Haieff Divertimento is quick and sharp. It has a hint of juvenile romance, a curiously tender very novel pas de deux, a virtuoso girl's solo that looks all simple and dewy, and a wonderful ending.
--Edwin Denby, Town and Country (April, 1947).
We had tickets for this performance because we wanted to see Balanchine's Haieff Divertimento, which has not been in NYC Ballet's repertory for many years. We had seen it in 2010 revived by Suzanne Farrell for her eponymous company in Washington D.C. and were delighted it had returned to New York. The ballet sparkles as the dancers use speed and energy to convey interpretations of American dance traditions in balletic form, reminding on of Balanchine's Who Cares, to Gershwin music, and Square Dance, to the music of Vivaldi and Corelli. It's interesting that the ballet has pas de cheval as well as beautiful off-balance turns, both of which Farrell is known for, but Farrell never danced it. It was originally done on Maria Tallchief, whom I never saw perform but was also a favorite of Balanchine's. The short piece was elegantly danced by Unity Phelan and Harrison Ball and four couples. Haieff Divertimento was originally choregraphed in 1947 but in no way looked dated.
After the Haieff piece I suggested, somewhat jokingly, "we can go home now," which perhaps we should have done. Robbins's Concertino to Stravinsky came next and did not fare well in comparison to Haieff Divertimento. It may have been less misanthropic than other Robbins pieces and this pas de trois (Alec Knight, Emilie Gerrity, Peter Walker) did the best they could with excessive and ugly schlumping.
Balanchine's Episodes followed, once part of a Balanchine mixture with Martha Graham, and a demonstration of the difficulty of dancing to Webern. Paul Taylor's original solo has been restored and was danced by Jovani Furlan; at this point it almost seems like a parody of Graham and modern dance in general. The ballet is unusual in Balanchine's work in having no allegro at all, though the finale with Sara Mearns and Ask la Cour, to Webern's version of Bach's Musical Offering, has an intensely beautiful soaring and ritualistic quality to it.
The last piece, Justin Peck's Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes, was tedious, with endless running and jumping in pseudo-ballet style. Aaron Coplan's score was lovely (if you closed your eyes) and Tiler Peck did a good job in the only female role but Justin did not seem to have much to say.
My eight-year-old daughter complained, justifiably, that there was too much "jazz dance" and not enough ballet, though she loved Haieff Divertimento. The New York State Theatre was festooned with portraits of New York City Ballet staff, including security staff, electricians, etc. Lauren Redniss's portraits made everyone look like Nosferatu.
No comments:
Post a Comment