Notwithstanding Taylor Stanley’s impetuous, scene-stealing Puck, New York City Ballet’s Friday evening performance of Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream caused more wince than wonderment. Sure, the kids were cute enough. But how long can one sit there and witness the women heaving unsightly ill-positioned attitude derrière after ill-positioned attitude derrière thrown out from the side like gymnasts pandering to judges for a 10? Honestly, it seemed to be a main & monotonous foul in both acts of the ballet and came to a painful head in Act II when the six Divertissement ladies faced the audience and bent over in penche attitude. Oy, no two extended legs were even similar, let alone the same. What a mess to see. We noticed this issue in Ballo as well when a soloist grossly threw open the left hip in order to make the grand jete en attitude appear more grand. No, it’s not Balanchine technique, People; it’s bad form.
NYCB 5/30
Puck in the net for the Stanley Cup win
[We’ll pause this thrashing to say how beautifully the New York City Ballet Orchestra played Mendelssohn’s starry score. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, this orchestra deserves to have a stint at Carnegie Hall just the way the Met Orchestra does. A program of Divertimento No 15, Ballo della Regina, the Bach from Concerto Barocco, and Firebird would have the Carnegie Hall regulars begging for more — which they could only get by coming to the ballet.]
An ongoing problem that stems from a lack of experience in classical theatrical productions was the forced mime that looked like parody. None of the men in this production or in Sleeping Beauty know how to wave their arms to summon others on the stage to action without making it look like they are flipping-off someone. Since NYCB has Craig Salstein and Alexei Ratmansky on the premises often, why not ask one of them to fix this?
Then there is the issue of dropping character when the steps get tough. Joaquin de Luz never dropped character in the face of challenging steps or perilous partnering. If anything, he added more character, because it helped him get through it. That said, we were otherwise thrilled with David Gabriel’s debut as Oberon in so far as the steps go. Aaron Sanz’s Cavalier and Emilie Gerrity’s lovely Titania were an attractive pair. We thought that since Aaron has become such a skilled partner, Emilie could have trusted him more by being less guarded. There were enough glimpses of what a freer Titania would look like to make us want to see much more.
Naomi Corti was the Hippolyta of Shakespeare’s own dreams. She came out of nowhere with a fierceness and huge dancing that made the stage look small. Her fouettes were a show of strength that we haven’t seen in a long time — her working leg shot out furiously and carried past second position before whipping around. In the Act II Pas de Deux with Owen Flacke, she showed great composure and elegance and held on those few times when Flacke blinked before anticipating what was needed. Oh my, what a presence Flacke is on stage and what an impact he makes when those scrupulous lines are in motion. Praying to the dance gods that he possesses beautiful double tours, too.
Mira Nadon and Peter Walker were a stunning pair in the Divertissement. Mira seemingly was thinking well beyond the steps to project something much bigger. She exploited the steps to create a magical world of her own. Peter’s partnering flattered Mira in several ways. His own arms were long enough to allow her to extend her own extraordinary length as far as possible. Between the two of them there were complementary and supplementary angles everywhere we looked. It was nice to see that big smile when he landed the double tour to the knee.
Whether Balanchine intended it or not, the star of this production is now Puck. Taylor Stanley’s range of Puck’s facial expressions and physical detail just keeps growing. On Friday his mischievousness surged all the way down into his toes. No matter how many times one has watched this ballet, one could not know what he would do next. How hard it must have been for the other dancers on stage to look him in the face and not lose composure. His sprint-stop-sprint scampering around the stage was like the classic Roadrunner “meep meep” whoosh before something went terribly wrong for Wiley Coyote. Whenever we have seen Stanley’s beautiful dancing in white tights roles such as Apollo, Emeralds, or Nutcracker, we want to see him in nothing else. Then comes Puck. How lucky we are to watch this versatile artist night after night.
Our HH Pump Bump Award, a studded stiletto from Louboutin, is bestowed upon Taylor Stanley — absolute gold in Puck and everything else.
8 responses to “NYCB 5/30
Puck in the net for the Stanley Cup win”
Was hoping we’d see some promotions at the end of the season, but alas there were none! Gabriel will be Principal one day soon, but no harm in letting stay a Soloist for another year. He was just promoted last June, I believe. But I’d love to see Afanasenkov move up. As to others, it’s a tossup! Many contenders and deserving dancers including Claire von Enck, Baily Jones, MT MaKinnon. I’m not a fan of Bradley but management seems to like her. Alston Macgill is unfortunately plagued by injuries. I guess we’ll have to wait until Fall!
Was hoping we’d see some promotions at the end of the season, but alas there were none! Gabriel will be Principal one day soon, but no harm in letting stay a Soloist for another year. He was just promoted last June, I believe. But I’d love to see Afanasenkov move up. As to others, it’s a tossup! Many contenders and deserving dancers including Claire von Enck, Baily Jones, MT MaKinnon. I’m not a fan of Bradley but management seems to like her. Alston Macgill is unfortunately plagued by injuries. I guess we’ll have to wait until Fall!
Hi, Frenchie.
Bolden, Gabriel, Riccardo and Mabie all had to prove that they could fully handle a variety of principal roles before they were even promoted to soloist. If that is the standard for the women, then the only ones who meet the test are MT MacKinnon, Naomi Corti, and possibly Dominika Afanasenkov. I say possibly for Dominika because she hasn’t yet measured beyond okay in her opportunities. When she was in Apollo with Phelan and Hod, I would say she was the weakest and that Hod even out-shined Phelan.
If, on the other hand, management wants to apply a lesser standard or fudge the standards to accommodate a predetermined choice, then that’s what they’ll do.
The bigger issue is principal promotions for the women. What ever standard they are applying that they think Ashley Hod, Emily Kikta, and Ashley Laracey have not met is a standard that Wendy Whelan, herself, and Janie Taylor would never have met — to name just two more recent examples. These three soloists have met and exceeded what ever possible standards are being applied to the men. I find it hypocritical that the company is practically choking on DEI efforts while applying higher and different achievement standards to the women.
We’ll just have to wait to see what they do.
Hi, Frenchie.
Bolden, Gabriel, Riccardo and Mabie all had to prove that they could fully handle a variety of principal roles before they were even promoted to soloist. If that is the standard for the women, then the only ones who meet the test are MT MacKinnon, Naomi Corti, and possibly Dominika Afanasenkov. I say possibly for Dominika because she hasn’t yet measured beyond okay in her opportunities. When she was in Apollo with Phelan and Hod, I would say she was the weakest and that Hod even out-shined Phelan.
If, on the other hand, management wants to apply a lesser standard or fudge the standards to accommodate a predetermined choice, then that’s what they’ll do.
The bigger issue is principal promotions for the women. What ever standard they are applying that they think Ashley Hod, Emily Kikta, and Ashley Laracey have not met is a standard that Wendy Whelan, herself, and Janie Taylor would never have met — to name just two more recent examples. These three soloists have met and exceeded what ever possible standards are being applied to the men. I find it hypocritical that the company is practically choking on DEI efforts while applying higher and different achievement standards to the women.
We’ll just have to wait to see what they do.
Always a pleasure to read what you write, Haglund, but this entry and the previous are especially evocative.
Thank you!
Especially enjoyed the Wily Coyote reference and the Kelce brothers shout-out as well as your loyal appreciation for the NYCB Orchestra
Always a pleasure to read what you write, Haglund, but this entry and the previous are especially evocative.
Thank you!
Especially enjoyed the Wily Coyote reference and the Kelce brothers shout-out as well as your loyal appreciation for the NYCB Orchestra
Thanks, NYCPlayer. It seems NYCB Orchestra is down a few conductors. We need a bonafide Stravinsky specialist. Any ideas? Like maybe Klaus Makela could be convinced to stand on the Stravinsky Podium? All that glam could help the orchestra get a hot date with Carnegie Hall. David LaMarche always brings enormous energy to any orchestra he conducts and he has a wide range. And possibly Maria Seletskaja could juggle two jobs. But given her Vaganova training, she might wince at those faulty attitude derrière positions, too.
Thanks, NYCPlayer. It seems NYCB Orchestra is down a few conductors. We need a bonafide Stravinsky specialist. Any ideas? Like maybe Klaus Makela could be convinced to stand on the Stravinsky Podium? All that glam could help the orchestra get a hot date with Carnegie Hall. David LaMarche always brings enormous energy to any orchestra he conducts and he has a wide range. And possibly Maria Seletskaja could juggle two jobs. But given her Vaganova training, she might wince at those faulty attitude derrière positions, too.