We can imagine Peter Martins tactfully saying to Justin Peck, “This may not be a good idea” when Peck proposed to choreograph a ballet to Aaron Copland’s Rodeo that was composed specifically for and uniquely suited to Agnes De Mille’s most famous and iconic choreography. Had Peck proposed to choreograph to the music used for Concerto Barocco, we can imagine Martins would have been firm in his objections and stepped in where good sense was missing.
But Rodeo was different. It was first performed by a company that has since become irrelevant and rarely shows it any respect. Much of the NYCB audience, including the hundreds of SAB students hormonally primed to scream at anything and everything on NYCB’s stage, would never have seen or remembered or cared about De Mille’s masterpiece. So why not? Just paint over-top this old Wyeth canvas and make something new and relevant to young people that speaks to the new generation. Ah yes, and also get thrown by the bull while still in the rodeo pen.
Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes offered a bonding man-dance experience for fifteen of the company’s hombres – actually sixteen because one role had to be split between two dancers who replaced the injured Andrew Vyette – and one woman who jumped in for the same reason that she might have jumped out of a cake.
There were lots of man-lifts: lifted from Robbins, from Millepied, from Wheeldon, and so on. There were comfort moments, like comfort food, such as when Daniel Ulbricht turned blazingly in a la seconde – this time slowing down as the music slowed to a leisurely horsey canter. Haven’t we seen a dancer jump sideways into the arms of a group of other unsuspecting dancers and long lines of dancers running from one side of the stage to the other enough already? Apparently not.
Was it nice to see many of the NYCB men featured together so prominently? Yes, of course. We were reminded without the constant disruption of a principal or soloist that these men are an impressive bunch of technicians who can dance much more powerfully than they usually have the opportunity to show. What’s more, their ensemble choreography was of a top-level advanced classroom caliber. It was a magnificent display of talent. The men obviously loved the challenges, met them handsomely, and were a pleasure to watch. The 2nd Episode which featured Daniel Applebaum, Craig Hall, Allen Peiffer, Andrew Scordato, and Taylor Stanley was particularly illuminating of the men’s talent although we couldn’t quite figure out why Stanley would occasionally flinch like he was punched in the stomach.
The ballet wasn't terrible. It just wasn't up to NYCB standards and lacked maturity and originality. The piece would have been fine if set on a small municipal ballet company in a town without an interstate exit or internet.
The evening opened with Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition in which the projection design, costumes, and choreography are of equal importance. It made Haglund want one more chance to sleep overnight in a museum. Everyone knows that at the American Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side, the dinosaurs come to life and roam the halls at night. This ballet, with Wendall Harrington’s imaginative digital manipulation of Kandinsky’s Color Study Squares with Concentric Circles skipping and dancing behind the live dancers dressed in Kandinsky-inspired costumes by Adeline Andre, made us wonder what happens at The Met Museum at night.
The cast, which included Sterling Hyltin, Lauren Lovette, and Indiana Woodward in debuts, danced with wit and abandon – Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar shone brightest in their solos. The solo pianist, Cameron Grant, did more than mere justice to Mussorgsky’s composition. He emblazoned it with as much color as the Kandinsky masterpiece.
Christopher Wheeldon’s Mercurial Manoeuvres, set to Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, completed the program and was led by Tiler Peck, Jared Angle, Anthony Huxley, Sara Adams, and Kristen Segin.
Craftsmanship was easily recognizable in this very likable ballet that streamed large groups of dancers through intricate patterns that delighted when they suddenly appeared out of apparent chaos. It is one of Wheeldon’s more balanced ballets in which the corps is given importance equal to the soloists and PdD. There may have been a lot of people in the cast who were dancing this for the first time, because it sometimes looked more careful than sharp, although the performance as a whole was very, very good.
Anthony Huxley, in his debut as the soloist in a bright red unitard, dazzled with his speed and clarity but needs to fine-tune his double saute de basques which were a little hesitant. Also, that special pirouette in which the working leg switches from attitude derriere to retiré to being crossed over the knee in front needs polishing. Gonzalo Garcia always killed that trick when he danced the role. The dancer in the red unitard is the one who propels the energy in the ballet to each new level. He can’t function as just another soloist.
Sara Adams and Kristen Segin were exceptionally prepared in their demi soloist roles. Their precision and expansiveness were a joy to watch.
Tiler Peck and Jared Angle performed the PdD seamlessly. All of the special points of beauty were illuminated such as the “freeze” movements when Tiler was held aloft as if in mid-grand jete. It takes a strong core for a man to freeze a lift like that, no matter how light the ballerina may be.
The evening’s Pump Bump Award goes to the entire cast of Mercurial Manoeuvres. We’re glad to see this ballet back on the schedule. It has held up well for 15 years and is one of Wheeldon’s best.