Chase Finlay and Sara Mearns, Apollo, October 3, 2014. Click for more NYCB photos.
New York City Ballet presented important Balanchine and Stravinsky works Saturday evening, September 27 and last Friday: Apollo (1928), Monumentum pro Gesualdo (1960), Movements for Piano and Orchestra (1963), Duo Concertant (1972), and Agon (1957).
Stravinsky composed Apollo between 1927 and 1928. He reserved the European rights to the music for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. “…in the spring of 1928 Diaghilev handed Stravinsky’s score over the twenty-four-year-old George Balanchine. In a matter of months, the choreographer created a work that, with its purity, classical symmetry, and transcendent invention, marked the arrival of a new genius and changed the face of ballet forever,” John Gruen, The World’s Great Ballets. The piece is now the oldest Balanchine ballet in NYCB’s repertory.
Chase Finlay was Apollo Friday evening. Chase is an ideal Apollo as he looks like a Greek god with his chiseled features, coiffed hair, and muscular build. Chase, who debuted in the role in 2011 at the age of 21, brings a youthful interpretation to the role of the young god of music as he discovers various art forms in his journey. I also enjoyed Robert Fairchild’s polished version the previous week. On Friday, Maria Kowroski was Terpsichore, the muse of dance, Sara Mearns was Polyhymnia, the muse of rhetoric, and Gretchen Smith Calliope, the muse of poetry. I enjoyed Sara’s rapid movements punctuated by a turn section made difficult by a whisper pose with her finger to her mouth.
The performances reminded me of a PBS broadcast of the work from 1989 with Baryshnikov. I was never a big fan of Balanchine’s black and white ballet’s, preferring his more classical work. But the then 42-year old Baryshnikov provided a powerful, unforgettable portrayal of the Greek god. His solo at 16:40 is a wonderful combination of technique and expressiveness. And the ending is unforgettable, I can watch over and over.
Ashley Bouder and Robert Fairchild were on the mark in Duo Concertant, with a happy upbeat pas de deux in which the dancers interacted with violist Arturo Delmoni and pianist Nancy McDill on stage. The piece had a sense of humor; in one section when he offered his hand to her, she shaked her head “No” and laughed at him. The footwork was very fast and they kept up with the rapid tempo. Robert had a rapid single tour section in which he threw singles in rapid-fire succession; she had a quick piqué turn section. Ashley had a joyful, exuberant demeanor throughout. The piece ends in near darkness as she walks away, then returns and their hands embrace, lit dramatically by a single spotlight. Sterling Hyltin and Chase danced the roles the previous Saturday and gave an equally interesting interpretation.
Emily Kikta, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, October 3. Click for more NYCB photos.
Monumentum pro Gesualdo and Movements for Piano and Orchestra are short pieces with Teresa Reichlen and Ask la Cour in both works last Saturday and Rebecca Krohn and Amar Ramasar Friday. Monumentum has 12 couples in addition to the leads. The Stravinsky music is soothing as the couples move in and out of the action in interesting patterns featuring diagonals. Movements has six women in addition to the leads to more modern discordant Stravinsky music. I focused my attention on Emily Kikta and Lara Wong, who danced well and in synch with the music and other dancers. I interviewed Emily in September on her videographic efforts with fellow dancers. Lara is a friend of my daughter’s babysitter, demonstrating that it is a small world, even in New York City.
The classic Agon closed the show. On Friday, Teresa Reichlen and Adrian Danchig-Waring were the couple for the Part II pas de deux; Maria Kowroski and Amar Ramasar on Saturday. I particularly enjoyed Adrian’s version; he has a powerful, muscular physique that fits in well in Balanchine black and white neo-classical works.