American Ballet Theatre -- Sunday, October 26, 2014

On Sunday at the unlikely hour of 1pm we went to New York State Theater to see a performance by American Ballet Theater.  The theater was only about half-to-two-thirds full.

Sunday, October 26th, at 1:00 pm

With a Chance of Rain (Liam Scarlett World Premiere/Rachmaninoff)
H. Seo, M. Copeland, G. Bond, D. Teuscher, M. Gomes, J. Whiteside, J. Gorak, S. Baca
E. Wong (piano soloist)

Jardin aux Lilas (Tudor/Chausson)
M. Hamrick, T. Forster, L. Underwood, A. Hammoudi
D. LaMarche (conductor), B. Bowman (violin soloist)

Thirteen Diversions (Wheeldon/Britten)
S. Lane, I. Boylston, G. Murphy, C. Shevcheko, C. Salstein E. Tamm, C. Stearns, T. Forster, B. Hoven
O. Wilkins (conductor), B. Bilach (piano soloist)

'With a Chance of Rain' choreographed by Liam Scarlett to seven Sergei Rachmaninoff piano pieces had premiered at the Company's opening night gala on Wednesday, October 22nd.  The Rachmaninoff pieces were played beautifully by Emily Wong, providing musical support from the pit.

Scarlett costumed the eight dancers in various shades of grey with varying amounts of skin displayed -- Marcelo Gomes bare-chested with ankle length tights; James Whiteside in long sleeves, short shorts, and bare legs; Hee Seo in a long-sleeved leotard; Misty Copeland's arms, shoulders and legs bare.  Maybe Scarlett gave them a choice of what parts of their bodies they wanted to expose.

Cast of Liam Scarlett's 'With a Chance of Rain' in costumes by Scarlett.  Photo by Andrea Mohin for NYTimes

After an introductory section for the full cast, there is a much discussed pas de deux for Misty Copeland and James Whiteside.  After several minutes of a quite lovely adagio he places his hands on her breasts and massages them.  A bit later he puts his hand on her butt twice and she slaps it away both times.  Later she puts her hands on his chest and 'twerks'.  The pdd ends with his hands back on her breasts.

James Whiteside and Misty Copeland in Liam Scarlett's 'With a Chance of Rain'.  Photo by Marty Sohl

Misty backs away and Marcelo Gomez walks up to Whiteside's hands which are now on Marcelo's bare chest.  Startled, Whiteside stiffens, but then the two men engage in a short 'buddy' pas de deux.  The audience tittered nervously at the various sexual references.

The two secondary couples have some lovely dancing and there is a beautiful pas de deux for Hee Seo and Marcelo Gomez.  

Marcelo Gomez and Hee Seo in Liam Scarlett's 'With a Chance of Rain'.  Photo by Marty Sohl

Near the end there is a wonderful solo for Marcelo Gomez.  The only thing more beautiful than his body is the technical control he displays in this dance.

The choreography throughout is athletic and often off-balance and relates nicely to the music.  Scarlett has some interesting ideas, but they are unfortunately marred by too much bare skin and too many tasteless, juvenile and irrelevant antics.

'Jardin aux Lilas' (Lilac Garden) was choreographed for Ballet Rambert in 1936 by Anthony Tudor to 'Poeme' for violin and orchestra by Ernest Chausson.  It entered ABT's repertory in its first season in 1940 when Tudor was one of the founding members of the Company as both a dancer and the resident choreographer.

Hugh Laing, Maude Lloyd, Anthony Tudor, and Peggy van Praagh in the original 1936 production by Ballet Rambert.  Laing and Tudor were long-term domestic partners and moved on together to ABT in 1940.
Photo from the Dance Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

The ballet is set in a lilac garden where a party is being held for a newly engaged couple.  On Sunday, the bride-to-be, Caroline, was danced by Melanie Hamrick.   Thomas Forster was Her Lover, Alexandre Hammoudi was The Man She Must Marry, and Leann Underwood was An Episode in His Past.  There is a corps of eight Friends and Relations.

We have seen this work many times.  The introduction of fresh, young corps dancers (Hamrick, Forster and Underwood) doesn't keep it from seeming tired and stale.  The shabby set doesn't help either.  Hamrick as the central figure hasn't found a way to integrate her character's mimed emotions of longing and despair into her dancing.  Forster and Underwood do better at incorporating the mime into their performances, but they remain too subtle to convey their characters' emotions.  Hammoudi is priggish and withholding in a role that has always seemed thankless to me -- maybe Tudor himself was able to humanize it.

'Thirteen Diversions' by Christopher Wheeldon to Benjamin Britten's 'Diversions for Piano (left hand) and Orchestra' closed the program.  There is a large cast -- four principal couples and eight corps couples -- costumed by Bob Crowley (the principals in dove grey with flashes of violet at the hems of the women's knee-length skirts and the corps in black with flashes of yellow for the women's skirts).  Frankly, these costumes with hints of bustles on the women and tail coats on the men seemed rather dowdy.

The action occurs behind a black scrim which contains the stage smoke that hangs in the air, reflecting the changing colors and shapes of the harshly effective lighting design by Brad Fields.

As usual, Wheeldon deploys his large cast in complex and interesting patterns -- there is a large wheeling circle for the corps couples that left a vivid after image.  The couples start out together moving in a clockwise circle.  As each couple nears the front of the stage the man spins out and joins an outer circle of men moving counter-clockwise to the women's circle.  It's like a scene from a Busby Berkeley musical juxtaposed with one from Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis' -- brilliant.

Wheeldon's choreography for the four principal couples varies.  I was disappointed by Sarah Lane with Thomas Forster and Isabella Boylston with Cory Stearns.  Gillian Murphy seemed mismatched with Eric Tamm in a role that she had created with David Hallberg in 2011.

David Hallberg and Gillian Murphy in Christopher Wheeldon's 'Thirteen Diversions'.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor

Christine Shevchenko and Blain Hoven danced well, primarily in pas de quatres with one of the other three principal couples.  This was certainly the best of the three works on the program, but we've seen better Wheeldon works and Wheeldon works danced better elsewhere.

Ormsby Wilkins conducted the orchestra and piano soloist, Barbara Bilach, in a nuanced performance of the Britten score.