I didn't care much for Alexi Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH last week-end (it looked to me like children playing on a beach, and I don't mean that as a compliment) so it was nice to see a return this week to Jerome Robbins and Balanchine, as much as I appreciate the chance to see contemporary additions to the repertory without having to pay for a ticket.
This week's repertory included two pieces by Jerome Robbins: Spring, from Four Seasons (music by Verdi) and Afternoon of a Faun (music by Debussy), two of Robbins's more inventive ballets. I always like to identify with the dancer (Joseph Gordon) who fantasizes about the appearance of a ballerina (Sterling Hyltin) an their dancing together in front of a mirror, represented by the fourth wall, in Afternoon of a Faun. Spring is both playful and inventive in Robbins's theatrical style, danced exuberantly by Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle.
I'm generally not too crazy about excerpts from complete ballets, but during this time they can be engaging reminders of the complete works. The Balanchine excerpts were the Theme and Variations from Divertimento No. 15 (music by Mozart), Phlegmatic from The Four Temperaments (music by Hindemith) and Rondo from Western Symphony (traditional music orchestrated by Hershy Kay). These excerpts showed the range of Balanchine's genius, from pure classicism to modernism
and theatriality. All three excerpts were beautifully danced: Ask la Cour in Phlegmatic, Sterling Hytlin and Tiler Peck in Theme and Variations and Teresa Reichlen and Roma Mejia in Western Symphony.
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