The three-part bill of Slaughter On Tenth Avenue, Barber Violin Concerto, and Diamonds had the heft of content that longtime balletomanes crave. It’s the type of bill that drives us to buy extra tickets for the purpose of dragging the uninitiated into the ballet world and converting them to our religion. A powerful night it was.
Sara Mearns uncorked herself in Balanchine’s Slaughter On Tenth Avenue with lethal leg kicks and fatal shimmy like we haven’t seen her do before. She was the Striptease Girl who only accepts large bills and knows how to shake them out of the wallets.
Debuting as the Hoofer, Peter Walker was subdued with his face down under his hat too much, perhaps concentrating on making the steps accurate instead of exaggerating them and his character. He definitely got the steps, but they are only half of the role. But we have to give him a lot of credit for holding onto Mearns who was, as we said, uncorked. We know that Walker will pull it all together quickly as will Daniel Applebaum as Morrosine, Silas Farley as the Gangster, and Gilbert Bolden as the Big Boss. Theatrically-driven roles are tough for NYCB dancers to grasp on the first try.
Megan Fairchild, Teresa Reichlen, Jared Angle, and Aaron Sanz as the quartet in Peter Martins' Barber Violin Concerto emphasized the opposition of the grounded modern dancers and the airy ballet dancers. Freedom versus discipline. Impulse versus restraint. How they clash but ultimately combine beautifully are good themes to think about. Megan was a perfectly impish, insistent, and impetuous modern dancer who continually got in the face of Aaron's stoic ballet character. This was his debut which may account for why he didn’t look sufficiently perturbed with Megan buzzing around him like an annoying fly. His excessive lipstick distracted from any firmness of expression. Teresa and Jared were lovely in their PdD; her arabesque, lavish and flexible, made a particularly strong statement.
Sunday afternoon will mark the debuts of Sterling Hyltin, Taylor Stanley, and Emma Von Enck who we think will probably knock the nuts out of the squirrels’ cheeks, so to speak.
Balanchine’s Diamonds, excerpted from Jewels, received a stunningly beautiful performance from Maria Kowroski and Tyler Angle. In the past several years, Maria has captured the essence of this role to such an extent that it has looked like Balanchine was thinking of her when he created it nearly a decade before she was born. But we remember when that wasn’t always the case; those early performances of Diamonds some 15 years ago were not always easy to sit through because they were so unfinished. She was the proverbial diamond in the rough for some time. Following Balanchine’s custom, Peter Martins expected dancers to search and find their own ways through roles. His faith in Maria’s ability meant that the audience would have to hang in there while she figured things out. But our persistence, and hers, paid off with rich rewards. She is an artist of the most uncommon quality that comes along only once in our lifetime.
So while all the media hoopla is playing out about Suzanne Farrell’s return to offer some coaching to seasoned artists who have been dancing Balanchine’s works during long careers, it’s worth remembering that the artists were not exactly flavorless brisket beforehand. Nevertheless, we did notice some enrichment in Friday night’s Diamonds. The first lovely little change in the PdD was the ballerina’s entrance. Her simple stage walk has returned to the more formal ballerina walk on the balls of the feet which leaves a heightened impression of nobility. But the most notable enhancement was Maria’s strong use of her eyes to extend the line of the arms. What makes this interesting is that Farrell was always a very introspective dancer whose eyes were frequently downcast even when her face and chin were up. It seemed almost painful to her to let the audience into her soul. But Maria is letting us in, and it is indeed beautiful.
We’ve taken for granted Tyler Angle’s fine partnering for a long time, but he can — and did on Friday night — show himself to be a fine soloist. His turns a la seconde were the best we’ve ever seen from him – snapping to full speed at the outset and never losing energy in the double revolution. His pirouettes, double tours, and manége of coupé jeté were powerfully driven. We did wonder why the assembles traveling towards Amsterdam Ave. were plain whereas the assembles traveling toward 9th Ave. had beats.
There seems to have been some fiddling with the corps de ballet in Diamonds. They haven’t quite figured things out yet with regard to shapes, particularly at the end, but they all looked lovely nevertheless. We could not help but notice the exceptional beauty of our sequoias in the corps: Christina Clark, Emily Kikta, and Miriam Miller.
The H.H. Pump Bump Award, the Passion Diamond stiletto from Jada Dubai ($17 million/pair), is bestowed upon Maria Kowroski who continues to inspire us with her magnificent interpretation of Balanchine's masterpieces.
6 responses to “NYCB 5/3 – Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,
Barber Violin Concerto, Diamonds”
If you can, Haglund, you might want to get over to see “High Button Shoes” at Encores this week. The show is slight yet fun, but obviously the big draw is the fact that they use the original Robbins choreography for the “Bathing Beauties Ballet” and the “I Still Get Jealous” soft shoe duet. (It must be because these two numbers were done for “Jerome Robbins Broadway,” so the steps are preserved) I am totally dating myself, but I remember, as a wee lass, being completely enchanted by the Bathing Beauties ballet when I saw “Jerome Robbins Broadway.” Of course, the Encores cast is not able to produce the sharpness and the precision of the JRB cast (who rehearsed for six months!) in this piece, but there is more charm and wit in the ten minutes of Robbins choreo then in any other choreography being performed on Broadway right now, including the rest of “High Buttons Shoes.” (Fun fact—when Robbins was putting JRB together and trying to create a framework for the piece, he insisted that he didn’t want it to be about himself. It’s called “Jerome Robbins Broadway,” how can it not be about him?! As Jason Alexander, who was in the show and who helped to create the structure for it, said– Robbins had a “very strange” ego!)
If you can, Haglund, you might want to get over to see “High Button Shoes” at Encores this week. The show is slight yet fun, but obviously the big draw is the fact that they use the original Robbins choreography for the “Bathing Beauties Ballet” and the “I Still Get Jealous” soft shoe duet. (It must be because these two numbers were done for “Jerome Robbins Broadway,” so the steps are preserved) I am totally dating myself, but I remember, as a wee lass, being completely enchanted by the Bathing Beauties ballet when I saw “Jerome Robbins Broadway.” Of course, the Encores cast is not able to produce the sharpness and the precision of the JRB cast (who rehearsed for six months!) in this piece, but there is more charm and wit in the ten minutes of Robbins choreo then in any other choreography being performed on Broadway right now, including the rest of “High Buttons Shoes.” (Fun fact—when Robbins was putting JRB together and trying to create a framework for the piece, he insisted that he didn’t want it to be about himself. It’s called “Jerome Robbins Broadway,” how can it not be about him?! As Jason Alexander, who was in the show and who helped to create the structure for it, said– Robbins had a “very strange” ego!)
Thanks, Susan.
I may make it there this weekend. By the way, folks, performances are available on TDF at the moment.
Thanks, Susan.
I may make it there this weekend. By the way, folks, performances are available on TDF at the moment.
That’s how I got my ticket, Halgund, which was Row M in the orchestra, smack dab in the middle. It was a perfect seat to see the show.
That’s how I got my ticket, Halgund, which was Row M in the orchestra, smack dab in the middle. It was a perfect seat to see the show.