It is almost as though New York City Ballet is trying to use trickling Balanchine programing to falsely strengthen the river-flow of mostly sub-par contemporary programing that it wants to wash over the audience. Where are the big ballets? Serenade, Jewels, Symphony in C, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Four Temperaments, Mozartiana, Slaughter, Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 2?
New York City Ballet can no longer claim that it has the best Balanchine dancers in the world. The world is now full of them and full of dancers who are so good that only a handful of self-proclaimed experts can see stylistic differences. Now, more than ever, New York City Ballet must shore up its foundational masterpieces and rely upon them while it searches for choreographic accoutrements for its repertory. There will never be another Balanchine. There will never be another Chagall. There will never be another Tchaikovsky. Does this mean that the art world should try to negate these geniuses or tamp down their voices to make lesser artists seem more important? Haven’t we had enough of authorities silencing important voices in favor of nonsense?
This little program of Square Dance, Episodes, and Western Symphony on Wednesday night was danced well for the most part. One can’t complain about Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley burning through Square Dance like a pile of hay on fire. They crackled and threw sparks. It was a relief to see Huxley back on stage after last seeing him in an orthopedic boot with crutches. His connection with the audience was as strong as ever; he pulled the viewer in with a sense of interior life that made us want to look more closely. In the corps de ballet, Olivia Bell projected so much joy and confidence in every step, and truly made us appreciate all that the corps must do in this ballet. We also noted the welcomed return of Samuel Melnikov who has been out of action for far too long.
Episodes enjoyed formidable principal casting. Isabella LaFreniere and Chun Wai Chan in the first movement Opus 21, Alexa Maxwell and Taylor Stanley in the third movement Opus 24, and Mira Nadon with Adrian Danchig-Waring in the final Musical Offering were strong and clear in their dancing but didn’t emphasize the black and white of the choreography. It all seemed to have the same tone to it. However, Ashley Hod and Alex Knight in the second movement Opus 10 gave their work dramatic definition that easily held the viewer’s attention. The corps de ballet included several new dancers and apprentices who were not always coordinated. Both Mckenzie Bernardino Soares and Quinn Starner were oily orange to the point of being distracting. Her habit of standing with her weight back instead of forward and arching the back while puffing out the chest doesn’t fit with the aesthetic of the company. It’s too gymnast-like and circus-y.
Western Symphony received fine principal performances in each section. Ashley Laracey and Jules Mabie were well-matched in the Allegro. She is ever-youthful whereas he is literally youthful like a puppy. Ashley gushed with elegance and charm, her technique solid as a rock. Hopefully, management will come to its senses and recognize her formally as a principal. Laracey, Kikta, and Hod are way overdue for promotions. As the saying goes, It’s never too late to do the right thing. Mabie’s debut was delightful for its skilled allegro and theatrical bounce. His pirouettes were working very well for him, and he skillfully set aside his natural modesty for that of an eager cowboy. In addition to being a fine technician and competent partner, Mabie showed that he’s an interesting dancer. We’re really looking forward to following his journey at NYCB. In the corps, Ava Sautter and Owen Flacke were perfectly stylish and threatened to highjack our attention throughout the ballet.
Aaron Sanz and Indiana Woodward played against one another in the Adagio section with a sense of slick & sly. He was the overly-confident cowboy; she was like the smarter-than-average saloon girl who knew how to get a good tip from the customer. Once again, Olivia Bell along with Mia Williams were eye-catching for their superb and joyous dancing.
Emily Kikta was perfection as the coy but abundantly charming flirt while Roman Mejia, yet another overly-confident cowboy (will they ever learn?), simply would not give up on his pursuit of her. The two were able to exaggerate their height differences to great comedic effect. Mejia let his turns and jumps rip as did Kikta in her appropriately flashy fouettes.
The first week of the fall season has not held a lot of interest for us. NYCB should re-think its programing strategy to give the audience more of what it wants, not what management wants it to want.
Our H.H. Pump Bump Award is bestowed upon Emily Kikta and Ashley Laracey for their sparkling performances in Western Symphony and to Ashley Hod for plumbing the contemporary depth in Episodes.
11 responses to “NYCB 9/17 — Square Dance, Episodes, Western Symphony”
Greetings, Haglund. We saw this program this afternoon, September 20 from the marvelous vantage of Row A, First Tier. What a thrill to experience ballet in a human-scaled house (unlike Big Bertha across the plaza). Captivating us were Emma von Enck and Taylor Stanley in “Square Dance,” and everybody in “Episodes.” (How do you count when dancing to most of that?) It may be sinful to say anything negative about Balanchine’s choreography but some of “Episodes” put me in mind of the smoky Parisian beatnik café where Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson go to rescue Audrey Hepburn from the clutches of the Empathacalists and hardcore 1950s avant-gardeism. “Western Symphony,” which closed the mixed bill, was joy unalloyed. “Chapeau!” to everyone involved. The last ballet made a wonderful start to our NYCB fall season.
Thanks, Eulalia. Glad to hear that you made it into town for the matinee and scored a presidential seat. I’ll bet that Emma von Enck and Taylor Stanley rocked in Square Dance. I definitely see some similarities in Episodes and this part of Funny Face ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FznWwWrOIQ ). Audrey was in her element, wasn’t she?
You’re so right about the programming. Even though I ate a delicious meal, I still left not quite satisfied.
I wasn’t particularly familiar with Episodes. I saw it once maybe 7-8+ years ago, and dismissed it as not my cup of tea. I only recall Sara Mearns in the fourth movement making a really positive impression on me at the time, but I didn’t recall much of anything else. I don’t know about other folks, but this needed a second viewing for me to able to engage with it. I think I was too overwhelmed with the music and the choreography to really process it my first go around. I saw the other cast for this, and was very pleased with that performance. I was pleasantly surprised with India Bradley in the first movement. In the past it seemed like her feet weren’t always fully pointed, but I didn’t detect those issues this time around. There’s more confidence in her dancing as well.
Ryan Tomash in Western Symphony was my favorite part of the program though. Very charming in the Rondo. I don’t know if they had rockets installed in his cowboy boots, but he was flying.
Yukionna, so happy to see you are back in town and at the ballet!! I’m looking forward to seeing Ryan Tomash this season. Thanks for the report!!
I 100% agree about Quinn Starner. Someone needs to tell her how horrible her bottled tan impacts the audience. It’s been this way since last year. It seems that Jonathan and Wendy are fairly checked-out in general – and I’m hearing this from dancers as well – and their ignoring her fake skin tone and brassy blonde demonstrates this.
Thanks, Corey. It’s a shame that no one is paying attention to what she is doing. She obviously has a wide scope of talent and has lovely legs and feet that can move well and a gorgeous smile that we could easily see even without any spray tan. Her arabesque would be more than fine if done without splaying the hip open like a gymnast in order to get the leg higher. Trying too hard to get attention may be getting in the way of improving her dancing.
My apologies for the delay in getting your comments published. Still much to work out with this new system.
H.
Haglund, thank you for the great reporting as always. I noticed Mearns did one performance of Swan Lake and got pulled from all other dances for the next few weeks. Any idea what happened there?
Hi, Susie. Thanks for reading H.H. We don’t have any idea why the casting change was made.
I’m not sure what’s going on with Quinn Starner, but it’s jarring. Her hair is blonder, her skin is darker, and now she has darker tights and darker pointe shoes to match her new, darker skin. Nothing that we see of her – whether it’s skin, hair, tights, pointe shoes, or costume – is REAL. Ballet is an aesthetic art. I don’t want to see orange dancers on stage.
Hi, Fast Feet. Thanks for finding our new blog home.
Quinn’s self-branding is at odds with the company’s aesthetic. Surely, she knows that the company staff see her dancing. What she may not realize is that the audience, especially the balletomanes, see everyone on stage right to the corners of the back row. We know who is there and who is missing and how everyone is dancing. She doesn’t need to fear that the audience will overlook her if she doesn’t somehow stand out for the wrong reasons: spray tan, bleached hair, gymnast-like accents, implants (total speculation), or developing an online image that emphasizes her body over her dancing or her efforts to improve her dancing. She should get to work and expect to work 10 years before being entrusted with big opportunities.