New York City Ballet Digital Spring: Donizetti Variations

New York City Ballet's digital Spring continued this week with another Balanchine masterpiece: Donizetti Variations, originally choreographed in 1960.  It is a marvelously buoyant ballet, to music from Donizetti's Don Sebastian (Balanchine was ballet master at the Metropolitan Opera before founding New York City Ballet) and was here danced by Ashley Bouder and Andrew Veyette, who were more than equal to the speed and precision that Balanchine's choreography requires.  There was a corps of three men and six women, who were divided up in every way possible, from trios to solos to pas de deux.  The uninhibited style was considerably influenced by the Danish choreographer August Bournonville, especially the use of lowered arms and assertive use of space,

What I particularly noticed in this performance was how much time was spent in the air:  when Veyette lifted Bouder she was high in the air and seemed to float across the stage and when she did grand pas de chat one saw only the passe in the air; when Veyette did tours en l'air he stayed up for multiple turns before descending to do multiple pirouettes and when he did cabrioles his feet were beautifully pointed and his legs fully turned out.  And their pas de deux expressed the joy of their relationship, dancing to please themselves, each other and, of course, the audience.

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