On Saturday evening, Anthony Huxley returned to the role of James in La Sylphide, which in 2015 vaulted him to his appointment as principal dancer along with his partner at the time, Lauren Lovette. That New Yorkers have had the privilege of seeing both Huxley and Herman Cornejo (across the way) dance this role in recent years is one of those blessings for which balletomanes will be eternally grateful. Huxley's dancing and theatrical interpretation were brilliant. He carried himself in true Bournonville fashion throughout the evening as though he had been born to it. His allegro cut across the stage with the sharpness and accuracy of a Boker Gorm chef knife. (Gorm was the first Danish king.) His dramatic timing was acutely musical. His fascination and obsession with the Sylph were totally convincing. Every aspect of his performance needs to be praised including his partnering which on this evening was everything one could ask for.
In the evening Ashley Bouder’s enjoyable Sylph was more of an earthen tease than Sterling Hyltin’s ethereal sprite at the Saturday matinee opposite Joaquin de Luz’s handsome, amusing James. Ashley was quick to seize on potential balances, but they were static showstoppers as opposed to the breathing, floating balances that were present in Sterling’s performance.
Marika Anderson gave an outsized performance as Madge in both performances on Saturday. Her witch was unpredictable and strangely endearing.
Lauren’s King’s Effie in the matinee was a sparkling lass whose wide-eyed naiveté, easy smile, and bold dramatics allowed her to hold her own against the uninhibited theatrics of de Luz and Daniel Ulbricht as Gurn, James’ rival for Effie. Gurn’s one grand allegro variation in Act I is less than a minute long but punishingly slow to elicit maximum height and distance of jumps. Ulbricht made them seem effortless. In the evening, Harrison Ball’s Gurn variation looked like a forerunner to what could be his James during the next run of La Sylphide. What a pleasure it was to see that Ball can deliver comedy; we’re so used to his serious expression that borders on grim that this sudden change made us see him as someone with more wide-ranging possibilities on the stage. His Effie in the evening was Megan LeCrone. She, too, stepped out of her ultra-serious default expression to create a warm and somewhat daffy character.
But for the color palette chosen for the costumes, this is a handsome production staged lovingly by Peter Martins with the assistance of Petrusjka Broholm in 2015. Ms. Broholm, a Bournonville expert who also stages Martins' works and Alexei Ratmansky’s works on other companies around the world, has recently joined ABT as a teacher in the school and as the ballet mistress for the ABT Studio Company directed by Sascha Radetsky.
La Sylphide was the closing piece on a program that included Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Justin Peck’s Easy, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel [A Dance].
Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle led Allegro Brillante at the matinee with success but without the brilliance implied in the title. It’s not a good fit for Sara’s strengths; trying to force the ballet to fit her is the wrong approach. Maybe if the music were the big symphony that Tchaikovsky originally intended it to be before discarding the symphonic form to focus on it as a concerto, it would be grand enough to accommodate Sara’s very big and intense style of movement. But it’s a concerto; a quick, at times delicate concerto that requires delicacy and lightness in the ballerina.
On Saturday evening, Tiler Peck, who is now this ballet’s foremost interpreter, danced with a debuting Roman Mejia, a corps member for less than a year. An obvious talent of the allegro persuasion, Roman is also height disadvantaged and leg length disadvantaged. When he bolted onto the stage leading a squadron of medium and tall, lean, long-legged men (Andrew Scordato, Aaron Sanz, Daniel Applebaum, Devin Alberda), he looked like a fierce little Napoleon with major Latino flair. Charming, yes. Big arabesque saute, yes. Balletic leg lines either en l’air or à terre, nuh uh. Roman was exciting and he was excited — so much so that he nearly dumped Tiler to the Marley and had a few other mishaps. We’ve helped bolster up many danseurs as they brought their partnering skills up to speed, and we’ll hold up Roman, too. But we have to see lines if he is going to dance in ballets such as Allegro Brilliante.
Tiler was a very good sport in all of this — kind of like the mother cat who took her kitten’s clumsiness all in stride. Hopefully, between Saturday and their next performance on Wednesday, she will have grabbed that kitten by the scruff of the neck and taken him somewhere for a little cleanup.
There’s not much to say about Peck’s Easy which is set to Leonard Bernstein’s Prelude, Fugue and Riffs. It’s trivial, boring, and borrows too much from Robbins. The audience wasn't enthused enough on Saturday afternoon to even bring the dancers to the front of the curtain for bows.
Wheeldon’s Carousel [A Dance] is inferior to the piece that Kenneth MacMillan made and not engaging without voices singing “If I Loved You”. Tiler Peck in the afternoon and Lauren Lovette in the evening stamped the choreography with their own beautiful and individual nuanced interpretations. Tyler Angle was a superb partner and had both a softness and the toughness of a carnival barker.
The H.H. Pump Bump Award, a gold party stiletto by Danish designer Nanna Liv, is bestowed upon Anthony Huxley for the beauty of his Bournonville in La Sylphide.
14 responses to “ NYCB Sat 9/29 Mat & Eve
Huxley in La Sylphide – As if to the manner born”
I saw this program on Tuesday. The two women sitting next to me liked “Easy” better than “Allegro Brillante” as far as the ballet itself. There are no words, Haglund….
I saw this program on Tuesday. The two women sitting next to me liked “Easy” better than “Allegro Brillante” as far as the ballet itself. There are no words, Haglund….
I was also there on Tuesday. Easy is the love child of N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz and Interplay; I’ll take the Robbins, please. There are no words is right.
Susan, I hope the women at least appreciated La Sylphide.
I was also there on Tuesday. Easy is the love child of N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz and Interplay; I’ll take the Robbins, please. There are no words is right.
Susan, I hope the women at least appreciated La Sylphide.
I suspect that Peck thinks that he is updating Robbins’ style when, sadly, he’s just stealing. We’ll see the same MO in Peck’s West Side Story movie work — and he will be rewarded for it, no doubt.
I suspect that Peck thinks that he is updating Robbins’ style when, sadly, he’s just stealing. We’ll see the same MO in Peck’s West Side Story movie work — and he will be rewarded for it, no doubt.
Amen, Haglund. The new boy genius thinks he can fool people and try to copy Robbins. He can strut around all he wants as ballet companies revere him as the new choreographic wonder, but all of his ballets look the same, certainly the “sneaker ballets’ and he can’t even stand in Robbin’s shadow. His CAROUSEL, at least with Ramasar (who is sorely missed unneccessrily) was wonderful because he was copying Robbins who WAS a genius.
Amen, Haglund. The new boy genius thinks he can fool people and try to copy Robbins. He can strut around all he wants as ballet companies revere him as the new choreographic wonder, but all of his ballets look the same, certainly the “sneaker ballets’ and he can’t even stand in Robbin’s shadow. His CAROUSEL, at least with Ramasar (who is sorely missed unneccessrily) was wonderful because he was copying Robbins who WAS a genius.
After reading this review last Sunday, I hopped right onto the website and got myself a ticket for last Wed’s performance to see Tiler in Allegro Brilliante (could have watched this forever), Anthony as James and Lauren as the girl in the yellow dress. I have to thank you, Haglund, you’ve educated and influenced me to see many such brilliant performances!
After reading this review last Sunday, I hopped right onto the website and got myself a ticket for last Wed’s performance to see Tiler in Allegro Brilliante (could have watched this forever), Anthony as James and Lauren as the girl in the yellow dress. I have to thank you, Haglund, you’ve educated and influenced me to see many such brilliant performances!
I’m glad that I prompted you to get a ticket. I was at that performance as well and thought Roman Mejia was improved and appeared more relaxed. That lumpy muscle on the medial side just above the knee compromises his leg line, but it’s hard to say if there is anything he can do about it.
I’m glad that I prompted you to get a ticket. I was at that performance as well and thought Roman Mejia was improved and appeared more relaxed. That lumpy muscle on the medial side just above the knee compromises his leg line, but it’s hard to say if there is anything he can do about it.
Spielberg was at a performance of “Carousel” and hired him from the strength of that choreography. (I was told this by someone in the cast) It happened right before the Tony Awards. (Myself, I didn’t really think the choreography was period appropriate, but…) And no, the people sitting next to me didn’t seem to appreciate La Sylphide. Then again, they kept raving about the NYCB Gala using hip-hop and Kayne West.
Spielberg was at a performance of “Carousel” and hired him from the strength of that choreography. (I was told this by someone in the cast) It happened right before the Tony Awards. (Myself, I didn’t really think the choreography was period appropriate, but…) And no, the people sitting next to me didn’t seem to appreciate La Sylphide. Then again, they kept raving about the NYCB Gala using hip-hop and Kayne West.