Mark your calendars. Next weekend is the 40th Annual Ninth Avenue Food Festival. Hard to believe that it's that time of year again. The old avenue sure has seen its share of funnel cakes, zeppoles, shark-kebobs, fried oreos, corndogs, and falafel-this & falafel-that. This year's festival could prove especially interesting because, as you've no doubt heard, the 17-year cicadas are coming to town. Billions of them. According to a confidential source at the Cicada Tracker, some newly hatched bugs were spotted in Short Hills, New Jersey on May 1st with 9th Ave or Bust stenciled on their theater cases. As soon as they've figured out how to transfer from the NJT 70 to the NJT 114 to get to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, we should hear them arrive. Billions of them.
Wouldn't it enliven Balanchine's Ivesiana if we tossed in some cicadas? Consider Central Park in the Dark with a swarm of cicadas chasing after Ashley Laracey and Zachary Catazaro. By the way, those two delivered another wonderfully mysterious performance of that work this afternoon. Janie Taylor and Anthony Huxley repeated their haunting interpretation of The Unanswered Question, and Teresa Reichlen and Ask la Cour performed the PdD In The Inn for the first time.
A mostly new cast delivered a sensational performance of Who Cares?. Sterling Hyltin and Amar Ramasar were enchanting and playful in The Man I Love while conveying an innocence and honesty in their PdD. Ana Sophia Scheller brought romance and exquisite lines to her rendition of My One and Only. Ashley Bouder soft-shoed her pointes through I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise with charm and style – a masterful performance.
The demi-soloists in Who Cares? were on fire. Haglund is ready to see Devin Alberda take the spotlight in something really big. He's showing new strength, stamina, and a maturity that make his whistling clean technique look like the best on stage. Ashley Laracey was a standout in this ballet, too. Boy, does she ever know how to punctuate a musical phrase beautifully.
Tiler Peck and Gonzalo Garcia found the spirit within Tarantella, but Gonzalo wasn't as ready for the challenges of the PdD as Tiler. His center wobbled all over the place on several turns and his feet slushed through a lot of the allegro. It was particularly noticeable because he was dancing with someone who has a gyroscope in her middle and wouldn't be able to slush her feet if you asked her.
Stars and Stripes had bright spots and a few problems today. Troy Schumacher had a commanding and triumphant debut as the lead in the Third Campaign. He delivered clean, snappy pirouettes and precise tours en l'air. Tyler Angle's debut as El Capitan showed that he was born to dance the role, but needs to get a few more performances under his belt. His interpretation employed the delightful humor that we used to see in Damian Woetzel.
Lauren King seemed a little unsure and careful as she led the First Campaign. She met most of the technical challenges except for that silly diagonal of releves while holding the foot in hand. The website casting didn't indicate that this was her debut in the role, but Haglund can't recall seeing her in it before. Her customary energy was missing today. Same problem with Megan LeCrone's Second Campaign: not enough energy and reach with the legs. Sara Mearns had a few problems with Liberty Bell today, but it was still quite an impressive performance. It looked like she opened the throttle all the way a little too early and didn't have both hands on the steering wheel yet. By the midpoint, however, she had it all under control. She and Tyler blazed to the finish in good style.
The H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Troy Schumacher for a debut in Stars and Stripes that made the audience snap to attention.