Given the ballet offerings at Lincoln Center last night, Haglund would have expected to attend the most classical ballet La Sylphide with Herman Cornejo at ABT and then race across the plaza to watch Ashley Bouder tear through NYCB's Theme and Variations. Instead, he found himself watching Cornejo in Theme and Variations at ABT and then racing across the plaza to watch Bouder’s La Sylphide at NYCB. It felt strangely special, this blurring of specialities.
Theme and Variations, Balanchine’s masterpiece from November 1947, includes magnificent balletic pomp and ceremony as grand as a royal wedding. Important as this premiere was in November of 1947, the world’s captivating news of that month also included the wedding of Britain’s Princess Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, a properly lavish ceremony that was widely covered by Life Magazine and a flood of international newspapers. It was a good, happy news event that affirmed the beauty of order in a world wearing fresh scars from its own re-ordering. Everyone could afford to feel good about the event even if they could barely afford to eat.
This wedding picture of Elizabeth and Philip standing at the front of the palace – she on the left, he on the right – with their attendants positioned around and behind them brings to mind the opening of Theme and Variations which advances to bright allegro, a tender pas de deux, and a gloriously royal promenade.
Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo were knockouts in last night’s performance. We don’t get to see them enough in this ballet even though they offer a closer reading to the Kirkland/Baryshnikov interpretation than any of the other couples around town. The Kirkland/Bayshnikov interpretation may not be everyone’s cup of tea, and may not have even been Balanchine’s, but it is a favorite of many because Gelsey could introduce classical form into Balanchine's neo-classical steps like no one else.
Sarah’s command of the technical challenges, her musical accents, and the articulation of the feet and legs were, indeed, beautiful to see. Early in last night’s performance, Haglund noticed a new vivid enunciation in Sarah's pas de chat where the first foot peeled off the floor and the arch pushed right up her plumb-line before the second foot sprang to meet it in a tidy formation. Jeeze, it was beautiful and so easily and joyously done. Sarah has created such graceful length in her limbs that one assumes when watching her on stage that she is much taller than she really is.
The same is true for Herman who always looks so much taller when standing apart from the other men on stage because of his essentially perfect lines and port de bras. It was such a joy to watch him toss off the allegro so easily and deliver such centered pirouettes so consistently.
At times, however, it seemed that the tempo for everyone's allegro was lazy. A little more energy in the music would have created even more brilliance on stage.
The pas de deux went smoothly except for one instance when Herman was standing a little too far behind Sarah while she was on pointe and wasn’t in the best place when she needed him.
The demi-soloist women, Luciana Paris, Christine Shevchenko, Devon Teuscher, and Stephanie Williams (subbing for Misty Copeland) were perfection. It is so hard to take the eyes off of Devon who looks absolutely stunning in a classical tutu and whose dancing is beautifully clear and confident. Sometimes Haglund spends the whole night at the ballet wishing that dancers would eliminate this bad habit or that extraneous tic, but Devon’s technique is scrubbed clean. What a beauty.
The demi-soloist men danced well except for a couple of synchronization issues noticed with Alex Hammoudi and Jose Sebastian. Blaine Hoven looked better than in years – svelte, long leg lines, big jumps, and lots of energy. Craig Salstein danced brightly as well.
The corps de ballet was mostly where it should have been all the time, except for a slip and fall by one woman. Here again, the women were more cohesive and coordinated than the men who sometimes were – not ragged, but let’s say, a little rumply in places.
Then it was a quick scamper across the plaza where Haglund was first in line at the champagne bar during intermission between Bournonville Divertissements and La Sylphide.
Ashley Bouder has been working on and thinking about La Sylphide for quite some time and her efforts paid off last night. It was another transformation before our eyes like the one we experienced with Sterling Hyltin last week. Ashley acquired such a convincing Romantic style that it was hard to believe it wasn’t her native style. All of that energy that she normally exerts to power through Balanchine’s allegro was converted to lightness and dancing of Impressionistic wonder. Her balances on pointe had little showmanship in them but instead were airy, and they illuminated points in the music to an extent not thought possible. All in all, another extraordinary accomplishment in this run of La Sylphide.
Andrew Veyette threw a tremendous amount of energy into his dancing and acting, but unfortunately, he didn’t surrender to the Bournonville style. His arms frequently flew above his shoulders and lost their shapes. He made a choice to use his arms to jump as high and as far as possible even if it meant sacrificing style and form. It was a little disappointing. He and Ashley had a great rapport, however, and were wonderful in the “chase” scenes.
Megan LeCrone made a remarkable debut as Effie. For a dancer who can seem reluctant to communicate on stage, holy cow, did she ever walk on with some acting chops last night. Obviously, we want to see more of this in all of her dancing. She was totally charming and a hit with audience.
Joseph Gordon’s Gurn was yet another revelation. Superbly danced and superbly acted. He pretty well had the style down pat in his variations and didn’t suspend it in order to grab more height or distance in his jumps.
Marika Anderson’s Madge was wonderfully mimed. One look from her eyes could pierce through travertine. Excellent all around.
Haglund fully enjoyed this production of La Sylphide at its premiere. Now he’s in love with it.
The H.H. Pump Bump Award for Haglund’s customized evening of dance is bestowed upon Sarah Lane for her exquisite performance in Theme and Variations.
14 responses to “ABT & NYCB 5/12
The thrill of the customized ballet evening”
Hi Haglund, I also thought Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo were phenomenal in Theme and Variations, and I was very unhappy to read Brian Seibert’s review in today’s New York Times describing Sarah’s performance as demonstrating “sufficiency of skill rather than a glamorous surfeit” and Herman’s performance as “oddly contained and low in energy.” I thought they had terrific chemistry on stage, with Sarah smiling throughout the fiendishly difficult choreography and Herman throwing off turn after turn with complete aplomb, all the while perfectly synchronized with each other and making just the right amount of eye contact. I can only wonder who, in Seibert’s eyes, would show the “glamorous surfeit” he felt was missing. Mearns, maybe? To my eyes, Sarah and Herman both deserved better.
Hi Haglund, I also thought Sarah Lane and Herman Cornejo were phenomenal in Theme and Variations, and I was very unhappy to read Brian Seibert’s review in today’s New York Times describing Sarah’s performance as demonstrating “sufficiency of skill rather than a glamorous surfeit” and Herman’s performance as “oddly contained and low in energy.” I thought they had terrific chemistry on stage, with Sarah smiling throughout the fiendishly difficult choreography and Herman throwing off turn after turn with complete aplomb, all the while perfectly synchronized with each other and making just the right amount of eye contact. I can only wonder who, in Seibert’s eyes, would show the “glamorous surfeit” he felt was missing. Mearns, maybe? To my eyes, Sarah and Herman both deserved better.
Angelica, you have to understand that Seibert is just following Macaulay’s lead. He knows even less about ballet technique than Macaulay. He’s a tap dancer, for Pete’s sake.
If you haven’t noticed, now the reviews include even less critiquing of the actual dancing and are now focusing on the undefined, safely unarguable “concept” of star power, because that’s what ABT is all about now as opposed to presenting art.
I thought Sarah was plenty glamorous and beautiful. What Seibert didn’t like was her modesty which is part and parcel of being a great artist – not to mention a great human being.
Angelica, you have to understand that Seibert is just following Macaulay’s lead. He knows even less about ballet technique than Macaulay. He’s a tap dancer, for Pete’s sake.
If you haven’t noticed, now the reviews include even less critiquing of the actual dancing and are now focusing on the undefined, safely unarguable “concept” of star power, because that’s what ABT is all about now as opposed to presenting art.
I thought Sarah was plenty glamorous and beautiful. What Seibert didn’t like was her modesty which is part and parcel of being a great artist – not to mention a great human being.
So I’m right about Mearns. Macaulay is completely obsessed with her. I’m beginning to think that it’s really Macaulay and his henchmen at the Times who make the decisions about casting and promotion, rather than the AD or even the Board at ABT. Wasn’t it Macaulay who thought Isabella completely embodied the romantic ideal in Les Sylphides? So sad.
And I’m so glad you mentioned Sarah’s pas de chat. I noticed them distinctly and they were superlative.
So I’m right about Mearns. Macaulay is completely obsessed with her. I’m beginning to think that it’s really Macaulay and his henchmen at the Times who make the decisions about casting and promotion, rather than the AD or even the Board at ABT. Wasn’t it Macaulay who thought Isabella completely embodied the romantic ideal in Les Sylphides? So sad.
And I’m so glad you mentioned Sarah’s pas de chat. I noticed them distinctly and they were superlative.
It’s a little more complicated. First, Peter Martins doesn’t give a hoot what Macaulay says. He casts ballets as he sees fit.
For ABT, Macaulay tries to read the tea leaves. When he sees something start to move in a certain direction, he tries to jump in front of it and make it seem like it was all his doing or that he had tremendous influence.
So of course, he’s pushing Boylston and Copeland, who anyone with an ounce of ballet knowledge knows are inferior and at times gross, and he expects to be recognized as someone with predictive powers.
Remember that for the first time in a long time, there is no dance critic on staff at NYT who has any kind of an actual ballet background. Can you believe it? The paper’s music, opera, and art critics have application knowledge in the art forms they cover. The legal correspondents are lawyers. The travel correspondents travel. It is absurd, and probably an indication of the lack of importance of ballet in daily journalism, that NYT has no one on staff who actually has application knowledge about ballet.
If you want to know what NYT’s Gia Kourlas really thinks of Boylston, you have to back to her TimeOut NY interview with Simone Messmer in which Kourlas volunteered this gem: “I just want to say something: I could see you were being passed over for major parts by other dancers like Isabella Boylston, and it was bothering me”. But when Kourlas switches hats from Time Out to NYT, she switches opinions, too. These days you seemingly couldn’t find a bigger fan of Boylston than Gia Kourlas who now gets paid to create advertorials for whatever klutz Macaulay ascertains will receive special support from the paper including reviews that are at their core dishonest, misleading, and pandering.
Macaulay, Kourlas, and Seibert make a good case for cutting Culture costs at NYT.
It’s a little more complicated. First, Peter Martins doesn’t give a hoot what Macaulay says. He casts ballets as he sees fit.
For ABT, Macaulay tries to read the tea leaves. When he sees something start to move in a certain direction, he tries to jump in front of it and make it seem like it was all his doing or that he had tremendous influence.
So of course, he’s pushing Boylston and Copeland, who anyone with an ounce of ballet knowledge knows are inferior and at times gross, and he expects to be recognized as someone with predictive powers.
Remember that for the first time in a long time, there is no dance critic on staff at NYT who has any kind of an actual ballet background. Can you believe it? The paper’s music, opera, and art critics have application knowledge in the art forms they cover. The legal correspondents are lawyers. The travel correspondents travel. It is absurd, and probably an indication of the lack of importance of ballet in daily journalism, that NYT has no one on staff who actually has application knowledge about ballet.
If you want to know what NYT’s Gia Kourlas really thinks of Boylston, you have to back to her TimeOut NY interview with Simone Messmer in which Kourlas volunteered this gem: “I just want to say something: I could see you were being passed over for major parts by other dancers like Isabella Boylston, and it was bothering me”. But when Kourlas switches hats from Time Out to NYT, she switches opinions, too. These days you seemingly couldn’t find a bigger fan of Boylston than Gia Kourlas who now gets paid to create advertorials for whatever klutz Macaulay ascertains will receive special support from the paper including reviews that are at their core dishonest, misleading, and pandering.
Macaulay, Kourlas, and Seibert make a good case for cutting Culture costs at NYT.
Yes, I realize that about Peter Martins. I was specifically referring to ABT. But your understanding of the relationship between ABT and Macaulay is much more nuanced than I thought, and sounds plausible, unconscionably so.
Yes, I realize that about Peter Martins. I was specifically referring to ABT. But your understanding of the relationship between ABT and Macaulay is much more nuanced than I thought, and sounds plausible, unconscionably so.
What I meant was unconscionable was the behavior of Macaulay, The New York Times, and ABT.
What I meant was unconscionable was the behavior of Macaulay, The New York Times, and ABT.
Agree, Angelica.
Agree, Angelica.