So why did the School of American Ballet choose Balanchine’s frothy “Who Cares” to perform at its spring workshop performance? Was it because it wanted its female adolescent students to act out as sexy women? Was it because it needed the students to be featured in less rigorous neoclassical Balanchine technique than, say, Concerto Barocco or Stravinsky Violin Concerto? The choice was odd and at times cringe-worthy. With one single exception, the performance did not rise above recital-istic. The featured students who are now headed to NYCB as apprentices were fine but didn’t possess many extraordinary qualities in this Saturday night performance. Surprisingly, feet were less than well-shaped, fifth positions did not always click together like magnets, developpes were not particularly notable for their shapes and heights.
The single exceptional performance, and perhaps the entire justification for presenting “Who Cares” performed by students, was the performance of the 17-year-old destined-to-be-a-superstar Albanian, Ador Kadiasi, who tore through the Liza variation like he was being featured in front of millions in a Tony Awards telecast. This was a performance from an extremely talented and interesting dancer. We’re looking forward to following his career.
The rest of the SAB performance was not up to past years’ quality. A “World Premiere” 🙄 of a contemporary dance by Kiyon Ross entitled Proof of Light was proof that middling contemporary ballet continues to spread like mold. The Czardas from Balanchine’s Cortège Hongrois and his Scherzo à la Russe were appropriate vehicles for all levels of students and required no pointe work even when pointe shoes were being worn.
It’s worth mentioning that out of the 100+ SAB students who participated in the Workshop this year, more than 40 are academic honor students. Brain strength and body strength go hand in hand at SAB.
Of course, few who attend SAB achieve NYCB corps contracts. Fewer achieve promotions and star turns. But it seems like it has been fewer and fewer and fewer, and those who have delivered true stardom on the stage, e.g., Emily Kikta, Alexa Maxwell, Ashley Hod, Ashley Laracey, haven’t gotten the respect and deserved recognition from management. Forgive Haglund for stating the obvious, but it’s not like NYCB can’t afford to promote these four. The company is rolling in money. Its endowment is now larger than the Metropolitan Opera’s. That’s worth saying again. The New York City Ballet’s endowment is now larger than the Metropolitan Opera’s. [ $245.5 million vs $232.1 million]
Precautionary cash hoarding is a characteristic of all accounting managers. They are always reluctant to spend money on opportunities if they can get away with not spending. The last thing they want to spend money on is a human resource because that’s an ongoing expense rather than a one-time expense. So even in highly successful arts organizations, unless there is a forward thinking leader who understands how to use money, there will be neurotic cash hoarding. It comes down to why promote four deserving women to principal when they will agree to do principal work while remaining soloists? If the company can exploit artists, why not do it?
And while we’re complaining, let’s unload on Wendy Whelan for her condescending remarks that suggest she thinks her job is to educate the audience. That is apparently her excuse for scheduling mediocre to downright bad contemporary DEI crap and expecting people to pay full price for it. She says she doesn’t want to give the audience “candy” — that candy being Balanchine’s masterpieces. When an artist, any artist, decides that his or her job is to educate the audience or fix the audience’s political or cultural perspectives, that artist needs to be kicked to the curb for being too big for his or her britches. A principal dancer who finds his or her way into management does not suddenly become entitled to judge an audience’s level of education, sophistication, or perspective. Wendy has not done well in repertory planning. There are others who could do better. And we’re a little tired of the Winter Art Series turning into a photography exhibit that evokes her own husband’s art work.
So, now it’s on to big ballets. Who besides Haglund is going to every Onegin and Sylvia?
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