Casting Carousel

The New York City Ballet mounted no premieres this spring, unless you count the stage adaptation of Kyle Abraham’s Covid lockdown film “When We Fell.” Instead, the company drummed up hype by packing the season with debuts in dances both newish and old. I saw five dancers take on fresh parts in Alexei Ratmansky’s “Paquita,” which just premiered in February of this year, and nine dancers dip a toe into George Balanchine’s “La Valse,” from February of 1951. There were established ballerinas trying on minor ballets, like Sara Mearns in Balanchine’s “Pavane,” and developing talents stepping into big ballerina shoes, like Dominika Afanasenkov assuming Suzanne Farrell’s role Balanchine’s “Errante.”

Performance

New York City Ballet: Spring Season 2025

Place

David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, New York, NY, May 7, 15, 21, 2025

Words

Faye Arthurs

KJ Takahashi, India Bradley, Sebastián Villarini-Vélez, and Unity Phelan in Kyle Abraham’s“When We Fell.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

Some dancers had their range tested, like Unity Phelan, who took on both the sassy doyenne of “Paquita” and the doomed ingenue in “La Valse,” and David Gabriel, who led the peppy first movement of Jerome Robbins’s “Brandenburg” and joined Balanchine’s poetic “Sonatine” pas de deux. Roman Mejia made three major debuts: in Balanchine’s “Apollo,” Jerome Robbins’s “A Suite of Dances,” and Balanchine’s “Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fée.” (Unfortunately, I was only able to see his “Baiser”.) Overall, these adventures in casting were exciting, even if they were not all—or in many cases not yet—perfect fits.

Let’s start with the “live performance premiere.” When Abraham’s film “When We Fell” was released in April of 2021, it was a home-viewing godsend. In contrast to the grainy, fixed-angle, old performance footage that was mostly available during the pandemic, “Fell” was a dance tailored to the screen and shot on striking 16mm black and white film. It was also poignantly topical, tackling the pandemic and systemic racism while at the same time managing to be an ode to the to the architecture of the David H. Koch Theater and the company itself. I couldn’t imagine how all this would translate to the stage. The answer was that it didn’t. Smartly, Abraham did not attempt to adapt every aspect of the film, but the performance version he came up with was beautiful and satisfying nonetheless.

In a nod to the architectural reverence of the film, the live “When We Fell” ballet employed a mirrored panel along the backdrop. When the curtain rose, Unity Phelan stood in fifth position facing this back panel, so that her visage was reflected to the audience and the audience was cleverly pulled into the dance. Though this stage version was less political than the film, the incorporation of the audience’s gaze into the scenery was a subtle nod to a generic form of societal complicity.

Indiana Woodward and Taylor Stanley in Kyle Abraham’s “When We Fell.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

The opening movement was set to Morton Feldman’s “Piece for Four Pianos,” which was played by Sephen Gosling and Hanna HyunJung Kim on either side of the apron of the stage and Alan Moverman and Craig Baldwin in the pit. It is almost non-music, with seemingly random plunks and dings creating an ominous soundscape. Slowly, Taylor Stanley and David Gabriel joined Phelan for some posing and adagio isolations. They wore metallic unitards (by Karen Young) in peachy and bronze tones. Abraham’s other works for the company, “The Runaway” (2018) and “Love Letter (On Shuffle)” (2022) were the opposite in almost every way. They featured pop and rap soundtracks (featuring James Blake, Kanye West, and Jay-Z), wild costumes with bold prints, feathers, and headdresses (by Gilles Deacon), and fierce bravado. “Fell” was a great counterpoint to these. In the first movement especially, it was as if Abraham slowed these showier works down and put them through a filter of Balanchine’s “Episodes” and Merce Cunningham solos.

Abraham shifted gears somewhat in the second and third movements. The cascading rubato of Jason Moran’s “All Hammers and Chains” inspired technically flashy passages for KJ Takahashi and Sebastián Villarini-Vélez. Nico Muhly’s spare “Falling Berceuse” provided the framework for a meditative pas de deux for Stanley and Indiana Woodward. In the film version, this pas was shot from above so that the dancers’ shadows in the pool of light on the floor were integral to the dance. Aerial views were not feasible in the live setting, but the pair interacted with the spotlight in other ways. To close the ballet, Stanley floated Woodward out of Dan Scully’s circle of light in slow rotations like a planetary body orbiting away from the sun. The onstage “Fell” didn’t overtly tackle racism or Covid, but it was well-crafted and stylish. Its three distinct moods were tied together by the dancers and the pianos, and that was enough.

“Fell’s” entire cast was stellar. Stanley, Villarini-Vélez, and India Bradley reprised their roles from the film, while Gabriel, Phelan, Takahashi, Woodward, and Jules Mabie made excellent debuts. Phelan and Gabriel were, along with Mejia, MVP’s this spring. I didn’t catch all their debuts, but those that I saw were promising. Phelan nicely ratcheted her confidence up to high for the showy “Paquita” and turned it to down to a simmer for the mysterious “La Valse.” Gabriel was wonderful in the zesty “Brandenburg,” opposite an equally zippy Emma von Enck. He looked less comfortable in his surprise “Sonatine” debut, understandably. He danced opposite Woodward, one of the warmest presences in the company, but even her generous smiles couldn’t quite ease the tension in his shoulders and neck. He was thrown into this role last-minute, however, so I bet he’ll settle into it quickly.

Dominika Afanasenkov in George Balanchine’s “Errante.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

Dominika Afanasenkov might need a little longer to stake her claim in the Farrell role in “Errante.” Her dancing, here and elsewhere throughout the season, was gorgeous. She has graceful long limbs and articulate feet, and she had no trouble with the steps. But steps are not the point of the personality-driven “Errante,” and Afanasenkov read as a little young for the part: a petulant girl instead of a daring siren. It didn’t help that her delicate features were dwarfed by the giant hoop earrings and voluminous raggy skirt, so that she resembled a kid in a Halloween costume. (“La Valse” would have been a better fit.) Chun Wai Chan debuted opposite her, and I was grateful for his natural reserve here. His politesse kept the dance from becoming a Lolita affair. However, “Errante” comes across as a bit silly when it is not a vehicle for diva domination. As a training ground, the thinness of the choreography is exposed.

“Errante” was preceded on the all-Ravel program by the similarly moody “Pavane,” which was beautifully inhabited by the senior ballerina Sara Mearns for the first time this spring. But programming-wise, “Pavane” was a little sleepy following on the heels of the quiet “Sonatine” pas. And the juxtaposition foregrounded “Pavane’s” old-lady rhythm gymnastics tendencies (Balanchine was not nearly the fabric draper that Martha Graham was). I would have loved to have seen Mearns in “Errante” instead of “Pavane,” where her authority and wild-card proclivities would’ve been ideal.

Joe Gordon was still finding his way in Robbins’s “A Suite of Dances,” made for Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1994. This solo jokes about tamped-down bravura and breaks the fourth wall, which Gordon was reluctant to do. He played it more inwardly, which was pretty and felt authentic to him, but the humor got lost. Less hammy performers—like the elegant Peter Boal—have been successful in this dance by focusing on the onstage cellist instead of the audience as the primary target of their punchlines. Interpreters must figure out how to balance the piece’s sincerity with its silliness, just as its witty, yet lovely, Bach score does.

Roman Mejia and Tiler Peck in George Balanchine’s Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la fée.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

Conversely, Mejia’s first run in “Baiser” was surprisingly well thought-out. The male role in this ballet is marathonic and technically difficult, yet also eerie and reflective. It often suits senior dancers better than younger ones. But Mejia adapted it nicely to his current, take-no-prisoners powers. Instead of thrashing his arms in despair and dramatically leaning into his exhaustion at the end of his very long solo, as many do, he swished his arms with the flair of a fanciful, stylized divo like Nureyev. Throughout, he appeared hungry instead of haunted—a great choice. His partner, the senior ballerina Tiler Peck, was fabulous. She made a meal out of the quirky pointework and stilted hops in her solo through her romantic port de bras and nimble musicality. In the pas de deux, she swooned from à la seconde into Mejia’s arms.

Another wonderful veteran/rookie pairing occurred in Jerome Robbins’s “In G Major,” when Tyler Angle squired Mira Nadon. These roles can be hard to cast, as the lengthy central pas de deux is mature—it returns the pair to a nestled walking in a circle several times in its roughly 10-minute run-time, as if flashing forward through a lifetime of marriage—but the first and last movements are youthful seashore frolics. The dancers need to have beachy pinup appeal as well as gravitas. Angle and Nadon fit the bill perfectly: both give a good smolder and both appeared game to play by the ocean too.

The slews of debuts down the line in “Paquita” and “La Valse” were uneven. In the former, I was most impressed with Olivia Bell in the pas de trois and Mary Thomas MacKinnon in the Grand Pas Classique. In “La Valse,” the new trio of fates was excellent: Christina Clark, Savannah Durham, and Malorie Lundgren. Jules Mabie was appropriately innocent debuting opposite Phelan in the Eighth Waltz, and Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara and Alec Knight stood out in the Fourth Waltz. Dutton-O’Hara had a great season, making a strong impression in “Brandenburg” and pulling my eye for her lush movement quality in the corps of “Paquita.” India Bradley also shone this spring, particularly in “When We Fell” and “Chaconne.” I was sorry to miss her in one of the most exciting pieces of casting this season, when she debuted the lead in “La Valse.”

Mira Nadon and Tyler Angle in Jerome Robbins’ “In G Major.” Photograph by Erin Baiano

One of the most novel performances I saw came from a departing veteran. Before Andrew Veyette retired over Memorial Day weekend, he played the role of Death in “La Valse.” This is a common assignment on the male principal exit ramp, and though it is a small role, it is an important one. It also seems to be a litmus test of sorts. In recent years, Jock Soto was a placidly stoic Death, making his conquest feel inevitable. Amar Ramasar was theatrical and a bit reckless, he upped the danger component. Jared Angle was creepily effete, raising his pinky finger and looking amusedly down his nose at his prey.

Veyette has always been a sinewy, roguish presence—the Sam Rockwell of ballet. He could play the hero, and he certainly danced his fair share of princes and cavaliers, but he seemed more at home in impish and slightly rebellious parts: Mercutio, Harlequin, Riff. Over his impressive 25-year career, he excelled in bravura roles that skewed wry, like El Capitan in Balanchine’s “Stars and Stripes” (with which he bid his adieu), the 4th Movement cowboy in “Western Symphony,” Oberon in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Donizetti Variations,” “Rubies,” the “Agon” soloist, and the Hoofer in “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.” He was terrific in Fall in “The Four Seasons,” as a sailor in “Fancy Free,” and as the put-out Husband in “The Concert,” all by Jerome Robbins. He did nice work in the athletic ballets of Mauro Bigonzetti and Justin Peck. This final season, his interpretation of Death in “La Valse” was hilarious as well as wholly original. He was mischievously spry, calling to mind an Adam West-era Batman villain. I didn’t get to see his very last dance, but I am happy to remember him as someone who found wily glee in the grim reaper.

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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