NYCB 5/22 Penultimate pleasures

Well, here we are at the close of another glorious and satisfying chapter. Somewhat like the many who are waltzing across Lincoln Center stages this week in their academic regalia, Megan Fairchild is waltzing through her final performances in Coppélia at New York City Ballet as she prepares to go off, most assuredly, to make another mark on the world. There is no doubt that her days ahead will be spectacular. She leaves behind a sparkling ballet career forged from discipline, love, and an abundance of natural talent and grace.

At her penultimate performance on Friday night, Megan was still checking off her ballet bucket list. In a fit of Swanilda-like spunk she commandeered the microphone to make the pre-curtain announcement prohibiting cell phone usage. But this was a performance for which even Megan, herself, could not suppress the audience from sneaking videos and pictures which are now trending.

It was a particularly well-danced and tightly organized performance by the 70+ member cast that included 24 miniature aspiring Megans from the School of American Ballet in pink tulle who ran and bourreed like the wind. They will be the next generation of stars. But it was a star of a generation past who nearly stole the show. Robert La Fosse was deliciously dorky as Dr. Coppélius, the old fuddy-duddy toymaker who mistakenly thought that he had the magical powers to bring his beloved life-sized doll, Coppélia, to life. Megan’s Swanilda stole the doll’s identity and flummoxed La Fosse’s character who hobbled around trying to control the chaos that Swanilda and her friends were sowing. Joseph Gordon was a superb Franz whose romantic desires couldn’t distinguish the fantasy doll from the real girl.

The actual dancing through the night was superb. If Megan found the dancing more difficult than twenty years ago, she certainly didn’t show it. All of that hyper-articulation of the feet and legs was on display. Her arabesques were thrown from a spine that seemed lubricated with the love of dancing. Gordon, too, was in high form and full character. Soloist Sara Adams performed a gorgeous Bells Waltz – nothing showy or ostentatious, just quite beautiful allegro with pristine positions and a natural ease. Mary Thomas MacKinnon was the Dawn that burst forth with the grandest sunshine. Dominka Afanasenkov’s Prayer solo was assured, but her presentation was bland and her increase in mass is still a big negative factor. What made Olivia MacKinnon’s Spinner such a lovely surprise was how she found maturity in her port de bras. She trusted that the correct shapes would be beautiful and avoided flinging the arms too high or too wildly. She also presented a mature sense of calm and confidence that has slowly developed over the years. The Discord and War variations have always seemed to be bottom-shelf Bolshoi-influenced and parade-worthy. Naomi Corti and Jules Mabie managed all the flashy, trumpeting grand allegro with ease, but it was kind of a waste of these two artists.

Our HH Pump Bump Award, swiped from the Oscars, is bestowed upon Megan Fairchild and Robert La Fosse for the rich and memorable performances throughout the years. Although Megan is dashing off to Europe for her next chapter, we’re pretty confident that she is not deserting us—it is but chapter 2 of what will be an epic novel.