"Naive and Sentimental Music" and "Who Cares?"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 5, 2010
by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2010 by Mary Cargill
The New York City Ballet opened its Winter season with a program entitled, generically, "Tradition and Innovation", a general catchall title which can fit anything. There wasn't much innovation, but there was, one hopes, a new tradition established as Balanchine's "Who Cares?" included "Clap yo' hands", set to, not to Hersey Kay's glorious orchestrations, to but a gloriously scratchy 1926 recording of Gershwin at the piano. The choreography was last seen at the Balanchine Centennial, and then disappeared, and its return is I hope permanent.
But first the audience had to sit through Peter Martins' newest piece, first seen at the November gala, to some interminible music by John Adams. The gala gimmick was the the 45 minute piece was danced only by 26 principals, and the casting was basically the same, though Adrian Danching-Waring, a soloist, and Stephen Hanna, a guest, appeared this time. All that talent, but the choreography was so bland that it semed as if there hasn't been so uninteresting a group of principals gathered together since Omaha, Nebraska's regional school board convention of 1894. The women were dressed in pretty chiffon dresses, oone group in blue who did a lot of jumps, one group in white, who wafted around, and one group in red, who were apparently told to be sassy. The blue group included Jenifer Ringer, Jennie Somogyi, Janie Taylor, Ashley Bouder, Megan Fairchild, Abi Stafford, and Yvonne Borree, all distinctive and often distinguised dancers, who were assigned the same, dull steps, and who were usually impossible to recognize. The white group, Sara Mearns, Darci Kistler, and Maria Kowroski, were easier to identify, if only because there were fewer of them. Mearns had an interesting pad de deux with Jonathan Stafford, with an air of mystery, or at least it looked interesting when she did it--it looked less so when repeated by the other two.
"Who Cares?" on the other hand, is a glorious explosion of character expressed through choreography. It opens with a group of corps dancers like bubbles of pink champagne, followed by brief dances for a series of soloists. Sean Suozzi stood out for his loose-limbed enthusiasm, and Antonio Carmena for his gracious partnering; few dancers at NYCB focus on their partner like he does. The heart of the work is, as many have noted, structured like "Apollo", with one man dancing with three women. These were all debuts, and Robert Fairchild was lucky enough to partner Tiler Peck, Sterling Hyltin, and Ana Sophia Scheller. Peck danced the Patricia McBride role, and "The Man I Love" is, apparently, another role she will make her own. It was like reading a short story of a woman, lonely, then wary, and finally, ecstatically in love, all told through her body, without any exaggerated emoting. A simple walk, with her slightly stiff body, as if holding back her hopes, was extraordinarily moving, and then the soaring ending was triumphant. Fairchild was a sympathetic partner, and got his chance to shine in "Liza", and especially in "Clap Yo' Hands", where he did a nifty soft-shoe. Hyltin got the stairway to paradise, and while she is a bit light weight, danced with an infectious rhythm. Schller is almost too classical for the jazz baby role, though her turns were wonderfully secure and free. I don't know whether "Who Cares?" was supposed to be the tradition or the innovation, but it is a glorious revival.
copyright © 2010 by Mary Cargill
Photo: Charles Askegard and Maria Kowroski in "Naive and Sentimental Music"
