New York City Ballet – Double Feature
May 26, 2008
(Tom Gold and a stampede of brides in Makin’ Whoopee! from Susan Stroman’s Double Feature)
Thursday evening’s Double Feature, a full-length production choreographed by Susan Stroman, was much more fun that I had anticipated. It was also surprisingly charming and inventive. The piece was a tribute to silent films, with the first half – The Blue Necklace – presenting the melodrama, and the second half – Makin’ Whoopee! – supplying the laughs. It was not memorable for its choreography, but rather for being a completely unprecedented, original, and dazzling addition to New York City Ballet’s repertory.
The plots for both pieces reflected typical silent movie themes. The first was a Cinderella-like tale about a glamorous Hollywood star who abandons her illegitimate child at birth, while the second was a slapstick comedy about a haphazard lawyer who must marry by 7 PM on his birthday (which is, of course, that day) in order to earn his inheritance. Sara Mearns lent her old-fashioned glamour and acting abilities to the role of Dorothy Brooks in The Blue Necklace, clearly illustrating her character’s internal conflict about giving up her daughter, Mabel, for the sake of her career and reputation. Sterling Hyltin was an energetic Mabel, who is enchanted by the handsome movie star Billy Randolph, danced by Benjamin Millepied. When locked up at home by her cruel adoptive mother, Mrs. Griffith, Mabel dreamed up a pas de deux with Billy, and predictably, they finally met and truly danced together at Dorothy’s ball. The highlight of The Blue Necklace, however, was Megan Fairchild in the role of Florence, Mrs. Griffith’s clueless, dim-witted biological daughter. She was laugh-out-loud funny in her drunken duet with Billy Randolph, clumsily trying to keep up with him but failing miserably. Who knew that Fairchild, who is usually sharp and bright, could be so goofy and graceless? This was certainly the most memorable role I’ve seen her perform this season.
Tom Gold expertly portrayed the scattered but endearing Jimmie Shannon in Makin’ Whoopee! After failing four times to propose to his sweet girlfriend, Anne Windsor, Jimmie got some help from his lawyer pals, the lively duo of Amar Ramasar and Robbie Fairchild, in searching for a wife so that he could earn his seven million-dollar inheritance. He had little luck after meeting several women in the park, one of whom was Teresa Reichlen as the saucy Flossy. She wowed Jimmie and his pals with her long legs and sassiness, but her teasing abruptly ended when her macho husband, played by Justin Peck, appeared and whisked her away. Since the comedy wouldn’t be complete without a show-stopping ensemble scene, Jimmie was eventually chased by a stampede of brides (many of whom were hilariously portrayed by men) who were eager to marry Jimmie and get in on the cash. Of course, he finally realized that he truly loved Anne, and the two married in time for Jimmie to earn his millions, which literally rained down from the ceiling as the piece ended.
The music arrangements by Glen Kelly, lighting design by Mark Stanley, and glittering costumes by William Ivey Long played a major role in the success of Double Feature. But it was Ms. Stroman’s creativity and direction – and the dancers’ commitment to her ideas – that made this production a sheer delight.
Forget Carnegie Hall, It’s All About Bargemusic
May 25, 2008
My friend Danielle and I on the Bargemusic rooftop
I first visited Bargemusic three years ago when I was a sophomore in college and in my first semester at Columbia. My housemate was a cellist in the joint Columbia and Julliard program and my roommates and I went one night to hear her play at Bargemusic. It was a wonderful experience- the music was incredible, the musicians prodigious and the venue an unpretentious floating mini-concert hall, so I’d been dying to go back ever since.
This afternoon I finally did. Bargemusic is an old coffee barge that has was renovated over 30 years ago to become a home for music. The barge seats about 100 people and sits on the water just beside the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. The front of the barge accommodates about 4 musicians at a time and the wall behind the musicians is all glass. The audience sits and listens to the musicians play while the New York City skyline rocks gently in the background.
Inside the barge
Programs at Bargemusic include Schumann, Liszt, Rachmanifnoff, Beethoven, Debussy, Bach, Dvorák, and contemporaries like John Cage and even a weekly jazz night. We heard the program Here and Now: American Contemporary Music Series, which included two pieces composed by David Del Tredici, who also played piano in the second piece. I enjoyed the first piece, “Grand Trio” far more than the second, “Love Addiction.” I’m partial to a trio of cello, piano and violin over anything vocal, and the trio was far more unique and varied than “Love Addiction.” “Grand Trio” had a wonderfully tense and edgy atonality, performed by Scott Kluksdahl on cello, Thomas Sauer on piano and Mark Peskanov on violin. Peskanov, the recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and Carnegie Hall’s first Isaac Stern award is President and Artistic Director of Baregemusic and is a regular performer. Tredici also gave a great performance and it was a wonderful experience to hear the composer play his own music.
Bargemusic is a sublime place to hear to music- the repertoire is varied and superlative, the musicians world class, the vibe warm and friendly, and the view is unbeatable. The first time I went was at night, and the skyline sparkled in the background, and this afternoon the sun spilled in through the windows. Although the barge could use a better ventilations system (as far as I could tell it’s not air conditioned), it was a great way to spend the afternoon. All tickets are a mere $35 ($15-20 for students). For more information on upcoming performances go to Bargemusic’s website, and don’t miss Mark Peskanov’s behind the scenes blog!
Aszure Barton – Witty and Wild
May 24, 2008
Aszure Barton at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, Dance Magazine – April 2008
photo by Matthew Karas
During my first semester at Barnard, Aszure Barton, post-modern’s “it” girl, choreographed an ensemble piece for about fourteen dancers for the departmental dance performance at Miller Theater. I remember feeling riveted by the movement. It was feisty, quirky, fierce, and intensely emotional. Since then, Barton has been on my radar, so I was thrilled to see her featured on the cover of last month’s Dance Magazine, which celebrated women choreographers. In the cover story, Barton discusses her childhood, experiences as a dance student, and her approach to choreographing for various companies and for her own dance group, Aszure & Artists. Here’s one statement from Barton that has really resonated with me:
I am interested in how people move, but much more fascinated with what moves them.
Unfortunately, the beautiful studio photographs of Barton that appear in the printed magazine aren’t online, but you can at least get a feel for what they’re like based on the cover shot by Matthew Karas. Read the full article about Barton here.
Mikhail Baryshnikov and Hell’s Kitchen dancers rehearse Aszure Barton’s Come In at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, 2007
photo by Andrea Mohin
Rachel Rutherford and Craig Hall in N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, photo by Paul Kolnik
The Jerome Robbins Celebration is well underway at NYCB, now in its fourth week of the spring season. Although I’ve already seen several Robbins ballets since the start of the season, Wednesday evening’s “Baroque to Jazz” program was the first one that truly exemplified Robbins’ choreographic and musical breadth. He moved smoothly and easily from Baroque to Broadway. The journey from Brandenburg to N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz successfully illustrated his ability to portray distinctive environments while also conveying different emotions and moods.
Brandenburg, the final ballet that Robbins created, in 1997, is set to several of Bach’s intricate Brandenburg Concertos. The opening section looked lively as the dancers masterfully executed the demanding choreography and continuously changing formations, both of which reflected the clarity of the music. Megan Fairchild (replacing Ashley Bouder) and Gonzalo Garcia were energetic and in tune with one another, but lacked crispness and expansion in their upper bodies. After their pas de deux, the ballet seemed to suddenly shift gears. The elegant Baroque feeling that I sensed in the opening was replaced by youthfulness and childishness that clashed with Bach’s concertos. The dancers repeatedly trotted backwards, skipped in circles, and skittered across the stage in a juvenile manner. It was not particularly endearing, especially after seeing the dancers looking so elegant and mature in the first section. As a result of the contrasting themes, the pas de deux for Janie Taylor and Philip Neal was a combination of graceful romance and young flirtation. Taylor was reserved in expression but fully committed to the movement, while Neal was an attentive partner. Several dancers were nicely featured in the “Menuetto-Polacca” section, including Adrian Danchig-Waring and Rebecca Krohn, who both stood out for the fluidity and ease in their upper bodies. There were passages of eye-catching choreography and a refined quality to many of the dancers’ movement, but Brandenburg seemed to have an identity crisis as it floated between Baroque sophistication and child’s play, without fully committing to either.
In the Night, set to Chopin’s mysteriously beautiful piano nocturnes, swept me into an entirely different environment from the first piece on the program. Three couples performed deeply private duets under a starry sky, each one reflecting a distinctive mood or impulse. I felt like an outsider getting only a glimpse of each relationship while the dancers carried on, completely unaware of anyone else. In the first duet, Tyler Angle and Rachel Rutherford were enchanted by one another as they moved slowly and delicately through the various lifts and turns. They maintained eye contact and rarely acknowledged the audience as they were wrapped up in their own world. Near the end of their duet, the back of Rutherford’s long lavender tulle skirt got caught in her hair. In character, Angle carefully pulled the skirt away from her hair, and then lifted her overhead as he glided serenely off stage.
Tyler Angle and Rachel Rutherford in In the Night, photo by Paul Kolnik
Sara Mearns and Charles Askegard, in the second duet, were sharper and seemed more mature than the young love in the first duet. They conveyed hints of attitude as they occasionally turned away from each other, but always quickly returned to their waltzing. The fierce orangey-red of Mearns’ dress also contributed to the older (and perhaps wiser) feeling in their duet.
The most tempestuous and moody of the duets was for Wendy Whelan and Jared Angle, who filled every ounce of music with their emotions. Whelan conveyed indecisiveness as she continually turned toward and then away from Angle, first throwing herself into his arms and then desperately trying to get away, with her limbs kicking in every direction. At one point, she scrambled off stage, only to return and gaze longingly at him. Moments later, he behaved the same way. Although their relationship was unsteady, Whelan and Angle were fully committed to the lightning-quick choreography. I’ve never seen Whelan dash about the stage so frantically and yet with so much control and precision. Her black and silver tulle gown was very flattering, and reflected the moodiness of her character. Each couple seemed completely separate from the other two, but they all eventually came together to acknowledge one another’s presence – and their differing relationships. Then, the men gracefully lifted the women overhead as the couples exited in different directions.
The romantic evening was replaced by New York City’s lively streets for N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz. Sixteen young dancers united to celebrate the jazzy rhythms of Robert Prince’s music. Program notes from the 1958 production, performed by Robbins’ Ballets: USA, explained that “the young have so identified with the dynamics, kinetic impulse, the drives and ‘coolness’ of today’s jazz steps that these dances have become an expression of our youth’s outlook and their attitudes toward the contemporary world around them.” The piece certainly had a 1950′s feel to it, and the influence of Robbins’ West Side Story for Broadway (which he completed about eight months before N.Y. Export premiered) was apparent in much of the choreography. However, the emotions and relationships among the dancers were timeless ones to which anybody could relate.
The opening was filled with finger snapping, hip swivels, and Robbins’ signature leg extension to the side with one arm overhead and fingers splayed, as the dancers showed off for one another in a friendly yet sexually charged competition. The ensemble had tremendous verve and pizzazz, and the brightly colored tops they wore – with matching sneakers – and colorful cityscape backdrop designed by Ben Shahn further enhanced the piece’s energy. Sean Suozzi, Amar Ramasar, and Georgina Pazcoguin truly felt the rhythms and captured the youthful energy of N.Y. Export, and they looked like they were having a ball. The slow, intense duet for Rachel Rutherford and Craig Hall explored the tension in their relationship. For the original cast, Robbins chose a racially mixed couple (present in this performance, as well), which probably created tension for the 1958 audience. The duet was the darkest and most sensual part of the piece, suggesting the deep emotions beneath the youths’ tough, rowdy exteriors. The dancers came together in the end – now wearing white tops and sneakers that indicated their youthful innocence and solidarity – to emphasize one last time how much they truly bond over and relate to the jazzy rhythms.
Cooling Off
May 20, 2008
Evan swings by Gina’s office last Saturday after taking Kenny Larson’s class at 890. (click to enlarge)
