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An anti-heroine

“Emma Bovary”, “Passion”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 15, 2023  

by Denise Sum
copyright © 2023 by Denise Sum

The National Ballet of Canada’s 2023-2024 season opener featured two distinctly different, yet complimentary works. First was James Kudelka’s “Passion”, a plotless ballet that nonetheless depicts different types of relationships and romantic love. Second was the world premiere of “Emma Bovary” - a modern take on Gustave Flaubert’s seminal 1856 novel “Madame Bovary” choreographed by Helen Pickett. Both ballets contrast the formality and rigidity of culturally sanctioned relationships versus the exhilarating freedom (and risks) of relationships that fall outside those norms. 

Artists of the Ballet in "Emma Bovary". Photo by Karolina Kuras. 

I like bugs, too

"Somewhere in the Middle", "Eventide", "Esplanade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 12, 2023 

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

“I love bugs!” Eran Bugge says Paul Taylor told her at her audition.  The audience at her retirement certainly agreed as she and Christina Lynch Markham, the most senior members of the company, both retired at the end of the Lincoln Center season to cheers and flowers.  Neither looked retirement age and they both flew through the slides, skids, and fearless jumps of “Esplanade” with a carefree and joyful abandon.  Bugge had announced her retirement before the season opened, so the audience had had time to savor her dancing all season, but Markham’s retirement was a surprise, and she got especially heartfelt applause.

Eran Bugge in her "Esplanade" costume photo © Whitney Browne

Looking Back

"Book of Beasts", "Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal)", "Black Tuesday"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 8, 2023 

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

This all-Taylor program showed the choreographer looking backwards, from the zany take on Medieval bestiaries (combined with satires of ballet dancers) of “Book of Beasts”, to the odd homage to Nijinsky in “Le Sacre du Printemps (the Rehearsal)” with its oblique references to gangster melodramas, and ending with “Black Tuesday”, Taylor’s salute to Americans in the Depression, set to recordings of popular songs from the period.  The program also gave the Orchestra of St. Luke’s a night off, since in addition to the recorded songs of “Black Tuesday”, "Book of Beasts” used what sounded like a child’s harpsichord, played with verve by Matthew Lewis, the two piano score of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” made by Stravinsky for Nijinsky’s rehearsals played by Margaret Kampmeier and Blair McMillen.

Paul Taylor dancers in "Book of Beasts" photo © Whitney Browne

A for Effort

"Echo", "Vespers", "Piazzolla Caldera"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 4, 2023 evening

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

This triple bill showed the Taylor Company expanding its repertoire offering a new work by Lauren Lovette (“Echo”) with an all-male cast and “Vespers”, choreographed in 1986 by Ulysses Dove for the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company with an all-female cast.  Both of these works got committed, fierce  performances, showing off the company's thrilling technique.  But, when compared with the final work, "Piazzolla Caldera", Paul Taylor's smoky exploration of isolation, with its vivid vignettes of various emotions, these dances seem a bit anonymous, with exciting dancing but sometimes indistinct emotions.

Paul Taylor dancers in Ulysses Dove's "Vespers" © Whitney Browne

The Human Touch

"Dreamachine", "Eventide", "Esplanade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 1, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

The Paul Taylor Company returned to its now traditional Fall Lincoln Center season with a mixture of modern choreographers and Taylor classics.  Lauren Lovette, the former NYCB dancer, was appointed the resident choreographer in 2022, has two premieres, and the season also includes works by Ulysses Dove, Amy Hall Garner, and Larry Keigwin,  It also includes live music by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, a gift in this era of recorded music.  

Paul Taylor dancers in "Eventide" photo © Whitney Browne

Looking Backwards

"Ballet Imperial", "The Dream"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 26, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

ABT’s “Ballet Imperial”, familiar to New York audiences as NYCB’s “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2”, uses scenery and costumes based on the original Rouben Ter-Arutunian designs for the 1964 NYCB revival of the 1941 ballet when it was still Imperial (the glimpse of old Russia in the background and the elaborate tutus were replaced in 1973 by a plain backdrop and chiffon shifts).  1964 was also the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, and the great British choreographer helped celebrate it with his version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, a one-act condensation set to Mendelssohn’s 1842 incidental music composed for the play.  Ashton’s ballet often looks back to the Romantic ballet of the period, with delicate footwork, tilted torsos—four fairies even give us a glimpse of the famous “Pas de Quatre” pose.  But Balanchine and Ashton were not choreographing simple pastiches, and both ballets have a timeless beauty,  with choreography rooted in the past but always fresh.

ABT in Frederick Ashton's "The Dream" photo © Rosalie O'Connor.

Dessert First

"Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2", "Apollo", "La Sonnambula"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 8 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

In a late shift, NYCB switched the program’s order and opened with “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2” instead of closing with glorious exploration of Petipa—it was like having dessert before the main meal of “Apollo” and “La Sonnambula” but it was delicious all the same.  Unfortunately, the costume gremlins have been working on “Tschaikovsky” in 2019 new costumes by Marc Happel appeared, laden with crystals.  (Like the program note for “Symphony in C”, Swarovski is credited for supporting the new costumes—does someone in the costume department have shares in a rhinestone mine?)  The blue-grey tones blend with the background and, like the previous costumes, the corps, soloists, and principals are all dressed in the same color; so much for Balanchine’s salute to hierarchy.  The only difference is that the corps have fewer crystals, but the heavily encrusted bodices of the principals make the floaty chiffon of the skirts look unfinished, as if the dancers put their tops on over their slips.

Mira Nadon in Apollo photo © Erin Baiano

Old Masters

"Concerto Barocco", "Prodigal Son", "Symphony in C"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 7, evening 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

The works danced on this program are some of the oldest in the company’s repertoire—Balanchine choreographed the youngest one, “Symphony in C”, in 1947.  They were also all originally created for other companies;  “Concerto Barocco”, 1941 for American Ballet Caravan, an early Balanchine company, “Prodigal Son”, 1929, for the Diaghilev company, and “Symphony in C”, with the poetic title “Le Palais de Cristal”, for the Paris Opera Ballet.  Only “Prodigal Son” is danced with the original designs, and the heavy, odd choreography seems wedded to Georges Rouault’s Futurist designs.  “Concerto Barocco” too originally had elaborate sets and costumes (designed by Eugene Berman) but these were later dropped for practice clothes. (This was not an esthetic decision, more a lucky accident, since Berman didn’t think the sets were constructed properly and withdrew his permission.)  Each movement of “Le Palais de Cristal” originally it own jewel color, and idea which obviously Balanchine reused, but when he set “Symphony in C” on his American company, there weren’t enough dancers, and everyone was in white so the corps could appear in different sections, so the white explosion of the finale that we see today is due to earlier staffing shortages.

Westward Ho

"Western Symphony", "The Unanswered Question", "Tarantella", "Stars and Stripes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 3, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

The bright, generally upbeat program of Balanchine works choreographed to American music was conducted with a brisk, precise, and infectious verve by Andrews Sills, who made the folk songs of “Western Symphony” and the familiar marches of John Philip Sousa used in “Stars and Stripes” seem irresistibly fresh and infectiously bouncy.

Roman Mejia in "Western Symphony" photo © Erin Baiano

Variety Show

"Bourrée Fantasque", "Agon", "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 30, matinee 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

There were a number of debuts in the strikingly varied all-Balanchine program which started with “Bourree Fantasque” a light-hearted and rarely seen bonne bouche, followed by the rigorous black and white “Agon” and ended with a trip to Broadway in “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue”.  “Bourree Fantasque”, choreographed in 1949 to music by the French Romantic Emmanuel Chabrier is a somewhat uneasy mixture of comedy, romance, and virtuosity, as if the commedia dell'arte  dancers of “Dances Concertantes” decided to crash the party that the “La Valse” dancers were having and turn it into a fun free-for-all.  It has chic but somewhat dated costumes by Karinska; the men all wear black berets, looking like animated advertisements for Gauloises and the women carry fans and wear  long black lace gloves and either short fluffy tutus or pale Romantic skirts with an overlay of black lace, so redolent of the New Look.

Sara Mearns in "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" photo © Paul Kolnik

Easy Watching

"Western Symphony", "The Unanswered Question", "Tarantella", "Stars and Stripes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 26, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

It is odd to program two upbeat Americana closing ballets on the same program, but the audience didn’t seem to mind the lack of variety; only the brief, darkly mysterious “The Unanswered Question” interrupted the bouncy evening.  There were several fine debuts, including Roman Mejia, NYCB’s boy wonder, exploding as El Capitan in “Stars and Stripes” and sending the audience home in a haze of excitement.  Both “Stars and Stripes” and “Western Symphony” (the opening ballet) are witty explorations of the classical style hidden behind their folksy auras.  They are symphonic, with the traditional four movements (“Western Symphony” originally had a scherzo between the adagio and the finale), formal corps patterns, hoe downs and square dances instead of mazurkas and czardas and, in “Stars and Stripes” a Petipa-style grand pas de deux, with an adagio, solo variations, and a bravura coda.  Even the raucously American baton and trumpet so proudly flaunted in “Western Symphony” are surely cousins of Esmeralda’s tambourine and all those parrots in “La Bayadère”.

NYCB in "Western Symphony" photo © Paul Kolnik

More Jewels

"Jewels"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 23, 2023 matinee

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

This performance of “Jewels” featured two sections with new faces (Indiana Woodward and Emile Gerrity in “Emeralds” and Unity Phelan in ”Diamonds” made their debuts earlier this week) and one familiar one, as Tiler Peck returned to “Rubies”.  “Emeralds” is the most fragile of the three and life, as they say, isn’t fair, and neither, unfortunately is ballet.  Ballet is a visual art, and appearances do matter.  Certainly not every dancer needs to be pin-up material, but a dancer’s looks shouldn’t damage the overall mood of the ballet.  “Emeralds” is a romantic, chivalric fantasy, with idealized knights and ladies and unfortunately, in spite of his smooth, unobtrusive partnering, Tyler Angle with his bald head and bulky physique did not elevate “Emeralds” to the realm of fantasy and looked completely and distractingly out of place in the Pre-Raphaelite atmosphere.  

Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia in "Rubies" photo © Erin Baiano

Voices of Experience

Jewels
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 22, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

In the midst of the many debuts during NYCB’s week-long Jewelathon, NYCB assembled a veteran cast of ballerinas, with Ashley Bouder and Ashley Laracey in “Emeralds”, Megan Fairchild in “Rubies”, and Sara Mearns in “Diamonds”, and showed that experience can be just as exciting as debuts.  There were new faces among the men, though, with Chun Wai Chan (with Bouder) and Peter Walker (with Laracey) making their second appearances.

Sara Mearns and Russell Janzen in "Diamonds" photo © Erin Baiano

Some New Jewels

"Jewels"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 21, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

New York City Ballet’s all-Balanchine fall season opened with a week of the ever-popular “Jewels”, Balanchine’s salute to mood and style.  The lush romanticism of “Emeralds”, the American cockiness of “Rubies”, and the Russian grandeur of “Diamonds” call for much more than accurate steps, as the dancers need to convey an inner life; these works may be plotless but they are not pointless.  The September 21st performance had a number of impressive and accomplished debuts, and one disappointment, when Aaron Sanz, who was to debut as the second male lead in “Emeralds”, was replaced by Adrian Danchig-Waring.  Not that Danchig-Waring was in the least disappointing, but Sanz, which his romantic presence and dynamic imagination, would seem a natural for “Emeralds”.

Emma Von Enck and Jovani Furlan in "Rubies" photo © Erin Baiano

Graham at the Pillow

“Errand into the Maze,” “Cave of the Heart,” “Cave”
Ted Shawn Theater
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, Massachusetts
Friday, August 18, 2023

by Gay Morris
copyright ©2023 by Gay Morris

Martha Graham was at the height of her creative and performing powers when, in the 1940s, she began to make dances based on Greek myths. The Graham company offered two of these works at Jacob’s Pillow last week: "Errand into the Maze" (1947) and "Cave of the Heart" (1946). In keeping with the company’s current strategy of including contemporary works in the repertory, Israeli choreographer Hofesh "Shechter’s Cave "(2022) rounded out the program.

Photo: Martha Graham Dance Company in Hofesh Shechter's "Cave."