American Ballet Theatre -- Sunday,November 2, 2014

On Sunday afternoon, November 2nd, we went to the State Theater for American Ballet Theatre's matinee.  There were some casting changes announced at the start of the program, but the p.a. system is so mushy that I couldn't catch the changes -- here's what was in the printed program:

Sinfonietta (Jiri Kylian/Leos Janacek)
       Company

Bach Partitia (Twyla Tharp/Johann Sebastian Bach)
       Misty Copeland, Gillian Murphy, Stella Abrera, James Whiteside, Marcelo Gomes,
       Calvin Royal III
       Violin Soloist: Charles Yang

Gaite Parisienne (Leonide Massine/Jacques Offenbach)
     Hee Seo, Isadora Loyola, Herman Cornejo, Marcelo Gomes

Jiri Kylian's 'Sinfonietta' choreographed to Leos Janacek's music of the same name was first staged for Nederlands Dans Theater in 1978 and premiered at ABT in 1991.  It is danced
by 14 dancers against a backdrop of a stylized landscape of a low plain surmounted by a clear blue sky.  The men wear loose shirts and tights and the women wear knee-length dresses of various colors with soft shoes.  The set and costumes for ABT's production are by Walter Nobbe.

Cast in the final moments of Jiri Kylian's 'Sinfonietta'.  Photo by MIRA from ABT website

The orchestra, conducted by Charles Barker, is augmented by a brass choir of 10 musicians on the stage aprons during the first and fifth (final) movements.  The sound was glorious and provided a strong platform for the dance.

Created nine years after Robbins' 'Dances at a Gathering', the format of this work is hardly original -- a group of dancers coming together in various combinations to interact and celebrate their connection to the earth.  Yet it is viewed as Kylian's masterpiece. 

Much of the cast swirls on and off stage in the four outer movements.  The central movement is a pas de six for three couples -- Veronika Part with Blaine Hoven, Devon Teuscher with Thomas Forster, and Isabella Boylston with Calvin Royal III (according to the printed program).  Each couple sometimes danced independently of the others; sometimes two couples danced the same steps while the third danced different steps.  Since we don't know the ABT dancers very well, it's hard to pick out any dancer for special recognition, but the overall work struck me as disappointing and the level of dancing as unexceptional.

ABT dancers in Santo Loquasto's costumes for Twyla Tharp's 'Bach Partita'.  Photo by Gene Schiavone

Twyla Tharp's 'Bach Partita' was choreographed in 1983 for ABT to Johann Sebastian Bach's 'Partita No. 2 in D Minor for Solo Violin'.  It was revived in 2013 by Susan Jones.  The Bach was played in the pit by Charles Yang -- I'm sure played very well, but solo violin music is not a great favorite of ours -- more to be endured than enjoyed. 

The costumes by Santo Loquasto are incredibly unattractive -- short skirts and sleeveless tops for the women; short shorts with sweater vests over T-shirts for the men, all in beige and dove grey; knee-length dance dresses in mouse brown for the 16-woman corps that appears in the final movement.

There are three principal couples -- Misty Copeland with James Whiteside in the first movement; Gillian Murphy with Marcelo Gomes in the second; and Stella Abrera with Calvin Royal III in the fourth.  The third movement is a pas de six for the three couples.  In the first movement Copeland and Whiteside are joined by four demi couples who also appear with Murphy and Gomes in the second movement.  In the fourth movement, Abrera and Royal are joined by three different demi couples.  In the fifth movement the three principal couples are joined by all seven demi-couples and the corps of 16 women.

Stella Abrera with Calvin Royal III, Gillian Murphy with Marcelo Gomes, and
Misty Copeland with James Whiteside in the third movement of Tharp's 'Partita'.   Photo by Darren Thoms

Tharp's choreography is less quirky and mischievous than much of her work for ABT during the Baryshnikov era (1980-1989).  The blips and squiggles that often seem so effortlessly right in her work are kept to a minimum in 'Partita'.

Copeland and Whiteside were limpid in the first movement.

Misty Copeland and James Whiteside in Tharp's 'Partita'.  Photo by Julieta Cervantes for NY Times

Murphy and Gomez danced the second movement with great technical assurance and sensual undercurrents.

Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomez in Tharp's 'Bach Partita'.  Photo by Gene Schiavone

Abrera and Royal bring flair and polish to their fourth movement pas de deux, but they lack rapport.

The seven supporting couples all danced with crispness and enthusiasm;  the 16-woman corps less so (maybe they were thinking 'why do I have to wear this ugly brown dress?').  It was certainly the most interesting choreography of the afternoon and was generally well-danced.

The biggest disappointment of the afternoon was 'Gaite Parisienne'.  The ballet by Leonide Massine to the music of Jacques Offenbach was created in 1938 for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.  It joined the ABT repertory in 1970 (I remember that production fondly because Mimi Paul, a favorite ballerina, danced the Glove Seller).

Michael Smuin as the Peruvian and Mimi Paul as the Glove Seller in the 1970 ABT production of 'Gaite Parisienne'.
Uncredited photo from internet

Wikipedia says of the 1988 ABT production (revived last spring) that it features 'cartoonish sets by Zack Brown and extravagantly patterned and colorful costumes by French fashion designer Christian Lacroix'.  I'll add the designs are chaotic and distracting.

The set features an inner proscenium arch that is too small for the State Theater stage, cutting off views from supposedly full-view seats and adding to the overall clutter of the production. Massine was primarily a choreographer of character, creating movements that define each dancer's identity -- the gauche, antic Peruvian; the preening, supercilious officer; the grandly swanning La Lionne; the shy, insecure Baron; the pushy, competitive Flower Girl; and the confident, ardent Glove Seller -- are clearly drawn by their movements.

Unfortunately, Massine was less assured at using choreography to focus audience attention on specific characters or activities -- a severe handicap in this messy production.  Superstar dancers like Herman Cornejo as the Peruvian and Marcelo Gomes as the Baron are simply swallowed up in the visual chaos.  Cornejo may be a wonderful dancer, but as the Peruvian he just seemed silly.

Herman Cornejo as the Peruvian with the admiring Cocodettes (ladies of the evening)  in 'Gaite Parisienne.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Hee Seo has long, beautiful limbs and an exquisite line, but as the Glove Seller -- a role that is all about glamour and passion -- she is far too restrained and surprisingly unmusical.  She ignored crescendos and climaxes and often seemed a half beat behind the pit.  As the only character en pointe, the Glove Seller really must validate the suitability of this work for the company's repertory. 

Hee Seo as the Glove Seller and Marcelo Gomes as the Baron in 'Gaite Parisienne'.
Photo by Gene Schiavonne

Marcelo Gomes as the Baron is a strong and gallant partner, and the role requires little more.

Secondary characters and groups seemed inadequately rehearsed and danced with little panache or enthusiasm.  The Can-Can Dancers seemed particularly bland in what should be a rowdy dance of extremes.

Charles Barker lead the orchestra in a lovely, nuanced performance of the Offenbach score.  If only the dancers had responded with an equally musical performance on stage the the crazy quilt set and costumes could have been forgiven.  Alas, in their Lacroix creations and with indifferent dancing, the dancers simply added to the visual cacophony. 

Great All-Balanchine Program (on paper) disappointing (in fact) on Tuesday evening

First, let me say that New York City Ballet desperately needs a permanent music director.  The level of orchestral performances is gradually slipping from mediocre toward appalling.  They need to get very serious about attracting a first rate music director who can bring the orchestra back to a high performance level and inspire both the musicians and more importantly the dancers for whom they perform. 

Instead they spend an obscene amount of resources commissioning artists to disfigure their glorious Philip-Johnson-designed home with a misguided 'art series'. For the winter season, an artist known as 'J R' (I'd try to be anonymous, too, if I'd just desecrated Johnson's masterpiece) has been paid to cover the entire floor of the promenade with a photo-mural of company members in white tights lying in swirling patterns on a whitish background; to cover the facade with gigantic ballerina legs and feet; and to create ghostlike images of dancers stacked in piles for the corridors. Without passing judgement on the quality of this 'art' (actually it's probably pretty good), I do strongly object to using the company's limited resources in such a frivolous manner, far removed from it's mission.

Tuesday evening's all-Balanchine program seemed close to perfection on paper -- a balance of two contrasting neo-classical works, one to Bach, the other to Hindemith, plus a frothy show-biz classic:


TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 21, 7:30 PM
ALL BALANCHINE

CONCERTO BAROCCO: Kowroski, Mearns, *T. Angle [Guest Conductor: Ellaway; 1st Violin: Delmoni; 2nd Violin: Danielson]

pause

KAMMERMUSIK NO. 2: Krohn, Ramasar, A. Stafford, J. Angle [Guest Conductor: Ellaway; Solo Piano: Grant]

intermission

WHO CARES?: R. Fairchild, T. Peck, Reichlen, Bouder [Conductor: Sill; Solo Piano: Chelton]

With a raging blizzard outside, the marketed portion of the theater (the back of the fourth ring is apparently never marketed for repertory evenings) was still about two-thirds filled -- including many enthusiastic hardcore NYCB fans.

The performance (opening night of the winter season) was a mixed bag.  Maria Kowroski and Sara Mearns are both lovely, talented ballerinas, but their styles, looks, and temperaments are contrasting rather than complementary.  Their pairing in 'Concerto Barocco', especially in the two outer movements seemed both jarring and off-kilter.  

Maria Kowroski & Sara Mearns in Balanchine's 'Concerto Barocco', photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

The central pas de deux was beautifully danced by Maria with Tyler Angle (making his role debut here) with the lovely eight-woman corps providing gorgeous framing for them (Faye Arthurs and Lydia Wellington particularly caught my eye among the eight beauties).

Tyler Angle & Maria Kowroski with corps in Balanchine's Concerto Barocco', photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

We have seen Maria and Tyler paired in several works recently. They look wonderful together and dance with great rapport.  Tyler is probably the company's best current male partner and Maria with her long slender limbs seeming to stretch to infinity is a ballerina to cherish.

The orchestra played Bach's familiar 'Double Violin Concerto in D Minor' competently, but with little spirit and no nuance. If the guest conductor, Scott Ellaway, is on the short list for music director, I vote emphatically  'No'.

The musical performance of 'Kammermusik No. 2' by Hindemith lead by Maestro Ellaway with Cameron Grant at the piano, seemed perfunctory at best.  It's a tricky, difficult score, but the musicians should rise to these challenges instead of  just getting through them.  

Balanchine reportedly felt that with 'Kammermusik' in 1978 he finally had confidence that the company's male corps was up to the challenge of a featured role.  The eight-man corps (a different cast in two photos below) here provided a spiky, angular frame for the two lead couples and proved to be the most interesting part of this performance.  Their execution of Balanchine's patterns and 'daisy chains' precisely mirrored the tense, edgy score.

Messrs. Applebaum, Scordato, Ippolito & Nelson in Balanchine's 'Kammermusik No.2'
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Men's Corps (an earlier cast)  in Balanchine's 'Kammermusik #2', photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Unfortunately, those lead performances seemed mismatched and out-of-scale. Of the four, Amar Ramasar came off best. He knows how to use this astringent music to shape and phrase his dancing in interesting ways.  Rebecca Krohn would seem ideal for this piece, but her dancing here seemed small-scaled and lacking in confidence.  Abi Stafford always looked eager to undertake these challenges, but was unable to connect individual steps into a coherent response to the score.  Jared Angle lacked  buoyancy and struggled to absorb the music into his performance. The pairings of these dancers -- Amar with Rebecca, Jared with Abi, Rebecca with Abi, Amar with Jared -- were also jarring, again proving more contrasting than complementary.

'Kammermusik' has never been one of my favorite pieces, but having seen it danced by its original 1978 cast (Karin von Aroldingen, Colleen Neary, Sean Lavery & Adam Luders) and by many fine casts since, we know that it is a better work than showed up on stage Tuesday night.

'Who Cares?' is a delightful romp through the Gershwin songbook.  It's joyous tribute to show business pizzaz seems to be immune to half-hearted performances, ugly costumes or merely adequate musical support.

The performance on Tuesday evening was uneven throughout.  Maestro Sills led these familiar tunes as if they were well -- just familiar tunes.  I've heard people knock the Hersey Kay orchestrations as being glib and facile, but under great conductors, I've always felt that it has charms that are enhanced by Balanchine's inventive choreography.

The costumes introduced last season are aggressively ugly. The corps and demi-soloist women wear dresses and do-rags that even with sequins and beading make them look more like washer-women than 30's era sophisticates. The colors on the 'ladies and gentlemen' of the ensemble are unpleasantly loud (see photo of men below).  The three principal women's dresses are better, but don't evoke the Gershwin era for me. Only the principal man's black costume seems restrained and 'of the era'  (Rob Fairchild has apparently discarded the beaded vest shown in his photos further down this post).

Ladies of the ensemble in new 'Who Cares?' costumes by Santo Loquasto, photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Demi-soloist men (Prottas, Scordato, Dieck, J.Peck, Alberda - an earlier cast) in new 'Who Cares?' costumes
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The five demi-soloist couples were a mix of matches and misses.  Joe Gordon oversold to a wan Erica Pereira.  Brittany Pollack and Andrew Scordato were nicely paired and danced with jaunty impact.  Statuesque Emily Kitka overwhelmed wiry Allen Peiffer -- both wonderful dancers but mismatched here.  Ashley Laracey seemed on, but Sean Suozzi seemed off. Lauren King and Devin Alberda looked great together and put a fine finish on 'Oh, Lady Be Good', concluding the ensemble portion of the ballet.

Tiler Peck and Rob Fairchild were wonderful in 'The Man I Love' pas de deux, with a strong romantic rapport (they're engaged after all) layered over superb technical facility.

Tiler Peck & Robert Fairchild in 'The Man I Love' from Balanchine's 'Who Cares?', photo by Kolnik for NYCB

Tiler is a beauty with wonderful technique.  Though she lacks the pliancy and supple back of the roles originator, Patricia McBride, she has plenty of her own special charms to stake a strong claim on this role.

Tile Peck in 'Fascinatin' Rhythm' solo from Balanchine's 'Who Care?'; photo by Kolnik for NYCB

Rob is an excellent partner in all three pdd's and has the louche charm of a natural song-and-dance man in his 'Liza' solo.

Robert Fairchild in 'Liza' solo from Balanchine's 'Who Cares?'; photo by Kolnik for NYCB

Teresa Reichlen seemed uncharacteristically tentative and uncommitted in her solo ('I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise') and her pdd with Rob ('Who Cares?').  These are far from the best of Balanchine's efforts in this work, but they can be sold with confidence and brio. Tess is usually a bright light and it was a real shame to see her looking so wan -- maybe she had the flu or a bad cold.

Ashley Bouder has the technique and stamina for the difficult 'My One and Only' solo and looked good in her pdd with Rob to 'Embraceable You'.  Her incredibly fast series of single and double fouette turns were spectacular. If she could just resist her 'look at me' smugness, she'd be perfect.

The curtain calls seemed peculiar for NYCB.  The curtain stayed up for the first full cast call.  Then the curtain closed and reopened on the 10 corps women who took a bow and left the stage.  Then the five demi-couples came on, took a bow and left the stage.  Then the four principals came on for a bow -- first Rob, who then brought on each of the women in succession.  Usually the second time the curtain goes up on the just the corps and then they stay on stage as each successive layer of the cast hierarchy joins them.  The solo bows for the principals then usually continue in front of the curtain.  Maybe the company wanted to let the ensemble get home before the blizzard got any worse.

A final thought for management of the theater -- why don't you reverse the direction of the escalators after the performance so that the audience has a comfortable means of reaching the subways and garage without going out into the cold and snow (or heat and rain or whatever)?  Maybe 'who cares?' is the company's new motto.