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Balanchine, Black and White

by Mary Cargill

The Fiftieth Anniversary Season of the New York City Ballet is divided into a series of themes, and the first week was devoted to black and white Balanchine ballets, which is another way of saying it had some of the greatest ballets ever choreographed, including Agon, The Four Temperaments, Concerto Barocco, and Symphony in C. Seeing all these packed into one week was exhilarating. The clarity, variety, invention, and richness of the choreography contrasted with the simplicity of the settings was almost blinding.

Unfortunately, the company has a distressing number of people out with injuries, including Peter Boal and Nikolaj Hubbe. So the Apollo was somewhat undercast (Nilas Martins and Yvonne Borree were the leads), but I was struck by the Polyhymnia of Jennie Somogyi and the Calliope of Pascale van Kipnis. They were young and fresh and scampered through their difficult, off-balance variations. Van Kipnis, still in the corps, has a light yet elegant presence (she was very good as the girl in green in Dances at a Gathering a few years ago), but I understand has had some injuries. Somogyi, recently promoted to soloist, also danced the first movement of Symphony in C and gave a beautifully filled out performance, with fast and elegant feet and a serene and nuanced upper body. She has worked with Maria Tallchief on this role, which may have contributed to the elegance with which she danced.

Another new soloist, the tall and willowy Maria Kowroski, danced the second movement of Symphony in C, and, though she couldn't quite get around the fast footwork of the finale, she was beautiful in the soulful, Odette-like solo. I was especially taken by the moment before the deep arabesque, when she pulled her head back, as if fighting her fate, and then sweeping down with her head held high and her line intact. It was good to see a dancer propelled by the music and not her muscles, and not sacrificing atmosphere, beauty and grace to by hook or by crook to force that head down to her knee.

Kyra Nichols danced Concerto Barocco with Somogyi. Somogyi is on the small side, so instead of two ballerinas echoing each other, it looked a bit like a high priestess and her acolyte, which, with Nichols as the priestess, makes perfect sense. There are few dancers that can fill out a role so graciously and naturally as Nichols. She is dancing with an understated authority and generosity that illuminates the whole stage. Unfortunately, partnering difficulties marred the majestic series of lifts in the pas de deux, but other than that, it was a very clean performance.

The women were by and large more striking than the men this first week, but I did enjoy Sebastian Marcovici's debut in the Sarabande in Agon. His elegant approach showed of Balanchine's twisting and reshaping of classical dances. It was like watching a beautifully formed crystal being shattered into a spray of lights, and then magically coming back together. Damian Woetzel danced Melancholic in The Four Temperaments, and while he did not invest enough weight in his upper body to convey the dramatic contrast between the push and the pull of the role, it was good to see him in something other than his usual greased lightening parts. Albert Evans, who danced Phlegmatic, is another dancer usually cast for speed, and early in his career his looseness verging on eccentricity suited those roles. But he has developed a regal bearing and an almost intense authority. To my mind, he was not quite lackadaisical enough for Phlegmatic, but his dancing was witty, smooth, and controlled.

Next week could be called "Costume Ballets," with Liebeslieder Walzer, Union Jack, Bournonville Divertissements, and Cortege Hongrois among the productions. But right now, Black and White seem all the colors needed to fill a stage.