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| | New
York City Ballet
Saratoga Diary
- Part 1
by Kate
Snedeker
July 23 - 24, 2003
-- Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs
My
only previous trip up to Saratoga Springs to see the New York City Ballet
was memorable more for the continual, drenching downpours than the ballet
performances. So, this summer I decided to journey up north during the
last week of New York City Ballet’s Saratoga Season in pursuit of sunshine,
ballet and even some horse racing. Saratoga, the dancers and the horses
did not disappoint! What follows is a combination journal and review of
the ballet performances, with a little glimpse into the rest of Saratoga.
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
‘Chaconne,’ ‘Symphony in Three
Movements,’ and ‘Carnival of the Animals.’
Arrived in Saratoga around 2pm after finally escaping from the thundershowers
that had followed us all the way over from eastern Vermont. Driving in
the (pouring) rain is not one of my favorite activities, but my mom and
I managed to keep our spirits up with a bag of delicious peanut brittle.
After I checked into the bed & breakfast, we headed over to the Saratoga
train station so that my mother could catch her train back to New York
City. By this time, storms were brewing again, and we were both a little
startled to discover that due to construction the train station was no
more than temporary trailer and a very muddy parking lot. As it turns
out, my mother stayed drier at the train station than she did in the leaky-roofed
Amtrak train.
In order to allow sufficient time for the sun to set, evening performances
at Saratoga start at 8:15 pm. For most of the performances, I arrived
at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) very early in order to soak
up the pretty scenery and catch a glimpse of the dancers warming up on
stage (some do, some don't).
The evening's performance, conducted by former New York City Ballet Orchestra
concertmaster Guillermo Figueroa, included George Balanchine’s “Chaconne”
and “Symphony in Three Movements,” as well as the Saratoga premiere of
Christopher Wheeldon’s “Carnival of the Animals.” Led by Darci Kistler
and Nilas Martins, “Chaconne” received a slightly loose performance, no
doubt due in large part, to the notoriously slippery SPAC stage. Both
Kistler and Martins were adequate, though neither had quite the energy
nor precision that the central pas deux demands. Their partnering was
not always completely smooth and Martins’ jumps could have used more stretch,
though his beats were crisp. Instead, the performance really belonged
to the corps with Amanda Edge and Antonio Carmena standouts in the second
pas de deux. Carmena’s exuberance and energetic, yet clean, technique
made him a joy to watch, and Edge’s crisp jumps and rock solid balances
were equally as stunning. Jason Fowler, Saskia Beskow and Eva Natanya
also were noteworthy in the lyrical pas de trois, a trio of long, flowing
limbs. The pale, flowing costumes were by Karinska.
Wendy Whelan, Abi Stafford, Jennifer Tinsley (who replaced the injured
Alexandra Ansanelli), Jared Angle, Tom Gold and Jock Soto were a strong
lead cast in “Symphony in Three Movements.” It was a treat to see Angle,
who has been sidelined by injuries for much of the last two years, dancing
again in a classical role. A tall, long-limbed dancer, he is a skilled
partner and elegant presence on the stage. In the pas de deux with Tinsley,
Angle demonstrated the depth and awareness in his movement --for instance,
his arms just didn’t hang in the air, they were held with an obvious energy
and attention to line created from neck to fingertip. Stafford and Gold
were mercurial, flitting across the stage in a series of quick, precise
steps. Stunning in the final, long pas de deux, Whelan and Gold matched
Stravinsky’s edgy music with a moving performance of Balanchine’s often
limb-contorting choreography. Their obvious complete comfort with each
other and the steps allowed for a performance that never wavered in intensity
and flow, keeping the audience in rapt attention. The corps, which opened
the ballet in the memorable diagonal line of coltish ballerinas, was a
bit ragged. Lines were straight, but arms and heads tended to be held
in a number of different positions.
The evening concluded with Saratoga’s first glimpse of “Carnival of the
Animals,” Christopher Wheeldon’s charming tale of Oliver Percy, a young
boy who spends a night in the Museum of Natural History. Based on a story
written by Wheeldon while he was a student at the Royal Ballet School,
now turned into a full libretto written and read by actor John Lithgow.
The ballet brings to life the people in Oliver’s life as the animals
in Camille Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals”.
A great success when it was performed at the New York State Theater in
June, on this first night in Saratoga, “Carnival of the Animals” received
much applause, but the performance was hampered by a number of factors.
First of all, the large, open nature of the amphitheater made it difficult
for the orchestra to project, and the changing weather made it near impossible
to stay in tune. In addition, the large size of the SPAC stage presented
some issues during the ballet because in order to shrink the width of
the stage and to allow the patrons in the far side seats to see, all sets
had to be set back on the stage, framed by very wide, angled wings. With
Jon Morrell’s simple, but ingenuous sets, the “Carnival of the Animals”
needs a cozy stage, and looked a bit distant and overwhelmed at SPAC.
The increased distance between the orchestra and dancers may also have
been a problem, as the communication between first time Carnival of the
Animals conductor Richard Moredock and the dancers did not seem entirely
comfortable, with several musical endings off from the choreographic endings.
Still, the dancing was excellent, with a couple of notable debuts. Jenifer
Ringer made her first appearance in the Cuckoo section as Oliver’s mother,
a role that was choreographed on her before she was injured early in the
the spring season. In the tender and poignant duet, Ringer and (her real-life
husband) James Fayette were very believable as Oliver’s worried parents.
Aaron Severini made his debut as one of the mouse cavaliers to John Lithgow’s
hilarious school nurse turned waltzing elephant. Also of note were the
performances of P.J. Verhoest, an SAB student, as Oliver and Rachel Rutherford
and Pascale Van Kipnis as the slow motion can-can dancing sisters turned
turtles. Christine Redpath, in Morell’s deep backed cocktail dress and
long white gloves was superb as Oliver’s aunt recalling her glory days
as a ballet dancer in a moving solo to “The Dying Swan”.
Thursday, July 24, 2003
2pm and 8:15 pm, both ‘Coppelia’
The thunderstorms had not yet made their final exit for the week, making
watching and performing at SPAC somewhat of an adventure. High humidity
and pouring rain can turn the stage into a virtual ice-rink, and the walk
from car to seat a challenge in staying dry and mud free. Luckily the
only incident of the day was a wind burst during the matinee performance
which startled those sitting on the lawn and preceded a very brief downpour.
George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova’s classic version of “Coppelia”
was performed both in the afternoon and in the evening. The matinee was
supposed to be the occasion of corps member Megan Fairchild’s debut as
Swanilda. However because of an injury suffered by Alexandra Ansanelli,
Fairchild was cast in all four performances of “Coppelia.” (Both Yvonne
Borree and Jenifer Ringer had previously danced the role, but neither
were apparently recovered enough from injuries to take on the role.) Fairchild
got rave reviews from the local press for her debut performance opposite
Damian Woetzel on Tuesday night, but I was a bit nervous in anticipation
of her dancing the role twice in one day. The role of Frantz, however,
was split between Damian Woetzel (evenings) and Benjamin Millepied (matinees).
Megan Fairchild’s performances as Swanilda were very impressive, especially
for a dancer who has been in the company just over a year (Fairchild was
made an apprentice after the 2001 SAB Workshop in early June of 2001,
but did not receive her corps contract until the summer of 2002). A tiny,
slim dancer, she has a cherubic face, and wonderfully straight, slender
limbs. Especially during the matinee performance, when the daylight washes
out much of the attempts at spotlighting the dancers, the roles must be
danced “big” in order to stand out from Rouben Ter-Arutunian’s multicolored
set. Fairchild was certainly up to this challenge, her Swanilda a young
bundle of energy. In the first act dances, she displayed a delicious crispness
and quickness in the very precise choreography, and was jollily hyperkinetic
in the Scottish dance in the second act. For such a young Swanilda, Fairchild’s
acting was surprisingly effective, her emotions telegraphed via her wonderfully
expressive face. It was indeed a young interpretation of the role, and
with time and experience should come more depth, especially in some of
the mime sequences. With more performances under her belt should also
come greater comfort with the choreography which will allow her to have
great greater stretch and depth of motion in her dancing.
Dancing opposite Fairchild at the matinee and evening performances, respectively,
Benjamin Millepied and Damian Woetzel were stunning in their individual
dancing and solid, supportive partners. The chemistry between Millepied
and Fairchild was especially effective, and, not surprisingly, she seemed
more comfortable with his partnering (she was originally supposed to dance
with Millepied, thus she likely had very little time to rehearse with
Woetzel).
With his dark-haired good looks and innocent rascaliness, Millepied was
a very natural Frantz. His quick, crisp beats and breathtaking ballon
also made for an energetic and youthful Frantz, a perfect match for Fairchild’s
Swanilda. Also impressive was Millepied’s acting, which has grown in its
depth and detail. The final pas de deux was performed with great poise
and fluidity, though Fairchild looked slightly fatigued by the end. Her
series of beats across the stage simply flew, yet did not lose any of
their intended crispness. Millepied’s double tours were nicely rotated,
though he really shone with his high, light beats and assembles. The tricky
shoulder lifts and leaps of faith were smoothly and confidently performed,
and the pas de deux in general had a fluid and delicate quality.
In the evening performance Damian Woetzel, who first performed the role
more than a decade ago, went all out in his dancing and his acting. Though
Woetzel is a young looking 36, his roguish, flirtatious Frantz seemed
a little too much at times opposite Fairchild’s very innocent Swanilda.
(His Frantz, however, would have been just perfect opposite Alexandra
Ansanelli’s over the top Swanilda, which it was intended to be). In the
first act, he flirted with village girls, and added a little flourish
to every exit and entrance. He pulled out all the stops in the middle
section of the final pas deux, showing off his stunningly tightly and
quickly rotated tours and pirouettes, flawlessly throwing in a jaw-dropping
double tour-double tour into the sequence of pirouettes to double tours
snapped to second position after landing. A hard act for Fairchild to
follow, and in her second performance of the day, she wisely opted for
clean, crisp dancing over fancy tricks. The shoulder lifts were not as
smooth, perhaps because of Woetzel’s greater height and less familiarity
with Fairchild.
At the matinee, Adam Hendrickson was a youthful and caring Dr. Coppelius,
crafting his characterization with many wonderful details. This Coppelius
clearly cared very deeply for his creations, gently straightening up Coppelia
in the opening scene. Robert LaFosse, taking over the role in the evening,
was a more comic and crotchety, his characterization robust and animated.
The gentler side to LaFosse’s Coppelius was revealed after a very scary
slip by new corps member Austin Laurent, who was dancing his small solo
as the Acrobat Automaton. Laurent, who has performed the role in every
performance this year, is an elegant and long-limbed dancer. His splits
are simply beautiful, his legs fully stretched beyond 180 degrees, but
towards the end of his brief solo at the evening performance, Laurent
slipped going up into a split, coming down very awkwardly. After having
chased Swanilda’s friends out of the workshop, LaFosse spent several moments
clearly whispering to Laurent, and lifted him very carefully back onto
the cushion. Laurent did not reappear in the third act, and one hopes
that he is not injured.
The quartet of divertissements in the third act all received sparkling
performances. Led by Amanda Edge and Lindy Mandradjieff at the matinee
and evening respectively, the young students in the Waltz of the Golden
Hours, students from the School of American Ballet and local Saratoga
ballet schools, were crowd favorites, their smiles as joyous as their
dancing. Both Edge and Mandradjieff were notable for their precise footwork
and energy. A fleet-footed Dawn, Abi Stafford was vibrant and quick in
the numerous turns without sacrificing fluidity or control. Carrie Lee
Riggins brought zest to the role of Spinner, barreling through the numerous
turns. In the evening performance, Dena Abergel was a sweet Prayer, gracious
with the children and giving every step its due reverence. Discord and
War was led with gusto by Aesha Ash and Seth Orza, who were both especially
impressive in the evening performance.
Standout performances in the solo roles were backed up by an excellent
corps de ballet. The male dancers, especially, attacked the folk dances
with gusto, leaping and jumping with the long, colorful ribbons a swirl.
The were matched by the energetic and precise female corps. Problems in
synchronization still appeared in the dances for Coppelia’s friends, but
all the women were solid in the tricky leap to one foot, which since it’s
done in a line, can look bad if any one dancer is off beat. Taking over
the role of the littlest friend from Megan Fairchild, new corps member
Sterling Hyltin was adorable in her timidity and hesitation.
Leo Delibes’ score was conducted by Maurice Kaplow in the afternoon and
Richard Moredock in the afternoon.
Editor's note: For Saturday
and Sunday's entries (July 25 - 26) click here.
Edited by Jeff
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