New York City Ballet Matinee on Sunday, May 8th

SUNDAY MATINEE, MAY 8, 3:00 PM (Conductor: Sill)

ALL BALANCHINE:

BALLO DELLA REGINA: T. Peck, Garcia, Laracey, Pereira, Isaacs, King 

KAMMERMUSIK NO. 2: Krohn, Ramasar, A. Stafford, Danchig-Waring [Solo Piano: Grant] 

VIENNA WALTZES: Reichlen, T. Angle, M. Fairchild, Huxley, Pereira, Schumacher, Krohn, la Cour, Mearns, J. Angle

For this matinee performance we sat in the Orchestra, Row S, rather than in our normal seats on the right side of the Second Ring.  While the sight lines were fine, the sound from the orchestra was spotty and wan.  There were times in 'Vienna Waltzes' where all we heard were the double basses.  Although the Company sells some seats as 'partial view' at reduced prices, they should really designate these particular seats as 'partial sound'.

The three works on this program were all created by George Balanchine during a concentrated period from June 1977 through January 1978.

George Balanchine choreographed 'Ballo della Regina' in 1978 to ballet music intended for Giuseppe Verdi's opera 'Don Carlo'.  Verdi created a libretto for the ballet about a fisherman searching for the perfect pearl to present to the queen of Spain (who is a character in the opera).  Balanchine alludes to Verdi's story with an iridescent decor, a few 'swimming' movements for the ballerina and a 'searching' motif for her cavalier.

Balanchine's primary reason for creating the ballet was to showcase Merrill Ashley's extraordinary speed, clarity and sunniness.  Although Ashley had been with the Company since 1967 and had danced featured and principal roles in large swaths of the NYCB repertory, this was the first (of only two) ballets that Balanchine choreographed for her.
  

George Balanchine, Merrill Ashley and Robert Weiss working on 'Ballo della Regina'.
Photo by Martha Swope

It remains a daunting challenge for the most accomplished of ballerinas.

Merrill Ashley dancing in Balanchine's 'Ballo della Regina'.
Photo by Martha Swope

Here's a clip of Ms. Ashley discussing the creation of 'Ballo della Regina' (1:29):

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

And here's another made while she was staging the ballet for The Royal Ballet (3:01):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmYiiP9-JgY

At this performance Tyler Peck met the technical challenges with great glee. 
 

Tyler Peck in Balanchine's 'Ballo della Regina'.
Photo by Julieta Cervantes for NY Times

Gonzalo Garcia in the role Balanchine created for Robert Weiss offered Ms. Peck tremendous support in the pas de deux and displayed his own sparkle in the male solos.  Ms. Peck and Mr. Garcia are ideally suited to take on the ballet's technical demands while remaining bouyant and carefree.  Their jaunty presentation stopped just short of cockiness.  Ashley Isaacs and Lauren King seemed particularly delightful among the four demi-soloists.

Balanchine's created 'Kammermusik No. 2' to Paul Hindemith's music of the same name for piano and orchestra in 1978.  It is an astringent, spiky work for two principal couples and a corps of eight men.  At times the eight-man corps dancing primarily to the music of the orchestra is the star of this ballet.  They execute the complicated knots and clots that Balanchine usually created for the female corps -- providing both a frame and a counterpoint to the dancing of the four principals.

The eight-man corps in Balanchine's 'Kammermusik No. 2'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Of the principals, Rebecca Krohn and Amar Ramasar definitely understand the hard-edged, austere choreography that Balanchine devised to the complicated piano part.  Abi Stafford and Adrian Danchig-Waring seemed both less comfortable and less assured.  It's difficult music and requires razor-sharp reflexes and clarity of execution.  Blurring of movements makes the whole thing look sloppy.  There are several passages in canon for the two women that tend to look uncoordinated unless they both dance with conviction. 

Abi Stafford and Rebecca Krohn with the all-male corps in Balanchine's 'Kammermusik No. 2'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

'Vienna Waltzes' which Balanchine created in 1977 is a five-part survey and celebration of 19th century social dancing.  The transforming scenery by Rouben Ter-Artunian sets the stage for each of the five sections and acts as an important adjunct of the choreography.  The sumptuous costumes are the last created by Mme. Barbara Karinska for the Company.

Balanchine seeded the original principal cast with European dancers -- Karin von Aroldingen (with Sean Lavery) in the first part, Helgi Tomasson (with Patricia McBride) in the second, Peter Martins (with Kay Mazzo) in the fourth, and Jorge Donn (with Suzanne Farrell) in the fifth -- because he believed they had grown up amidst the Viennese waltz tradition and were therefore more naturally attuned to its refined execution.  The third part is a polka which he created for Sara Leland and Bart Cook.

Here's a video of Ms. von Aroldingen and Mr. Martins dancing together in the fourth section (Lehar's 'Gold and Silver Waltz') which clearly demonstrates their waltzing dexterity (8:45):

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjY9v9p5dlA

The first 'movement' is set to Johann Strauss II's 'G'Schichten Aus Dem Wienerwald (Tales of the Vienna Woods)' from 1868.  The setting is a magical silvery forest with five trees scattered across center stage.

The ten corps couples waltzing amid the trees in 'Tales of the Vienna Woods' from Balanchine's 'Vienna Waltzes'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

They form a kind of obstacle course to be negotiated by the dancers  -- Teresa Reichlen and Tyler Angle with ten corps couples -- and contributing to the complexity of Balanchine's choreography.  The women are in pale pink ball gowns and the men are in military uniforms -- perhaps cadets and their dates taking a woodland break from a military ball.  Ms. Reichlen and Mr. Angle projected the right combination of flirtatious innocence and romantic ardor -- while proving that American dancers of the current generation can indeed waltz.

Teresa Reichlen and Tyler Angle in the 'Tales from the Vienna Woods' section of Balanchine's 'Vienna Waltzes'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The second 'movement' is set to Johann Strauss II's 'Fruhlingstimmen (Voices of Spring)' from 1848.  It is the only section done on pointe.  The music begins with a kind of prelude while three of Ter-Artuniun's five trees rise into the overarching forest canopy.  Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley and the corps of eight corps women gamboled through this section with the abandon of forest nymphs.

Megan Fairchild and Joaquin De Luz leading an earlier performance of 'Voices of Spring'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

As the last two Ter-Artuniun's trees disappeared into the flies we are greeted by the rather grotesquely attired dancers in the 'Explosions-Polka' -- set to a polka by Johann Strauss II from 1848.  Erica Pereira and Troy Schumacher executed the rapid heel-and-toe steps with great glee backed-up by three corps couples.  However, since 1977 the humor in this section has palled and as usual in recent years I couldn't wait until it was over.

 Ana Sophia Scheller and Sean Suozzi lead a different cast in the 'Explosion Polka' from George Balanchine's 'Vienna Waltzes'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Now Ter-Aruniun's forest completely disappears and the stage is transformed into a belle epoque society cafe with art nouveau overlays.  There Chase Finlay's prince met Rebecca Krohn's merry widow to the strains of Franz Lehar's 'Gold und Silver Walzer (Gold and Silver Waltz)' from 1905.  Their waltzes amidst ten couples are among Balanchine's most complex and beautiful waltz variations.  It is worth returning to the video of von Aroldingen and Martins to enjoy the set transformation and these wonderful waltzes -- which were beautifully executed here by Mr. Finlay and especially Ms. Krohn. 

Ask la Cour and Rebecca Krohn in the 'Gold and Silver Waltz' movement of
George Balanchine's 'Vienna Waltzes'.  Chase Finlay replaced Mr. la Cour at this performance.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

After the final embrace of the prince and the merry widow -- an ending that Balanchine added after the initial performances to mollify critics who found their separation too harsh -- Ter-Artuniun's set transforms into a fin de siecle mirrored ballroom during the pensive opening phrases of the first sequence of waltzes from 'Der Rosenkavalier' by Richard Strauss which were arranged by the composer in 1944.  Several couples in formal dress -- the women in white ball gowns with trains and long white gloves and the men in white tie and black tail coats -- criss-cross the stage. 

Sara Mearns in the 'Der Rosenkavalier' movement of 'Vienna Waltzes'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

As the final couple leaves the stage, Sara Mearns appears alone in reverie.  She dances a private waltz, frequently joined by a seemingly phantom partner, Jared Angle.  Several couples whirl around them but Sara evenutally leaves the stage alone.  It is a breath-taking sequence and Ms. Mearns executed it with gorgeous drama.

With her exit the chandeliers blaze on and the casts of each prior movement swirl on and off stage -- lead by Ms. Reichlen and Tyler Angle.

Tyler Angle and Teresa Reichlen in the final movement of 'Vienna Waltzes'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Gradually the stage fills with 50 dancers magnified by the mirrors covering the entire back wall in a triumphant whirlwind of complex choreography.  All 25 women suddenly drop into a reverence curtsey and the curtain falls.

Here's a link to a video of the final 'Der Rosenkavalier' movement of  'Viennna Waltzes' featuring Suzanne Farrell partnered by Adam Luders (13:45):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PMAc0MRto0

Dance lovers will also spot Kyra Nichols with Sean Lavery, Heather Watts, Judith Fugate, Karin von Aroldingen and Peter Martins, the Sackett brothers and many others.

If you'd like to see a more recent cast in only the swirling final minutes of 'Vienna Waltzes' here's a link to a NYC Ballet video (0:46):

http://www.nycballet.com/Videos/Ballet-Detail-clips/Vienna-Waltzes-excerpt.aspx#.V12qKTubovU.email

The entire cast in the finale of George Balanchine's 'Vienna Waltzes'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Program for the 2016 School of American Ballet Workshop Performances

The faculty of the School of American Ballet has announced the program for the 2016 Workshop Performances on Saturday, June 4th, and for the 2016 Workshop Gala on Tuesday, June 7th:

'The Four Temperaments', Hindemith, Balanchine
'Les Gentilhommes', Handel, Martins
'Danses Concertantes', Stravinsky, Balanchine

After a few years of an 'odds and ends' dance recital format, this year they're returning to a substantial Workshop program that honors the School's seriousness of purpose and offers rewards for the talented students it trains and the devoted audiences who attend the three Workshop Performances.

'The Four Temperaments'

'The Four Temperaments' was first staged by Ballet Society -- the immediate precursor of New York City Ballet -- in 1946 at the auditorium of the Central High School of Needle Trades.  Unlike the austere black-and-white leotard ballet that we will see this June, the original 1946 performances had bizarre costumes by the surrealist artist Kurt Seligmann.
  

Kurt Seligmann's sketch of costume designs for Balanchine's 'The Four Temperaments'.

According to many contemporary viewers Seligmann's costumes distracted from Balanchine's revolutionary choreography. 

Elise Reiman and Herbert Bliss in Kurt Seligmann's original costumes for Balanchine's 'The Four Temperaments'. 

Even before the first performance Balanchine pruned some of the greatest excesses of the costumes.
  

Maria Tallchief in Kurt Seligmann's costume for 'The Four Temperaments'.

When 'The Four Temperaments' re-entered the repertory of New York City Ballet in 1951, Seligmann's costumes had been completely scrapped -- replaced by black-and-white leotards that display Balanchine's choreography in pristine glory.

The commissioned score by Paul Hindemith was created in 1940.  Igor Stravinsky admired the music of Hindemith and probably urged his friend George Balanchine to work with him.  Hindemith initially suggested a work titled 'The Land of Milk and Honey' as a joint project in 1938, but he was unable to produce the score on Balanchine's time table.  In 1940 Hindemith offered to produce the first part of a score for a different ballet in one week.  This opening section of Hindemith's score for piano and string orchestra was first heard that year at one of Balanchine's informal musical evenings.  Among the musicians that evening were Nathan Milstein, Samuel Dushkin (for whom Stravinsky wrote the 'Violin Concerto') and Leon Barzin.  Barzin went on to conduct the first performance of 'The Four Temperaments' at Needle Trades and to become the first conductor for Ballet Society and then for New York City Ballet.

The conceit of 'The Four Temperaments' is the medieval theory that each individual is composed of varying amounts of four temperaments or 'humors' -- melancholic, phlegmatic, sanguinic, and choleric -- which collectively form each personality.  The structure of the ballet is first a series of three pas des deux which establish movement motifs that will recur; then sections for each of the four temperaments; followed by a finale.  There are a total of 25 dancers -- 19 women and 6 men.

Here's a short video clip of the New York City Ballet principal Adrian Danchig-Waring discussing, rehearsing and performing 'The Four Temperaments': 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRgViWiqqr8 

Balanchine's choreography is mostly a response to Hindemith's music.  The sections for the four temperaments have a tenuous relationship to those humors at best.   Balanchine uses the classical ballet vocabulary, but makes subtle alterations.  Often the relationship of the dancers to the audience shifts to profile or diagonal; knees are often bent; feet are flexed; hands, arms and wrists stray from classical positions.  

Justin Peck and Rebecca Krohn of NYC Ballet show the bent knees and profile poses characteristic of Balanchine's 'The Four Temperaments'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The finale is like a fireworks display as four men lift their ballerinas in explosive grand jetes above the rest of the cast.  Here's a link to a video from San Francisco Ballet performing snippets from the Phlegmatic section and the finale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBqOG3mJyl0

Suki Schorer is enlisting the help of several men from New York City Ballet -- Ask la Cour, Cameron Dieck, and Peter Walker -- in staging this modern masterpiece.

'Les Gentilhommes'

This year the SAB Workshop Gala on Tuesday, June 7th, will celebrate the School's Boys Program, which provides tuition free ballet training to male students.  The Boys Program is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.  Here's a video describing the program:

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

Listen for Jock Soto's comments about retirement -- Jock retired from the School's faculty at the end of 2015.

Peter Martins created 'Les Gentilhommes' in 1987 as a tribute to Stanley Williams who taught at the School of American Ballet from 1964 until 1997.  Peter Martins himself had studied with Williams at the Royal Danish Ballet before Williams left Copenhagen for SAB.  Williams' men's classes were legendary for producing some of the finest dancers in American ballet -- and for attracting ballet stars, including Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, whenever they were in town.  Nine of Williams' students danced in the original cast -- Gen Horiuchi, Peter Boal, Carlo Merlo, Jeffrey Edwards, Michael Byers, Damien Woetzel, Richard Marsden, Cornell Crabtree and Runsheng Ying.

The cast of the 2011 School of American Ballet Workshop production of Peter Martins' 'Les Gentilhommes'.

Set to Georg Friedrich Handel's 'Concerto in F, Opus 6, #9' and the Largo from 'Concerto in F, Opus 6, #2', Martins choreography displays the refinement and elegance that Williams demanded of his students.  Through the costumes, lighting and movement, we are brought into the courtly world of the 18th century with allusions to fencing and dancing and formal rules of conduct.

Peter Martins and Arch Higgins are already working with the Advanced Men on 'Les Gentilhommes'.

'Danses Concertantes'  

Balanchine's 'Danses Concertantes' was created in 1944 for the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo.  Igor Stravinsky composed the score in 1941 as an orchestral work --  in effect, 'concert dances'.  The score is decidedly dancey and Balanchine found it inspiring -- twice.  The original 1944 production was lead by Alexandra Danilova (another legendary teacher at SAB) and Frederic Franklin.  Although the pick-up orchestras the Ballet Russe used on their perpetual tours struggled with the complexities of the score, it remained in their repertory until 1948.

Balanchine created new choreography for a second version for New York City Ballet's 1972 Stravinsky Festival -- he claimed that he couldn't remember the original steps.  Linda Yourth and John Clifford led the 1972 cast.  The same colorful sets and costumes designed by Eugene Berman were used for both the 1944 and 1972 versions -- they were particular favorites of Stravinsky.

Darci Kistler and Robert LaFosse led New York City Ballet's 1988 revival of the 1972 version.  Hopefully, Ms. Kistler will be involved in staging 'Danses Concertantes' for the SAB workshops.  

New York City Ballet dancers in a recent revival of Balanchine's 'Danses Concertante' led by Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The cast consists of a principal couple and four color-coded trios of two women and one man.  They are introduced in a prologue -- a parade in front of Berman's colorful front curtain.  When that curtain rises there is a sequence of four pas des trois followed by a pas de deux for the lead couple and then a final parade for the entire cast.  

Balanchine's choreography is bubbly and effervescent -- like champagne -- but then quickly evaporates.  The whole ballet is colorful, clever and energetic.  It will provide a frisky, insouciant high note for the students at the end their program.

New York City Ballet Matinee on Sunday, February 7th

SUNDAY MATINEE, FEBRUARY 7, 3:00 PM

BALLO della REGINA: Megan Fairchild T. Peck, Garcia, Pollack, Adams, Maxwell, Gerrity [Conductor: Sill]
     pause
KAMMERMUSIK NO. 2: Krohn, la Cour, A. Stafford, Danchig-Waring [Conductor: Sill; Solo Piano: Grant]

TSCHAIKOVSKY SUITE NO. 3:  [Conductor: Capps]
     ELEGIE: Reichlen, Catazaro;
     WALTZ: Laracey, J. Angle;
     SCHERZO: Pereira, Carmena;
     THEME & VARIATIONS: Tiler Peck M. Fairchild, Veyette De Luz

The all-Balanchine program on Sunday, February 7th, gave us a chance to revisit two works that we'd not seen in quite a while -- 'Ballo della Regina' and 'Kammermusik #2' -- two very different works that Balanchine created in January, 1978.

For 'Ballo' Balanchine used the ballet music from Verdi's opera 'Don Carlo'.  Nancy Goldner writes that while there is a hint of a plot (about a fisherman searching for a perfect pearl) the ballet's real "subject is technique".  The ballet was created for Merrill Ashley and Ib Andersen.  Mr. B. used Ashley's legendary technique for a brilliant series of solos and duets with Andersen, interspersed with variations for four female soloists backed by a corps of 12 women.

George Balanchine working on 'Ballo della Regina' with Merrill Ashley and Ib Andersen.

On the 7th we had expected to see Tiler Peck make her debut in 'Ballo della Regina', but instead Tiler was replaced by Megan Fairchild (and in turn Tiler replaced Megan in 'Theme and Variations').  While Megan is a technically accomplished ballerina, she lacks the ultimate radiance that Tiler might have offered in this role.  Gonzalo Garcia was elegant as her cavalier.

Megan Fairchild in 'Ballo della Regina'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Of the four soloists -- Sara Adams, Emilie Gerrity, Alexa Maxwell, and Brittany Pollack -- I was particularly struck by Ms. Pollack and Ms. Gerrity in this performance.

For 'Kammermusik #2' -- which premiered just two weeks after 'Ballo della Regina' -- Balanchine used the second of seven pieces of chamber music (kammermusik in German) that Paul Hindemith composed between 1923 and 1933.  It is really a rather acerbic concerto for piano and orchestra.  In the ballet, two principal couples dance to the piano part in counterpoint to an ensemble of eight men who dance to the orchestra music.  The original principals were Karin von Aroldingen, Colleen Neary, Sean Lavery and Adam Luders. 

'Kammermusik #2' has a quality of austere vivacity that Sunday's cast -- Rebecca Krohn with Ask la Cour and Abi Stafford with Adrian Danchig-Waring -- captured fairly well.  However, Ms. Krohn and Ms. Stafford are not physically well matched, which becomes obvious when they dance together. Ms. Krohn tends more toward austerity while Ms. Stafford tends more toward vivacity.

Abi Stafford and Rebecca Krohn with the male ensemble in 'Kammermusik #2'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The male ensemble was very well drilled in their spiky, convoluted visual counterpart to the orchestra.  At times they offer an eerie, pared-down premonition of the corps in Jerome Robbins' 'Glass Pieces' from 1983.

The male ensemble in 'Kammermusik #2'.  Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

The program closed with Balanchine's 'Tschaikovsky Suite #3' from 1947 ('Theme and Variations') and 1970 (first three movements).  This ballet always seems schizophrenic to me.  The first three movements are in Balanchine's lush romantic mode (a la 'Serenade') with long floating chiffon gowns, loose hair and shadowy lighting behind that annoying painted scrim.  The final movement is in his Russian imperial style with tutus and tiaras amid glittering chandeliers and grand columns.

Teresa Reichlin and Zachary Catazaro were suitably rapturous in the opening 'Elegie'.  Ashley Laracey and Jared Angle were able to wring some romance out of the 'Valse Melancolique' -- though more melancholy than waltz.  Erica Pereira and Antonio Carmena swept through the upbeat 'Scherzo' in a whirlwind of leaps and turns.

Tiler Peck in the 'Theme and Variations' movement of 'Tschaikovsky Suite #3'.
Photo by Paul Kolnik for NYC Ballet

Tiler Peck was in fine classical form in 'Theme and Variations', dancing with musical elegance and vivacity.  But Andrew Veyette seemed to be on auto-pilot --  either disinterested or distracted.  The four demi-soloist couples and the eight corps couples danced the concluding polonaise with precision and panache.  This viewer became more engaged with the frame than with the couple at its center.

Tiler Peck (center left) with Joaquin De Luz and other New York City Ballet dancers in the final moments of Balanchine's 'Tschaikovsky Suite #3'.
Photo by Andrea Mohin for NY Times

It's clear from watching this program that the top ranks of the Company are not uniformly engaged by the remarkable legacy of its founder, George Balanchine.  It's principal Ballet Mistress, Rosemary Dunleavy, does a remarkable job of keeping the ensemble parts in shape, but the other Ballet Masters, who work more closely with the principal dancers and soloists, do not uniformly have the same level of knowledge and commitment to the Balanchine legacy. It showed in this program.