NYCB – Piano Power – 6/4

NYCB fielded quite an impressive army of ivories last night, and that was even before the armies of Stars and Stripes arrived.  Four pianists were featured in last night's program – three of them on stage.

Cameron Grant blew through Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2 at cyclone speed for Alexei Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH; on stage, Nancy McDill maneuvered the prepared piano through several sections of John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes for Richard Tanner's piece of the same name; and again on stage, Elaine Chelton and Alan Moverman masterfully delivered the 1st and 3rd Movements of Four Movements for Two Pianos by Phillip Glass while Justin Peck's In Creases played out in front of and beneath them.

Extraordinary dancing was delivered by all in Concerto DSCH.  Wendy Whelan was strong, supple, and quite simply gorgeous in the PdD with Tyler Angle.  DSCH may be her only rep this spring, but whatever else she has been doing on the outside of NYCB, it has beautifully informed her dancing here.  Ashley Bouder, Joaquin De Luz and Gonzalo Garcia seemed to have wings on their feet as they spun and hurtled through the allegro. 

Created for NYCB by Alexei Ratmansky in 2008, Concerto DSCH contains many of the DNA markers of Ratmansky's current work:  balletic steps created with a painter's cross-hatching brush strokes of folk, gymnastic, and pedestrian elements that develop multiple layers of depth; cleverness, if sometimes only for the sake of cleverness; random human moments such as a sudden stop for the dancer to look around to see where everyone else is or who else is watching him; and an element that tends to make the choreography a bit tiresome:  the extraneous hyperactive movement of  arms, hands, and head in ways that neither harmonize with nor compliment what is going on with the legs and feet. 

At times, there seems to be a distinct and very exhausting dance going on with the arms, hands, and head, especially for the corps work.  If the dancer raises his arms over his head, he's likely to wiggle the hands several times or wave the arms in some odd way, and then throw the head left or right or up or down.  It has no meaning per se, no function other than to fill every note of music with as much movement as possible.  Sometimes it looks like it comes from the energies of an 8-year-old hyperactive boy. 

Ratmansky is still a very young choreographer who is impossibly busy creating new works for companies all over the world – possibly so busy that it is stunting the maturation of his choreography.  Relying on a formula of quickstep, cleverness, and kinetic arms can take a choreographer a long way commercially, but how far will it take the art form?  From this 2008 piece to the 2013 Shostakovich Trilogy, has there been real growth or just more layers of the same?  It's hard to tell. 

Tiler Peck and Amar Ramasar performed Tanner's Sonata and Interludes.  They looked fabulous in the white unitards with gold belts, but this 1982 piece didn''t go much beyond looking like the Balanchine-derivatives that were so common during the time.  Every step seemed leaden with WWMBD – What would Mr. B do?

Justin Peck's In Creases gave nice opportunities to several of NYCB's corps dancers to shine.  Sara Adams and Christian Tworzyanski were handsome in their PdD.  Devin Alberda, subbing for Taylor Stanley, danced with high energy and great authority.  The ballet was pleasingly original, creative, and clearly the dancers were having fun performing it.  The choreography was peppered with moments that suggested it was about something; but what?  The hinting of faux-drama doesn't enhance abstract choreography.  It's akin to the amateur poet collecting a bunch of important words, throwing them together, and then saying to the reader, "It means whatever it means to you."  If a choreographer has something to say, he should say it clearly – not whisper a few important words and expect the audience to make up the rest of the story.

Stars and Stripes wasn't as bright and clear as it should have been.  In the first movement, Lauren King struggled with the releves where she was supposed to hold her foot in her hand.  Otherwise, she was a vibrant and strong leader of the Corcoran Cadets.  Megan LeCrone led the Rifle Regiment with clear jumps and a sassy bugle.  Troy Schumacher, who recently debuted as leader of the third movement, was even more authoritative and is now only a short distance away from being thrilling.  Teresa Reichlen and Chase Finlay (in his debut) ran into some partnering difficulties that seemed to stem from Liberty Bell being taller than El Capitan. Chase seemed in need of oxygen early on, but he gave it his all.  His grand allegro didn't have the speed and clarity that it should have had or that which we now enjoy seeing from Andrew Veyette in this role. 

The HH Pump Bump Award, a classic-to-modern fiber optic stiletto from Francesca Castagnacci, is bestowed upon Wendy Whelan for the refreshing and lyrical beauty of her dancing in Concerto DSCH.  Wendy will repeat her role at the Saturday matinee.  Balletomanes with discriminating taste should choose to be there.