New York City Ballet Sunday Matinee, May 1st

SUNDAY MATINEE, MAY 1st, 'Jewels', 3:00 PM (Conductor: Otranto)

EMERALDS: *Scheller, *Finlay, *Laracey, *Scordato, *Woodward, *Ball, *Segin 

RUBIES: *Lovette, *Huxley, *Kikta [Solo Piano: Grant] 

DIAMONDS: Mearns, T. Angle 

* First Time in Role 


The May 1st performance of George Balanchine's 'Jewels' by New York City Ballet offered a mixture of new faces and familiar veterans in a ballet that we have watched from its opening night in April, 1967.  No matter the casting, it is always wonderful to encounter this beloved ballet (or is it three ballets?) anew.  Here's a video of three of the Company's current principals -- Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck and Teresa Reichlen -- discussing the ballet (4:39):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj5gbyZw1q0

Even though Balanchine's works were always closely tied to his musical choices -- Faure, Stravinsky, and Tschaikovsky here -- these three works have always been most closely associated in my mind with the ballerinas who created these roles for him -- Violette Verdy and Mimi Paul in 'Emeralds'; Patricia McBride and Patricia Neary in 'Rubies'; and Suzanne Farrell in 'Diamonds'.  

George Balanchine surrounded by 'Jewels' ballerinas (clockwise from lower left):
Suzanne Farrell, Mimi Paul, Violette Verdy, and Patricia McBride.
Photo by Martha Swope

While the men were important, except for Edward Villella in 'Rubies', they were primarily there to support and display Balanchine's chosen ballerinas.

In 'Emeralds', it is virtually impossible to erase Violette Verdy's performance as the first ballerina from my mind.

Violette Verdy in George Balanchine's 'Emeralds'.
Photo by Martha Swope

Her death this past winter ended her continuity with this role -- which she continued to coach for several companies around the world after she had stopped dancing in 1977.  Here's a link to an interview with Ms. Verdy and Mimi Paul (the other principal ballerina in 'Emeralds') published at the time they were coaching 'Emeralds' at Pacific Northwest Ballet in 2009:

http://ballet-dance.com/200904/articles/interview_verdypaul_20080300_speer.html

And here is a videotaped interview with Ms. Verdy and Conrad Ludlow discussing their roles in 'Emeralds' with Jennifer Dunning for the Balanchine Foundation's Memory Project (17:19):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShON2Rcd6uI

Many others have tried, but few have approached the heady perfume Ms. Verdy delivered in her 'Emeralds' role during those first ten years.  Ana Sophia Scheller was woefully miscast in this role.  Scheller is a hard-edged dancer much better suited to unsubtle bravura roles.  Here her pointes clattered and stabbed when they should have whispered and caressed the stage in quietly impressionistic bourrees.  Chase Finlay as her cavalier harked back to the strong, stolid original of Conrad Ludlow -- with perhaps a greater gloss of elegance.

Ashley Laracey and Andrew Scordato as the couple in the 'walking' pas de deux were appropriately aloof.  Ms. Laracey offered a windswept quality to the role and Mr. Scordato provided terrific support in the tricky partnering.  Let's hope that they both receive more opportunities like this to display their artistry.

In this pas de deux there should be a pulse that emanates from within the dancers almost like a heart beat.  It's tricky to achieve the balance between being inspired by the musical pulse clearly heard in Faure's music and seeming too mechanical.  In Mimi Paul's videotaped discussion with Nancy Goldner for the Balanchine Foundation Memory Project she describes how she worked to soften the 'notches' and achieve the mesmerizing quality of this role which should leave the audience rapt (19:36):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGDeCrWFrRY

The briskly effervescent pas des trois featured Kristen Segin, Indiana Woodward and Harrison Ball in their debuts.  While all three were very good, I was especially taken with the twinkle of Ms. Woodward in her too brief solo.

The 'Emeralds' 10-woman corps was filled with apprentices (Rachel Hutsell, Sasonah Huttenbach, Alston Macgill and Clara Ruf-Maldonado) and newly minted corps members (Miriam Miller and Mimi Staker stood out).  They provided a gorgeous framework for all of the featured debutants.

An earlier cast nearing the 'false' ending of Balanchine's 'Emeralds'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet 

As usual the 'false' ending of 'Emeralds' catches many in the audience off guard.  The resulting ovation, while deserved, detracts from the eloquence and poignancy of the epilogue that Balanchine added in 1976.  The transition from this 'finale' to the epilogue is somewhat jarring and possibly needed further thought from Balanchine.  The addition also makes the ballet seem overlong for many observers (although not for me).  Nonetheless, the solemn pas de sept for the seven leads is a wondrous thing -- filled with characteristic Balanchine motifs and flourishes that he uses to deal with the odd number of dancers involved.  It ends on a note of melancholy as the four women depart leaving the three men alone.

An earlier NYC Ballet cast in the final 'Pas de Sept' from Balanchine's 'Emeralds'.  
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

 
'Rubies' was led by Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley.  It was interesting to see them take on the iconic roles associated with Patricia McBride and Edward Villella.  Of course, we had seen Ms. Lovette dance the pas de deux with Jeffery Cirio (then of Boston Ballet and now of American Ballet Theatre) at the Kennedy Center Honors in December, 2014 (honoring Ms. McBride).  Here's a video clip (2:17): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTEmzNxb530

Both Ms. Lovette and Mr. Huxley had danced the pas de deux at the NYCB Fall Gala. 

Lauren Lovette and Anthony Huxley in Balanchine's 'Rubies'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

 This, however, was their first performance of the complete 'Rubies' and they were vibrant.  Ms. Lovette has a wonderfully vivacious persona that fits this role nicely.  There are details -- like the arm and hand gestures alluding to the Far East and some balances that were held too briefly for full impact -- that she can still improve.  Mr. Huxley produced a playfully athletic, out-going performance, while retaining his customary technical brilliance.

Emily Kikta as the tall girl was sexy, secure and Amazonian, offering an expansive, take-no-prisoners interpretation of the role and providing an effective contrast to Ms. Lovette's coquettish ballerina.
  

Emily Kikta in Balanchine's 'Rubies'.  
Photo by Kolnik for NYC Ballet

(For my money, Teresa Reichlin still 'owns' this role for the current generation -- a role originated by Patricia Neary and danced memorably over the years by Gloria Govrin, Colleen Neary, Maria Kowroski, and several others.)

Teresa Reichlin as the 'tall girl' in Balanchine's 'Rubies'.  
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

At the 1967 premier of 'Jewels', 'Diamonds' was lead by Suzanne Farrell and Jacques d'Amboise.

Jacques d'Amboise and Suzanne Farrell in Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.
Photo from Pinterest.

When Peter Martins joined the company from Denmark in 1970 he took over the role as Suzanne's cavalier from d'Amboise and it changed from a 'father proudly presenting his beautiful and gifted daughter' as one observer noted into a more romantic relationship of imperial equals. 

Peter Martins and Suzanne Farrell in Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Farrell and Martins were one of the legendary partnerships of ballet and 'Diamonds' was one of their primary vehicles.  With Martins, Farrell was able to indulge her famously idiosyncratic tendencies, presenting different facets of the role at each performance.  Martins responded with ever more assured partnering that reflected and refracted the moods of his mercurial ballerina.  When Farrell abruptly left the company in 1969, Kay Mazzo took over the role, offering a more self-contained dynamic to her dancing in the pas de deux.  Farrell's shifting approaches to the role validated the choices of Miss Mazzo and future interpreters of the role .  It is an iconic role made malleable by its originator. 

During a NYCB seminar on the Monday after the May 1st performance, Jon Stafford called this performance of the 'Diamonds' pas de deux by Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle the 'most nearly perfect' he had ever seen.  Jon was Sara's cavalier when she made her debut in the role and I would judge their performance then more exciting, if somewhat tense.

Jon Stafford and Sara Mearns in Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.

Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Here, Sara and Tyler seemed perfectly attuned to each other -- dancing expansively and confidently and with exceptional rapport.
  

Tyler Angle and SaraMearns in Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

Both Sara and Tyler have danced their roles with others -- Tyler notably with Maria Kowroski, and Sara most recently with Ask la Cour and Zachary Catazaro.  By all standards this was an exceptional performance by two artists at the peak of their artistry. 

The four demi-soloist couples and the twelve corps couples seemed to grasp the impact of occasion -- dancing the concluding polonaise with precision, grandeur and joy.

Demi-soloist and corps couples entrance for the finale of Balanchine's 'Diamonds'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The capacity audience responded with a huge, and hugely justified, ovation.

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.