Wheeldon's World

There are ballet galas, and then there are ballet galas curated by Christopher Wheeldon (he was given an OBE in 2016). As part of the Paax/GNP Festival (Paax translates as ‘music,’ GNP is an insurance company), which was held from June 26 to July 7 at Hotel Xcaret Arte in Cancún, Mexico, “Wheeldon’s World,” seen on June 30 by this writer, featured live music conducted by festival director Alondra de la Parra. And oh, what a world it was!

Performance

Ballet Gala at Paax/GNP Festival of Music and Dance: Mixed bill, including choreography by Christopher Wheeldon and Paul McGill

Place

Hotel Xcaret Arte, Cancún, Mexico, June 30, 2024

Words

Victoria Looseleaf

Christopher Wheeldon, festival director Alondra de la Parra (centre) and cast at “Wheeldon's World” gala at Paax/GNP Festival of Music and Dance, Cancún, Mexico. Photograph by Oscar Turco

A combination of classics and the choreographer’s own work, as well as a world premiere by Paul McGill, the concert, held in the gorgeous Salón Diego of the posh resort, was notable not only for the stellar dancers, but for its large group of onstage musicians. Collectively known as La Orquesta Imposible—aka, the Impossible Orchestra—its 100 members came from 20 countries and also included a number of fine soloists.

Beginning with the always popular, “Diamonds” excerpt from Balanchine’s “Jewels,” New York City Ballet principal Unity Phelan (she replaced an injured Sara Mearns), and National Ballet of Canada principal, Ben Rudisin, wowed with every step. Set to Tchaikovsky’s Andante from his Symphony No. 3, with the haunting bassoon theme played by Virya Quesada setting the tone, the pair, a study in sumptuous lines, proved an ideal match: He supported her waist with one arm before Phelan deployed a grand port de bras that flowed effortlessly into a commanding backbend. This was delicacy—and devotion—squared.

Wheeldon’s ballroom pas de deux from the second act of his 2013 story ballet, “Cinderella,” set to music of Prokofiev, was a potpourri of airy lifts and über-Romanticism. Danced by National Ballet of Holland principals Anna Tsygankova and Giorgi Potskhishvili, the emotions and elegance of Cinderella and her Prince radiated throughout the theater.

Anna Tsygankova and Giorgi Potskhishvili performed an excerpt from Christopher Wheeldon's “Cinderella” at “Wheeldon's World” gala. Photograph by Daniela Enlaluna

Another standout: “This Bitter Earth,” from Wheeldon’s “Five Movements, Three Repeats” (2012), makes terrific use of Dinah Washington’s soulful performance of the title tune (composed by Clyde Otis and heard on tape), juxtaposed with Max Richter’s elegiac, six-minute study in minimalism, “On the Nature of Daylight.”

Bavarian State Ballet principals Madison Young and Jakob Feyferlik took advantage of the deeply moving lyrics (“Today you are young, too soon you’re old…”) and Wheeldon’s expressive choreography to lay bare their emotions, while the composer’s plaintive, arpeggiated strings also resonated.

Having been featured in films such as Shutter Island and Arrival, the score proved a perfect backdrop to the dance: Feyferlik a master partner, his attentive, yet rigorous posturing beautifully showcasing Young’s dramatic presence, all angled and muscular, yet somehow infused with a beseeching quality. This brief but exquisite duet could be a prayer for humanity, something much needed in these trying times.

Robbie Fairchild and Lauren Lovette perform an excerpt from Christopher Wheeldon's “Mercurial Manoeuvres.” Photograph by Daniela Enlaluna

Wheeldon’s “Mercurial Manoeuvres” (2000), created to the lento movement of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings, featured former City Ballet principals Robbie Fairchild and Lauren Lovette creating an aura of longing, along with a bounty of pirouettes, with trumpeter Manuel Blanco and pianist Lilit Grygoryan doing solo musical honors.

The pair also proved potent in Wheeldon’s duet from his 2002 “Carousel (a Dance).” Distilling Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 classic musical to a pair of tunes, “The Carousel Waltz” and “If I Loved You,” the work evoked the “dream ballets” that populated that era’s musicals.

Lovette, her hair loose and flowing, and Fairchild, bedecked in a red Billy Bigelow-type bandana (costumes courtesy of San Francisco Ballet), injected the dance, an impressionistic study of beauty, with romance and drama, beginning with cautious caresses and building to audacious lifts, tosses and, yes, swoony waltz moves. Then, the ever canny Wheeldon, had the couple sit and face the orchestra, drinking in the rich melodies and fine playing, also showcasing de la Parra’s accomplished musicianship. (That they had known each other for years was evident: After Wheeldon left City Ballet in 2007 and founded his own troupe, Morphoses, and she had her own ensemble, the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas—POA—the two groups often performed together.)

Moving from Wheeldon’s choreography to the work of Paul McGill, a Broadway actor and choreographer, his latest, “Acts 9:18,” based on the New Testament verse of the same name, made the iconic Adagio sostenuto movement of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2—again adroitly performed by Grygoryan—a glimpse into a dream. Phelan, entering the stage walking backwards, meets Rudisin before letting her hair down, the action a prelude to executing the swiftest of bourrées.

Their simple flesh-colored costumes, adorned with sequined hearts (aortic valves and all), were complemented by unison moves, precise and buoyant, which gave momentum to the work that, this writer was told, was put together in four days.

Marianela Nuñez and William Bracewell perform the pas de deux from “The Sleeping Beauty.” Photograph by Santiago Lanzagorta

No ballet gala is complete without fan favorites, and this one proved no different: Petipa’s pas de deux from “The Sleeping Beauty,” set to Tchaikovsky, featured the brilliant—and tender—coupling of principals from the Royal Ballet, Marianela Nuñez and William Bracewell. Accompanied by swelling strings, the duet was replete with numerous fish dives (appropriate for this seaside town), and also proved a portrait in unfurling limbs, dreamy lines and bravura balancing. A most regal couple, each soared in their own variations: Nuñez, smooth as silk; Bracewell’s cabrioles an awesome sight.

The Act II pas de deux of “Giselle” with choreography by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli, and hummable music by Adolphe Adam, was a lovely showcase for Young and Feyferlik, with violist Karen Foster doing soloist duty. A luminous Young offered filigreed fingers and languid extensions, all prologue to her quick jumps and rapid takeoffs into the air, while Feyferlik comported himself with aplomb, his variations compelling.

Also compelling—thrilling, actually—was the performance by Tsygankova and Potskhishvili in the famous Act III duet from Petipa’s “Don Quixote” (1869). The ballet itself may be a study in peculiarity, but it does feature a cavalcade of footwork fireworks. And while Ludwig Minkus’ score is middle-of-the-road, the music seemed to shine as the pair strutted their stuff, Tsygankova’s unsteady balances and traveling fouettés aside. She did, however, receive ample support from the Georgian, who was helium-like in his jumps, his multiple turns crisp and Ferrari-esque.

In other words, this was a terrific ending to a gala by the water, where it was decidedly Wheeldon’s World, and we, mere mortals, just lived in it—albeit for a few short, but glorious, hours.

Victoria Looseleaf

Victoria Looseleaf is an award-winning, Los Angeles-based international arts journalist who covers music and dance festivals around the world. Among the many publications she has contributed to are the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Dance Magazine and KCET’s Artbound. In addition, she taught dance history at USC and Santa Monica College. Looseleaf’s novella-in-verse, Isn't It Rich? is available from Amazon, and and her latest book, Russ & Iggy’s Art Alphabet with illustrations by JT Steiny, was recently published by Red Sky Presents. Looseleaf can be reached through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Linked In, as well as at her online arts magazine ArtNowLA.

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