Post card from New York

Our Sydney correspondent Geraldine Higginson has just had an inspiring time at the Lincoln Center.

 

Four shows in six days: each one a triple or quadruple-bill featuring a different line-up of works. I had never been to America before and this was the first time I had seen New York City Ballet (NYCB) live. All performances took place in the David H. Koch Theatre at the Lincoln Centre in New York between October 9 to14, 2018. The company danced mainly ensemble works, with some exquisite duets, and a bit of musical theatre thrown in for good measure. 

Given it is the 100th anniversary of Jerome Robbins’ birth, his ballets made up the bulk of the repertoire. But there were also a few by the late George Balanchine, two choreographed by NYCB’s former artistic director Peter Martins, and one each by Christopher Wheeldon and Alexei Ratmansky. The fourth performance was the last of NYCB’s Fall Season and also a Farewell Gala for much loved principal dancer – Joaquin de Luz.

Incidentally, the high proportion of Robbins’s works on show was well supported by a free exhibition called Voice of My City: Jerome Robbins and New York, located at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and just a hop, step and a jump from the David H. Koch Theatre where NYCB was performing. I can confirm that Robbins was one of those annoying people who are seemingly good at everything - from dancing and choreography, to drawing, painting, writing AND producing some of the most extraordinarily creative journals I have ever seen. A hexagonal threat perhaps?!

Seriously though, it was a well put-together exhibition that gave you a sense of Robbins as a creative force with so much to say that ideas flowed out of his mind, through and across a wide range of artistic practices. I particularly liked the use of old-fashioned film projection techniques to display recorded footage of his works. In some exhibits the film was projected from behind onto semi-upright slabs of frosted glass, and in this way the performances seemed to live again in a way reflective of memories and how they replay in our own minds. I don’t believe such an effect could have been facilitated by flat screen digital technology.

I must add a disclaimer here that I saw many of these shows through heavily lidded eyes as I was still (regretfully) suffering the effects of jetlag some days after my arrival, so you can take these impressions with a pinch of salt. This is a relatively informal piece of writing and not a "review" in the traditional sense. Nonetheless, these were my highlights.

Pulcinella Variations. Choreography: Justin Peck. Performed on 9th October by NYCB. Cast members mentioned: Sara Mearns, Brittany Pollack, Daniel Applebaum

NYCB dancer Justin Peck’s version is an essentially plotless response to the music. He clearly understands the complex rhythmic and dynamic impulses of Stravinsky’s score – sometimes choosing to make visual the subtler undercurrents within the music. And what music it is! This is not your typical Stravinsky composition – there is something of the baroque, but it sounds different – more vibrant and real than baroque music ever was. In Stravinsky’s own words, and as printed in the free program for this performance.

“Pulcinella was my discovery of the past, the epiphany through which the whole of my late work became possible. It was a backward look, of course – the first of many love affairs in that direction – but it was a look in the mirror, too.”
- Igor Stravinsky

Tsumori Chisato’s costumes were incredibly colourful, with visual references to early 20th century abstraction and the commedia dell’arte themes of the story ballet this score was initially composed for. The cast were all good but I particularly admired Sara Mearns and Brittany Pollack. Daniel Applebaum moved with a soft cat-like grace and ease of movement that was especially striking, and was promoted to soloist in a raft of promotions announced by NYCB several days later.

This Bitter Earth. Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon. Performed on 9th October by NYCB. Cast: Teresa Reichlen, Ask la Cour

Danced by Teresa Reichlen and Ask la Cour, this duet was sensitively and eloquently performed. Christopher Wheeldon has an eye for lines and shapes which are a little out of the ordinary but still eminently classical in their effect. There was a purity and understated honesty about Teresa Reichlen’s movement in particular that gave the theatre a profound, reverential atmosphere usually associated with the church. A reverence for her own craft that inspired reverence in the viewer perhaps…

Afternoon of a Faun. Choreography: Jerome Robbins. Performed on 13th October by NYCB. Cast: Sterling Hyltin, Joseph Gordon

I have seen this work before, but as it was danced by Sterling Hyltin and Joseph Gordon on this occasion I saw it through new eyes. Steeped as they are in the works of Balanchine and Robbins, maybe you haven’t really "seen" these works until you’ve seen them performed by NYCB?

Sterling Hyltin – stepping on and off stage on pointe in a walk that should have looked awkward but didn’t, had an exquisitely dream-like Faun in Joseph Gordon. A soloist at the time of this performance, he was promoted to principal shortly afterwards.

Other Dances. Choreography: Jerome Robbins. Performed on 13th October by NYCB. Cast: Ashley Bouder, Gonzalo Garcia

This was spirited, playful and fun. Ashley Bouder and Gonzalo Garcia bounced off each other with a ‘joie de vivre’ that felt spontaneous and unpredictable. The lifts felt slightly dangerous, as if both dancers were pushing their physicality to the max and taking risks which may or may not work out perfectly. On this occasion it did work, and was immensely exciting to watch as a result.

Originally choreographed on Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov, this duet has a humorously competitive side to it – presenting two dancers at the top of their game dancing both with and against each other in a constant state of one upmanship. Bouder and Garcia made it sing.

The Prodigal Son. Choreography: George Balanchine. Performed by NYCB on 13th October. Cast members mentioned: Daniel Ulbricht – The Prodigal Son, Teresa Reichlen – The Siren, Aaron Sanz – Father

George Rouault’s Fauvist designs for the scenery and costumes are iconic, and from a historical point of view they are a capsule of and a window back into the incredibly creative designs of the Ballets Russes. But I am in two minds about the design elements of this work. While it provides two great roles and some dramatic pas de deux for both a female and a male dancer – the Prodigal Son and the Siren - at some level it feels quite dated and overblown.

I love the Siren’s costume – her red jewelled leotard with the short white pleated skirt (not unlike the female dancer’s costume in Balanchine’s Rubies) crowned with a headpiece that really helps to assert the Siren’s dominance over the Prodigal Son. This costume accentuated the substantial disparity in height between Teresa Reichlen and Daniel Ulbricht which fit in with the parable of him being seduced – helpless before her. But the costume for the Father (played here by Aaron Sanz) was almost comical. He looked positively villainous, a cross between Saruman from The Lord of the Rings movie and the original Koschei from Fokine’s The Firebird. No wonder the Prodigal Son ran away.

West Side Story Suite. Choreography: Jerome Robbins. Performed on 13th October by NYCB. Cast members mentioned: Peter Walker – Tony, Mimi Staker – Maria, Georgina Pazcoguin – Anita, Alec Knight – Jets Ensemble

While Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story choreography dates back to 1957, this summarised staging of the full-length work was first put together for NYCB by Jerome Robbins in 1995. It still looks and feels fresh. The way the singers were positioned during numbers ensured they did not pull attention away from their dancer counterparts, and NYCB’s female dancers looked as at home in chorus shoes as they do on pointe. Georgina Pazcoguin as Anita sang and danced her part in ‘I Like to be in America’ with the requisite sass and verve, while Mimi Staker and Peter Walker performed their central roles as the lovers with tenderness and care. Australian dancer Alec Knight could be seen onstage ‘keeping it cool’ as one of the Jets and performing the stylised jazz routines with apparent ease.

(For more on Aussie NYCB dancer Alec Knight see www.abc.net.au/7.30 and here.

Concerto Barocco. Choreography: George Balanchine. Performed on 14th October by NYCB. Cast members mentioned: Arturo Delmoni, Nicolas Daniels, Teresa Reichlen, Abi Stafford, Russel Janzen

This is an absolutely beautiful work – elegant, gracious and refined, with an over-arching structural harmony. I have named all the soloists who performed this work above because while Concerto Barocco draws focus to the work, rather than the dancers performing it - the dancers should be applauded for their role in making this happen.

In skirted white leotards, the Balanchine technique was on full display. Quiet pointe-work. Over-crossed retires and fifth positions on pointe that accentuated the heels sticking out either side – like two loops of a tied bow ribbon. A pointed weight-bearing foot was always extending towards the ground and rarely, if ever, crunched up against it. In most cases it never stayed in one position long enough to do so. And between releves, the heels stay off – there is no attempt to press them into the ground in preparation for the next movement.

Stretched, elongated bodies – always ‘up’ but without any apparent tension. Leg extensions that appear light and easy. The curtsy goes over rather than up and down, with the ball of the back foot pressing against the ground to create a pronounced demi-pointe.

(See New York Times critic Alastair Macaulay’s analysis of this work from April 2018 here)

A Suite of Dances. Choreography: Jerome Robbins. Performed on 14th October by NYCB. Cast: Joaquin de Luz – soloist, Ann Kim – cellist

Playful, generous and humble. This was how Joaquin de Luz came across in his performance of A Suite of Dances. Like Other Dances this work was also choreographed on Mikhail Baryshnikov and there are some similarities. But whereas in Other Dances the two bounce off each other, here the soloist has only himself and a cellist on-stage. The humour comes out of an alternating acknowledgement of and irreverence for his own virtuosity. It is also a test of stamina.

At one-point Joaquin turned the cellist with his hands upraised in a good-natured unanswered question. “Why do you keep playing?” he seemed to say, “I’m tired and I need a rest!” But the cellist kept playing and he kept dancing with a seemingly playful abandon, until the work was done.

Curtain Call – Joaquin de Luz Farewell. 14th October.

There’s something rather odd about attending a Farewell Gala for a dancer you aren’t very familiar with. Nonetheless, the obvious and affection and regard with which he is held by fellow dancers and passionate audience goers was palpable, and not just in the Farewell Gala, but in his last performances leading up to it. Calls of “Joaquin, Joaquin…” and the other dancers pushing him forward and applauding him themselves were an honest expression of their regard prior to the Gala. Joaquin de Luz’s final curtain call was heart-warming and extravagantly theatrical. Almost a performance in itself, I have chosen to include it alongside the other ballets because I think it deserves to be here.

One by one, a steady stream of dancers walked onstage to hug Joaquin, give him flowers (which he added to the growing pile onstage in front of him) and then to join the growing crowd upstage, applauding all the while. Memorable appearances included Maria Kowroski, who jokingly wrapped one of her long legs around him as if she wasn’t going to let him go, to the statuesque Teresa Reichlen who briefly lifted him right off the ground during her embrace. Injured dancer (Adrian Danchig-Waring I believe) made his way across the stage on crutches and with a rose between his teeth, while fellow Spaniard Gonzalo Garcia brought a Spanish flag with which the two briefly enacted an improvised matador and bull routine. Frequent partner Megan Fairchild, who is currently on maternity leave, came on to present flowers of her own, and Joaquin did a Flamenco style dance with his mother. The confetti showered down, and as the curtain rose and fell Joaquin de Luz took to his knees and kissed the stage.

(Link to video footage of the curtain call – in sequential order – Alastair Macaulay’s instagram)
here
here
here

Perhaps this farewell was simply one more in a time-honoured tradition of City Ballet farewells. Perhaps it was the distinctly hybrid result of Mediterranean warmth and temperament along with an American predilection for heart on your sleeve style sentimentality. Or perhaps it was a relief simply to have something to celebrate without reserve. NYCB has had a rough year with some bad press.

Long-time Artistic Director Peter Martins resigned earlier this year and the company is currently being run by an interim Artistic team while the search for a new director continues. More recently, NYCB has been having its own #MeToo moment. Just weeks before the Fall season opened, NYCB was rocked by claims of institutionalised impropriety by former SAB student Alexandra Waterbury and is currently the subject of a lawsuit brought on by Miss Waterbury. Three principal male dancers were fired as a result and two of them are currently suing for wrongful dismissal. Watch this space.

- GERALDINE HIGGINSON