I don't have a great deal to add about the splendid choreography of Jewels to what I posted on Feb. 3, 2014 and Sept 24, 2018 but I do think Saturday's performance was absolutely thrilling; New York City Ballet has continued to be more and more exciting since the autocratic Peter Martins was replaced by Jonathan Stafford, Wendy Whelan, Justin Peck and Rebecca Krohn, who have consulted some of the original dancers in Balanchine's Jewels to re-invigorate the mythopoeic and pastoral Emeralds, the jazzy and sparkling Rubies, the elegant and exquisite Diamonds.
I also find that the more Susan and I go with our children the more we all see what Edward Villella calls the "multilayered" quality of Balanchine's ballets, layers of complexity that reveal more and more as one sees the ballets multiple times. Saturday Victoria, who takes ballet classes herself, mentioned that when the dancers jump one never is aware of them starting the jump or landing, but rather just floating in the air. And our son Gideon pointed out the beautiful structure of Jewels, with Diamonds (34 dancers) adding to its structure elements of Emeralds (17 dancers) and Rubies (34 dancers).
I was also impressed by how some of the leading dancers in Jewels have matured, particularly Amar Ramasar in Emeralds and Maria Kowroski in Diamonds, Ramasar having survived a scandal --with the help of his union -- and Kowrowski at the peak of her powers at the age of forty-three, three years after returning from maternity leave. Each dancer was able to simply walk on stage opposite their partner like giant cats walking with energy ready to emerge, Ramasar with Abi Stafford and Kowroski with Tyler Angle.
Kudos to conductor Andrew Litton, who achieved a full rich sound with three very different kinds of music. Especially beautiful and moving was the adagio ending of Emeralds, the overall playfulness of the Stravinsky's Rubies, the elegant and intense allegro ending of Tschaikovsky's Diamonds.
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