I have never been to a performance of the School of American Ballet, the school run by New York City Ballet, but based on what I saw recently on their website I intend to do so in the future. One could say that it analogous to seeing minor league baseball -- which I love -- to see who will make it to the major leagues. The big difference, of course, is that if one graduates from SAB they will definitely make it to the majors, if not New York City Ballet itself .
Because of the pandemic SAB did not have their regular performance this year but, instead, showed footage from previous years, with commentary from teachers Kay Mazzo, Maria Kowroski and Suki Schorer, who wrote the important book Balanchine Technique. As Schorer said, "Balanchine said, 'teach what you know' and what I knew was Balanchine." The program was varied, with performances from 2017 and 2018: Jerome Robbins's Circus Polka to Stravinsky, Justin Peck's in creases (2012) to Phillip Glass, pas de deux from Balanchine's Agon (1957) by Stravinsky, and Balanchine's Scotch Symphony (1952) to Mendelssohn music. They were all beautifully danced, from the many young girls of Circus Polka to the exquisite adagio in Scotch Symphony. Particularly intense was the pas de deux from Agon danced by LaJeroneny Brown and Savannah Durham (originally danced by Arthur Mitchell and Diana Adams).
Scotch Symphony is a lovely ballet not recently danced by New York City Ballet, perhaps because its Scottish themes are somewhere in the middle between Fokine's Les Sylphides and Balanchine's own Union Jack. Nonetheless, it's one of Balanchine's most romantic ballets, a work about love and longing, loss and redemption, and was impressively and passionately danced by David Riccardo and Mira Nadon.
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