Morphoses: Gala Performance
October 4, 2008
Last year, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company tried to prove that “Ballet=Sexy” in an attempt to overturn the belief that ballet is all about tutus and dying swans. After watching Wednesday evening’s gala performance at City Center, it was unclear if that’s still Christopher Wheeldon’s goal for the company. True, there were no swans or tutus in the performance, but the program, which included two works by Wheeldon, one by Frederick Ashton, and one by Canadian choreographer Emily Molnar, was lackluster. Setting aside the high expectations for Wheeldon (he’s probably the most sought-after ballet choreographer in the world), the performance wasn’t even a breath of fresh air.
In the opening of Polyphonia, a 2001 piece that Wheeldon created for New York City Ballet, four couples moved at lightning speed to the dauntingly chaotic score by Gyorgy Ligeti. The pace slowed for two duets danced by Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle, allowing them to more thoroughly and vividly explore edgy, dimensional shapes and lines in a dimly lit, moodier setting. Elsewhere in the piece, Tiler Peck and Gonzalo Garcia performed a flowing waltz in which Garcia swept Peck offstage in a horizontal lift across his shoulder. This image – an unusual and refreshing one in ballet – is repeated at the end of Polyphonia. All of the dancers but one – 15-year-old Beatriz Stix-Brunell, who presented herself well and shows potential – were from New York City Ballet. I’ve seen stronger performances of Polyphonia, but the dancers’ occasional hesitancy might have been due to the stage’s slippery floor or smaller size (compared to the vast NY State Theater stage), causing the dancers to restrain their characteristically expansive movement.
Tyler Angle and Wendy Whelan in Polyphonia, photo by Erin Baiano
Mr. Wheeldon has cited Frederick Ashton as one of his choreographic influences, so it wasn’t surprising to see Ashton’s Monotones II, a 1966 work to Erik Satie’s Trois Gymnopédies, on the program. Two men and one woman (Rubinald Pronk, Edward Watson, and Maria Kowroski), dressed in white unitards and headpieces that looked like swimming caps topped with sparkly pom-poms, contrasted unfolding extensions with their ability to interweave their limbs and dance as one. Perhaps Monotones II made a statement when it was first performed in the 60s at The Royal Ballet, but at City Center, the piece looked dated and out of place on a program that was otherwise very contemporary. Additionally, it lacked the otherworldly mood that would have beautifully accompanied Satie’s serene score.
Emily Molnar’s Six Fold Illuminate, set to Steve Reich’s Variations for Winds, Strings, and Keyboards, was an opportunity for the dancers to rush about and suddenly stop short, twitch, or burst into another spastic phrase of movement. Reich’s score is rhythmically fascinating but very repetitive, and like many other ballets to minimalist scores, the ballet chugged along without ever amounting to anything. In spite of the shifting pools of light, the qualities of the perpetually kinetic movement never really changed. The dancers, however, were all superb. Drew Jacoby stood out for her commanding presence, Rubinald Pronk was fully in touch with the music, and Céline Cassone captivated the audience with her intense focus and edginess.
Edward Watson, Drew Jacoby, and Rubinald Pronk in Six Fold Illuminate, photo by Erin Baiano
Most disappointing was Wheeldon’s new work, Commedia, to Igor Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite, which was originally a commission for the Ballets Russes. The set design by Ruben Toledo showed several masks that lit up and changed colors throughout the ballet. After the opening section, the eight men and women removed their colorful capes and masks to reveal white unitards with black diamond patterns, reminding me of some of the costumes from Peter Martin’s Jeu de Cartes (also to Stravinsky). A series of duets, solos, and pas de deux followed that were neither choreographically compelling nor light-heartedly comedic, as I imagine they were trying to be. Stix-Brunell infused the piece with her youthful energy, and although the entire cast was strong, there was a spark missing from their dancing. This, along with the lack of coherence among the various sections of the ballet, resulted in a flat performance. No choreographer can create a masterpiece every time, but it was disheartening to see Wheeldon’s newest ballet pale in comparison to the beautifully complex Polyphonia.
Dancers in Wheeldon’s Commedia, photo by Erin Baiano
Short videos shown before two of the ballets should have enhanced the audience’s understanding of the rehearsal process by offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the dancers and choreographer at work, but they only highlighted Benjamin Pierce’s adept use at special effects. Before Molnar’s Six Fold Illuminate, a video showed the choreographer counting the music while special effects blurred another dancer’s spinning turns across the floor. Molnar then addressed the cast – all looking tired and rather bored – about the importance of intention and clarity. Before Commedia, even more effects were used to show two dancers and their mirror image rehearsing an excerpt from the piece. Including videos in a dance program is a great idea, but the end result should allow the audience to feel closer to – instead of further from – the creation of a ballet.
Teresa Reichlen: Barnard’s Bunhead
August 3, 2008
This month’s Dance Magazine includes an article on professional dancers who balance performing careers with academics. New York City Ballet soloist Teresa Reichlen is featured since she studies at Barnard College on the Upper West Side while performing with NYCB at Lincoln Center. Teresa mentions that she’s interested in biology and chemistry, and eventually wants to earn her degree so that when she’s no longer dancing (which hopefully won’t be any time soon), she “won’t have to start from scratch”. Interestingly, all of the other dancers featured in the article – students from Texas Christian University, Sarah Lawrence College, Howard University, and Ohio State University – discuss how the dance programs at their respective schools prepared them for the technical and artistic demands of dancing professionally, whereas Teresa focused on how her already-existing performing career has benefited from academics. She doesn’t take any dance technique at Barnard, but she notes that courses such as Dance Criticism and Performing the Political have allowed her to understand and analyze dance very differently from when she is performing or rehearsing in the studio. I’m certain that her classroom-based exploration of dance has enhanced her performances and the way she approaches a role.
Teresa is currently performing at the Vail International Dance Festival with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. Click here to read an essay that she wrote for the Morphoses blog, reflecting on her experience performing in Vail with Morphoses last summer.
New York City Ballet: Dancers’ Choice Program
June 28, 2008
Designed by NYCB soloist Craig Hall
The New York State Theater was packed on Friday night, and not just with the typical crowd of New York City Ballet devotees. Young people, too, had flocked to Lincoln Center to see the Dancers’ Choice program, a benefit for the Dancers’ Emergency Fund. Principal dancer Jonathan Stafford and a committee of company members were in charge of choosing the ballets on the program, casting them, arranging rehearsals, and coordinating everything else that goes into a performance – marketing, press releases, and production, among other things. While I’m sure that the dancers were thrilled to be given the freedom to create their own program, planning the evening must have been a daunting task for everyone involved (I cannot imagine what the costume department went through to prepare: twelve ballets performed by more than seventy dancers!). Nevertheless, Mr. Stafford and his planning committee met the challenge, producing a memorable performance filled with a diverse array of ballets.
The program featured excerpts from works by the four main choreographers of the company: George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins, and former resident choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. It was bookended by two of Balanchine’s best: Rubies and the 4th movement from Symphony in C. The jazzy movement, glittering costumes, and upbeat tempo of the former made for a lively opening to the program, while Symphony in C‘s lightning-speed pirouettes and hops en pointe, along with a stage full of white tutus, were a thrilling close to the performance. There were plenty of highlights in between: Robbins’ colorful Interplay was infused with youthful energy; Abi Stafford and Tyler Angle were spellbinding in an excerpt from Wheeldon’s mysterious, otherworldly Mercurial Manoeuvres; Andrew Veyette was elegant and refined in his solo from Balanchine’s Square Dance, while Teresa Reichlen performed with lyricism and serenity in a solo from Emeralds. An excerpt from Union Jack featuring Savannah Lowery was wildly energetic to the rhythmic drumming of Hershy Kay’s score (adapted from the traditional British music), and reminded me how much I love this ballet. Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes lent a bit of patriotism to the program, with Troy Schumacher making a memorable debut as the vibrant leader of the 3rd Regiment. And the program couldn’t be complete without some Philip Glass music. “Akhnaten” from Robbins’ Glass Pieces was as enthralling as it was when I saw the entire piece last week.
The centerpiece of the evening was Flit of Fury – The Monarch, a world premiere choreographed by soloist Adam Hendrickson, with music composed by corps dancer Aaron Severini. Two pianists, Steven Beck and Stephen Gosling, played the mesmerizing score at the back of the stage, while the four male dancers (Sean Suozzi with Robert Fairchild, David Prottas, and Allen Peiffer) and one female (Gretchen Smith) flitted about in front of them with refreshingly edgy, contemporary movement. The piece made good use of the vast space, but the dancers almost always performed in unison – often in two’s while the others looked on from the side of the stage. I would have liked to see more variation and complexity, particularly in the formations, so that the movement would more closely reflect the depth and intricacy of Mr. Severini’s darkly intense score.
In addition to featuring the respective choreographic and musical gifts of Mr. Hendrickson and Mr. Severini, the evening provided an opportunity for many other dancers to showcase their talents. Soloist Craig Hall designed t-shirts and the artwork (shown in the image above) for the posters and advertisements; corps dancer Kyle Froman created a beautiful souvenir book filled with photographs (which Philip wrote about and posted here) that he took of the dancers in and around the NY State Theater; corps dancer Sophie Flack donated two original works of art to the silent auction that occurred during the intermission; and corps dancer Henry Seth and soloist Ask la Cour composed music for a film clip that showed video footage of several company members dancing as children – in their living rooms, on stage, in the wings, and even in jazz competitions.
Dance samplers and benefit programs are often choppy – with too many excerpts squished into a limited time frame – and more focused on showcasing technical prowess than artistry. Neither was the case for the Dancers’ Choice program. The ballets were wisely chosen, reflecting the choreographic innovation of the company and the range of repertoire. Seeing that so many dancers contributed – both on and off stage – to the successful evening proves how much they care about the company and about ensuring that the Dancers’ Emergency Fund will always be there in times of need. This will surely become an exciting annual event.
New York City Ballet: Damian Woetzel’s Farewell
June 19, 2008
A curtain call for Damian Woetzel (click to enlarge)
Photo by Evan – Please do not use without permission.
Watching one of my favorite ballet dancers – who I’ve watched for about fifteen years – dance his final performance and take his final bow at the New York State Theater last night was not easy. Writing about it is even more challenging. Damian Woetzel, a member of New York City Ballet since 1985, bid farewell to the company and a sold out theater of fans. The evening was tremendous – emotionally overwhelming and momentous. Being a part of Damian’s final performance was definitely a memorable experience.
Sometimes it is impossible to describe why a particular dancer stands out from the rest. His or her “it” factor cannot always be put into words. This isn’t the case with Damian. His many “it” factors include a winning stage presence, effortless technique (in a recent Playbill article by Astrida Woods he said, “Who wants to go to the ballet and see effort?”), and his ability to embody the American Man, which was particularly noticeable in the program’s opening ballet, Jerome Robbins’ Fancy Free. I wrote about his performance as the “rumba sailor” last January, but watching Damian tonight was even more meaningful because the piece was prefaced by a film clip of him rehearsing the ballet with Robbins. The two men reviewed how Damian should throw his arms overhead at the beginning of his solo, with Robbins talking him through it and occasionally adjusting his arms and back. I can only imagine that soon Damian will coach a rising dancer in this role, as well.
Damian Woetzel in Robbins’ Fancy Free, photo by Paul Kolnik
The Playbill indicated that Balanchine’s “Rubies” from Jewels, second on the program, would feature Teresa Reichlen, Ashley Bouder, and Joaquin De Luz, allowing Damian to have a break after Fancy Free. But the audience was surprised and thrilled to see him suddenly appear in the third part of the ballet along with Yvonne Borree. He looked carefree and delighted as he jogged around the stage to Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra. His pas de deux with Yvonne was superb, and her dancing was much stronger and bolder than it has been in the past. Perhaps she felt more secure being partnered by one of the company’s best. The rest of the cast was also excellent. Teresa Reichlen flirted with the audience and truly engaged them in her jazzy solo, while Ashley Bouder and Joaquin De Luz approached their intricate partnering with attack and precision.
Ending a twenty-three year dancing career with Balanchine’s Prodigal Son is a daring task. The principal role is both emotionally and physically draining, not to mention depressing. But in an interview in NYCB’s Spring newsletter, Damian said that the role was “endlessly fulfilling”, and it also happens to be one of his most memorable. Thus, it was a fitting way to close the program. Each movement and gesture was more significant and weighted than usual, and there was a definite sense of finality to his performance. His physicality was astounding, and he beautifully captured the youthfulness of the Prodigal Son. Maria Kowroski was an intriguing Siren, and her pas de deux with Damian was passionate and intense. Watching Damian hobble across the stage at the end of the ballet to Prokofiev’s riveting score, stripped of everything he has, was overwhelmingly painful. He clearly infused the role with every ounce of energy in his body.
An NYCB poster of Damian Woetzel in costume for Prodigal Son, in front of Cathedral of St. John the Divine, photo by Richard Corman
There was endless applause and countless curtain calls at the close of the performance. All of Damian’s partners from the evening’s program presented him with bouquets, along with many other individuals including Christopher Wheeldon, Wendy Whelan, Ethan Stiefel, Susan Stroman, Miranda Weese, Kyra Nichols, Alexandra Ansanelli, and Jenifer Ringer (all of whom have worked with him throughout his career). The entire company eventually joined him on stage to applaud and say farewell. Confetti fell from the ceiling and flowers were thrown from all parts of the audience. Damian graciously acknowledged the orchestra, his fellow dancers, and the admiring spectators. He continually sighed and breathed in this significant moment in his career.
Over the years of watching Damian, I’ve noticed that after bowing in front of the curtain, he does a little shuffle and informal jump as he leaves the stage. It seems to be a signature part of his bow – perhaps a way of thanking the audience and showing how much he’s enjoyed dancing – and is something that I’ve always appreciated in the final moments of a performance. Tonight, he didn’t disappoint. After every single bow, Damian did his little shuffle and jump before disappearing behind the curtain.
For more photos and reviews of the performance, check out Philip’s and Sarah’s blogs. Photos below taken by Evan – please do not use without permission.
Damian Woetzel, smiling among a blur of people, flowers, and confetti
Damian Woetzel’s final bow
New York City Ballet – Here and Now
May 31, 2008
Christopher Wheeldon’s Rococo Variations - photo by Paul Kolnik
“Here and Now” was a fitting title for a program that featured four contemporary works – the oldest premiered in 1998 – by some of the most sought-after choreographers in ballet today. But I was swept far away from the here and the now, traveling to a different place for each work, particularly the first three on the program. What reminded me that I was watching a contemporary evening of ballet in May 2008 were the unusual points of physical contact that I noticed in all four pieces. A hand over the ribs, a leg stretching over a shoulder, a foot pressed against a chest or knee, a stomach against a back – all struck me as uniquely contemporary images and movements within the realm of ballet.
Christopher Wheeldon’s Rococo Variations, set to Tchaikovsky’s cheerful Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Opus 33, featured two couples performing a variety of duets that are classically Romantic, but injected with angular movements and intricate partnering. The opening image was most memorable: Sara Mearns pressed her hand against her ribs as she contracted her back and lowered her head. Then Adrian Danchig-Waring appeared and placed his hand where hers was. This was a beautiful, recurring image that indicated the first moment of touch and recognition between the two, while conveying deep emotion. There is a fair amount of floor work in this piece as well as other unusual points of contact, such as when Mearns folded her torso around Danchig-Waring’s stomach, or when he carried her off stage, stomach-down, laying horizontally across his back. Sterling Hyltin and Giovanni Villalobos were quick and sprightly in their pas de deux, while Mearns and Danchig-Waring were more grounded and fluid. When the latter couple danced, my eyes were drawn to both of them, as they luxuriated in every phrase of movement. With the other couple, I found that Villalobos lacked the energy to keep up with Hyltin. He needed to show more refinement in his legs and feet, but Hyltin was simply glowing. The gorgeous, chocolate brown knee-length dresses for the women were classically elegant, but the gold embroidery added a contemporary aspect to them.
Amar Ramasar and Tiler Peck in Mauro Bigonzetti’s Oltremare – photo by Paul Kolnik
Oltremare, a piece by Mauro Bigonzetti that translates to “beyond the sea”, explored the mixed feelings of immigrants as they traveled to a new land and left their home country behind. The costumes and suitcases suggested the late 19th or early 20th centuries, but the movement was athletic and intensely physical, filled with creative entrances into jumps and lifts. Bruno Moretti’s commissioned score was appropriately dark and eerie, and matched the dynamic, fitful choreography, which clearly evoked conflicting emotions – fear, excitement, loss, and pride. Maria Kowroski was vivid in her pas de deux with Tyler Angle. It began with Angle laying on the floor, and Kowroski hovering over him while standing on his bent knees. There was a push-pull theme in their partnership that emphasized the tension between the couple, and within themselves, as they continued their journey. Andrew Veyette was superb in his brief but thrilling solo, and Georgina Pazcoguin threw herself into the movement and stood out as a leader among the passengers.
Peter Martins’ River of Light, which premiered in 1998, transported me to an unknown, other world that was dark yet intriguing. The music by Charles Wuorinen, who conducted the orchestra in honor of his seventieth birthday, was chaotic and complex, with bells and chimes in the score standing out the most. Three couples – in black, white, or red unitards – changed partners as the lighting changed with them. First there was a rectangle of light on the floor, which then moved to another area, and then strips of light shown on the backdrop. Savannah Lowery and Jared Angle were edgy and dangerous in black; Sterling Hyltin and Ask la Cour appeared mature and distant in red; and Teresa Reichlen and Robert Fairchild were lyrical and lithe in white. Reichlen’s pas de deux with Angle showed her suppleness as he carried her overhead and allowed her to slowly extend her leg over his shoulder and eventually to the floor. The duet became sexually charged when she intently placed his hands over her chest and hips. While the interaction among the partners was curiously interesting, and the dancers all very dramatic and serious, the ballet as a whole did not build momentum. It fell flat at the end, with no final understanding of how the three couples were related to one another. Additionally, the piece was emotionally vacant – dramatic, yes; but also cold. Perhaps this was intentional, as the piece appeared to be set in an undefined world that is entirely distant from anywhere else. But the dancing would be so much richer if it were instilled with feeling and a sense of interconnectedness among the three couples.
The program closed with the world premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH, which stands for “D.Sch.”, a German spelling of Dmitri Shostakovich’s name. This composer’s Piano Concerto No. 2 provided a multi-layered, exhilarating palate for the ballet, and the dancers painted it with virtuosic technique and bits of playful theatrics. Ashley Bouder was light-hearted and flirtatious in her dancing with Gonzalo Garcia and Joaquin de Luz. She tore through a whirlwind of turns, jumps, and balances (one of which lasted just long enough for the audience to gasp) as she went back and forth between the two men, who competed amicably with one another in a series of jumps and somersaults. Wendy Whelan and Benjamin Millepied danced in the more soulful second pas de deux, which featured some interesting lifts and instances in which he gently skimmed Whelan across the stage. There was a sense of community and relationships among the dancers that were reminiscent of those in Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons. But in this case, just as the relationships were developing, they seemed to be cut short as the focus returned to the thrilling movement. The stage was very busy, often too busy to fully take in everything that was occurring, which is why this piece deserves another viewing (or two or three). It was certainly a crowd-pleaser, but I think there’s much more to explore in this work.
