New York City Ballet’s 2019 Nutcracker season wasn’t exactly a disaster. Day-old bread isn’t a disaster either; it’s edible.
While dancers complained about hearing the music for the Sugar Plum Fairy over and over again in malls and in stores everywhere, the public complained about being served up the same ballerinas over and over again in the iconic Sugarplum Fairy role while being denied the joy of unwrapping new Sugar Plum Fairies at Christmastime. It was the type of entitlement-casting that Wendy Whelan and Ashley Bouder have espoused over the past few years. Tenure doesn’t belong in professional ballet any more than it belongs in professional football. Eli Manning doesn’t have tenure. Tom Brady doesn’t have tenure. They have to continually prove their worth every week by winning — not by going on Instagram.
Haglund only went to a few Nutcracker performances this year due to the pricing and casting. The most stellar performances came courtesy of Lauren King who, along with Brittany Pollack, is woefully underemployed as a soloist — overdue for promotion to principal, ready to take on Allegro Brillante, Theme and Variations, and other big ballerina roles. Lauren had the misfortune of coming into the company at the same time as Tiler Peck and Sara Mearns who immediately garnered everyone’s attention. She has kept her nose to the grind working diligently which has resulted in a steady but mostly inconspicuous rise to exceptional excellence. Her Sugarplum Fairy glistened in articulation and glowed with warmth. The speed and lightness of her Dewdrop left contrails when she jumped or spun her chaine turns.
Also outstanding was Sean Suozzi whose Herr Drosselmeier was mysterious with a dab of oily. Materializing from and disappearing into the darkness with the deftness of a magician, he was the family member who no one really knew.
We caught the penultimate performance of the season led by Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle. Clearly, Tiler’s back was bothering her. Flexibility was non-existent and the arabesques were achieved more by opening up the hip than by using the back. It seemed to be a premature return to the stage — a risk not worth taking, particularly when there are very capable junior ballerinas lined up waiting for their first starts. Tyler, aside from expertly protecting his ballerina, had a dreadful performance. The Cavalier has so little to do in the way of a variation, but somehow, it eludes many of the NYCB men time and time again. This time, Tyler struggled through the majority of his turns a la seconde and then finished with his ass to the audience — and laughed about it. There seems to be a lot of that going around: screwing up on stage and laughing about it. How about being embarrassed, humiliated, and apologetic for not being prepared to dance the role?
Cainan Weber, an apprentice, showed great promise as the lead Candy Cane. He had a minor mess-up with the hoop but his energy, charisma, and joy of dancing made him very watchable. Kennard Henson, who had a fabulous performance as the Soldier earlier in the season, flatlined as Tea. He’s got a mammoth gymnastic split jump but doesn’t have a double pirouette or a double tour. How did this guy get out of SAB without being able to do a double pirouette and a double tour? How can double pirouette be a problem for any dancer in the New York City Ballet?
We were hoping for better performances from Daniel Applebaum and Megan LeCrone this season. Applebaum looked almost sickly weak as the Cavalier to Lauren King’s Sugarplum Fairy. He looked more emaciated than in the past and couldn’t muster the strength in his long arms to lift Lauren as he should have. His variation looked like he was marking the steps and his feet were not strongly pointed. Speaking of which, we didn’t see Megan LeCrone point the supporting foot on very many of the saute arabesques in Dewdrop. It was nice to see short spurts of festive expression, but overall, it was a dark, dark Dewdrop.
Props to the Snowflakes and Flowers for thrilling Haglund for the zillionth time. We only saw one little dark-haired dancer who couldn’t beat the cabrioles to the back – repeatedly – but everyone else seemed to take pride in doing them magnificently. There is enough outstanding talent in the women’s corps to make another entire company of stars. Why can’t some of the tenured primas take a Nutcracker season off once in a while to allow the company to rejuvenate? It’s time to get re-building the House of Balanchine so that it looks like the House of Balanchine again as opposed to an assisted living facility for dancers who can’t leave the stage.
Our Nutcracker season-ending H.H. Pump Bump Award of diamonds and gold is bestowed upon the many ladies in the Corps de Ballet who should know we all feel your frustration and to Lauren King who hopefully will soon be recognized for the exemplary ballerina that she is.
8 responses to “NYCB – Resting on Nutcracker”
Hi Haglund,
I’ve always enjoyed reading your blog. Indeed, it’s the only one I read. I just want to clarify that I didn’t announce that I’m retiring in 2022 when I finish law school. I hope to leave sooner, I just have to get my ducks in a row. Also, I feel compelled to mention that I am currently on a Leave of absence from the company because of various reasons. I hope to get myself back together at some point and retire in style!
Sincerely,
Abi Stafford
Hi Haglund,
I’ve always enjoyed reading your blog. Indeed, it’s the only one I read. I just want to clarify that I didn’t announce that I’m retiring in 2022 when I finish law school. I hope to leave sooner, I just have to get my ducks in a row. Also, I feel compelled to mention that I am currently on a Leave of absence from the company because of various reasons. I hope to get myself back together at some point and retire in style!
Sincerely,
Abi Stafford
Thank you for clarifying. That misunderstanding concerning the retirement date evolved from comments in the recent audio Rosin Box. Thanks again for clarifying.
Thank you for clarifying. That misunderstanding concerning the retirement date evolved from comments in the recent audio Rosin Box. Thanks again for clarifying.
Happy New Year.
I only saw one Nutcracker this year. I agree with you the female Corps were gorgeous to behold in the Snowflake and Flower sections. So many up and comers. Nutcracker was usually the big ballet to give stage time opportunities to young corps. I hope the company goes back to this practice.
Happy New Year.
I only saw one Nutcracker this year. I agree with you the female Corps were gorgeous to behold in the Snowflake and Flower sections. So many up and comers. Nutcracker was usually the big ballet to give stage time opportunities to young corps. I hope the company goes back to this practice.
I propose that henceforth your two furry beauties do “The Nutcracker” ‘catsing.’ (I couldn’t resist and am ducking for cover now!)
I propose that henceforth your two furry beauties do “The Nutcracker” ‘catsing.’ (I couldn’t resist and am ducking for cover now!)