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Math 101: Cheap seats=packed houses

"Red Angels", "Sonatas and Interludes", "In Creases", "A Fool for You"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
May 29, 2013

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2013 by Mary Cargill

In its unceasing and understandable efforts to attract a new (young and hip) audience, NYCB offered an evening of $29 seats, selling out almost immediately.  The atmosphere was fresh and excited, and the applause was enthusiastic.  Whether this will translate into permanent fans is as yet unknown, but seat prices are certainly an obstacle.  The audience was given a modern program--that is, no Balanchine or 19th century music, and a New York premiere, the young choreographer Justin Peck's "In Creases", to piano music by Philip Glass.  Peck himself, with one of the dancers (Gretchen Smith) came out to introduce the work, explaining that it had something to do with magnatism and attraction.  (I forget the details.) 

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
Mary 28, 2013

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2013 by Mary Cargill

The first glimpse that New York had of Natalia Osipova came during the Bolshoi tour of 2005, when she burst out of the corps with her flying jumps and engaging personality.  I wrote at the time that it she seemed to have turned up at the Bolshoi school one day with a note around her neck saying "Hello, my name is Kitri".  Apparently, the Bolshoi agreed, and Kitri became one of her most frequently performed roles.  She and her frequent partner Ivan Vasiliev danced it yet again with ABT, and it appears that familiarity has bred a bit of contempt, as they tore through the choreography with energy and strength, but little feeling.

Balanchine on stage

“Nikolai and the Others”
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Lincoln Center
New York, NY
May 15, 2013

by Leigh Witchel
copyright © 2013 by Leigh Witchel

As time goes on, Balanchine is becoming more and more part of history rather than the present. The number of people who actually knew and worked with him dwindles. Those who knew him at anything other than at the height of his power and influence are down to a handful.

He's inspired a few fictionalizations. On his centennial in 2004 New York City Ballet gave him the Worst 100th Birthday Present Ever, “Musagète,” the Eifmanization of his life into an unrecognizable, incoherent ballet.

Richard Nelson's “Nikolai and the Others” helps rehabilitate the literary portrayal of his genius with a researched, respectful portrait of the artist among a community of Russian emigrés.

Harsh World

"Blush"
Gallim
BAM Fisher Center
Brooklyn, NY
May 22, 2013

By Martha Sherman
Copyright © 2013 by Martha Sherman

There was nothing rosy about Andrea Miller’s “Blush.” It was all black and white. In this harshly physical, but ultimately confusing piece about pushing limits, both physical and in relations, the black box stage of BAM Fisher was taped with a strict white boundary like a corral for the dancers. Their white-chalked skin was bound into odd diaper-like black costumes, and it wasn’t until the dancers had rubbed their bodies raw that the audience saw flesh tones, the pink-red of their rough endeavors. The powerful performers of Miller’s Gallim Dance were sometimes lit in yellow or pink spotlights through misted air, but the effect wasn’t a blush. It was ghoulish, not girlish.

Evening with the Masters

"Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes", "A Month in the Country", "Symphony in C"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 21 and May 22 matinee, 2013

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2013 by Mary Cargill

ABT took a brief break from its three-act warhorses to present an intriguing triple bill, sandwiching its premiere of Sir Frederick Ashton's delicate chamber ballet "A Month in the Country" between two different takes on white ballets, Mark Morris' witty romp through some piano pieces of Virgil Thompson and Balanchine's classical bouquet "Symphony in C".  "A Month in the Country" is based on the Turgenev play, "free adapted" as the program note says.  Ashton simplified and concentrated the action, eliminating some characters, but, like the play, the ballet explores the complexity of the human heart, showing the disasterous consequences of passion on a wealthy Russian country family.

Onegin at ABT

"Onegin"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 15, 2013

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2013 by Carol Pardo

John Cranko’s "Onegin" stands or falls on the performances of its Onegin and Tatiana, and at this performance, the task, and the chance for glory, was handed to David Hallberg and Hee Seo. Seo, American Ballet Theatre’s newest principal, is also touted its newest dramatic ballerina, proving it twice here. At the end of the duel, she faced down Onegin, her spine straight, her gaze unwavering and implacable, for what seemed like minutes. And one knew at that moment—perhaps an act too soon—that she would reject Onegin in the end. When that moment finally arrived during the final pas de deux, she needed only one gesture of the arms, reaching toward the heavens as if seeking divine guidance, to convey the conflict between adolescent passion rekindled and the call of duty, respect, affection and contentment.

A Family Affair

"Homme/Animal"
Vendetta Mathea & Company
Dance New Amsterdam
New York, NY
May 14, 2013

By Martha Sherman
Copyright © 2013 by Martha Sherman

Whether in choreography or therapy, exploring big themes for years doesn't always leads to startling insight. Often, it just leads to more exploration. Vendetta Mathea has been “examining the foundations of human nature” for a long time; in the current version of “Homme/Animal,” her findings are passionate, but muddy. The Detroit-born choreographer, who has lived and worked in France for 30 years, has created a small, tightly knit dance troupe  that includes her own children. The company moves powerfully and meshes beautifully, but the dance roamed in a random mix of choreographic styles to a score that bounced between noise and drumbeat, with some chants occasionally mixed in.

Symphonic Variations

"Onegin" excerpt, "Cortège", "Le Corsaire" pas de deux, "Symphony #9", "Sylvia" hunt scene, "Apothéose", "The Sleeping Beauty" Act III pas de deux, "Symphony in C"
American Ballet Theatre
Spring Gala
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2013 by Mary Cargill

ABT's Spring gala was more substantial than the usual parade of pas de deux, clocking in at almost three hours, with one intermission, and including two complete works, the new Ratmansky "Symphony #9" and the old Balanchine "Symphony in C".  Both of these have gala-friendly casting, allowing many principals to dance in roles that show them off.  The other principal dancers (with the exception of Natalia Osipova, who was injured and replaced by Xiomara Reyes in her scheduled "Corsaire" and Irina Dvorovenko, who was hoofing it in the Encores production of "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue", got their chance in various excerpts.

All in the Family

"The Ulysses Syndrome"
Jonah Bokaer
Florence Gould Hall
French Institute/Alliance française
New York, NY
May 9, 2013

By Carol Pardo
Copyright ©2013 by Carol Pardo

Jonah Bokaer is a man of many parts, a co-founder of the artists’ organization Chez Bushwick, student of the use of technology in dance, a former dancer with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and a compelling performer in his own right. But he is also a son, grandson and member of a large family with Welsh, Italian, Jewish and Tunisian roots. His Tunisian heritage is the subject of "The Ulysses Syndrome," a seventy-five minute long work (which felt longer) given its American premiere as part of the World Nomads Tunisia festival. Its other subject is the sense of dislocation and isolation experienced by immigrants, also called The Ulysses Syndrome (but without quotes).  The two come together in the story of the choreographer’s 71-year-old father, Tsvi Bokaer, a screenwriter whose journey has taken him from Tunisia to France, to California (in 1965), and to Ithaca, New York now.

Something for Everyone

“Soirée Musicale,” “A Place for Us,” “Cool (from “West Side Story Suite”),” “Glass Pieces (excerpt),” “The Man I Love” (from “Who Cares”),” “Stars and Stripes” (“Fourth and Fifth Campaigns”)”
New York City Ballet
Spring Gala
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
May 8, 2013

By Michael Popkin
Copyright © 2013 by Michael Popkin


New York City Ballet’s spring gala program had two audiences, and worked for both of them.  The glittering assembly present for the after-the-performance soirée got a brief appearance by Queen Latifah, who served up a powerful rendition of  “The Man I Love” from “Who Cares” alongside Balanchine’s familiar choreography.  And in lieu of dinner, two new ballets by Christopher Wheeldon provided substantial fare for the ballet aficionados.  Dance excerpts from two Robbins ballets and “Stars and Stripes” mediated between the two.