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Russian Roots and Spanish Dancers

“Andantino,” “Opus 19: The Dreamer,” “Piano Pieces,” “Les Noces”
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
New York, NY
May 9, 2008

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2008 by Leigh Witchel

Jerome Robbins’ version of “Les Noces” reentered the repertory at New York City Ballet after a decade, this time with live music rather than a recording, and as Stravinsky intended, the four pianos, percussion and chorus were all behind the dancers for an imposing spectacle. Painted icons towered over the rough-hewn set with the musicians and chorus lined up in the back all in black as if it were possible for them to be inconspicuous in their mass.

Robbins made the ballet for American Ballet Theatre in 1965 without having seen Nijinska’s production.  His “Les Noces” has the look of someone who studied old photographs and tried to imagine them three-dimensional and moving, but with his imagination helplessly caught in his own era.  Robbins himself said that if he had known that Nijinska’s ballet were able to be revived (The Royal Ballet brought it back one year later through Ashton’s championing) he would never have made his.  He was right; the Nijinska version is close to a perfect match for Stravinsky’s music and sadly for choreographers, there probably won’t be a need for another “Les Noces” for generations to come, if ever.

In the Line of “Coppélia” and “The Nutcracker”

“Leonce and Lena”
Aalto Ballett Theater Essen
Aalto Musiktheater
Essen, Germany
May 2, 2008

by Horst Koegler
copyright @ 2008 by Horst Koegler

At 39, Christian Spuck is the older one of Stuttgart´s tandem of resident choreographers – the other being Marco Goecke, born in 1972. Stuttgart can be happy to have two choreographers of such complimentary talents. Spuck, a product of the Stuttgart John Cranko School, joined the company in 1995, choreographing his first piece for the renowned Noverre matinees already one year later, then a  young man of 27. He is clearly the more intellectually programmed of the two, while Goecke, who hails from Wuppertal (but has nothing to do with Pina Bausch), is the more bodily minded one, starting as a choreographer at age 28. Today they are both regularly creating for their home company, but are in great demand in Germany and abroad – and they have both already worked with American companies, Spuck repeatedly with Hubbard II and Goecke with Peter Boal´s troupe.

Cries and Whispers

World Tour
“Bugaku,” “An American in Paris,” Valse Triste,” “The Chairman Dances,” “Russian Seasons”
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater, New York,
Saturday evening, May 10, 2008

by Tom Phillips
copyright 2008 by Tom Phillips

Wendy Whelan’s dancing has drawn many adjectives in her long and varied career; intense, dramatic, and weird are high among them, but I don’t recall her being described as erotic. That now goes on the list, after her performance with Albert Evans in Balanchine’s “Bugaku.” Making her debut in the sexually charged role originated by Allegra Kent, a role that’s been reduced to ho-hum pornography by others in recent years, Whelan restored some of the luster of a unique Balanchine masterpiece. She did it not by imitating anyone, but with her own weird assets – articulate joints, a mysterious gaze, an electric sense of timing, detached formalism and hidden fire.

Darkness up Close

Paul Taylor Dance Company
UMBC Theatre
University of Maryland – Baltimore County
May 10, 2008

by George Jackson
copyright 2008 by George Jackson

“Banquet of Vultures” is dark because of its topic and its lighting. When this piece was premiered at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC in 2005, I wasn’t able to see how utterly hopeless a view Paul Taylor had of history because my eyes couldn’t cut through the gloom of Jennifer Tipton’s illumination. Tonight, the Theatre at UMBC gave the entire audience a close up inspection. There are only 7 rows of seating, so even the last place in the house is practically on top of the big stage space - all of it very visible.  This isn’t a fancy theater, but what a venue for dance!

Robbins' Moonlit Meditation

SEASONS: "Watermill," "The Four Seasons"
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
New York, NY
May 2, 2008

by Susan Reiter
copyright © 2008 Susan Reiter

Some of New York City Ballet's programming, in this era of fixed programs, is forced and awkward, but the combining of these two completely different Jerome Robbins works does have an innate logic. In their extremely different ways -- "Four Seasons"(1979) is lively, colorful, uncomplicatedly entertaining, while "Watermill"(1972) is a contemplative exploration of stillness that demands intensely focused attentiveness -- they both employ the cycle of the seasons as a structural underpinning. But otherwise, they are so different that one has to remind oneself that Robbins created them within the same decade. And while "Four Seasons" is a proven program closer and showcase for breezy virtuosity that has found its place in the company's repertory, "Watermill," which banishes conventional ballet technique and requires extreme subtlety from its performers, makes highly infrequent appearances.

Still Looking Beyond Seventy-Five

San Francisco Ballet
“New Works Festival,” Part Two
April 22-May 6, 2008
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, California
by Rita Felciano

copyright © Rita Felciano, 2008

Given the task to create a piece for San Francisco Ballet’s New Works Festival, the culmination of the company’s 75th anniversary season, Val Caniparoli, Jorma Elo, Stanton Welch and Christopher Wheeldon chose to work with the pas de deux as their basic unit. No surprise here, given the role that the pas de deux has played in Classical Ballet. Audiences love them because they showcase dancers individually and suggest natural climaxes. Besides, everyone understands the difference between xx and xy. The drama is built in.

Two Guys from New York

Bernstein Collaborations
“Fancy Free,” “Dybbuk,” and “West Side Story Suite”

New York City Ballet
New York State Theater, New York
May 4, 2008

by Tom Phillips
Copyright 2008 by Tom Phillips

Sailors on leave were ubiquitous on the west side of Manhattan during World War Two, when “Fancy Free” had its premiere in 1944. Now they arrive en masse just once a year for Fleet Week, but the boys in white bell-bottoms and Dixie-cup hats are as welcome, as endearing, and as clueless as ever. These storm-tossed and battle-hardened youths don’t know where they are, or even who they are, and have no idea what to do in New York. So naturally they drift a few blocks from the docks to the cheap, smelly bars of Eighth Avenue, where they try their awkward bravado on random girls passing by, and are shielded from harm by the good will of a grateful nation, and the God who looks out for drunks.

Looking Beyond Seventy-Five—Part One

San Francisco Ballet
“New Works Festival,” Part One
War Memorial Opera House
San Francisco, California
April 22-May 6, 2008

by Rita Felciano
copyright © Rita Felciano, 2008

I have a modest proposal.  Let’s have a festival of new ballet with two restrictions: no pas de deux’s, and choreographers have to use the classical language that dancers spend so many years perfecting. The result might be quite different from the one produced by San Francisco Ballet’s New Works Festival which closed the company’s 75th anniversary season. The work might not be better; it most certainly would be different.

Symphonic Variations

"Symphony in C", "Symphony in Three Movements", and "Western Symphony"
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
New York, NY
May 3, 2008, matinee

by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill

One of the few-all Balanchine programs in this Robbins-fest season was also an all symphonic program, an immersion into Balanchine's astounding variety; three completely different responses to three different symphonies, all developed from the majestic geometry of the Russian classical ballet in which he grew up.  "Symphony in C" and "Western Symphony" both, in their different ways, acknowledge "Swan Lake", and "Symphony in C" had an eloquent evocation of the tragic atmosphere in the second movement's dancers, Sara Mearns and Charles Askegard.  They avoided the trick of over-dramatizing the steps (the final pose in the pas de deux was a simple, musical, pause in the movement, not the final flutterings of "The Dying, Gasping, Eventually Expiring Swan".  Mearns is a lush dancer, with a subtle sense of phrasing, and there were many simply glorious moments; one of my favorites was the series of grand battements, where she paused slightly with her leg up and leaned back onto the waiting Askegard, a sublime moment of perfect trust.

Robbins Festivities Begin with Brio

Spring Gala 2008: Jerome Robbins Celebration
"Circus Polka," "The Four Seasons," "West Side Story Suite"
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
New York, NY
April 29, 2008

by Susan Reiter
copyright © 2008 Susan Reiter

To launch the spring season's focus on Jerome Robbins, New York City Ballet offered an opening night that emphasized his flair for savvy entertainment. Many of his more profound and complex ballets will be seen in the course of the ten all-Robbins programs that dominate the schedule. This evening, while somewhat low-key for an opening gala, certainly made the case for Robbins' theatrical ingenuity. His confident mastery when it came to arranging and moving large groups with sheer inventiveness as well as maximum emotional impact was certianlyt on display. The program also featured performances by several of the company members (and one guest artist, Robert La Fosse) who had worked closely with the choreographer or have evidenced a special affinity for his repertory.