Finally, New York City Ballet corpsman Joseph Gordon is old enough to walk into a bar for a beer. Though he still retains a youthful hint of Opie Taylor in the eyes and cheeks, his U.S. Navy dress whites now pump up his confidence with the ladies. Last night, when he tried to set himself up with the oh-so “experienced" Tiler Peck in Fancy Free, it initially looked like she was a cat who had found a new mouse to toy with rather than a mature sailor who would show her a nice night on the town. But Gordon, a corpsman since 2012, quickly swayed her thinking – and ours – with his slick, effortless partnering and big, big solo dancing in an awesome debut.
Andrew Veyette and Daniel Ulbricht, who made up the other two-thirds of the sailor trio, clearly had more experience with the ladies – which we will not, under any circumstances, go into on this blog. Veyette’s very American Rumba, accentuated by a slight rip in the back seam of his pants, was pretty darn close to what one finds in establishments along 9th Avenue in New York where sailors in uniform always get special drink and room rates during Fleet Week. Daniel Ulbricht’s high-flying, split-landing antics were brilliant and hilariously augmented by his appeals to the bartender to “keep ‘em coming.” In addition to Tiler Peck, the other ladies dressed for a good time were Gretchen Smith and Laine Habony.
Of late, NYCB has had better male casts of Fancy Free than ABT for whom Jerome Robbins originally made the ballet – probably ever since Jose Manuel Carreno retired his Rumba. The addition of Joseph Gordon sees that trend continuing in the near future. We wonder how much longer it will be before Harrison Coll will be old enough to walk into a bar.
Georgina Pazcoguin stole the stage in her debut in Peter Martins' Barber Violin Concerto. Stole. It. Her unrelenting effort to convince her balletically-inclined partner, Russell Janzen, to throw form to the wind, was as intense as it was clearly modern dance in this choreography that sets a pair of ballet dancers in motion with a pair of barefooted modern dancers. Janzen succumbed – sort of – his natural elegance and danseur noble bearing are hard to shake off. Jared Angle and Teresa Reichlen completed the quartet. It is, for Angle, an excellent role that both highlighted his strengths and made his weaknesses unimportant. Teresa Reichlen managed all of the technical matters efficiently, but is not expressive from the waist up, despite extreme exercising of the eyebrows.
There were some fabulous performances in Balanchine’s Who Cares? last night — heck, most everybody was fabulous including the men’s demi-soloist ensemble of Harrison Coll, Cameron Dieck, Ralph Ippolito, Lars Nelson, and Peter Walker. Savannah Lowrey reprised her sultry performance from last Sunday. Ashly Isaacs smoldered like hot ash ready to start a fire anew in her blue costume. An outstanding technician, she now toys with the steps hinting of another Ashley Bouder and Tiler Peck to come. We are very excited to watch this dancer develop.
Sterling Hyltin and Amar Ramasar as the lead couple may not have had the sensuality of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Fairchild in these roles, but they brought crackling electricity to their PdD and solos mostly through strong dynamics, fabulous musical punctuation, and an appetite for risk-taking. There's a little bit of Fosse percolating in Ms. Hyltin. Theirs is a performance not to miss going forward.
By the way, we are so totally over missing the original Karinska costumes in this ballet. Santo Loquasto's designs are sharp, sassy, and jazzy. We like them – except for the men in blue who look like they're in sanitation department uniforms.
With much thanks to NYCB for an energizing evening of beautiful dancing, we bestow the H.H. Pump Bump Award, someone’s glittery tribute to the U.S. Navy that includes a gold anchor on the toe which is not seen in this image, to Joseph Gordon for his outstanding debut in Fancy Free.
12 responses to “NYCB 1/28
Barber Violin Concerto, Fancy Free, Who Cares?”
Very thoughtful. Thank you. I can’t wait to see the NY City Ballet later this month in NY and next month in DC
I finally got to see ABT’s Sleeping Beauty at the Kennedy Center this week. Lovely production but I am ambivalent about some of the “old-fashioned” style choices. Tendu arriere with a demo-point instead of a fully extended foot was off putting but I appreciated the softer port de bras and more modest extensions.
I appreciated going back to read some of your posts and the conversation from last year when the ballet premiered. Thanks.
Very thoughtful. Thank you. I can’t wait to see the NY City Ballet later this month in NY and next month in DC
I finally got to see ABT’s Sleeping Beauty at the Kennedy Center this week. Lovely production but I am ambivalent about some of the “old-fashioned” style choices. Tendu arriere with a demo-point instead of a fully extended foot was off putting but I appreciated the softer port de bras and more modest extensions.
I appreciated going back to read some of your posts and the conversation from last year when the ballet premiered. Thanks.
NYCB has a strong schedule coming up in February. That’s great that you’ll be able to see the company both here and in DC.
With regard to the tendu with demi-pointe in Ratmansky’s SB, I think it was probably much nicer looking way back then when the ballerina’s shoes were not nearly as big & boxy.
NYCB has a strong schedule coming up in February. That’s great that you’ll be able to see the company both here and in DC.
With regard to the tendu with demi-pointe in Ratmansky’s SB, I think it was probably much nicer looking way back then when the ballerina’s shoes were not nearly as big & boxy.
Good insight about the pointe shoes.
Good insight about the pointe shoes.
Wait until you see Joey Gordon in the lead of Who Cares?!! I saw him this past Sunday matinee, and he was a dream come true lead. Excellent partnering, excellent turns, jumps, handsome, charming, lots of style and energy to his dancing, and he was tall enough to partner all three of his ladies including Unity Phelan who also debut’d in the ballet. I have no doubt that Joey will be a principal soon after that Sunday debut.
Wait until you see Joey Gordon in the lead of Who Cares?!! I saw him this past Sunday matinee, and he was a dream come true lead. Excellent partnering, excellent turns, jumps, handsome, charming, lots of style and energy to his dancing, and he was tall enough to partner all three of his ladies including Unity Phelan who also debut’d in the ballet. I have no doubt that Joey will be a principal soon after that Sunday debut.
Hi SZ. What a show! But it was Saturday matinee, right? Sunday was Amar & Sterling.
I enjoyed Joseph Gordon’s debut in Who Cares? as well but view it as a work in progress. It wasn’t as complete as his debut in Fancy Free where the choreography was more clearly coming from muscle memory. There was a lot of thinking about the steps and what comes next going on in Who Cares? Some of that might be attributed to problems relating to less rehearsal time due to the injury of his original partner, Lauren Lovette, and the subsequent substitution of Tiler Peck and then Megan Fairchild. To me, Gordon and Fairchild looked like a good rehearsal. On the other hand, the partnering and chemistry improved in the PdD with Brittany Pollock. When he finally got to the very lovely Unity Phelan, he was confident and suggested the kind of showmanship that we know will surface the next time Who Cares? is on the schedule.
What a great program this was. I saw 4 out the 5 performances and never got tired of it. When a company can put on a show with Fancy Free as the middle piece, you know you’ve got a powerhouse program.
Hi SZ. What a show! But it was Saturday matinee, right? Sunday was Amar & Sterling.
I enjoyed Joseph Gordon’s debut in Who Cares? as well but view it as a work in progress. It wasn’t as complete as his debut in Fancy Free where the choreography was more clearly coming from muscle memory. There was a lot of thinking about the steps and what comes next going on in Who Cares? Some of that might be attributed to problems relating to less rehearsal time due to the injury of his original partner, Lauren Lovette, and the subsequent substitution of Tiler Peck and then Megan Fairchild. To me, Gordon and Fairchild looked like a good rehearsal. On the other hand, the partnering and chemistry improved in the PdD with Brittany Pollock. When he finally got to the very lovely Unity Phelan, he was confident and suggested the kind of showmanship that we know will surface the next time Who Cares? is on the schedule.
What a great program this was. I saw 4 out the 5 performances and never got tired of it. When a company can put on a show with Fancy Free as the middle piece, you know you’ve got a powerhouse program.
Yes, it was last Saturday matinee when Joey Gordon debut’d in Who Cares?. And I agree with you that his pas de deux with Megan was a bit careful, more of a rehearsal… probably because it was just that: a rehearsal on stage! I doubt they had more than one brief run through before the show with all the last minute changes to casting replacing Lovette. There is quite a lot of tricky partnering in The Man I Love pas de deux. I’ve seen hiccups and mistakes from those with lots of experience together. Anyway, very excited to see much more of Joey, Brittany, and Unity.
Yes, it was last Saturday matinee when Joey Gordon debut’d in Who Cares?. And I agree with you that his pas de deux with Megan was a bit careful, more of a rehearsal… probably because it was just that: a rehearsal on stage! I doubt they had more than one brief run through before the show with all the last minute changes to casting replacing Lovette. There is quite a lot of tricky partnering in The Man I Love pas de deux. I’ve seen hiccups and mistakes from those with lots of experience together. Anyway, very excited to see much more of Joey, Brittany, and Unity.