NYCB Fall Gala – 9/23

What a terrific, positive energy-filled evening of dance to open New York City Ballet’s fall season even though a lot of people had the night off: the brass, the percussion, and the corps de ballet were all somewhere else. We all had a good time anyway thanks to some surprisingly good new works.

Best of the night was Liam Scarlett’s Funérailles, a brilliantly conceived Pas de Deux for Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild to Franz Liszt’s piano elegy by the same name. While Liszt denied that his composition was a tribute to his friend Frédéric Chopin, the latter’s artistic influence is unmistakable. Likewise, Scarlett’s choreography has been unmistakably influenced by John Neumeier’s Lady of the Camellias, set to Chopin, in its breathtaking lifts that were often of such wild and adrenalized passion that they stunned the viewer with their intensity.

The costumes by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen were real theatrical masterpieces of intricate design and detail. [Click on pic from Guest of a Guest] Peck's Victorian influenced dress was composed of many layers with the dark fabric gradually giving way to stark white toward the hem. Fairchild’s long fitted coat was opened at the front to reveal his bare torso. The impact of the dress on the choreography was startling as the white fabric grabbed the light during the exquisite lifts. On occasion, Scarlett had Peck use the skirt as a prop – grabbing it with her hands. This same type of apparent constrictive costuming contrasted with the abandonment in the choreography marked some of the best European ballets of the 20th Century as created by the geniuses John Neumeier, John Cranko, and Kenneth MacMillan.

As in Scarlett’s first ballet for NYCB, Acheron, the overall lighting design was far too muted. The music, too, was muted. It would have been preferable for pianist Elaine Chelton to play in the downstage left corner so that her beautiful music would rise instead being deadened by the side wings. Choreographically, Scarlett continues the reluctance to have his dancers let go of one another during Pas de Deux that we noted in his first work for NYCB. The constant contact in this latest work at times suffocated the viewer’s interest whereas more frequent separations of the dancers would have breathed individuality into their characters.

Justin Peck’s Belles-Lettres to music by César Franck was a major departure from the artistically lightweight pieces that he has previously choreographed for NYCB, and a major breakthrough. In his first work for the company since being named its Resident Choreographer, we saw a new seriousness of purpose, a maturing of purpose, and more realization of the parts making a whole.

Four couples and a soloist comprised the cast: Lauren Lovette with Jared Angle, Ashley Laracey with Adrian Danchig-Waring, Brittany Pollack with Taylor Stanley, Rebecca Krohn with Tyler Angle, and the soloist was Anthony Huxley. Much of the partnering was in the spirited on-the-fly NYCB tradition, but this time, it wasn’t the throw-away nonsense seen in Peck's previous works.

Huxley’s role was as an outlier, not unlike his role in Scarlett’s Acheron and not unlike the lone male role created by Alexei Ratmansky in Symphony No. 6 No. 9 for ABT and SFB. Huxley's choreography, however, illuminated his strengths as a dancer – the space devouring allegro, weight grounded like the much-missed Jennie Somogyi is known for, and sleek lines with the ability to go from 0 to 60mph like some McLaren Spider version of a ballet dancer.

Yes, Belles-Lettres was another piano ballet, and yes, the women were costumed in dresses (by Mary Katrantzou) that reminded one of the dresses in any number of Jerome Robbins’ ballets, but there was a lot of original content that was more than satisfying from a musical standpoint. Ashley Laracey demonstrated once again that she is one of the most capable artists when it comes to infusing musicality into dance while traveling at a high speed without making it look forced or over-punctuated. There is a subtlety and unique perfume in her individual artistry that enhances every phrase she dances.

Taylor Stanley’s dynamics on stage in this dance were riveting. Granted, some of it was due to fortunate genetics, but Stanley’s control and delivery of expression and energy were sharply articulated making him a standout among standouts in this ballet.

The third premiere was Troy Schumacher’s Clearing Dawn to music by Judd Greenstein with costumes designed by Thom Browne. This was the choreographer’s first work for NYCB, and at 10 minutes long, was long enough to get a glimpse of his style which clearly showed original thinking in terms of production but the content sometimes seemed antiquated. The stage opened with six dancers (Ashley Bouder, Claire Kretzschmar, Georgina Pazcoguin, David Prottas, Teresa Reichlen, Andrew Veyette) wearing long black trench coats. After some slight movements of the upper bodies, the trench coats suddenly rose off the dancers’ bodies and travelled up into the air where they hung overhead until the end of the dance when they returned to crumpled positions on the floor. The lifting of the coats revealed the dancers in schoolish costumes: short striped skirts for the ladies who also wore gray tights and black point shoes; the men wore bermuda length shorts, school boy length.

The choreography style was that of a few counts of dance followed by a stop and slouch like a pedestrian waiting at a walk light. Time and time again, it was a few quick steps followed by stop and hang out with the hands on the hips or just hanging by the side. The PdDs sometimes involved little episodes of fisticuffs between dancers. This type of choreography worked really well when it was first invented by Robbins and Twyla Tharp, but over the decades it has gotten tiresome when employed by other choreographers. It’s annoying when Ratmansky uses it, too. With so much pedestrian-like choreography to Greenstein’s pop-minimalist composition, it seemed like an attempt to bring back the ‘80s. Robbins has already done the pedestrian walking; Tharp has already done the boxing and standing around; both have already used minimalist music better than anyone else could ever hope. But I’m ready for another 10 minute ballet from Schumacher which is created to music that has already stood the test of time.

The other works of the evening were Benjamin Millepied’s This Bitter Earth, danced beautifully by Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle in the beautiful Valentino costumes, and Peter Martins’ Morgen with Sterling Hyltin, Maria Kowroski, Sara Mearns, Ask la Cour, Justin Peck, and Amar Ramasar.  The new costumes for Morgen by Carolina Herrera were much more elegant designs than the originals from 2001. Sara Mearns should have a closet full of Carolina Herrera dresses. She wears Carolina Herrera better than Carolina Herrera although the latter was the picture of elegance when she took her bow in a bright red, perfectly cut number. Sara in a navy dress, Maria in pink coral, and Sterling in white were absolutely beautiful.

Haglund loves this ongoing gala tradition of combining fashion designers with new choreography. One never has any idea what to expect, and while the designs aren’t always practical for dance, the NYCB costume genius, Mark Happel, always seems to be able to tinker with them to make them work. This might be unpopular to say (and Heaven knows Haglund dreads saying anything that might be unpopular) but the experiment with the Santiago Calatrava scenery designs from a few years back was a good one that needs another look-see. As Peter Martins said in the short film clip at the beginning of the evening, NYCB doesn’t play it safe. Let’s just add that he didn’t mean they don’t play it smart.

The first H.H. Pump Bump Award of the season, a progressive stiletto with wide appeal to both the fashion-conscious and tradition-conscious consumer, is bestowed upon Justin Peck’s Belles-Lettres which signified a big step up in the choreographer’s development.