Thoughts on the movie 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'

Last Friday afternoon we went to see 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' the new movie co-written, produced and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Movie poster for 'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)'

The movie stars Michael Keaton as Riggan Thomson, a former action movie hero whose primary claim to notoriety is starring in a 3-picture superhero franchise, 'Birdman', nearly 20 years earlier.  Riggan is the writer, director, co-producer and star of a play slated for Broadway, 'What We Talk About When We Talk About Love', based on a Raymond Carver short story.  Riggan's co-producer and best friend is Jake (Zach Galifianakis) and his go-fer is his daughter Samantha (Emma Stone).   The play seems to be a 4-character drama that also features Lesley (Naomi Watts), Riggan's girlfriend Laura (Andrea Riseborough) and Mike (Edward Norton), a last minute replacement for an injured actor.

The director keeps the movie bouncing between reality, staged reality, and utter fantasy -- as Birdman and Carver encroach on Riggan's sanity.  The performances from the entire cast are uniformly excellent.  In addition to Keaton I would single out Zach Galifianakis and Emma Stone for special mention.  This story takes place at the junction where aspirations collide with reality -- tectonic plates that can crush a fragile soul -- or set it free.  Go see it if you love New York, if you love the Broadway theater, if you dare to dream.  It will make you laugh and make you care.

New York City Ballet -- Tuesday, October 14, 2014

We attended the New York City Ballet performance on Tuesday evening, October 14th.  It was our first chance to see Justin Peck's 'Everywhere We Go' -- which was first seen during the Spring 2014 season.  The program also featured several debuts (*) in Balanchine's 'Chaconne' and Robbins' 'Interplay'.

TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 14, 7:30 PM
[Conductor: Capps]
CHACONNE: Kowroski, T. Angle, *King, *Huxley, *Kikta, *Kretzschmar, *Sanz, *Woodward, *Hod, *Alberda, *Phelan, *Prottas
INTERPLAY: Pollack, *Wellington, *Mann, *Villwock, Walker, Alberda, Hoxha, *Coll (replaces Villarini-Velez)
[Solo Piano: Walters]
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AFTER THE RAIN PAS DE DEUX: Whelan, Hall [Solo Piano: Moverman, Solo Violin: Delmoni]
EVERYWHERE WE GO: Krohn, Isaacs, Hyltin, Reichlen, Danchig-Waring, Ramasar, Veyette

George Balanchine staged 'Chaconne' for Suzanne Farrell and Peter Martins in 1976.  

Peter Martins and Suzanne Farrell, the original cast in Balanchine's 'Chaconne'.
Photo by Max Waldman

The score is ballet music from Christoph Willibald von Gluck's opera 'Orphee et Euridice'.  Balanchine had worked with Gluck's score before.  First, in 1936 he staged the opera for the Metropolitan Opera with decor by Pavel Tchelitchew.  The singers were in the pit with the orchestra and his American Ballet dancers were on stage   It lasted for two performances.  In 1963 he composed all of the dances for a production of the opera by the Hamburg State Ballet.  This production was mounted by the Paris Opera a decade later with some adjustments by Balanchine.  In 1975, a somewhat different version was performed by the Chicago Lyric Opera with dances by Balanchine.  'Chaconne' is based primarily on the ballets he created for the Hamburg State Opera version with adjustments, of course, for the special gifts of Farrell and Martins.

The ballet is divided into two distinct sections.  The first section (the Elysian Fields) begins with an ensemble of nine women with loose hair and long flowing beige costumes walking slowly about the stage in simple patterns.  As they exit the stage the principal couple (Maria Kowroski and Tyler Angle) in simple white costumes enter on a diagonal.  Their first moves are beautiful calm mirroring arabesques which they sustain joined only by one hand.  In recent seasons Maria and Tyler have formed a wonderful partnership which was fully displayed in this first pas de deux with its low, skimming lifts and off-kilter promenades to Gluck's 'Dance of the Blessed Spirits'.

As Tyler carried Maria off stage in a last series of low lifts, the stage brightens and the large cast entered for the divertissements and chaconne that end the opera -- a secondary couple (Lauren King and Anthony Huxley); a trio (Emily Kikta, Gretchen Smith and Aaron Sanz); five women (led by Indiana Woodward); two demi-soloist couples (Ashley Hod with Devin Alberda and Unity Phelan with David Prottas); and a corps of 15 (9 women and 6 men).  The Karinska costumes are white and pale blue; the background is a blue sky with wispy white clouds.  

Kikta, Smith and Sanz were making their debuts in the pas de trois.  The man is a troubadour plucking on an imaginary lute while his ladies strut in courtly fashion.  This new trio were astonishingly accomplished and conveyed the Baroque spirit of the piece.

The tricky pas de deux that follows was danced with sunny assurance by King and Huxley, also making their role debuts.  It is a tricky dance that relies on bent arms and legs as a recurring motif.  Anthony, sometimes an insecure partner, showed new confidence in the complex partnering with Lauren and between them there is a nice contrast of stage personalities -- Anthony dark and reserved, Lauren vivacious and fair.

The pas de cinq was lead by Indiana Woodward, another debutant, with twinkle.

Kowroski and Angle re-emerged in more formal white costumes to dance the final pas de deux.  The entrance is elegant, but with a cheeky swagger.  Balanchine brought out the high Baroque elegance in the music, which Farrell and Martins embellished with self-confident showmanship.  Maria Kowroski has always been a worthy heiress of the roles Balanchine created for Farrell, absorbing the style without all of the mannerisms.  Maria's long slender arms and legs and easy hyperextension were deployed here with grace and wit. 

Maria Kowroski in the second principal pas de deux from Balanchine's 'Chaconne'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Here Tyler proved himself an able interpreter of Martins' skillful, but not subservient, partnering.  Tyler shared the stage with natural nobility and elegantly understated style.

Following their pas de deux, there is a passage -- the actual chaconne -- for the 15 members of the corps with the two demi-soloist couples (Hod with Alberda and Phelan with Prottas, all in debuts).  They are then joined by the principal couple.  Balanchine loved the resolving the challenges posed by odd numbers of dancers on stage.  The patterns and combinations he devised for first 19 and then 21 dancers display his clever solutions.  Then, the entire ensemble gathers for the final courtly menage.

Maria Kowroski and Tyler Angle in the chaconne from Balanchine's 'Chaconne'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Jerome Robbins' 'Interplay' to the music of Morton Gould is the better of his 'kids just having fun' ballets.  It was first done in 1945 for Billy Rose's Concert Varieties and was staged for NYC Ballet in 1952.  Four of the eight dancers were making their debuts, but somehow I wasn't convinced that they were having all that much fun.  Their camaraderie seemed more calculated than spontaneous. 

The pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon's 'After the Rain' followed.  It was on many programs over the last two weeks of the fall season -- as a vehicle for Wendy Whelan to bid farewell to her adoring audience.  I'll say it again -- Wendy Whelan is remarkable and nothing shows off her special magic better than Wheeldon's ethereal pas de deux of departure and impending loss.  For the past several years, Craig Hall, has been her sensitive, supportive partner.

Craig Hall and Wendy Whelan in the pas de deux from Wheeldon's 'After the Rain'.  Photo by Erin Baiano

The audience gave Wendy (and Craig) a standing ovation -- much deserved after her indelible 30-year career with the company.

The final work of the evening was Justin Peck's 'Everywhere We Go' which premiered during the Spring 2014 season.  Choreographed to nine 'musical movements' commissioned from Sufjan Stevens by NYC Ballet with a cast of 25 -- a mixture of principals, soloists and corps dancers.  The 13 women all wear leotards with black and white striped tops and white bottoms separated by a single red band above the waist; the 12 men all wear leotards with grey tops and black bottoms separated by a single red band.  The costumes are by  Janie Taylor, the former NYCB principal dancer.

Andrew Veyette and Sterling Hyltin with cast in Justin Peck's 'Everywhere We Go'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The backdrop by Karl Jensen is a backlit honeycomb of overlapping hexagons that changes shapes between each of the nine sections.    

There are two prominent motifs that occur throughout the piece.  One is a large group of dancers lying on their backs with one leg pointed straight into the air.  Often this is accompanied by other dancers touching the raised feet as they circle the prone dancers.  The second is some dancers going limp and being caught by other dancers and gently laid on the floor.

As usual with Peck's choreography, there is no specific hierarchy to the piece with individuals emerging from the group for solos and duets and then merging back in.  Teresa Reichlen has dazzling solo passages and Ashley Isaacs paired with Amar Ramasar particularly catches the eye.

Teresa Reichlen jetes past three men from the cast (Taylor Stanley, Daniel Applebaum and Andrew Scordato).
Photo by Andrea Mohin for the NY Times

Peck needs to learn to edit his work, so that he doesn't fall into the Jerome Robbins trap of leaving the audience begging for less.  Six or seven 'musical moments' would probably have been better than nine and might have resulted in less repetition.  The whole cast succumbing to the plague once is interesting -- twice it's redundant and frankly rather tiresome at the end of a long evening.

Could Peck's ballet be about honeybees (the backdrop) and the unexplained collapses of bee colonies?  Is Reichlen the queen bee?

New York City Ballet -- Sunday, October 19, 2014

How disheartening to walk home from the performance by New York City Ballet last Sunday afternoon!  We had just seen four works by Balanchine choreographed to the music of Tschaikovsky -- Balanchine's company performing four works to the music of one of his favorite composers.   And yet, the fall season had just ended for us with a dull thud.  

SUNDAY MATINEE, OCTOBER 19, 3:00 PM
[Conductor: Capps]
SERENADE: Mearns, Lowery, Reichlen, J. Angle, Danchig-Waring
MOZARTIANA: Kowroski, T. Angle, Huxley
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TSCHAIKOVSKY PAS DE DEUX: Bouder, Garcia
TSCHAIKOVSKY SUITE NO. 3: ELEGIE: Krohn, la Cour; WALTZ: A. Stafford, J. Peck;
SCHERZO: Pazcoguin, Schumacher; THEME & VARIATIONS: Hyltin, Veyette

Sure, the company had celebrated the retirement of an iconic ballerina (Wendy Whelan) after a storied 30-year career with the company the night before.  Sure, they were just finishing a season packed with premieres of four new works.  Sure, three of its principals have gone on sabbatical to perform in Broadway shows.  Sure, the company's ranks have been depleted by illness and injury. Sure, sure, sure there are excuses to be made for this bloated, dull performance.

The most egregious reason for this lackluster performance, is the continuing erosion of the standards of the orchestra.  It is now nearly three years since the former music director, Faycal Karoui, announced his decision to leave the company.  Since his departure in the Spring of 2012, the company has not succeeded in securing a competent replacement and has struggled along with an inadequate 'interim music director',  two associate conductors of good-to-indifferent quality, and a collection of so-so guest conductors who may have been auditioning for the music directorship.

The failure of Peter Martins and the Board of Directors to find and engage a music director of the stature of Andrea Quinn and Faycal Karoui for the house of Balanchine is a disgrace.  Having allowed the orchestra to deteriorate in the years prior to Maestra Quinn's arrival in 2001, one would think that management had already learned the lesson that inadequate attention to the pit can have a disastrous impact on the artistic merit of what is presented on stage.

It is interesting to note that three of the four new works this season were performed to solo piano music or small chamber ensembles.  Are the choreographers choosing not to entrust their new pieces to an interim music director and his deficient orchestra?

Instead of just complaining about the lousy music making, let me propose a long-term solution.  Together, New York City Ballet, the Julliard School and Career Transitions for Dancers should establish a joint fellowship/apprenticeship program that identifies dancers reaching the end of their stage careers who have the interest and aptitude to become conductors -- specifically ballet conductors.  Julliard provides formal training and mentorship in music and conducting; City Ballet, the Julliard Dance Division and the School of American Ballet provide apprentice conducting opportunities; individuals who understand ballet from the perspective of dancers gain the technical skills to become ballet conductors and music directors; meaningful career transitions for dancers are facilitated; and the pool of qualified candidates for music director is expanded. 

On Sunday, the orchestra's playing under Daniel Capps wasn't awful, merely indifferent, rote and plodding.

NYC Ballet corps in the opening image of the Balanchine/Tschaikovsky 'Serenade'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

In 'Serenade' to Tschaikovsky's 'Serenade in C for Strings' it seemed that the dancers were given no incentive to listen to the music and respond to it.  When dancers of the stature of Sara Mearns, Teresa Reichlen and Jared Angle appear lethargic and unmotivated something is quite wrong.  Reichlen's 'dark angel' barely completed the manipulated rotations in arabesque above Mearns and left out the final stretched arabesque pose that usually makes this moment so striking.  Adrian Danchig-Waring flubbed a lift with Reichlen.  The final tableau with Mearns carried by the four men looked perilously shakey. 

The closing image of the Balanchine/Tschaikovsky 'Mozartiana' with Tyler Angle, Maria Kowroski and 
Daniel Ulbricht.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Balanchine created 'Mozartiana' in 1981 for Suzanne Farrell, Ib Anderson and Christopher d'Amboise -- to Tschaikovsky's 'Suite No. 4', his arrangement and orchestration of four short works by Mozart.  Balanchine had used the music before -- first for Les Ballets 1933 and then in 1945 for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Maria Kowroski looked calm and poised in the opening 'Preghiera' which Balanchine stages as a kind of prayer.  Unfortunately, the four young students from the School of American Ballet looked ragged and undone by the lack of musical pulse coming from the pit.  The elegant Anthony Huxley, new in the 'Gigue' this season, gave a surprisingly uninspired performance.  The four tall women (Marika Anderson, Megan Johnson, Emily Kikta, Gwyneth Muller) looked gorgeous in the 'Menuet' but the pit undermined their precision.    Tyler Angle joined Kowroski for the 'Theme et Variations'.  They danced beautifully despite the orchestra's failure to adequately differentiate one variation from another.

Ashley Bouder and Gonzalo Garcia in Balanchine's 'Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux'
Photo from (Albany) Daily Gazette

Ashley Bouder and Gonzalo Garcia brought the requisite dazzle to Balanchine's 'Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux'.  They looked great together.  Gonzalo turns the opposite direction from most male principals in the variations, which is a little disconcerting, but doesn't detract from the clarity of his execution.  Bouder's bravura was on full display -- without the smugness that can often undermine her performances.

Corps and demi-soloists in 'Tema con Variazioni' from Balanchine's 'Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

In 1970 Balanchine created 'Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3' by choreographing the first three movements of the Tschaikovsky suite and tacking them onto the front of 'Theme and Variations' -- a ballet he had created for American Ballet Theatre in 1947 using the final movement from the suite, 'Tema con Variazione'.  The first three sections take place behind a scrim in a hazy, dimly lit, 'ghost' ballroom. The women are in long flowing gowns in shades of lavender with unbound hair and the men are in loose silk trousers with ruffled shirts.  

The opening 'Elegie' was lead by Ask la Cour and Rebecca Krohn.  Ms. Krohn seems uncomfortably miscast as the passionate, romantic 'ideal' woman to Mr. la Cour searching dreamer.  Abi Stafford and Justin Peck could not do much with the lackluster Balanchine choreography for 'Valse Melancolique'.  Georgina Pazcoguin and Troy Schumacher took the spins and leaps of the 'Scherzo' with dare devil speed.  Their final jetes into opposite wings lead to a blackout accompanied by the raising of the scrim (which coupled with the dim lighting always seems like an annoyance by this point in the work).

When the lights blaze on for the 'Tema con Variazioni', we are in a magnificent ballroom with Sterling Hyltin, Andrew Veyette, the four demi-soloist women, and eight corps women symmetrically arrayed in glittering costumes of white, gold and turquoise.  The two principals state the theme, followed by the women.  Variations follow, alternating between the ballerina and her cavalier with support from the demi and corps women.  Unfortunately, Hyltin does not have the technique and strength for this demanding role.  Her footwork and beats are blurred and indistinct and her energy flags noticeably.

The polonaise and finale for the full 26-member cast are always glorious and uplifting.  But they couldn't erase the memories of inadequacies earlier in the performance.  Perhaps an all-Balanchine/Tschaikovsky program looks better on paper than the reality -- nearly three hours in their company with inadequate musicianship and spotty casting.  Perhaps the season should just have ended with Wendy Whelan's farewell performance instead.

New York City Ballet -- Thursday, October 9, 2014

Thursday evening, October 9th, we went to New York State Theater to see New York City Ballet's '21st Century Choreographers' program -- basically the program from it's opening night gala (subtitled 'fashion's back at the ballet') with the addition of the new ballet by Alexei Ratmansky and the last minute subtraction of Christopher Wheeldon's 'This Bitter Earth'.  Even with this change, the program was way too long.

THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 9, 7:30 PM
MORGEN: *Reichlen, *Isaacs, *Krohn, *Catazaro, *Finlay, *Janzen [Conductor: Sill, Guest Soprano: Jennifer Zetlan]
CLEARING DAWN (New Greenstein/Schumacher): Bouder, Reichlen, Kretzschmar, Pazcoguin, Veyette, Prottas
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FUNÉRAILLES (New Liszt/Scarlett): T. Peck, R. Fairchild [Solo Piano: Chelton]
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BELLES-LETTRES (New Franck/Peck): Krohn, Lovette, Laracey, Pollack, J. Angle, Danchig-Waring, T. Angle, Stanley, Huxley [Conductor: Capps; Solo Piano: Walters]
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION (New Ratmansky/Music by Modest Mussorgsky): Mearns, T. Peck, A. Stafford, Whelan, Smith, T. Angle, Danchig-Waring, Garcia, Ramasar, Gordon [Solo Piano: Grant]

Peter Martins' 'Morgen' started the evening.  Choreographed to 10 songs for soprano and orchestra by Richard Strauss, it is basically six dancers in search of a ballet.  There is a succession of nine pas de deux, as each of the three women dances with each of the three men among a grouping of five Doric columns, followed by a final coming together of all six dancers as dawn breaks over the temple ruins.

The opening night cast in Peter Martins' 'Morgen' with new costumes by Carolina Herrera.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

This entire cast was making their debuts on Thursday evening and frankly they looked unprepared for Martins' tricky, awkward partnering.  Ashley Isaacs seemed the best of the women -- throwing herself heedlessly into the arms of her partners.  Russell Jansen fared best among the men -- a strong, attentive partner to each of the women, particularly Teresa Reichlen.  The men, in their drab costumes, seem like anonymous Bunraku puppeteers manipulating the women in complex lifts and movements.  Perhaps this ballet could be subtitled 'misogyny among the ruins'.

The soprano, Jennifer Zetlan, shrill and distracting, seemed ill-suited to the Strauss material, which itself seems ill-suited for dance.  The new costumes by Carolina Herrera, however, look lovely on the women and move easily.

Troy Schumacher's new ballet, 'Clearing Dawn', uses music by Judd Greenstein played by a chamber sextet.  Troy uses a sextet of dancers (four women and two men) costumed by Thom Browne in chic grey, black and white prep school style uniforms.  The costumes were too tight, unfortunately restricting the dancers freedom of movement.

Andrew Veyette being fitted for his costume in 'Clearing Dawn' in the NYC Ballet costume shop while
Thom Browne looks on.  Photo by Matt Bockelman for NYTimes

The choreography looks like stylized schoolyard behavior -- two men in a fist fight, butch girl and man in a fist fight, mean girls intimidating the others, two showoffs (Bouder and Veyette).  It is all light and fun and harmless, but looks strenuous because of the tight costumes.

Georgina Pazcoguin, Ashley Bouder, Claire Kretzschmar, Andrew Veyette, David Prottas and Teresa Reichlen in Troy Schumacher's 'Clearing Dawn'.
Photo by  Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

'Funerailles' by Liam Scarlett to Franz Liszt piano music played on stage by Elaine Chelton is a murky pas de deux for Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild all but swallowed up in costumes by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.  There are Soviet-style lifts and partnered maneuvers to the dramatic music, but the heavily embroidered costumes leave them blurry.

Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild costumed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen in Liam Scarlett's 'Funerailles'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Whether Ms. Burton's costume designs or Mr. Scarlett's choreography are individually worthy, together they fight to a nondescript draw -- dance lovers will resent the costumes and fashionistas will resent the movement.

'Belles-Lettres' choreographed by Justin Peck to the music of Cesar Franck with costumes designed by Mary Katrantzou is not one of Peck's best works.  It starts promisingly with four couples clustered around Anthony Huxley, who is seated on the arms of  two men with a third providing support behind him and the fourth at his feet.  The four women fill out the corners of what looks like a Buddhist mandala -- which then dissolves as the piece begins.

Justin Peck's 'Belles-Lettres' with costumes by Mary Katrantzou.  Photo by Paul Kolnik

Ms. Katrantzou's costumes for the women are long flesh-toned dresses with re-embroidered lace tops and lace 'head-ache-band' head pieces.  The men wear flesh-colored body suits appliqued with letters ('beautiful letters') in lace that give the impression on some (the Angle brothers and Huxley) of Tongan tattoos.

There are some beautifully constructed moments of partnering for the four couples, especially Lauren Lovette and Jared Angle, but they don't tell us much about their relationships.  Mr. Huxley is the outsider, sometimes rushing in to demand the group's attention, sometimes remaining aloof -- content to dance on his own.  Huxley has remarkable presence as 'the other' in this little society -- perhaps the artist striving for acceptance or refusing to conform.

Unfortunately, the patterns and dynamics for the full cast are the least memorable aspects of this piece.  In his other works, these have been among Peck's greatest strengths.  

At the conclusion, the women remove their lace head pieces.  In Balanchine's ballets loose hair is often a sign of romantic abandon, but here it adds nothing to the piece except removing something rather distracting from the heads of these four lovely women.

The full cast at the conclusion of Justin Peck's 'Belles-Lettres'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Clearly the highpoint of the long evening was 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Alexei Ratmansky which uses the piano suite of 16 short selections by Modest Mussorgsky, thrillingly played on the stage apron by Cameron Grant.  It features costumes by Adeline Andre and projections designed by Wendall K. Harrington, both derived from the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky.

The first section opens with nine dancers clustered in a square in front of a projection of Kandinsky's 'Color Study: Squares with Concentric Circles' -- their colorful costumes echoing the shapes and colors projected behind them -- the women in loose, translucent hip length smocks and the men in loose sleeveless tops and pants.  Soon Gonzalo Garcia breaks free to dance a solo while the rest watch intently. 

Gonzalo Garcia dancing the first solo in Ratmansky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The projection and the cast break up as Sara Mearns dances a spectacular solo to 'The Gnome'.  The extreme clarity of the shapes that Mearns etches in space in this remarkable solo are the major highlight of this ballet.

Sara Mearns in 'The Gnome' from Ratmansky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Elements of the Kandinsky 'Color Study' continue to skitter and converge on the projection screen at the back of the stage as the work progresses.

Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle dance the first (and best) pas de deux to 'The Old Castle'.  Tyler is an assured partner for Wendy's shape shifting aerial presence -- a bird of prey, a ghostly wraith, a flickering flame, a hovering angel.   

Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle in 'The Old Castle' from Ratmansky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

As usual with Ratmansky, the ten dancers are a community of individuals -- defined perhaps by the colors of their costumes, the music that they dance to, or the projections behind them -- but still themselves beneath the patina of score and decor.

There is a section for four women (Mearns, Whelan, Abi Stafford and Gretchen Smith) to 'Bydlo' that is playful and almost slapstick.  Tyler Angle and Joe Gordon engage in a kind of competition with support from the other three men (Garcia, Adrian Danchig-Waring and Amar Ramasar).  There are three more pas de deux -- for Smith and Danchig-Waring; Stafford and Gordon; and Tiler Peck and Garcia.  After a group number, there is a last high-flying, barely-in-control pas de deux for Mearns and Ramasar.

Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar in 'Baba Yaga' from Ratmansky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Near the end, there is an ensemble piece where Whelan seems to re-enact the scene from 'Dances at a Gathering' where the man in brown crouches to touch the earth while the rest of the cast looks on.  

And finally, there is Cameron Grant brilliantly playing the magisterial 'The Great Gate of Kiev' while the cast slowly processes in opposing lines.

Entire cast in 'The Great Gate of Kiev' from Ratmansky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Ratmansky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition' is a worthy addition to City Ballet's repertory.  Hopefully it will be programmed more congenially in the future when there are no screeching sopranos or ill-conceived costumes fighting for attention.

New York City Ballet -- Sunday, October 5, 2014

On Sunday afternoon, October 5th, we saw New York City Ballet in an all Balanchine program.  It was anything but austere neo-classical Balanchine though.

SUNDAY MATINEE, OCTOBER 5, 3:00 PM
[Conductor: Capps]
DONIZETTI VARIATIONS: T. Peck, De Luz
LA SONNAMBULA: Whelan, R. Fairchild, Arthurs, Sanz, Adams, Villwock, Laurent, Ippolito, King, Carmena, Schumacher
FIREBIRD: Bouder, J. Peck, Muller. Catazaro

Tiler Peck airborne in Balanchine's  'Donizetti Variations'.  Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

The opening work was 'Donizetti Variations' from 1960, set to the effervescent ballet music from Gaetano Donizetti's 'Don Sebastian'.  Unfortunately the dancing didn't consistently project the buoyancy of Mr. B's choreography.  Tiler Peck and Joaquin De Luz are not ideally paired as the principal couple -- Joaquin is too short and too forceful, while Tiler is a bit too reticent and refined, neither projecting quite enough of the work's bubbly exuberance.  The corps dancing lacked the crispness that makes their sections so witty when they are danced with confidence and brio.

'La Sonnambula' (called 'Night Shadow' when it was first seen in 1946 at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo) uses music of Vittorio Rieti based on themes from the operas of Vincenzo Bellini.  It is set at a masked ball given by the Baron in the courtyard of his castle.  An arch at the back of the stage is bridged by a second floor gallery leading to a circular tower stage left with a starry sky beyond.

After an initial dance lead by the Baron (Aaron Sanz, who made his debut in the role the prior day) and the Coquette (Faye Arthurs), the Poet (Robert Fairchild) appears. The Poet and the Coquette seem to know each other, but the Baron stiffly introduces them anyway and then stalks off.  There are divertissements for the guests:  a Pastorale for two couples (Sara Adams, Sarah Villwock, Ralph Ippolito and Austin Laurent); a pas de deux for an Oriental couple (Lauren King and Antonio Carmena, both in splendid form); and a Harlequin (Troy Schumacher).  During the divertissements, the Coquette and the Poet sit on a bench under the arch where they flirt, while the guests gossip about them.

After the entertainment, the Coquette and the Poet lead the guests in a dance which involves a great 'ice capades' circle and some intertwining chains.  As the guests promenade off stage, the Baron suddenly appears and grabs the Coquette away, leaving the Poet alone on stage.

A light appears in the gallery window stage right and slowly crosses the gallery and descends the tower stairs.  The Sleepwalker (Wendy Whelan) enters from the tower door carrying a candle while wafting about the stage in ethereal bourrees.  

Wendy Whelan as the Sleepwalker in Balanchine's 'La Sonnambula'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The Poet is enchanted but the Sleepwalker continues on in her trance, eluding him and his efforts to distract and awaken her.  They engage in a 'pas de deux' -- the Poet only touches the candle, but never the Sleepwalker.  The Coquette emerges and observes the Poet following the Sleepwalker into the tower.  Enraged, she rushes off to tell the Baron.  

The guests reappear for another dance lead by the Baron and the Coquette. During the dance she tells the Baron that the Poet has followed the Sleepwalker into the tower.  The Baron draws a dagger and rushes into the tower.  The Poet staggers out clutching his chest and collapses center stage.  The Sleepwalker reappears, still in a trance but somehow aware that the Poet lies dead at her feet.  The four divertissement men lift his lifeless body and place it in the Sleepwalker's arms.  She exits into the tower carrying the dead Poet.

Rob is the lucky Poet torn between Faye's gorgeous, worldly Coquette and Wendy's ethereal, other-worldly Sleepwalker.  As an artist, of course he chooses the elusive muse over the glamorous but shallow courtesan.  This role is one of Wendy's late-career triumphs and in Rob Fairchild she has found yet another ardent partner.

Wendy Whelan and Rob Fairchild during curtain calls for 'La Sonnambula'.
Photo by Edward G. Becker for Ballet Focus

The final ballet of the afternoon was 'Firebird' to the familiar Stravinsky orchestral suite with costumes and scenery based on the work of Marc Chagall.  Balanchine created the ballet in 1949 for Maria Tallchief, his wife and muse at the time.  It created a sensation and catapulted Tallchief into the role of prima ballerina of the year-old New York City Ballet.

Ashley Bounder in the title role of George Balanchine's 'Firebird'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

    
Ashley Bouder's interpretation of the Firebird is justly renowned.  Legend has it that she learned the role from Sean Lavery in something like 20 minutes in 2000, when she was called upon as a last minute replacement.  Ashley has since polished it to a breath-taking gleam.  Her glamorous entrance, her avian pas de deux with Justin Peck (as the oafish Prince Ivan), her calmly skimming berceuse all use Ashley's technical arsenal to magical effect.  The surrounding ballet goes on too long and relies on Stravinsky's music and Chagall's decor to carry the tale and provide both platform and frame for Ashley's superb dancing in the title role.

SAB Student Choreography Workshop -- October 11, 2014

The Student Choreography Workshop at the School of American Ballet is one of our favorite events in the SAB calendar.  We attended this year's workshop on Saturday, October 11th.

Shortly after the Winter Term began, students in most advanced levels were invited to submit applications to participate in this year’s Workshop. 

Kaitlyn Casey working with her dancers, Eliza Blutt, Rachel Costin, Eric Beckham & Marc LaPierre on her work.
Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

Ballets cannot exceed five minutes or use more than five dancers.  The students select their own music (with advice from Jeff Middleton, the School’s music teacher, if requested) and chose their own dancers from among their peers.  Costumes are practice clothes, often color coordinated, but always simple.  

Participants in prior years have included Justin Peck and Troy Schumacher.  Justin and Troy both created new ballets for New York City Ballet's Opening Night Gala this past September.  Justin is City Ballet's Choreographer in Residence.  Troy is a founder of BalletCollective.  Both are City Ballet dancers as well.

Student choreographers began rehearsing their works on September 23rd.  Each choreographer was allotted 15 hours of rehearsal time.  The choreographers were responsible for scheduling rehearsals in the time and space allotted.  The first performances took place less than three weeks later on October 11th.  The audience for the first performances is always the School's faculty and staff, the student's families, fellow students and SAB volunteers (that's how George and I got in).  Next week there will be performances as part of an evening for young patrons and another evening for major donors.

There were 14 works created this year (it seems to me that in prior years there were just 12) and they used 52 dancers.  Each work was introduced by its choreographer always covering the same points: 

• their name, 
• the number of years they've studied at SAB, 
• the number of times they've choreographed before, 
• title and composer of the music they've used, and 
• names of their dancers.  

Some of them added a thank you to the School for the opportunity (and I silently thank Nancy Norman Lassalle who generously endowed the Workshop beginning in 1996).

In prior years some of the choreographers have spoken about why they selected the music and what it means to them.  I wish a few of them would do it this year, since it adds to the audience's understanding of the choreographer's creative process.

I am always astounded at the very high quality of all of the works presented.  This year, some were more derivative, some seemed to use the special qualities of their dancers better, some made especially good use of their music.

The music chosen by the choreographers ranged from Bach and Vivaldi through Ravel, Prokofiev and Shostakovitch on to Samuel Barber and Philip Glass.  A surprising number of pieces were by contemporary composers who were unfamiliar to me.  Obviously, these students are far more attuned to contemporary music and are able to select and use these scores as the basis for often amazing results.

Here are a few general suggestions for the choreographers (you'll know who you are):

• First, if you're going to use a phrase in canon, make sure that the canonical section lasts long enough that the viewers aren't left with the impression that the dancers just lost track of the count and that they are really meant to be dancing the phrase sequentially (for their dancers this means attacking the phrase with self-confidence when their turn comes).
• Second, when there are several dancers 'on stage' place them closer to each other so that the audience doesn't feel like they're watching a tennis match attempting to take in the entire piece.  It's not like watching a ballet from the fourth ring at State Theater.  
• Third, avoid false endings and anticlimaxes that either lead to disruptive applause in the middle of the work or leave the viewers guessing whether it's really over.  
• Finally, work out the bows and include a bow for yourself. 

Here are a few of my greatest favorites in no particular order and with my apologies to those not included:

• Christopher D'Ariano's work to 'Tomorrow's Song' by Olafur Arnalds used just two well-matched dancers, Marie Millard and Alec Knight, to create intense after images for me.  There were beautifully controlled unison passages and well-executed, intricate partnering moves.  It was clear that the work had been carefully thought out and then perfected in rehearsal.

  

  Alec Knight & Marie Millard in Christopher D'Ariano's work.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

• Alec Knight returned the favor with 'Do you like Rock?' from Gaetano Siino using four dancers:  Christina Clark, Miriam Miller, Kennard Henson and Chris D'Ariano.  Like his dancers, Alec's work was sleek and utilized their strengths and sense of confidence.  And the music had nothing to do with rock that I could discern.

  

  Christina Clark, Miriam Miller, Kennard Henson & Chritsopher  D'Ariano in Alec Knight's work.
  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

• Courtney Nitting's choreography for Larisa Nugent, Dammiel Cruz, and Christopher Grant to 'Harde Puntjes' from the album 'Downtown Illusions' (by Chiel Meijering) was quirky and assured.  Courtney's use of a motif of hands crossed behind the dancers' backs was clever and memorable.

  

  Larisa Nugent, Dammiel Cruz and Christopher Grant in Courtney Nitting's work.
  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

• Rachel Hutsell used the Renaissance inflections of 'Arioso' by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson to effectively set her work for five dancers apart.  I think that the work would benefit from even more assured references to Renaissance dance movement.  Rachel's dancers were Isabella Carroll, Lucia Connolly, Ana Maria Delmar, Sasonah Huttenback, and Josiah Cook.

  

  Three advanced students in Rachel Hutsell's work.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

   

• Saxon Wood made effective use of the contrast between a single woman, Lillian Casscells, and four men -- Sam Ainley, Darius Black, Luke Potgieter and Xhosa Scott -- in his piece to Marc-Andre Hamelin's 'Etude #3: After Paganini-Liszt'.  Some of Saxon's partnering moves seemed a bit too complicated for his dancers to perfect in the short rehearsal window which occasionally made them appear more terrified than confident.

  

  Lillian Casscells with Darius Black in Saxon Wood's work.  Photo by Rosalie O'Connor for SAB

With 14 works using 14 unfamiliar scores and 52 dancers, it's hard for me to keep track of all of them.  There were certainly other worthy works and performances that go unmentioned here.  They were all part of an extraordinary outpouring of talent.  I commend the School and every participant for the astonishing result.

The School's Facebook page has a complete set of 26 photos by Rosalie O'Connor here:
https://www.facebook.com/SABNYC/photos/a.10152447249938870.1073741846.36603863869/10152447250043870/?type=1&theater

   

New York City Ballet -- October 6, 2014 -- Wendy Whelan Farewell

On Monday, October 6th, we went to New York State Theater for a NYCB Association seminar devoted to Wendy Whelan's 30-year career with the Company.  It was really a chat between Wendy and Tyler Angle -- one of her regular partners over the last few years.

Wendy Whelan & Tyler Angle in Christopher Wheeldon's 'Polyphonia'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Wendy was part of the first generation of dancers to join the Company following Balanchine's death in April of 1983 -- Wendy became an apprentice in 1984 and joined the Company in 1986.  In discussing her earliest days with the Company, she noted that she didn't miss Balanchine's presence, because he had never been around when she joined the Company, but that she missed his approval of how she danced the roles he had created for others.

Wendy Whelan in the studio with the choreographer Christopher Wheeldon

She only realized how much this could mean when she started working with living choreographers on new works.  She was particularly inspired by working with Christopher Wheeldon (first on 'Polyphonia' which premiered in early 2001) and Alexei Ratmansky (first on 'Russian Seasons' which premiered in mid-2006).  Wheeldon created roles in seven more ballets for Wendy; Ratmansky created roles in three more.  The two choreographers are working on a piece d'occasion for Wendy's farewell performance on October 18th which she will dance with Tyler Angle and Craig Hall.

Wendy Whelan and Craig Hall in 'After the Rain' by Christopher Wheeldon, photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

When the subject of mentoring was raised, Wendy laid out the lineage of her special relationships with her fellow dancers:  Heather Watts who danced under Balanchine had mentored the young Jock Soto; Jock in turn mentored Wendy; and Wendy has mentored both Craig Hall and Tyler Angle who have been her primary partners following Jock's retirement.  Wendy says that she's always open to other colleagues asking for advice and assistance, but 'they have to ask'.    

Recently, she has been teaching advanced girls at Ballet Academy East and looks forward to continuing that mentorship role as time permits.  An audience member asked why she was teaching at Ballet Academy East rather than at the Company's official school, The School of American Ballet.  She answered, 'that's not up to me'.  I would only add, that's SAB's loss.

Among her favorite roles: the final waltz in Balanchine's 'Liebeslieder Waltzer' and the last movement of Balanchine's 'Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet'; Robbins' 'The Cage', 'Dances at a Gathering' (especially the Grand Waltz), and 'In Memory Of . . .'; plus all of the works created for her by Wheeldon and Ratmansky.

Roles she would have liked to dance (it seems she's danced every role in the Company's repertoire):  Balanchine's 'La Valse' and Robbins' 'Afternoon of a Faun'.

Next steps in her career: Wendy takes her show 'Restless Creature' on the road for six months starting in January.  It features four works by four young, male choreographers who are also her partners in their works.

Wendy Whelan and Joshua Beamish in his piece from 'Restless Creature' .  Photo by Christopher Duggan.

Next summer an evening of new works created for Wendy and Edward Watson of the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden which will transfer to City Center in New York in 2016.  Wendy has been named Artistic Associate at City Center for two years beginning next month.  In other words, when she leaves City Ballet on October 18th, Wendy will not be resting on her considerable laurels.  

Wendy Whelan preparing toe shoes in her dressing room at Lincoln Center.
Photo by Beatrice de Cea for the New York Times 

You can go to Wendy's web page (www.wendywhelan.org) to keep up with her.  It includes a schedule of 'Restless Creature' dates and a wonderful 11 minute video about her life to date.