Monday, June 26, 2006

New York City Ballet, June 25, 2006

New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
June 25, 2006

Symphony in C
Vienna Waltzes

Boo-hoo. Last performance of the season. What will I do for the next five months? Sit and mope, of course.

Full house. I did not see this from the fourth ring because I got to the box office too late, but from the third ring right side, just a few seats back from the stage, and what an interesting perspective that is. It is partial view (but full price) so I was unable to see most of audience right; but what I could see, I saw well. [The dancers should note that you can see pretty far into the wings from these seats.] They ended with Vienna Waltzes, which got very nice performances: Rutherford and Hübbe (G’schichten aus dem Wienerwald) are both wonderful here, very focused, charming; Fairchild (replacing Borree) and Carmena (Frülingsstimmen) gave a very refreshing performance; Riggins and Tom Gold (Explosions-Polka)—she seems too sophisticated for this rustic polka, but who cares—those wigs! Those costumes! Ringer and Martins (Gold und Silber Walzer) this is really my least favorite section but Ringer is a good actress and does her best, as does Martins; and Nichols and Askegard (Der Rosenkavalier). I love the waltz from Der Rosenkavalier, and, I know it’s cheesy, but I also love what Balanchine does with it; he gets it right. How can you not feel a thrill when that big music comes on and the chandelier lights up and all those people come waltzing onto the stage? There’s something poignant and wonderful about it.

Before Vienna Waltzes was Symphony in C. This was the third Symphony in C I saw this season (the others were on May 13 and June 3). The grade-A+ cast was Somogyi and Stafford; Whelan and Askegard; Hyltin and De Luz; Stafford and Evans. Somogyi and Stafford were quite wonderful in the first section (strong and authoritative, yet also lyrical, if that's possible here), as were the corps (as they usually are) and the soloists, Reichlin and Angle, Hanson and Veyette. In the second movement, I miss Amanda Edge and Pauline Golbin, whom I had gotten used to seeing in the demi-soloist parts. Amanda Edge had been my favorite corps girl; she was always on the music, she was always working hard to do it right. It seemed to me that she was not necessarily in possession of some of the more natural gifts that some of her colleagues may have had, and that she had to work very hard to overcome some things. Yet she did a good job with everything I saw her dance.

Well, no offense to today’s cast, but with Whelan on the stage, who really was looking at the demi-soloists anyway? I have seen Wendy Whelan walking on Broadway, so I know for a fact that her feet do actually touch the ground, but if I had only seen her on the stage I would think that there existed about an eighth of an inch of space between her feet and the ground at all times. It is really quite an amazing illusion, and I don’t think I have seen anyone, not even Makarova, move that way. In a company of people who have incredible control over their bodies, her powers of control are prodigious, beyond words almost. And to think she must work like a fiend to achieve that quality of movement that is just on a plane beyond everyone—and these are excellent dancers—beyond everyone else.

From the fourth ring, what is most evident is her artistry (and of course the beautiful patterns of the choreography); from this third ring view, in addition to the artistry I was able to see up close what strength is required for this role: for the penchée where she touches her head to her knee (somehow she never makes it look vulgar), and for those promenades (she may also have been fatigued; it’s a long season). But it is also all the details that go into this performance: a simple tendu, the way the foot is placed on pointe; each movement—each one without exception—is executed with the greatest care: each is a thing of beauty; a work of art. And she does this consistently! I recently saw the movie about the company’s Russia visit a few years ago, which shows clips of Whelan dancing two of the great ballets that are not being done this season, Agon and Symphony in Three Movements. I was saying to a friend that I have only seen two dancers, Astaire and Baryshnikov, who, for me, have the technique and artistry, and I don’t know what else it takes, to make a strong an impact on the viewer over the celluloid barrier. But to see Whelan and Soto doing the Agon pas de deux in this film is as close an experience to seeing it in the theater that you can have; the intensity is that strong. That is good to know, that a lot of what Whelan has can be captured and revisited on film; and I hope her performance in this adagio (as well as lots of other things) has been filmed. But to see her dance it—no, to see her dance—in the theater is a thrill and a privilege.

If you thought that nothing else was good after that, you would be mistaken—Hyltin, replacing Fairchild, and De Luz, in the allegro were charming and exuberant. Both of them are terrific here. Abi Stafford enters in the fourth movement and beautifully executes all this hard stuff but no one applauds her because she (thankfully) doesn’t milk the crowd—but she should know that she is appreciated. Even though the performance ended with Vienna Waltzes, it is this ballet that I want to hold in my memory, until I get to see them do it again.

2 Comments:

Blogger Ellen Thomas said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

1:03 PM  
Blogger Ellen Thomas said...

Hi Philip, I'm glad I could tell you something about the performance. Yes, November is terribly far off and I miss them already!

1:05 PM  

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