VIEWPOINTS – NEW YORK CITY BALLET opens its winter season with two nicely balanced all-Balanchine programs

New York City Ballet's Tiler Peck, Indiana Woodward, Brittany Pollack and Taylor Stanley in George Balanchine’s "Apollo" at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. Photo by Erin Baiano.

New York City Ballet’s Tiler Peck, Indiana Woodward, Brittany Pollack, and Taylor Stanley in George Balanchine’s “Apollo” at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. Photo by Erin Baiano.

There’s no question that New York City Ballet, with its bravado technique and exciting musicality, is one of the preeminent classical ballet companies in the world. No other company approaches City Ballet in terms of sheer number of active dances in its repertoire. And when it comes to George Balanchine – the greatest choreographer (and one of the greatest artists, period) of the 20th century and founder of City Ballet – no other company, bar none, comes close to having mastered the great dance-maker’s body of work. After having rightfully indulged in the Jerome Robbins repertoire in its fall season, the company has returned to Balanchine in two nice balanced programs to open its 2019 winter season.

The first program I caught at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center (City Ballet’s tailor-made home base) was an all-Balanchine program entitled Tschaikovsky & Balanchine, with dances set to the music of Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky. The evening opened with “Serenade”, the first ballet Balanchine made in the United States and one of the landmarks in all of dance. Eschewing a clear-cut narrative, Balanchine has created an intoxicating dreamworld of pure emotion. Principal dancers Ashley Bouder and Lauren Lovette admirably kept their big personalities in check, lending the classic just the right balance between mystery and specificity. By all accounts, it was a beautiful rendition. The program continued with “Mozartiana”, an idyllic portrait of a woman and the people in her life and an ideal vehicle for the mature ballerina. Although acclaimed prima ballerina Sara Mearns (partnered by the uncharacteristically shaky Russell Janzen) certainly has the gravitas for the role, she isn’t quite the perfect fit. Nonetheless, she showed the clear intent of imbuing the ballet the requisite calmness and serenity, even if the fiery dancer did seem a tad bored at points. The program concluded fittingly with “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2”, a rousing work for the full orchestra (kudos to the City Ballet orchestra for an exhilarating account), led with confidence and understated style by the stately pair Teresa Reichlen and Tyler Angle.

The second all-Balanchine program continued the same trend of presenting Balanchine with a single composer, this time around Igor Stravinsky (the program was unsurprisingly entitled Stravinsky & Balanchine), the composer with whom the great choreographer produced, in my opinion, some of his greatest dances. The program commenced with “Apollo” – an early-career one-act ballet which Balanchine continued to distill throughout his career – which tells the story of the coming-of-age of the god Apollo. I caught a really mouth-watering cast, which included Taylor Stanley’s highly anticipated debut as Ap0llo, as well as Tiler Peck, Indiana Woodward, and Brittany Pollack as his muses. Mr. Taylor, who I believe is the first person of color (finally!) to tackle the iconic title role at City Ballet, moved with exquisite freedom and musicality but lacked somewhat in internal tension and drama; I’m confident that his portrayal will grow in stature as he logs in more performances. If “Apollo” is inarguably a masterpiece, the awkward, rarely-performed “Orpheus” (Balanchine’s dance retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth), the second offering of the evening, is not so much, despite the spirited presence of Sterling Hyltin and Gonzalo Garcia. Stravinsky & Balanchine ended with the angular and still strikingly modern Agon, which was notable for an absolutely knockout performance by City Ballet’s reigning senior ballerina Maria Kowroski (who was solidly partnered by the always-dependable Tyler Angle). I don’t think I’ve ever seen her dance with more confident authority and pure poetry than I did last night. Hers was a towering and thrilling performance, and the very example of the reason why I keep returning to the ballet.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

 

TSCHAIKOVSKY & BALANCHINE / STRAVINSKY & BALANCHINE
Dance
New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater
Approximately 2 hours, 30 minutes (with two intermissions)
These programs have concluded but the winter season continues through March 3

Categories: Dance

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