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Looking Backwards

"Ballet Imperial", "The Dream"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 26, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

ABT’s “Ballet Imperial”, familiar to New York audiences as NYCB’s “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2”, uses scenery and costumes based on the original Rouben Ter-Arutunian designs for the 1964 NYCB revival of the 1941 ballet when it was still Imperial (the glimpse of old Russia in the background and the elaborate tutus were replaced in 1973 by a plain backdrop and chiffon shifts).  1964 was also the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, and the great British choreographer helped celebrate it with his version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, a one-act condensation set to Mendelssohn’s 1842 incidental music composed for the play.  Ashton’s ballet often looks back to the Romantic ballet of the period, with delicate footwork, tilted torsos—four fairies even give us a glimpse of the famous “Pas de Quatre” pose.  But Balanchine and Ashton were not choreographing simple pastiches, and both ballets have a timeless beauty,  with choreography rooted in the past but always fresh.

ABT in Frederick Ashton's "The Dream" photo © Rosalie O'Connor.

Dessert First

"Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2", "Apollo", "La Sonnambula"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 8 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

In a late shift, NYCB switched the program’s order and opened with “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2” instead of closing with glorious exploration of Petipa—it was like having dessert before the main meal of “Apollo” and “La Sonnambula” but it was delicious all the same.  Unfortunately, the costume gremlins have been working on “Tschaikovsky” in 2019 new costumes by Marc Happel appeared, laden with crystals.  (Like the program note for “Symphony in C”, Swarovski is credited for supporting the new costumes—does someone in the costume department have shares in a rhinestone mine?)  The blue-grey tones blend with the background and, like the previous costumes, the corps, soloists, and principals are all dressed in the same color; so much for Balanchine’s salute to hierarchy.  The only difference is that the corps have fewer crystals, but the heavily encrusted bodices of the principals make the floaty chiffon of the skirts look unfinished, as if the dancers put their tops on over their slips.

Mira Nadon in Apollo photo © Erin Baiano

Old Masters

"Concerto Barocco", "Prodigal Son", "Symphony in C"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 7, evening 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

The works danced on this program are some of the oldest in the company’s repertoire—Balanchine choreographed the youngest one, “Symphony in C”, in 1947.  They were also all originally created for other companies;  “Concerto Barocco”, 1941 for American Ballet Caravan, an early Balanchine company, “Prodigal Son”, 1929, for the Diaghilev company, and “Symphony in C”, with the poetic title “Le Palais de Cristal”, for the Paris Opera Ballet.  Only “Prodigal Son” is danced with the original designs, and the heavy, odd choreography seems wedded to Georges Rouault’s Futurist designs.  “Concerto Barocco” too originally had elaborate sets and costumes (designed by Eugene Berman) but these were later dropped for practice clothes. (This was not an esthetic decision, more a lucky accident, since Berman didn’t think the sets were constructed properly and withdrew his permission.)  Each movement of “Le Palais de Cristal” originally it own jewel color, and idea which obviously Balanchine reused, but when he set “Symphony in C” on his American company, there weren’t enough dancers, and everyone was in white so the corps could appear in different sections, so the white explosion of the finale that we see today is due to earlier staffing shortages.

Westward Ho

"Western Symphony", "The Unanswered Question", "Tarantella", "Stars and Stripes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 3, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

The bright, generally upbeat program of Balanchine works choreographed to American music was conducted with a brisk, precise, and infectious verve by Andrews Sills, who made the folk songs of “Western Symphony” and the familiar marches of John Philip Sousa used in “Stars and Stripes” seem irresistibly fresh and infectiously bouncy.

Roman Mejia in "Western Symphony" photo © Erin Baiano

Variety Show

"Bourrée Fantasque", "Agon", "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 30, matinee 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

There were a number of debuts in the strikingly varied all-Balanchine program which started with “Bourree Fantasque” a light-hearted and rarely seen bonne bouche, followed by the rigorous black and white “Agon” and ended with a trip to Broadway in “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue”.  “Bourree Fantasque”, choreographed in 1949 to music by the French Romantic Emmanuel Chabrier is a somewhat uneasy mixture of comedy, romance, and virtuosity, as if the commedia dell'arte  dancers of “Dances Concertantes” decided to crash the party that the “La Valse” dancers were having and turn it into a fun free-for-all.  It has chic but somewhat dated costumes by Karinska; the men all wear black berets, looking like animated advertisements for Gauloises and the women carry fans and wear  long black lace gloves and either short fluffy tutus or pale Romantic skirts with an overlay of black lace, so redolent of the New Look.

Sara Mearns in "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" photo © Paul Kolnik