this to finding it unbearable. Hated most of the costumes, hated the volume of some of the music and the "rap" sections. Unoriginal, derivative.