75th Anniversary Tribute to The School of American Ballet
"Serenade," "Tarantella," "The Four Temperaments," "Vienna Waltzes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater, New York
January 14, 2009
by Tom Phillips
Copyright 2009 by Tom Phillips
At 75, the School of American Ballet has outlived its founders, Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine, and even exceeded their vision. Founded as an academy to train American dancers for what would become New York City Ballet, it now trains dancers from all over the world in the Balanchine style, for companies all over America and the world. For the school’s anniversary, NYCB and SAB chief Peter Martins generously invited SAB alumni who have never danced with NYCB to perform lead roles in three of Balanchine’s classics. Whatever the intent, the effect was to show that the style and repertory invented for NYCB is now danced at least as well in the diaspora.
The evening’s first revelation was Misa Kuranaga of Boston Ballet, with an electric leaping entrance in “Serenade.” The smallest dancer on the stage, she commanded the scene as she led the Russian dance, gently guiding four other girls in intricate patterns under her arms, all on pointe. Pliant and expansive, Kuranaga seemed to grow to whatever height the figure required, lengthening through a broad upper torso. Patricia Delgado of Miami City Ballet was a fierce “dark angel” in the Elegy, exerting total control over her captive Craig Hall. Just before their final exit, she waved her arms behind him in a gesture as sinister as any Rothbart. But it was Kuranaga who captured the romantic aspect of the Elegy, with her dashing entrances and headlong leaps into the man’s arms.
Julie Diana of Pennsylvania Ballet produced a bit of pathos as the tragic heroine, especially at the end when she rolled over in Hall’s arms as if in a dying spasm. But she was too careful of herself in the famous tumble where her hair comes undone. Still, this was a superior “Serenade.” The NYCB corps seemed energized by their visitors and danced full out, like the enraptured students this masterpiece was made for.
I don’t think I’ve seen “Serenade” paired with “The Four Temperaments” on many programs, but these two Balanchine classics work well together. The abstract romanticism of “Serenade” prepares the way for the more severe modern abstraction of the Four T’s, in which characters are reduced to elements.
After a disciplined opening theme by six NYCB dancers, Lucien Postlewaite of Pacific Northwest Ballet ducked in for the Melancholic variation, showing the influence of his PNB mentor Peter Boal but not quite mastering the sinking feeling that Boal projected in the part. At times Postlewaite seemed more histrionic than depressed. Most convincing of the Four T’s was Damian Smith of San Francisco Ballet as Phlegmatic. He stared at his own upraised foot as if it were a lump of clay, and used his flexed hands to wall out the world, committed to some impenetrable introspection. Smith dances big; he was the dominant figure in the finale.
NYCB ended the evening by showing off its own SAB alumni in “Vienna Waltzes,” beginning with a lush romantic promenade in the woods for Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle. Mearns may be the most unabashedly romantic ballerina ever to dance with this company, and she is expanding her range every season. I’ve seen her thrilled, transported, mesmerized, etc. but never as she was in this opening movement – girlish and delighted, as she played hide and seek with her lover. Once known for her poker face, Mearns has now added a smile, as natural and winning as the rest of her considerable assets.
Megan Fairchild and Joaquin de Luz are a sweet, comfortable couple who sparkled individually in the balletic section that follows. Sterling Hyltin was irresistibly saucy in the “Explosions Polka,” partnered by Arch Higgins, the company clown, who has this leering, stomping romp down pat.
In its own glitzy way, “Vienna Waltzes” presents us with the Ages of Man: Jenifer Ringer introduced maturity as the widow of the Gold and Silver Waltz, but without losing a drop of the romantic perfume. And Darci Kistler gave us despair as the disoriented dancer of the grand ballroom, though she seemed more tipsy than existentially lost. It was Mearns and Angle who restored the wonder of the finale with her swooping, flying back bend on their entrance.
Also on the program was “Tarantella,” a test of speed and sparkle that was more than met by Daniel Ulbricht and guest artist Margaret Severin-Hansen from Carolina Ballet. Ulbricht, who always tries to outdo himself, whacked his tambourine so hard that it broke and the metal jingles spilled all over the floor. He shrugged, mugged, and went on with the show. Severin-Hansen, without seeming to stretch herself, made the rapid-fire beats and turns look like pure fun.
The evening was as festive as it gets at the David H. Koch Theater, newly furbished with satin seat covers. Hundreds of SAB alumni were in the audience, and a colorful, comprehensive photo exhibit adorned every wall, honoring the past, present and future of a priceless ballet institution.
Copyright 2009 by Tom Phillips
Photos by Paul Kolnik
top: Misa Kuranaga (left) and Patricia Delgado in "Serenade"
bottom: Margaret Severin-Hansen in "Tarantella"
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