Blog Page - Haglund's Heel

NYCB Nutcracker
Patience rewarded

December 27, 2023 30 Comments

Haglund knew if he sat through enough NYCB Nutcrackers that the thrill would finally rise above the humdrum. And so it happened this past week and yesterday.

At NYCB's Wednesday matinee, Miriam Miller and Alec Knight enjoyed spectacular debuts in the principal roles of Sugarplum Fairy and Her Cavalier. Seven or eight years ago when Peter Martins threw Miriam into a debut as Titania during her apprentice year, we sensed that she would be a slow-cooker who would need time to find her legs and feet and learn how to corral all that length. Her simmering over the past few years has been steady and mostly satisfying without being spectacular. But her two trials as Sugarplum Fairy over the past week were breakout performances that revealed a ballerina who has found faith in her own ability to dance the big ballerina roles with authority, calm, and unwavering concentration. It didn't hurt that she was a staggering beauty in both the long pink tutu for her solos and the green classical tutu for the pas de deux.

But Miriam didn't rest on her beauty. The full stretch of her feet and legs and the graceful flow of her port de bras combined for a commanding elegance. Statement-making arabesques, controlled pirouettes, sensitively placed pointes all served her well in both performances. Her telepathic communication with her Cavalier, Alec Knight – a requirement to get through Balanchine's most treacherous pas de deux successfully — had few breaks. During the two performances, three out of the four step-over turns to arabesque where the Cavalier grabs the SPF's arm went smoothly; the one that went awry was rescued and covered nicely. The final promenade where they switch grips as they rotate had us holding our breath during each performance but they were both completed without incident. Yesterday's finishing arabesque was especially generous and bold. Patience has paid off.

Knight's partnering was strong and steady in both performances; his confidence grew measurably from the first to the second. His solo variations suggested that he hasn't fully recovered from injury. The very careful jumps had little height or propulsion, and his own arabesque was a limp 70 or 80 degrees. So, it seems we can't yet rest our worries about this developing artist.

The Dewdrops in the Miller/Knight performances were Olivia MacKinnon and India Bradley. Olivia's performance was a startling surprise in its stylishness and high energy. She hit all of her lines, all of her pirouettes, all of her tricky attitude moves, and all of her jumps with accelerating energy and joy. India, in only her third performance as Dewdrop, gave it her all but came up short on form and presentation. While most of the foot & leg technique was within her ability, her upper body was decidedly student-ish and unfinished.

Last week included outstanding performances by Emily Kikta & Gilbert Bolden III and Isabella LaFreniere & Aaron Sanz as SPF and Cavalier. Emily wore her determination a bit too obviously, but there was never any question that she would conquer every risk throughout the pas de deux (except for one of those pesky stepover turns to arabesque). The way in which she took possession of the space around her and attracted the light made it impossible to take one's eye off of her. Most noticeably, her feet, which have always been accurate, continue to become more pliable and articulate thereby making her lines more eloquent. Gilbert's progress in the past year and a half has been astonishing. Not only has he slimmed his legs and torso into marblesque sculpture but his determination to strengthen every aspect of his solo dancing has been admirable. Our patience again rewarded.

Isabella's SPF on Christmas Eve was breathtakingly beautiful. She was an IMAX ballerina whose command of the choreography and ability to demonstrate the beauty and value of pristine form were larger than life. Does the knuckling of the right foot still bother us? Yes, in fact it hurts to see it, but it seems to disappear during arabesques which is a good sign. Her Cavalier, Aaron Sanz, has had a tough few years dealing with injury. Our fingers are crossed for him. At this performance, there were partnering miscommunications with the stepover turn into arabesque and with the jumps to shoulder-sits — although these matters are a shared responsibility with the ballerina. His solo of turns in a la seconde and the manège of coupé jeté were a notch below serviceable. Still and all, we invariably look forward to seeing Sanz on stage and hope that both he and Alec Knight can shake off what seems to be a persistent curse of injury.

Indiana Woodward was a sparkling Dewdrop in the Kikta-Bolden cast. Emma Von Enck's Dewdrop debut in the LaFreniere-Sanz cast made Christmas Eve especially magical. This obvious Aurora seemed never to touch the floor in her allegro.

Since her promotion to soloist, we have missed Emma's aculeate pointes in the opening moments of the Snow Scene. However, we did notice the special energy of Olivia Bell. And watching the lovely lines and warm stage presence of Zoe Bliss Magnussen in Snow and Marzipan made us eager to see more of her. Perhaps she could be posted permanently in front of Charlie Klesa to see what might come of that partnership.

David Gabriel and Spartak Hoxha were exceptional as Tea, both elevating their leaps in second position past circus stunts. Rommie Tomasini and Quinn Starner in the Tea section were competent; however, the persistent habit of Quinn in opening her hip to the side in order to increase the height of the battement to the back was rather shockingly bad form. The pants costume didn't hide anything.

In one performance we saw, KJ Takahashi failed to appear with his Candy Cane hoop for his jumps in the finale. Yesterday afternoon, the lead Flowers (Nieve Corrigan and Emily Kikta subbing for Olivia Boisson) blew off their whole bit except for their entrance during the early parade in Act II. They simply didn't show up on stage — at all — either of them.

The casts of kids were competent, if somewhat generic. The Nutcracker Little Princes' mime sequence where they re-told the harrowing story of the fight with the mice was absent any drama. It was a very perfunctory re-telling each time. Who could possibly forget the Oscar-worthy mime performance in 2012 of Little Prince Maximillian Brooking Landegger now known as "Brooks" at Miami City Ballet. SPF Lauren King flashed him one of those impossibly beautiful smiles of hers which unleashed a torrent of dramatic heroism like none this stage has seen before. Landegger, the grownup, will be back as a guest in Midsummer Night's Dream at the end of the season.

The Corps de Ballet works so darned hard during the Nutcracker season. Many dancers are assigned important solo and demi-solo opportunities during this time while also fully dedicating themselves to their corps responsibilities. Christina Clark and Olivia Boisson continued to grow their interpretations of the sultry, mysterious Coffee soloist. Lauren Collett and Gabriella Domini were charming and precise as Toys. Spartak Hoxha and David Gabriel were exceptional Soldiers, both with clear flex-footed entrechat six and neat sequences of 1-1/4 tours. We enjoyed focusing on Savannah Durham, Dominika Afansenkov, Jacqueline Bologna and Naomi Corti in Snow, Flowers, Hot Chocolate and wherever they appeared, and wished for more opportunities for them.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin seasonal stiletto, is bestowed upon Miriam Miller for her beautiful performances as the Sugarplum Fairy.

ABT Gala 10/24
Sustainable Fashion Wins the Day

October 26, 2023 52 Comments

By definition, a gala is a fancy social occasion with entertainment. At ABT’s Fall Gala on Tuesday evening, the gala attendees schmoozed and boozed in their trendy, ostentatious outfits and jewelry. The dancers, currently fighting for a contract that will provide a living wage and benefits, glided about in borrowed designer gowns. But the hit of the evening was the sustainable fashion from the 1960s and '70s smartly styled on stage during the entertainment section of the evening.

Excerpts presented from Antony Tudor’s The Leaves Are Fading (1975) and Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto (1966) were timeless classics, not vintage 20th Century thrift wear. Both revealed the caring musicality and efficiency of movement that their choreographers were known for — perhaps lack of excess would be a better term than efficiency.

Skylar Brandt and Joo Won Ahn made the case that The Leaves Are Fading has not lost its appeal or color — but it does require careful casting. During the McKenzie decades, the ballet became deathly subdued compared to when Gelsey Kirkland danced it. Skylar brought back the Kirkland level of energy in this debut, and Joo Won Ahn was charismatic in his own spacious solos. A couple of awkward partnering moments did not spoil the magic or the freshness of the dancers’ interpretation. Hopefully, we will see this again soon.

Hee Seo and Cory Stearns were mesmerizing in the central pdd from Concerto danced to the Shostakovich Concerto for Piano, No. 2, Op. 102, Mvt 2 which was beautifully played by Jacek Mysinski. Seo’s sensuous lines and languid style enhanced the beauty of both the choreography and the music. Stearns’ seemingly effortless but attentive partnering was exactly what was called for. He functioned as a barre for Seo’s warm-up port de bras. The simplicity and clarity inherent in MacMillan’s treatment of the adagio are alluring but also evoke a spiritual reaction to the simple beauty of the exercises when laid within the strains of Shostakovich’s less complicated than usual music. The same concerto was used by Alexei Ratmansky in Concerto DSCH for New York City Ballet, but MacMillan – by utilizing restraint – revealed more of the humanity and emotion in the adagio music. Again the casting was key here; the choreography would not withstand hillbilly flash or a ballerina who does not own exquisitely shaped legs and feet and maximum, perfectly placed extensions along with extreme sensitivity to music.

The ballerina casting for the rest of the evening was darned near perfect. The company’s two primas, Devon Teuscher and Christine Shevchenko, got the big Petipa PdD assignments from Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. The Juliet in the Romeo and Juliet PdD went to the feral Cassandra Trenary. The up and coming Catherine Hurlin who seems to be working in earnest on acquiring more virtuoso qualities was given the Don Quixote PdD and Coda. The tasteless excess and random phrases in Danzon No. 2 by James Whiteside were danced by Isabella Boylston. Gillian Murphy danced the final couple of minutes of Etudes.

Devon and Thomas Forster wore the Aurora and Désiré costumes from the never-will-be-missed production by Kirkland and McKenzie, BUT they looked nice — really, they looked nice. Unfortunately, the PdD at times looked like a first run-through. Neither of these dancers normally has trouble with fish dives at a danceable speed, but the tempo was so slow that the preceding pirouettes and the dives were DOA. There is nothing pretty about lethargic, sloth-like, constipated fish dives preceded by slow, tentative pirouettes. In this PdD, each dive must be more spectacular than the previous one. Other than that, the pair was quite handsome and capable throughout the dance. Forster is supremely suited for Désiré regardless of the production. Just his manége of coupé jeté en tournant should vault him to first cast when the ballet returns either in full form or as a suite of dances. Devon has everything needed to be a spectacular Aurora. Can’t wait to see it.

Christine was not deterred by her woodenly capable Siegfried James Whiteside from delivering a heart-filled, beautifully formed Odette in the White Swan PdD. All the basic mechanics were in place; she just needed to bring out her own interpretation more than she did. If we could mix generations, she would be wonderful opposite Max Beloserkovsky. More realistically, Andrii Ishchuk would be Haglund’s choice for her Siegfried.

Cassandra with Calvin Royal III in the Romeo and Juliet balcony PdD were not the best match — but maybe that’s the whole point. Romeo and Juliet were never meant to be together despite their mutual attraction. If we could mix generations, Cassandra would be wonderful opposite Robert LaFosse. More realistically, Cameron McCune or Jake Roxander would be Haglund’s choices for her Romeo. They definitely would have no trouble lifting Juliet overhead as was the case on this evening. The PdD was enjoyable mostly in the individual variations. Cassandra has lovely flexibility and an appetite for abandon. Calvin’s lines and turns were impressive, and he was able to meet the challenges presented by the tempi.

Catherine Hurlin and Daniel Camargo trotted out the gala piece from Don Quixote and delivered all the basics. It’s less exciting on an empty stage, but both dancers were in fine form. Catherine is basically certified in every trick, but has not yet developed her individual virtuoso moments. Why aren’t we seeing her rip more pirouettes or take more risks in her variations? That said, the en dedans turns with the leg in second position which fouette’d into penche arabesques were about the strongest most authoritative we’ve ever seen. Camargo also seemed to be playing it a little safe at the gala.

The corps de ballet in the Etudes finale did a super job — like they’d been storing up energy all day for those diagonal runs. Super barrel turns from the men! Gillian, Joo Won Ahn, and Herman Cornejo ran the last few minutes of the finale smoothly. The company is just bringing this ballet up to speed. What a waste it would be not to capitalize on their energy and determination by mothballing Etudes again. It would be great to see it on a regular basis with new casts that included ambitious talented corps dancers—although there would be a revolt if we weren’t promised Devon Teuscher and Jake Roxander during each run.

The evening’s Pièce d’Occasion included all levels from the JKO school plus the studio company and apprentices. There were lots of kids on stage doing lots of random stuff in an effort to either: 1) be cute if they were little, or 2) be admired for their academic tricks if they were older. At one point, the apprentice and studio company dancers were costumed in the Mizrahi flat tutus and Crayola colored unitards from Mark Morris’ GONG (don’t we really miss that one – huh?).

As a gala, it was certainly an improvement over recent years past. What a joy it was to see the Tudor and MacMillan masterpieces brought back to life. Haglund’s not sure that he ever envisioned this day coming, but the H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin burning sunset orange stiletto, is bestowed upon Hee Seo and Cory Stearns for their gorgeous PdD from Concerto. Here’s hoping that the full ballet is waiting around the corner.

ABT contract negotiations

October 23, 2023 28 Comments

Here is a link to the letter recently sent by the dancers to management along with a similar letter sent to management during the 2017 contract negotiations. The 2017 contract dispute was resolved after the dancers voted to strike and upend an upcoming tour.

https://www.musicalartists.org/letters-sent-to-abt-in-2017-and-2023/

Given that the ABT Board knew for several years, possibly as many as 5 or more, that it was about to lose nearly half its season each spring at the Met Opera House, there really is not much of an excuse for not developing a plan to replace those weeks in its most important market. Nor does the Board have much of an excuse for the lame strategy it came up with to re-build the cultural force of the company by dedicating it to woke-ish DEI initiatives. It needs to dedicate itself to great dancing. We saw lots of great dancing this past week, and we saw some formerly brilliant artists hanging on for dear life to careers that need to be closed out so that more wonderful artists can move into the spotlight. The ABT Board can do better at planning, and the artistic management can do better in making sure that the company puts its best feet forward all the time.

At present, it seems that the frustration of the dancers may be due to management not having its decision makers at the negotiating table. Get the decision makers to the table. Put Andrew Barth and Sharon Patrick in the room and get the job done. If Bob Iger could sit in on the negotiations that ended the Writers' Guild strike, Andrew Barth can sit across the table from the ballet dancers — perhaps even next to them. Come on, people, get it done.

Courageous dancing from ABT on Opening Night

October 19, 2023 32 Comments

Balanchine is a tough act to follow, no doubt about it. A mere 72 hours after New York City Ballet closed one of its most artistically brilliant seasons in decades, American Ballet Theatre took to the same stage ready to show that it could wow the same audience and also differentiate itself in valuable ways. This is the first season actually planned and cast by the new artistic director, Susan Jaffe, and it has revealed that she has a much sharper sense of what the audience appreciates than her predecessor.

Returning to the stage after a long overdue absence, Harald Lander’s Etudes thrilled the audience with precision, academic beauty, and bold risk taking by the principals. As the saying goes in ballet “If you plan to bail, you plan to fail.” A dancer should always try to meet the challenges of a role head on or not bother to put on the costume.

After debuting a taxing principal role in the first ballet (Piano Concerto No. 1), the 20ish-year-old Jake Roxander – so new to the company that he has exactly two lines of minor roles listed under his biography – stepped into an even more taxing principal role in Etudes. Cheering in the front row of the audience was Joaquin De Luz who several decades earlier had been in Roxander’s shoes and knew the pressure of being new to the company and being thrown into the same role with its high expectations and high risks. Roxander soared brilliantly through the batterie, pirouettes, and grand allegro. The revolution in his pirouettes may be the radical change that topples perceptions of ABT as declining into regional ballet status. After 30 minutes of a spectacularly strenuous display of technical and artistic achievement, Roxander faced down the finale. He knew what our expectations were — they were the same as his own. He walked to the center of a moving mass of breathless dancers flying back and forth in grand allegro. His chest heaved up and down once and he then powered through a series of double tours with pirouettes that ended with several high risk consecutive jumps that Roxander held onto by the skin of his teeth. He didn’t bail; he didn’t fail. No one should miss his performance of this role on Friday.

The cast included the enormously talented Joo Won Ahn who got a strong start in his variations but then allowed a couple of off-pirouettes to kill his confidence. He is another courageous dancer who can turn a tumble into a triumph. (But will he ever live down dropping our beloved ballerina Veronika Part and tripping over her in Le Corsaire? Nuh-uh. Roxander almost dropped the evening’s prima during the finale of Etudes, but managed a save.) Ahn’s batterie was crisp and clear and his jumps impressive. His partnering was beautiful for the most part, and he was a handsome match for Devon Teuscher, the principal ballerina in Etudes. We always find him immensely likeable and are always rooting for him to find his concentration and focus.

Teuscher was the glistening, delicate, beautiful, soft-faced, ass-kicking ballerina whose dancing illuminated the transformation of the artist's daily ritual into stage performance in spectacular fashion. She truly out-did herself at this performance. Etudes requires a full-service ballerina, and Teuscher fit the bill brilliantly. Everything she did was phenomenal.

The corps de ballet did itself proud, too. The spotlighting of the women’s feet and legs during the beginning of Etudes revealed lovely insteps and balletic musculature throughout the corps on stage. Although the dancers' energy never flagged, we did wish that the back legs in arabesque sautes and jetes would have been higher, especially among the men. The back legs were frequently missing the grand battements in tours jeté.

The evening opened with Alexei Ratmansky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 which originally was the third part of his Shostakovich Trilogy. The Shostakovich Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings was fabulously played by Jacek Mysinski and Maximilian Morel. Excerpted from the whole ballet, Piano Concerto No. 1 is little more than a frenetic rumble with a lovely little pas de deux thrown into the middle. It was originally tailored to the individual talents and outsized personalities of Vishneva, Osipova and Vasiliev who premiered it at ABT in 2013. It’s not a good fit for just any good technician. Even though Christine Shevchenko debuted in its second cast ten years ago and did a fine job substituting for Gillian Murphy at the last moment, it’s not a piece that she was able to fully bring to life last evening. There was no doubt that she and Calvin Royal III were exceptionally well matched and executed the choreography admirably, but the outsized personalities were missing — thankfully.

Skylar Brandt and Jake Roxander couldn’t work around not being Osipova and Vasiliev in their roles. They were technically impressive and their pairing was attractive. But this choreography with all its running around and frenzied faux drama is not strong enough to stand on its own and requires show pony personalities. ABT doesn’t seem to have any of those right now, knock on wood.

It was nice to see Jiří Kylián’s Petite Mort once again after so many years. Kylián is one of those very individual dance makers whose imagination sometimes outperforms the dance. Petite Mort is different enough from everything else in ABT’s rep that it should be able to make an appearance a little more frequently. It’s best not to ponder too much about what’s going on when watching all the sword swinging and paper doll like dresses rolling around. Rather, just admire the movement, the unison, the imagery, the unusualness of it. The Mozart piano concertos were divinely played by Evangelos Spanos.

ABT’s opening night was a surprising success. We could not be more thrilled with the return of Etudes and hope that more ABT dancers are challenged to dance the principal roles. It is truly a teaching instrument. Our HH Pump Bump Award, Alexander McQueen's punk crystal stiletto, goes to Devon Teuscher and Jake Roxander for delivering the thrills on opening night.

NYCB Fall Season mostly in full, glorious color

October 18, 2023 4 Comments

There are Third World problems and First World problems and then there are New York Balletomane problems. These are sometimes expressed with the question: "How was the performance?" followed by the answer "It was good, just good.” Just good is clearly a disappointing outcome, because just good in the NY Ballet World is like a Five Guys burger: Yeah, it may reduce hunger, but should anyone really pay $11 for a burger that isn’t much better than a Whopper?

The genuine good news is that New York City Ballet as a company and the vast majority of its individual dancers typically understand that just good is not good enough. Unfortunately during the fourth week of this fall season, Theme and Variations was not even in just good form. It was in shambles. Anthony Huxley and Joseph Gordon watered down the technically challenging phrase of eight double tours w/pirouettes by walking around and wasting music before beginning the phrase and executing a mere six double tours. Good grief – there are artists on the planet who have not only flown through the eight double tours but have executed double pirouettes between each one. Neither Huxley nor Gordon was overworked this fall season which makes their dilution of Theme and Variations even more disappointing. Fortunately, Tiler Peck and Megan Fairchild didn’t bail out on the tough parts of Balanchine’s masterpiece. As usual, Tiler managed to find something fresh and interesting to convey within the music. Megan was squeaky clean, if small in execution, but she certainly didn’t quit on the hard parts like the men did. The corps was raggedy for most performances – dancers collided with one another and then laughed about their mistakes. The demi pairs were hopelessly off the music.

Thankfully, Serenade was in optimal condition. Both casts were brilliant and most of the corps women were simply stunning. When Christina Clark and Savannah Durham came flying down the diagonal together in their soaring saute arabesques with arms stretched to the side, they looked like Boeing ballerinas accelerating down JFK’s 31-L with front wheels up. Woooosh! Miriam Miller and Emilie Gerrity in the role of the Dark Angel were gloriously in their elements: statement-making arabesques, sweeping battements, grand space grabbing port de bras filled the music to its brim. Erica Pereira and Indiana Woodward who shared the Russian Girl role were fresh with energy and lightness. The velocity and clarity of Indiana’s grand allegro were breathtaking. The pleasant surprises at Erica’s first performance were the strength of her jumps and the speed of her turns – she actually looked taller on stage than usual. Sara Mearns and Unity Phelan as the Waltz Girl were different as night and day but both remarkable. Sara’s dramatic internal storyline pulsed unrestrained through her phrasing while Unity’s reserve allowed us to appreciate the beauty of her acute attention to form.

Five performances of Orpheus was overkill. However, we’ve never seen the role of Eurydice danced with more affecting beauty than when Ashley Laracey performed it opposite Joseph Gordon. She has excelled in roles identified with former principal dancer Janie Taylor who excelled in roles identified with former principal dancer Wendy Whelan, but for some reason the current artistic management does not view these accomplishments as enough. It seems that the criteria for promotion have changed to the point that neither Janie Taylor nor Wendy Whelan would be elevated to principal.

One of the fall season’s major triumphs was Concerto Barocco with its new cast of Mira Nadon, Isabella LaFreniere, and Gilbert Bolden III. Bolden, transformed by a nearly svelte physique and washed clean of excessive makeup, grabbed our attention by doing nothing other than partnering Nadon with humble authority and near perfection. The two of them were of one mind in the riveting pas de deux. Actually, there were three in this pas de deux — Maestro Otranto’s sensitive conducting was present in every step. Nadon’s confidence in shaping the phrases with her own intelligence in every role is reflective of a young Tiler Peck’s musical mastery. In Concerto Barocco, she filled every note of music to its brim. LaFreniere’s off-balance developpes and arabesques devoured space and yet defined space with their perfect geometric form. It was such a pleasure to see these two ballerinas of similar size and authority interpret this masterpiece with unusual clarity and command.

The season concluded with an exhilarating performance of Symphony in C which was dominated by Tiler Peck and Chun Wai Chan in the First Movement. Tiler visualized the music with her joyous attention to detail such as her fast, delicate placement of the front foot in fifth position en pointe. Chan crackled like lightning in his solos with brilliantly clear allegro and pirouettes. Alec Knight superbly partnered the captivating Unity Phelan in the Second Movement. They are quite the storybook handsome pair. It would be wonderful to see them together in Nutcracker this season. Bailey Jones and Cainan Weber led the Third Movement without making much of an impression. Emily Gerrity and Peter Walker led the Fourth Movement and gave it more import and sheer size than we’re accustomed to seeing.

After the curtain fell on the final performance, Gilbert Bolden III and Davide Riccardo were immediately promoted to the rank of soloist. Their respect and affection for Balanchine’s ballets comes through loud and clear — e.g., Bolden’s treatment of Concerto Barocco and Riccardo’s treatment of Emeralds (both partnering Mira Nadon). We’re glad to see them get the recognition that they deserve.

The all-Balanchine fall season was the most enjoyable in decades. No one gets tired of seeing his masterpieces, and it seems that the dancers don’t tire of dancing them either. It was a thrill to see the corps women dancing with unbridled joy in Serenade, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Symphony in C, Concerto Barocco, Jewels, and the nearly-lost jewel Bourrée Fantasque. The audience sees every individual on stage even when that person is dancing among a mass of identical costumes. [However, we have been having a harder time seeing everyone due to the under-powered stage lighting — underpowered and annoying.] So our final H.H. Pump Bump Award of the season, a stunning Versace stiletto with safety pin, goes to Savannah Durham, Christina Clark, Naomi Corti, Dominika Afanasenkov, Jackie Bologna, Lauren Collett and all the corps women for holding it together on stage to bring us such beauty.

NYCB Weeks 2&3 – Spectacular, to say the least

October 10, 2023 24 Comments

With three quarters down and one to play, we can safely predict that this has been the most winning New York City Ballet fall season in decades. For several years, balletomanes have been issuing two-minute warnings: Put your best stuff out on the field or you’re going to lose. Finally somebody listened. It’s been a season that saw patrons literally buy season tickets and attend every performance.

The second and third weeks delivered so many spike-the-ball-dance-in-the-endzone touchdowns that balletomanes became giddy drunk on Balanchine. No, no, no, there will be no Sober October while Balanchine is in play. At the end of the night, take away the car keys and push us onto the M11 bus and let us annoy all the passengers with our loud, obnoxious giddy ballet drivel about Mira, Adrian, Isabella, Chan, Kikta, Emma, Davide and Jackie. “Ooooooh, did you see Savannah Durham is back in full flying force? And the beauty of Afanasenkov and Naomi Corti! And the size of those corpsmen – OMG.” Let the bus reek of ballet breath.

During Week 2, we celebrated Megan Fairchild’s and Roman Mejia’s Liberty Bell and El Capitan in Stars and Stripes. Did we notice the twinkle in her eyes as she calmly balanced those perfectly formed developpes a la second en pointe? Yep, we surely did. And since when did the orchestra add cannons to the Sousa score — oh wait, that was just Mejia launching himself from one end of the stage to the other in explosion after explosion of flair and firepower. The alternate cast of Mira Nadon and Peter Walker will undoubtedly find their stride in this ballet but appeared to need more rehearsal at their debut performance.

The revival of Bourrée Fantasque with Karinska’s stunning black-tulled tutus was exquisitely danced. Emily Kikta and Roman Mejia in the opening movement played off their height difference brilliantly — here was a future Siren and Prodigal Son. She is simply one of the most commanding ballerinas of our time. Mira Nadon and KJ Takahashi in the same movement during the matinee were less connected but her glamour was all-empowering. Isabella LaFreniere and Chun Wai Chan imbued their Prélude with smooth elegance in the opening cast as did Emilie Gerrity and Gilbert Bolden on a more moderate scale at the matinee. The exuberance in the Fete Polonaise was courtesy of Emma Von Enck & Sebastian Villarini-Velez followed by Alexa Maxwell & David Gabriel in the subsequent performance.

Agon has lost a good amount of its competitiveness this season. Miriam Miller and Unity Phelan were too demure in their opening sequences and didn’t snap their attitudes around their partners (Peter Walker and Adrian Danchig-Waring) as is expected. Isabella LaFreniere and Emilie Gerrity executed their Bransle Gay solos admirably, but the final three counts needed a much stronger statement from each dancer. The Sarabande danced by Jovani Furlan and Taylor Stanley, respectively, lacked an exaggerated sense of self.

Slaughter on Tenth Avenue is still in a transition period. Sara Mearns with Andrew Veyette and Miriam Miller with Tyler Angle gave spirited if somewhat calculated performances. The tap dancing wasn’t always amplified sufficiently which made all the foot shuffling seem like, well, foot shuffling. This ballet needs big, big personalities. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait too many seasons to see Kikta and LaFreniere added to the contingency of Strippers.

Concerto Barocco looked to be in excellent shape last Saturday evening. Emilie Gerrity and Unity Phelan were perfectly paired in their roles, and Andrew Veyette was an exceptional partner in the PdD with Phelan. Each of these women could dance the opposite's role beautifully. It would be fun to some day see what each dancer could offer in the alternate role if the cast was switched up in the middle of a week. The corps de ballet – a mix of veterans and newer dancers – handled the challenges of Barocco seamlessly, but the eye always went to Jackie Bologna whose back leg in arabesque or a lunge was always just a little more perfectly behind her and just a little more stretched. It has, for a while now, been puzzling why this beautiful dancer has not been given major opportunities.

Daniel Ulbricht showed that he is still very much at the top of his game in Prodigal Son. His execution of the iconic aerial position where the right leg extended above hip height and the left leg tucked under him was crystal clear and was held for a good length of time. He conveyed the petulance of a teenager at the beginning followed by wonderment which evolved into alarm upon getting involved with the Siren and Drinking Companions. Finally, his knee-walk with hands clasped behind his back as he begged for forgiveness from the Father was as intensely dramatic as the music. Miriam Miller still has a ways to go in developing the menacing, serpentine-like qualities of the Siren, but she’ll get there. The question is: will she get there before some of the other very tall dancers are more ready to dive into the role.

The season’s first performance of Symphony in C was serviceable. Everyone was nearly ready, but some more than others — most notably Emma Von Enck and Roman Mejia in the Third Movement who clarified that this movement was actually about getting up in the air with the jumps.

The peaks of these two weeks were Apollo and Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2 (aka Ballet Imperial) on a program that also included the lesser La Sonnambula. Adrian Danchig-Waring and Chun Wai Chan, who shared the title role of Apollo, both offered brilliant interpretations. Both successfully detailed the development of Apollo from the eager young god into adulthood. Both possessed extraordinary physiques as well as the partnering mastery and strength needed to thrill. Adrian’s skillful character shading was masterful and made us think that there is a lot more in the tap to flow out. Maybe Ratmansky will open the spigot to show us the more dramatic and comedic sides of this artist. It is so much fun to see an artist go to a place where the audience never thought he could go. Similarly with Chan, there is still much theatrical talent to mine.

Unity Phelan, Emilie Gerrity, and Sara Adams comprised the muses in the Danchig-Waring cast. All three were pleasantly similar physically and temperamentally. Unity’s extraordinary extensions, Emilie’s conquering of the treacherous pique turns with the finger to the lips, Sara Adams’ beautifully shaped feet were all lovely to see. But there was no doubt that the towering trio of Mira Nadon, Emily Kikta, and Isabella LaFreniere opposite Chun Wai Chan’s Apollo was a strikingly dramatic cast that nearly ran away with the performance. Not since Kowroski, Mearns, and Reichlen pounced on Chase Finlay have we seen such a powerful triumvirate of women shape the god Apollo. When Nadon’s Terpsichore occasionally peered under her eyebrows at Apollo there was no question that this was a tutor/student relationship. The innate artistry that abides in her in every role she dances is truly a gift to the audience — a case in point, the exceptional stretch of the neck backwards in the final sunburst pose. Kikta’s Polyhymnia was a captivating, mighty muse. During the first performance, she let the pique turns to arabesque psych her out but recovered most of the control by the next performance. The sequence is always such a challenge to concentration because the dancer may have to launch the second turn after not landing the first arabesque perfectly as a set up for what comes next. Then she has to execute the third pique turn to arabesque after struggling with the second one. Sometimes it’s better to pour love into those turns rather than trying to fight with them. LaFreniere’s Calliope was pitch-perfect. The torso contractions followed by her expansive arabesques made for a stunning contrast. The slow control of the turning releve battements to the side gave the movement a grandness without being showy.

La Sonnambula enjoyed a fine debut by Alexa Maxwell as the Sleepwalker. The urgency of the bourrees on her entrance heightened the drama in the music. Anthony Huxley was still in the process of putting his Poet together at the debut but seemed to be more sure of himself at the second performance. The few highlights of this ballet included the two performances of the Pas de Deux by Jackie Bologna and Davide Riccardo. In contrast to the generic, dull, wishy-washy output of the alternate cast of soloists, these two corps members made their brief pas a major event. It is impossible to understand what is holding Bologna and Riccardo back. Both are sparkling artists who deserve more opportunities than they are presently getting.

The unquestionable highlight of the past two weeks was Tiler Peck’s treatment of Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2. Oh my goodness, it was such a privilege and unforgettable experience to witness the masterful musicality and absolute command of the language in her two performances. Never have we seen articulation of this ballet like we did this week. Particularly on Sunday while sitting in the third ring, Haglund kept thinking “my god, I’ve never really noticed that step before and it is sooooo beautiful.” Joseph Gordon was also outstanding in everything that he danced, but Tiler was just on another level — a level that had us holding our breath and refusing to blink so as not to miss anything that she did. In the alternate cast, Emily Kikta turned the soloist role into a major principal exhibit. Not only were there megawatts of energy, but there was glamour, clarity in port de bras, and a reaching out to the audience that was all captivating.

Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, diamonds atop a towering stiletto which we found on our spring trip to Harrods, is bestowed upon Tiler Peck for her astonishing performances in Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2.

NYCB Jewels 9/20 & 9/21
Loaded with gems

September 23, 2023 58 Comments

New York City Ballet dressed itself to the hilt with two more glistening performances of Jewels on Wednesday and Thursday. Every single debut was a 100 carat diamondized beauty set among the polished performances of gems including Ashley Laracey in Emeralds, Tiler Peck with Roman Mejia and Emily Kikta in Rubies, and Joseph Gordon in Diamonds.

Thursday evening Haglund became lost in Emeralds — spellbound, transported into an unblinking hypnotic state by Mira Nadon and Davide Riccardo and their rapport galore. There was something spiritual about this pair, an enhanced connection perhaps, that added to the fascination of this plotless work. And while it is tempting to focus here on Nadon’s luxurious style and mesmerizing movement, we have to say that our attention was drawn time and time again to Riccardo’s beautiful leg lines, generous arabesques, and articulate feet. We really need to see more of him in Balanchine’s principal roles.

Contrast this performance with the night before when Ashley Bouder embarrassed both the company and choreographer. Never have we seen such a swollen ballerina in a principal role at New York City Ballet. Never have we seen NYCB allow one egomaniac to soil Balanchine the way Bouder did on Wednesday night with her unprofessional appearance and her substandard dancing. And the air-biting to show what a glorious time she was having while flapping and jiggling her arm-flesh was just too much. She looked and danced like she was making a bid for a Jardiance commercial where the happy, fat lady celebrates how wonderful it is to be obese and how we should all normalize fatness. Frankly, we’re sick and tired of this dancer's selfish, toxic, ego-driven effort to push her way around a ballet company where she no longer fits. The constant excuse of her “possibly career ending” injury is worn down to its threads, and the ongoing use of her child as a shield from criticism is disturbing, to say the least. Bouder’s time is up.

We have to criticize NYCB management for allowing Bouder to bull her way onto the stage and for risking injury to a world-class artist like Chun Wai Chan by pairing him with Bouder and exploiting his good-sport nature. The effort it took for him to swing Bouder into the air looked like an invitation to a hernia.

Wednesday’s Emeralds wasn’t a total loss due to the exquisite performances of Ashley Laracey and Peter Walker. Laracey’s Keatsian sensuousness is the most beautiful we’ve ever seen in this role on NYCB’s stage. The generosity of her port de bras, the arch of her back, and her regal silhouette are breathtaking. Walker was perfection as a partner — gallant, attentive and strikingly beautiful in his lines and noble carriage.

Wednesday evening’s Rubies with Tiler Peck, Roman Mejia and Emily Kikta was thrilling from minute 1 to 19. Some years back when Tiler debuted in this role, Haglund thought it was a misfire. But her performance this week showed a wonderfully spirited, exceptionally fit, glowing artist who mined Rubies to extract and reveal her treasured musicality. Mejia came completely uncorked in the Villella role. His go-for-it-what-the-hell enthusiasm in this lines-don’t-matter role was so charged with electricity that it was almost fatal — he nearly killed us. The addition of Emily Kikta’s Tall Girl into this mix – well, it was definitely time to call the ambulances. She battement-ed her legs through the air like they were paddles at The Pleasure Chest.

Thursday’s Rubies celebrated a debuting cast of Emma Von Enck, Jovani Furlan, and Christina Clark. Sass-sational Emma with her aculeate feet and prickly charm ran away with this ballet. Jovani took a very good first stab at his role although he seemed less comfortable with the character portrayal than with the steps. Christina’s Tall Girl was in the mold of Tess Rechlein’s cool, confident interpretation with a coy ready-for-play aspect. The gasp-inducing length of her legs and the speed with which she could wield them was astonishing. She had all the technique, all the equipment, and all the confidence needed to deliver this role which has suddenly become the focal point of Rubies thanks to a bevy of strong new interpreters like Kikta, Nadon and LaFreniere. Looking forward to more from her.

The performances on Wednesday and Thursday gifted us with two new remarkable Diamond ballerinas — each so different yet so unmistakably right for the role. Unity Phelan was quite introspective but lovely nonetheless. This role was originally made for the most introspective Balanchine ballerina ever. One rarely got to gaze into the eyes of Farrell or crack her sense of privacy. That characteristic works well in Diamonds. We kept watching Unity Phelan and thinking that this is the way it was intended. Her technique has steadily gained strength and it was difficult to find any glaring technical weaknesses in her performance on Wednesday. However, she may never be a favorite of those who have become addicted to the excesses in Sara Mearns' highly individual interpretation and who consider any Diamond not like her to be a flawed gem. Also a different Diamond was Isabella LaFreniere whose orthodox technical foundation and verticalness allowed for another distinctive interpretation — one with more regal ballerina authority. The breadth of her movement and the sweep of her limbs were stunning in this ravishing debut opposite Chun Wai Chan (also debuting) who likewise is a more orthodox trained dancer. His solos were gorgeous in form, grace, spin, and articulation. His partnering was sublime.

The Thursday evening Jewels was loaded with excitement and artistic growth — all of it an immense pleasure to witness. But the one performance which we keep replaying in our minds is that of Ashley Laracey’s Emeralds on Wednesday. Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, courtesy of Manolo Blahnik, is bestowed upon her.

NYCB Opens its 75th Anniversary Season 9/19

September 20, 2023 34 Comments

Opening Night of New York City Ballet’s 75th Anniversary Season had a circusy feel to it – as though we had somehow stumbled into the middle of Massine’s Parade. A line of picketing musicians oompa oompa-ed up and down the sidewalk in front of Lincoln Center while onlookers spooned gelato into their mouths and divided their attention between the picketers and the video art installation hanging on the front of the Koch Theater.

Once inside the theater, however, the lucent genius of Balanchine’s Jewels was everyone’s focal point – everyone including the more than 200 NYCB alumni who came to town to celebrate the company’s diamond jubilee.

The cast of Emeralds included principal debuts by Indiana Woodward and Tyler Angle who proved to be an unlikely couple but danced well. We look forward to Indiana’s subsequent performances where we can expect more musical shading and the luxuriant texture that we love to see in her dancing. It’s impossible not to appreciate Tyler’s partnering skills, but they come at a cost which may now be too high to pay. The combination of bulk & baldness distracted us from Indiana’s elegant efforts.

Emilie Gerrity and Adrian Danchig-Waring were pointe-walking perfection in their PdD – a wonderful match in terms of tone, artistry, and refinement. They could have been walking down a path under lit lamps in Central Park like so many couples do.

The trio of Sara Adams, Sebastian Villarini-Velez and Brittany Pollack was vibrant and buoyant. The corps de ballet was school-like and uncertain about their marks but we immediately noticed Sarah Harmon’s new peaceful confidence and long elegant lines.

The Rubies cast couldn’t help but strut its best stuff to Stephen Gosling’s brilliant playing of Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. What a romp by Megan Fairchild, Anthony Huxley, and Mira Nadon! Fairchild, cheeky & flirty with chop-busting technique, knocked out the funny turns with elbows down and wrists limp as though she could have been holding a martini at the same time. Huxley, who in recent seasons has become a much more relaxed and vibrant performer while delivering his impeccable technique, offered just the right amount of showiness to compliment Fairchild’s performance.

What is there left to say about Mira Nadon’s Tall Girl soloist with all the little guys clamoring around her? She made each one think they had a chance when in fact none did. As she baited her way off the stage with one risky arabesque penché after another, it was clear that her evening plans included bigger fish. This Tall Girl could battement her leg to her nose and swipe a guy's wallet at the same time. She had the club patrons gladly emptying their pockets to see her whack an attitude foot to the back of the head and throw in a few dizzying pirouettes.

Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen gave out-sized performances in Diamonds. Janzen had a stamina and forcefulness in his dancing that we haven’t seen in several years and which made the prospect of his retirement this week all the more sad. Mearns has tamped down the excessive emotional output in the ballerina role and seemed particularly strong and secure in her own dancing. While each dancer was individually appealing for different reasons, they didn't particularly compliment one another although their love for dancing together was palpable.

The Diamonds corps de ballet had some obviously ragged moments last evening – lines along the left side of the stage were particularly abhorrent at times. Some of the men didn’t seem to know where they were supposed to be. However, the corps women who performed the demi roles: Olivia Boisson, Christina Clark, Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara, and Mary Elizabeth Sell were magnificent.

At the conclusion of Jewels, the 200+ alumni gathered on stage in front of the current company members to take bows. Edward Villella and Allegra Kent, grasping their canes and each other, were among the many stars present last evening who catapulted NYCB to the forefront in the 20th Century. In 25 years at the 100th Anniversary, Mearns, Janzen, Fairchild, Huxley, Danchig Waring, Gerrity, Nadon, Woodward, and Angle will be among those standing in front as ones who helped move the company's level of dancing into the 21st Century. What a party that will be for those of us who can hang on to make it.

The H.H. Pump Award, an Acquazzura cocktail sandal with (un)caged vamp at Bergdorf’s for $1450, is bestowed upon Megan Fairchild for the standard-setting quality and charm of her performance in Rubies on this opening night.

observations 9/14

September 14, 2023 36 Comments

Here's the NYCB cast sheet for Week 2 that is posted in the lobby. No changes yet to Week 1.

Just curious — who out there in NYC currently receives free individual health insurance from his employer? According to NYCB, the musicians have received free individual health insurance for many years and are the only NYCB employees who do not currently pay any part of their individual health insurance premiums. Haglund's experience over the past three decades has been to pay as much as 80% of the cost of health insurance and never less than 50%. Right now, he pays $165 per month for Medicare coverage and an additional premium for prescriptions. Why in this day and age should the NYCB orchestra expect free health insurance when that would surely mean that their cost would be factored into the premiums of other NYCB employees?

And why is the orchestra arguing a comparison with 2019 wages? 2019 is history. Everybody suffered financially in 2020 & 2021, and nobody – especially those who had to start over multiple times in new jobs – had a sense of entitlement to 2019 wages.

Haglund's sense is that both sides in this contest are probably lying to some extent which is why neither side will release to the public the actual salaries & benefits paid. IMO, as a nonprofit organization that relies on the generosity of its supporters and the aid of government, NYCB & the union should release lists of salaries & benefits with names redacted so that the public knows where to place its sympathies.

Every time there is a hike in ticket prices or facility fees or service fees, we should wonder why the orchestra members do not pay health insurance premiums.

Lastly, why don't all the Lincoln Center resident companies and their unions have enough muscle to collectively negotiate favorable health insurance premiums for the many thousands of employees?

observations 9/12

September 12, 2023 6 Comments

This is a drop dead gorgeous coffee table book. Oh my goodness. While the choreography for which these costumes were designed was mostly forgettable — with the exception of the brilliant Spectral Evidence by Angelin Preljocaj, Polaris by Myles Thatcher, and Belles Lettres by Justin Peck — the costumes were nearly always a hit. We've always wondered why the Fall Fashion Gala tradition is said to have begun in 2012 when, in fact, Stella McCartney contributed major designs the previous fall.

The costumes are glorious, the photography is stunning, and the textual feel of the book is rich. On Amazon.

Haglund's all-time, forever favorites by Valentino (ohhh to touch that silk):

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