Eclectic NYCB

The second program of the New York City Ballet’s fall season was called “Eclectic NYCB” and it lived up to its billing. It featured a second-tier Balanchine work, a Jerome Robbins crowd-pleaser, and two heartfelt pas de deux acquired from outside dance festivals—one a company premiere. This mismatched quartet came together surprisingly well, like Kartell Ghost chairs artfully arranged around a Regency table. A smattering of new casting provided further excitement.

Performance

New York City Ballet: “Divertimento from ‘Le Baiser de la Fée’ ” by George Balanchine / “Each In Their Own Time” by Lar Lubovitch / “This Bitter Earth” by Christopher Wheeldon / “The Four Seasons” by Jerome Robbins

Place

David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, New York, NY, September 21 (eve), 2024

Words

Faye Arthurs

Indiana Woodward and David Gabriel in George Balanchine’s “Divertimento from ‘Le Baiser de la Fée’.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

The biggest debuts were in the opening ballet, Balanchine’s “Divertimento from ‘Le Baiser de la Fée.’” Principal Indiana Woodward and soloist David Gabriel stepped into the central roles created for Patricia McBride and Helgi Tomasson in 1972. Woodward was sensational. She was sprightly and conspiratorial in her solo, as if she had the happiest secret to share with the audience. It is criminal that she is not dancing Swanilda in “Coppélia” this season. Her surety helped to carry along the young Gabriel, who made a promising though less polished debut. He nailed the tortured poet vibes; he just needs a little more power in his partnering and in his pacing. “Baiser” is famous for its unusually long male solo that directly follows a two-part pas de deux. Gabriel had everything going for him but experience. In time, this could be a signature role.

“Baiser” returns in the spring, so he will get more practice forthwith. I’m glad this strange ballet is getting lots of airtime. Like “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2” from the season’s opening bill, “Baiser” contains an unusual mix of dramatic and technical challenges and a whiff of dance history (it is abstracted from a Hans Christian Andersen tale that Balanchine staged in full in 1937). Balanchine also throws in very modern, flat-footed steps while impishly nodding to the squareness of peasant dances and Bournonville in “Baiser.” The two rectangles of women who face off in the finale for a long series of simple piqués passés—one faction accenting the downbeat, the other the upbeat—always makes me laugh (even when I danced it!). The flouncy tutus bouncing along to Stravinsky’s flatulent horn arrangement is silly and “satisfying,” as the kids say these days—the choreographic equivalent of a bubble fidget.

Adrian Danchig-Waring and Taylor Stanley with pianist Susan Walters in Lar Lubovitch’s “Each In Their Own Time.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

The middle chunk of the program consisted of pas de deux: Lar Lubovitch’s “Each in Their Own Time” and Christopher Wheeldon’s “This Bitter Earth.” The Lubovitch piece was commissioned for NYCB principals Adrian Danchig-Waring and Joseph Gordon at the 2021 Fall For Dance Festival. Danchig-Waring reprised his role alongside Taylor Stanley for the City Ballet run. This piece also echoed the opening night program: it was like a same-sex update of Balanchine’s “Duo Concertant.” At first, the dancers just stood and listened to the gorgeous playing of Susan Walters, whose piano was placed in front of a blue panel upstage center. Then they took up her poetic vision of Brahms’s capriccios and intermezzos in a string of solos and duets, giving off dream ballet vibes in their white silk pajamas. Their gentle caresses were alternately romantic and baptismal. The recurrence of a turned in, flicked attitude back was interesting—a bit of flighty footwork to cut the solemnity. “Each in Their Own Time” is a nice addition to the repertory as well as a good showcase for Danchig-Waring and Stanley, two flexible and fluid movers.

“This Bitter Earth” was choreographed for the Vail International Dance Festival in 2012 on Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle, who premiered it at City Ballet just a month later. Angle returns to it this season opposite Sara Mearns. The pair had the maturity and the gravitas that this plaintive work demands. The motif of Mearns bringing her hands to her chest and leaning back into Angle’s arms was particularly well done, especially during their exit. Mearns cupped her heart apprehensively, like a lady clutching her pearls, and Angle reassuringly swooped in to embrace her.

Tyler Angle and Sara Mearns in Christopher Wheeldon’s “This Bitter Earth.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

The program closed with a run-of-the-mill performance of “The Four Seasons,” though KJ Takahashi was a standout as the satyr in the Fall section. Also of note was the solid debut of Olivia MacKinnon in the Spring section, replacing Isabella LaFreniere—who had been slated to debut as well. MacKinnon handled Spring’s rapid directional shifts and tricky pirouettes with a warm smile. Chun Wai Chan squired her calmly and pleasantly, though I feel like he could do more in this dance. Chan joined the company in 2021 from the Houston Ballet, and his noble elegance and clean technique have been a welcome addition to the troupe. I’d like to see him explore the Balanchine style further now. In general, Chan takes the traditional approach of being in a proper balletic position or not, when the City Ballet way is gooier and more effortful—often stressing rolling through the feet or the down accent of a plié before a leap.

In Spring, Chan’s coupés jeté were great, but they would appear even more impressive if they were juicier and not popped. Balanchine technique is about opposition and extremes, it operates more like the compress and release effect in architecture than more conservative ballet styles. Chan also walked stiffly upright like a story ballet prince in the coda. It was fine, but he was missing Robbins’s humor by not pulsing along to the lilting score. Spring is meant to be springy; leave the stately walks to the five regal allegories in the cast.

Unity Phelan in Jerome Robbins’ “The Four Seasons.” Photograph by Erin
Baiano

This was an eclectic program, but the New York City Ballet style is inherently eclectic. Balanchine mashed up various ballet schools, tap, jazz, and African dance, among other influences. He somehow pulled off placing a Noguchi coffee table in front of a Baroque couch situated between Art Deco sconces and an Igbo mask. So far, Chan has been the most compelling in new choreography and pieces that force him way out of his comfort zone (like Robbins’s extremely stylized “The Cage”). But I think he could be more impactful across the Balanchine and Robbins repertory by digging into the house’s clashy neoclassicism.

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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