Winter Lake Effects

On the eve of George Balanchine’s birthday, the New York City Ballet opened its Winter Season with a killer all-Balanchine program: “Concerto Barocco,” “Allegro Brillante,” and “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet.” But it was not a pure dance evening: before and in between the ballets, there were remarks. Pre-show, Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford presented Victor Abreu with the prestigious Janice Levin Award, which has been given annually to a promising corps member since 2000. Abreu accepted the award with a gracious speech in which he touched on his struggles with Imposter Syndrome. Senior principal Megan Fairchild also wrote about Imposter Syndrome this week on Instagram. The guard has definitely changed at City Ballet if mental health issues are openly discussable throughout the ranks—a wonderful development. After the intermission, conductor Andrew Litton spoke movingly about former NYCB conductor Clotilde Otranto, who recently passed away, and to whom the performance was dedicated. In the (very recent) days before terms like Imposter Syndrome were acceptably bandied about, Otranto was a constant morale booster—a cheerleader from the closest seat in the house. She loved dance and she supported the dancers through her sensitive musicality as well as by praising their efforts. The evening was a fitting tribute to her memory.

Performance

New York City Ballet: “Concerto Barocco,” “Allegro Brillante,” and “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” by George Balanchine

Place

David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, New York, NY, January 21, 2025

Words

Faye Arthurs

Unity Phelan, Andrew Veyette, and New York City Ballet in George Balanchine’s “Concerto Barocco.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

I’m not sure Clotilde would have agreed with the pace at which Litton took “Barocco,” however. Though there were some benefits to his brisk tempi—purity, togetherness—it felt airless. The tight corps and strong leads were chasing the music instead of riding it. In principle, I don’t mind a speedy “Barocco.” The tap influence in the choreography pops. But when the pas de deux couple cannot run around the diagonals of corps women in time to make their lifts or développés, and the principal women can barely grab hands when they run in to meet on center in the 3rd movement, you know the music is a hair too fast. Nothing should look forced in “Barocco,” it is a glimpse of utopian harmony. In the adagio, Unity Phelan and Andrew Veyette got through their tasks, but the word “navigating” kept coming to mind. They were focused on getting through the traffic instead of luxuriating in Bach’s richness. It is a shame to rush someone with lines as pretty as Phelan’s. She is one of the rare few who can soar overhead in full splits, let us enjoy it.

Litton also took “Allegro Brillante” at a clip, but the quicksilver Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia were unfazed. From the moment they blazed onstage—finding room to pause in the rapid switches in fourth position in their entry step—these two hyper-musical dancers were precisely on time without looking hurried. I often liken Peck to a hummingbird; she moves so swiftly that she creates moments of stillness within lightning-fast passages. Mejia can match her: his quick lunges in the men’s dance were sharp but not spastic. Neither of them would ever be caught flailing. Peck nailed the double-triple turn sequences in croisé and effacé in her solo, alighting gently in tendu each time. And her chaînés in the cadenza! She performs these strings of turns like no one else I’ve ever seen, phrasing through shifts in momentum as she goes. The corps of 8 also did an excellent job. They handled the frenetic “Mad” section well at that fast pace. The men had to pull their partners down out of the air as quickly as they heaved them up. I enjoyed euphoric, flying moments from Sara Adams and Mary Thomas MacKinnon. This was an “Allegro” for the ages. You can’t start a season off better than that!

Miriam Miller in George Balanchine’s “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet.” Photograph by
Erin Baiano

Abreu, the man of the hour, looked great in “Allegro” as well as in the 1st movement of “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet,” which closed the program. Both are taxing parts; he had a hard night. The male corps of “Brahms’s” 1st is deceptively difficult—one of those unsung doozy roles. In the same movement, Miriam Miller was terrific as the leaping soloist. She has the regal and serene bearing of Grace Kelly (the face too!), but she moved boldly. In fact, she looked stronger than ever. As did many of the evening’s leads. In addition to Miller, Phelan, Peck, and Mejia, the principals Peter Walker, Mira Nadon, Joseph Gordon, Sara Mearns, and Tyler Angle all danced with renewed confidence and vigor.

Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle in George Balanchine’s “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

This season, audiences are blessed to witness the “Swan Lake” effect. The dancers who will perform Odette/Odile and Prince Siegfried in the full-length “Swan Lake” at the very end of the season are in peak form as they gear up for that crucible. City Ballet dancers are always in shape for Winter Season, coming off six straight weeks of the “Nutcracker.” But there’s a big difference in the Sugarplum Fairy workload, where the solo is separated from the pas de deux by half an hour of divertissements, and the Swan Queen workload, with multiple pas de deux into variations and codas with little rest in between. (The men have an even bigger conditioning gap, as they have no solo at all in “Nutcracker,” and not much else to do in the ballet.)

“Swan Lake” is never the biggest draw for me, but I am so enjoying the effects it is having on some of my favorite Balanchine ballets right now. In particular, it was good to see Mearns looking so powerful and invested again in the “Brahms” 4th Movement Rondo. She and Angle were smiling at each other and going for broke. I may or may not get to a “Swan Lake,” but I can’t wait to see what the rest of the season looks like while it looms in the distance.

Faye Arthurs

Faye Arthurs is a former ballet dancer with New York City Ballet. She chronicled her time as a professional dancer in her blog Thoughts from the Paint. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Fordham University. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and their sons.

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