Dancers’ Choice: A Benefit Performance for the Dancers’ Emergency Fund
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
New York, NY
June 27, 2008
by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2008 by Leigh Witchel
New York City Ballet revived its Dancers’ Emergency Fund benefit with a
twist; it’s now “Dancers’ Choice,” a night when the dancers get to pick
the repertory and casting, showing us what they love to do and what
they wish they were doing. Peter Martins put the project in the hands
of principal dancer Jonathan Stafford, who turned to the other dancers
for assistance. Together they handled most aspects of production,
including the great idea of popular pricing (top price for a ticket was
$45.) It was a long but rewarding evening – marked by numerous debuts,
but made longer as Stafford hasn’t made enough curtain speeches yet to
know to keep them brief. At Martins’ suggestion Stafford programmed
from NYCB’s repertory rather than outside of it, and included ballets
works by Martins and Christopher Wheeldon that haven’t been seen in
recent years as well as repertory staples by Balanchine and Robbins.
The evening opened with a finale; the end of “Rubies” led by Ashley Bouder and Daniel Ulbricht. He was at his best in huge jumps while leading the men or gradually speeding into a whirl as he exited turning. But he’s also the same height as Bouder and has trouble partnering her – and Bouder’s not tall. She has already done the ballet several times this season and danced it pert, but full throttle; her turns also were a blur. Rather than being a vamp, Ellen Bar danced the second ballerina loosely, almost goofily but she's the kind of beauty who doesn’t have to act sexy to be sexy.
Martins’ “Purple” is part of a series of ballets he did in the 80s to Michael Torke’s brassy, Sondheim-ish music. Janie Taylor and Craig Hall danced a duet taken from it that looked as if the partnering details had not been ironed out. Andrew Veyette performed the male solo from “Square Dance.” He has developed as a dancer, but this showed what makes him a Martins dancer: he substitutes punch for legato. Teresa Reichlen took a shot at the Sicilienne variation from “Emeralds.” An interesting exercise but it’s not for her; unusually she even had some trouble with the footwork. She’s more at home in “Rubies.” A sextet from “Dances at a Gathering” had more successful casting, both expected and unexpected. Amanda Hankes got to do the girl in mauve and matched the emotional shadings of the Chopin; she was one of the hidden gems of the night. Rachel Rutherford moved from mauve into the role in pink, which is far more congenial for her.
Even when not presented as an excerpt, the “Akhnaten” section of “Glass Pieces” has seemed like a finale in search of a ballet. It does let you see a lot of dancers; among the men, Daniel Applebaum caught one’s eye. He’s tall and long limbed, slightly quirky but energetic and committed. The pièce d’occasion of the evening came after the intermission “Flit of Fury – The Monarch” was a new ballet by Adam Hendrickson to percussive music for two pianos by corps de ballet member Aaron Severini. The ballet is for four men (Robert Fairchild, David Prottas, Allen Peiffer and Sean Suozzi) who stay onstage in a tight community and Gretchen Smith, who comes and goes – but she returns to dance a duet with Suozzi.
The ballet was preceded by a film. Spearheaded by Kristin Sloan, a corps de ballet member who recently retired to become the Director for New Media, the films helped to connect the audience to what’s onstage. It wasn’t just the explanations and the words. We’ve been raised on television and music videos, and now Youtube. The film was exciting, but it also gave a different impression of the ballet than what was actually there, because it was edited to look good on film. Audiences are used to video jump cuts and three minute lengths. The danger comes when people equate the films with the ballets instead of as derivative. What happens when ballets are danced to reflect this? It can’t be stopped, any more than reinforcing the beams of a house doesn’t stop the fact that the foundation is shifting underneath it.
In the film, Hendrickson said was he was worried he about making someone else’s ballet. He wasn’t being fair to himself; imitation happens before synthesis and that step has to be there. I’m more surprised at whom he seemed to be imitating. Hendrickson’s emotions are less veiled (Suozzi crashes to the floor and curls up in Smith’s arms as she supports him) but he’s learning how to choreograph from the generation before his own and that’s no longer Balanchine. It’s Martins’ vocabulary, his perpetuum mobile structure and forceful attack that one sees in the shadows.
Martins was represented again, this time by one of most atypical works, an uncommonly pleasant pas de deux he originally made for Kyra Nichols and Adam Lüders, “Beethoven Romance.” Sara Mearns turned in a best-in-show performance partnered by Stephen Hanna and proved herself to have ballerina material: a lush, ripe presence with a sense of an inner life, gorgeous footwork and musicality. Every performance she gives should only build on this. [Update - 7/2/08: Mearns was promoted to principal dancer the following day.]
Savannah Lowery tore into the “MacDonald of Sleat” section of “Union Jack” – Balanchine’s version of a perpetuum mobile. The rawness of the dance accompanied only by rolling drums looked good on her. Troy Schumacher gave a fine and unaffected performance of the men’s regiment in “Stars and Stripes.” It suited him but he’s in line behind several shorter pyrotechnicians for whom this role is a mainstay of their repertory. There aren’t enough performances to go around. The corps behind him contained a few new apprentices and the tours looked a bit shaky at the end.
Abi Stafford took Miranda Weese’s part in Wheeldon’s “Mercurial Manoeuvres” and added interesting and delicate touches. One of her best moments was after all the motion of her duet with Tyler Angle, when Wheeldon pulled back and had the two of them just stand there, slightly winded from the exertion, and take the measure of one another. Then she leapt into his Angle’s arms and remained there suspended.
We were voyeurs in a second film “When we were Kids” as we watched the dancers watching childhood videos of themselves dancing. Christian Tworzyanski and Mearns competed at about age 10 looking like Bedazzled Tyroleans. Footage from Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet showed both Staffords dancing and perhaps the most poignant comments. Jonathan: “I hope I’ve gotten better.” Abi: “I think I peaked then.”
The evening ended with the finale of finales, “Symphony in C.” Tiler Peck might be able to do the turns in her sleep by now; unfortunately the second movement reprise was not so comfortable for Rebecca Krohn. She’s not a tutu dancer and the turns just weren’t happening. But Jared Angle, who ordinarily has the most benign onstage temperament, suddenly woke up in the first movement reprise with Sterling Hyltin and spun through brilliant multiple pirouettes and explosive jumps. Giving the dancers a night where they ran the show was good for morale, and if everything wasn’t a success, nobody lost out in the attempt.
copyright © 2008 by Leigh Witchel
Photos by Paul Kolnik:
Top: Sara Mearns and Stephen Hanna in “Beethoven Romance”
Bottom: Robert Fairchild, Allen Peiffer, Sean Suozzi and David Prottas in “Flit of Fury – The Monarch”
