Americana
“Barber Violin Concerto,” “Fancy Free,”“Who Cares?”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 30, 2016, matinee
The all-American music program devised by Andrew Litton, NYCB's new Music Director, for the opening night was repeated on Saturday without the Candide overture and with some exciting debuts. Peter Martins' "Barber Violin Concerto" opened the program with a newish cast (Georgina Pazcoguin had made her debut on Thursday). Martins choreographed it in 1988 for the American Music Festival and the original mixed a Paul Taylor couple with a ballet duo, emphasizing the stylistic differences. The contrasting styles enlivened the piece, though the patrician woman falls for a tough guy trope was more interesting as Disney's "Lady and the Tramp". The Taylor dancers are long gone and the modern couple was impersonated by Jared Angle and Pazcoguin; Angle has too much natural nobility to ooze danger and they were both overly careful about flexing their feet and crouching down.
Teresa Reichlin and Russell Janzen were the serene classical couple, tall and dignified. Janzen showed a warm romantic gallantry towards Reichlin, looking at her as if she were made of crystal, and Reichlin used her long limbs to carve pristine shapes. She remained cool even when the shirtless Angle enticed her to the wrong side of the tracks and the underlying passion that Merrill Ashley (the original) suggested was missing. Reichlin remained placid, experimenting tentatively with the modern shapes rather than surrendering to them. Pazcoguin, as the modern little bumblebee abandoned by Angle, buzzed around the dignified, exasperated Janzen, playing for broad laughs; the hints of anger that some dancers have was not there, and the violence was strictly out of a cartoon.
Pazcoguin was the girl with the red pocketbook in "Fancy Free", which, while well-danced, was also a bit of a cartoon. The three sailors (Joaquin De Luz, Tyler Angle and Amar Ramasar) cavorted energetically though rather generically, emphasizing every gesture to let the audience know that they were out for a good time; I missed the vulnerability under the bravado that makes ABT's version so moving. Pazcoguin was a feisty handful, though for me the dancers overstressed the first encounter a bit, pausing dramatically to make the point that they could turn violent.
Sterling Hyltin was a wispy, fragile pas de deux girl, not the usual Brooklyn princess looking sardonically but sympathetically at the awkward sailor awed by his first trip to the big city. Their dance had the dewy innocence of two lost souls connecting with each other, a moving and gentle encounter. This first love, true love approach, though, didn't jibe with her later interest in the other sailors; the girl Hyltin danced would have immediately run off with Angle to look for the nearest Justice of the Peace.
The sailors looked much more relaxed and individual in their solos; it may be that City Ballet dancers are better at creating characters through movement than through gesture. The ageless De Luz made the first solo seem effortless, jumping down into those splits and springing up again, while beaming with joy. Angle, in the gentle solo that followed, was awkwardly affecting and Ramasar underplayed the Latin lover to great effect, luxuriating in the moves but just glancing around rather than dancing with his eyebrows.
"Who Cares?" also has its cartoonish aspects, especially in Santo Loquasto's new costumes. It seems as if he looked at Jo Mielziner's idealized New York skyline and chose the colors and styles that would clash the most. The poor male corps now wears dark blue from their shirts to their shoes, so the fancy foot work (done with fine precision by the afternoon cast) fades into the background. The small corps girls in shrieking pink danced with a fearless abandon, matched by the taller girls in a bilious blue. Sarah Villwock stood out for her full-blooded dynamism, seeming to be carried away by the music, and Alexa Maxwell and Preston Chamblee were especially stylish in "Do, Do, Do".
Joseph Gordon made his debut as the man; Lauren Lovette was also scheduled in the Patricia MacBride role, but was replaced, apparently at the last minute, by Megan Fairchild. They couldn't have had much rehearsal but the tricky catches, where he runs to her mid-turn, were flawless, and the "fling on his back" move was a bit cautious but solid--he was an attentive and gracious partner. Fairchild danced "The Man I Love" as if it were a bit of a mystery, and the dreamy, flowing quality was unusual and intriguing. She didn't quite get the dynamic shifts of direction in "Facinatin' Rhythm", indicating rather than punching them, but her timing was sharp and clear and her final turns were thrilling.
Unity Phelan and Brittany Pollack also debuted in the Marnee Morris and Karin von Aroldingen roles. Phelan is a leggy blond, and climbed that stairway as if she owned it. Pollack didn't manage all the complicated turns, and her smile was on the frozen side, but her joy and enthusiasm were infectious. Gordon danced "Liza" with a magical combination of ease and finesse and he didn't mug through the performance--if anything, his face was a bit passive, but his dancing sparkled.
copyright © 2016 by Mary Cargill
