No one could possibly complain about lack of variety in a New York City Ballet program seen on Feb. 15 at the New York State Theater that featured "Soirée" by Richard Tanner, "Valse-Fantaisie" and "Chaconne" by Balanchine, and "Opus 19/The Dreamer" by Jerome Robbins.
Richard Tanner created "Soirée" to showcase NYCB's next generation of leading dancers. His ballet is designed mainly with an emphasis on three leading couples, who are assigned quite challenging pas de deux. Each of these concludes on a provocative note, rather than the old pattern of the ladies being carried offstage at the conclusion.
The first, performed by Janie Taylor and Benjamin Millepied, finds the lady happily seated on the man's knees after a terrific workout. The second one, equally strenuous and performed by Carla Körbes and Seth Orza, has the lady flung over the man's shoulder with her face downwards, almost hitting the floor. The third subverts the expectations set up by one and two, with the couple, performed by Amanda Edge and Daniel Ulbricht, appearing mightily pleased with the note of serenity that ends their stint. Who needs bravura tours when you can witness such surprising conclusions?
All in all, "Soirée" is a pleasing work for demonstrating the skills possessed by the young company members. Carole Divet's pastel-colored costumes for the ladies and the accompaniments of solo pianist Susan Walters playing Nino Rota's score were also in the pleasing category.
A traumatic event took place during "Valse-Fantaisie," the pas de deux that was being performed by Yvonne Borree and Robert Tewsley. The couple was halfway through when Tewsley was seen hopping off the stage, obviously injured. Without missing a note, Benjamin Millepied jumped onto the stage and succeeded in concluding the duet with the elfin Borree, as if nothing untoward had occurred.
While we were shaken by the mishap, we couldn't help but admire the perspicacity of Borree and Millepied while, at the same time, wishing Robert Tewsley a speedy recovery.
"Opus 19/The Dreamer" is Robbins at the height of the contemporary aspect of his career. Although the mysterious pair—the dreamer (Peter Boal) and the object of his dreams (Wendy Whelan)—remains enigmatic, the choreography never fails to astound, for it is quite unlike anything that the versatile Robbins had conceived previously.
Boal's ultra-sensitive portrayal haunted the senses. And he was admirable in his firm support of the complexities sustained by the uncanny Whelan, the lady of his dreams, who can master anything from the ultra-classic to any form of dance in existence to date. The seeming vagaries or phantasmagorias that pervade many dreams became scenes of inviolable proportions in the couple's performances.
"Chaconne," performed to the ballet music from "Orphée et Euridice," Christoph Willibald von Gluck's opera, featured Darci Kistler and Philip Neal in the leads. The opening pas de deux brought all of Kistler's attributes to the forefront, including softly flowing arms and feet constantly moving as if skimming over water. How ecstatically she visualized von Gluck's ethereal score!
Someone once said of Kistler that if she had come into the company as a guest artist or principal from Europe, balletomanes would be worshipping at her feet, but since she was born and bred here, Americans tend to take her for granted.
Also notable were performances by Saskia Beskow, Rebecca Krohn, and Stephen Hanna in the pas de trois, with the gentleman serenading both ladies during the dance while pretending to play on an invisible guitar. And Megan Fairchild and Adam Hendrickson scored in their pas de deux.
Joe Goode at the Joyce
The Joe Goode Performance Group will celebrate its return to The Joyce Theater, March 4-7, with the New York premieres of "What the Body Knows," "Doris in a Dustbowl," and "Take Place."
The San Francisco company, which was established in 1986, has performed annually in the Bay Area and toured extensively throughout the United States. It was last seen in New York City at Danspace in 1998. The company has also appeared in Canada, Europe, South America, the Middle East, and Africa, most recently at the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater.
Venue: The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Ave., NYC. Performances: Tues.-Fri., March 4-7, at 8 pm. Tickets: $35, $25 for members, available at the box office or by calling JoyceCharge at 1-212-242-0800.
Dawn Akemi Saito Premiere
Dance Theater Workshop will be presenting Dawn Akemi Saito in the premiere of "Blood Cherries," part of DTW's Carnival series, a three-month rotating schedule of performing artists.
Venue: Dance Theater Workshop, 219 West 19th St., NYC. Performances: March 6, 7, and 15 at 7 pm, March 16 at 2 pm. Tickets: $27, $17 for DTW members, students, and seniors, available at the box office or by calling 1-212-924-0077.
Paul Taylor at City Center
The Paul Taylor Dance Company will feature the New York premiere of "Promethean Fire" and "Dream Girls," along with nine other major works by Paul Taylor, during the company's City Center season from March 4-16.
"Promethean Fire" is set to music by Johann Sebastian Bach, orchestrated by Leopold Stokowski. In the newly minted "Dream Girls," Taylor pokes fun at the comic flaws of archetypes. The suite of group dances, solos, and duets is performed to songs sung by the Buffalo Bills, the famous barbershop quartet known for their stage and screen appearances in "The Music Man," including "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie," "Toot Toot Tootsie," and "Sam, You Made the Pants Too Long."
The wide range of repertory will include "Roses," "A Field of Grass," "Esplanade," "Offenbach Overtures," "Snow White," and "Black Tuesday."
Following its City Center season, the company will begin a busy spring outside of New York. It will head out to San Francisco at the end of March to launch its second-home relationship with that city. Its engagement there will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts from March 26-April 6.
The company then heads to Washington, D.C. to appear at the Kennedy Center on a double bill with Houston Ballet from April 9-13. Houston Ballet will present the world premiere of a new Taylor dance set to the music of Carl Orff, as well as Taylor's now-classic "Company B," which was commissioned for Houston Ballet by the Kennedy Center and given its world premiere there in 1991. The Taylor Company will perform "Promethean Fire" and "Offenbach Overtures."
Next for the company is a seven-city tour of Great Britain, beginning with a week-long return engagement at Sadler's Wells in London.
Venue: City Center, 131 West 55th St., NYC. Performances: Tues.-Fri. at 8 pm, Sat. at 2 and 8 pm; Sun. at 3 and 7:30 pm. Note that curtain time for Opening Night, Tues. March 4, is at 7:30 pm. Tickets: $30-$60, available at the box office or by calling City Tix at 1-212-581-1212.