Tonya Plank's Blog, page 31

More Photos of Millepied's "Plainspoken"

Here are a couple more photos of Benjamin Millepied's Plainspoken, which premiered last week at New York City Ballet and which I wrote about here.  Top is, from left: Amar Ramasar, Sterling Hyltin and Tyler Angle; below, from left: Jennie Somogyi, Amar Ramasar, Sterling Hyltin, Tyler Angle, and Jared Angle. Both photos by Paul Kolnik.

Acoustic Week on Dancing With the Stars

Hmm, so this week everyone is dancing on a smaller, circular floor raised several inches off the ground in order to accommodate the acoustic musicians. They're also giving separate scores for technique and performance. Dances are Argentine tango and rumba.

First up are Kurt and Anna. It's Kurt's anniversary. Sweet Of course, OF COURSE, they have to make a big deal out of how he's married and doing a rumba with someone else. It's like they expect that the show's audience have never heard of acting, of you know, movies and plays and theater. Is it because so many people watch reality tv these days that they've forgotten about drama as an art form. I mean, is that what the show's producers are assuming? I really don't get it.

Anyway, I thought Kurt did pretty well with this. His hip action was nowhere near perfect – it wasn't grounded enough and hence had that kind of superficial, swaying look. But he tried really hard and the fact that he did something with his hips makes him better than most first-timers. And his arms weren't moving completely properly – not originating from the shoulder but more from the elbow. But performance-wise, I thought he was great. Very romantic! Very leading man-like! I would love to dance a rumba with him.

Brandy and Maks, rumba: They have to have a "romantic dinner" in order for her to get into the mood. She makes fun of him for the unromantic way he presents her with flowers. Gosh, I thought she danced this beautifully. Wow. This was by far her best dance yet. Near perfect rumba. She had the turn-out, her arms were gorgeous. Hip action-wise she could have settled into the hip of her standing leg a little more (as Len said) but really, it was almost perfect. Both performance-wise and technically.

Rick and Cheryl's Argentine tango: really nice. I felt the same about him as about Kurt. Very romantic, more than passionate. He was more gentlemanly than brothel patron (or whatever you'd call that). But that's okay with me. The lifts were really beautiful. They made that dance. Ending over the shoulder lift into the dip was difficult.

Kyle and Lacey, rumba: Oh, I really love him! Such a little cutie. Carrie Ann was right when she called him innocent. Well, he had a sexy innocence about him in this. And his technique I thought was pretty good. He had the hip action, he has such rhythm. I'm glad to see him asking in practice what he needs to do with his feet and her telling him he must turn them out more. And it seemed like he really tried, even though he missed sometimes

Karina and the Situation, Argentine tango: Did she call him "Sitch"? Wow, hard routine for him full of lifts. You could tell how hard he was concentrating on getting each lift right, wasn't concentrating on the footwork at all. Which makes sense – I'd hate him if he didn't care about dropping her! And he did the lifts very well, particularly the first, very hard one with the the toss, twist and catch. And the t-lift. I mean, she was using him as a human jungle gym, and he came through for her! I think the judges were too hard on him for the difficulty level of the routine, and too easy on Karina for giving him far too hard a routine.

Florence and Corky, rumba. Oh Corky, I hate that definition of dance: "a vertical expression of a horizontal desire." It just makes me want to burst out laughing. Cute how they had Corky's son (Mark) and Florence's daughter vote on what moves were appropriate or not. Okay, goofiness galore! Why didn't they do it seriously? The knee shakes at the beginning were samba, the ridiculously fast grapevines around him were cha cha, nothing was the least bit musical (I mean the song was the Beatles' "Yesterday" for cry eye). Carrie Ann says it shows age is no factor in how sexy and raunchy, etc. you can be. I thought it was raunchy, but cornily raunchy. Not sexy at all! Hard to judge this on technique because it was supposed to be goofy and not proper.I guess I can understand why Corky planned the routine to be that way, but I'm not sure it went over too well. I hope she doesn't get booted off because of it.

Jennifer and Derek, Argentine tango: Whoa! Awesome! She is definitely the ultimate winner of this show. Definitely. As much as I like some of the guys she just is. That was totally a professional-quality routine. You could not tell she was not a pro at all. The hooks were razor sharp, the musicality was perfect, the lifts were beautiful, professional ballerina-like, that splits slide at the beginning – the line was absolutely perfect. Wow! And I love how she told Derek, "I'm sorry for being so old." And he told her not to say that, that's just stupid. And it is. I can't believe she's fifty years old with a body like that, with a face like that. With a dance ability like that. She looks like she's 35 at the oldest. Not even, really. She gives hope to us all

Bristol and Mark, rumba: Well, I feel like, in contrast to Karina with the Situation, Mark is giving her too easy of routines. This was just too basic. Her feet were leaving the ground way too much – she was really raising those knees in the rumba walks. It was like she was trotting. Your toes are supposed to trace the floor in rumba. But when she's stationary, when she's rolling her hips or doing cucharachas, she's very good. She moves really well. The stretch was also lovely; she had really good form on that. I just wish practically the whole thing wouldn't have been those horse-like rumba walks.

Audrina and Tony, Argentine tango: Well, if I hadn't seen Jennifer's I would have thought this was a pretty good Argentine tango. But it just paled in comparison to Jennifer's. The lifts were nice and she did the footwork properly – didn't miss a step – but her hooks and just her footwork in general lacked the precision. And her feet weren't turned out and this dance is the most ballet-like of all ballroom dances. The feet should definitely be at least slightly turned out.

My favorites this week were Jennifer and Brandy. Funny, but I didn't really notice a difference in the music. Did you guys?

Benjamin Millepied's "Plainspoken"

Last Thursday was NYCB's Fall gala, during which they presented the New York City premiere of Benjamin Millepied's Plainspoken (photo at left, of Teresa Reichlen and Sebastien Marcovici, by Paul Kolnik; the ballet originally premiered in Wyoming this August), along with Robbins' fabulous homage to Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth, I'm Old Fashioned, and Balanchine's Tarantella and Western Symphony.

The evening began with the orchestra pit rising and the always lively Faycal Karoui leading the orchestra in a rendition of Leonard Bernstein's Candide Overture. I love that movable orchestra pit – best thing, in my opinion, about the recent renovations to the Koch Theater.

I was hoping there would be introductions and short speeches, including one by Sarah Jessica Parker, who served as honorary chair for the after-performance party. But no such luck – I guess because it wasn't the beginning of the season, like galas usually are. I didn't even get to see Parker come down the red carpet, there were so many paparazzi blocking my view. I certainly heard her though – or, rather, the paparazzi, as they screamed her name like she was the Messiah. I didn't recognize anyone else. Lots of good-looking people perfectly coiffed and dressed in black tie but no one I recognized. I didn't see Natalie Portman, though I heard she was there. I never recognize famous people, though. I'm really bad that way.

Anyway, I'm Old Fashioned was, as always, enjoyable, albeit too long. No dance-maker needed an editor more than Jerome Robbins in my opinion- and Tyler Angle stood out to me in his solos and duets with Maria Kowroski. But my favorite part of the evening was the second half of the post-intermission, when Ashley Bouder and Daniel Ulbrich just nailed Balanchine's super fast-paced bravura-heavy duet, Tarantella (Ulbrich smacked the tambourine so hard one of the little metal things came flying off) and then Sara Mearns just astounded me in the last section of Western Symphony. How in the world does she stand on pointe, on her own unsupported by a male dancer, and lift her other leg in the air into a perfect split, into practically a six o'clock penchee? How how how? She and Charles Askegard really put on a show as tart-y saloon dancer and cowboy. She is really just unbelievable.

Okay, so onto Plainspoken. Well, sometimes I like Millepied, and sometimes the work just falls a bit flat to me. I didn't much care for this one, though I've liked his last several ballets for ABT and NYCB. This was very abstract, no story that I could find, and I'm just not a fan of purely abstract ballets that I can't find any story in whatsoever. It was a ballet for four couples: Sterling Hyltin and Tyler Angle, Teresa Reichlen and Amar Ramasar, Jennie Somogyi and Sebastien Marcovici, and Janie Taylor and Jared Angle (the last were generally my and my friend's favorite pair – I think because Janie always brings something dark to her roles, there's always something beneath the surface with her even if you can't put your finger on what it is). The couples sometimes changed partners though, and there would be different-sized groupings.

The music was by Pulitzer prize-winning composer David Lang – it was a commissioned score – but to me the music here wasn't nearly as rich as, for example, that used by Morphoses recently. This was mainly strings and piano and each section seemed emotionally the same. There didn't seem to be a lot of contrast between the movements or a build-up toward the end. The sections were each differently lit – by a different color and a background curtain that would rise and lower to reveal more or less light than the section before. But the set was nothing very dramatic and the different colors didn't, for me at least, evoke a different mood.

Movement-wise, there seemed to be a swimming theme. At various points the dancers would sit on the floor and make motions evocative of swimming – sweeping arms through the air, paddling legs – backward, then forward, then all dancers lying on their backs with their feet in the air like a synchronized swim team. At other points, the women would be carried somewhat Chaconne-like across the stage. I remember a slide characterizing Janie's section, and she made it seem as if she was being taken by the men who slid her, against her will, across the floor.

I also have in my notes that the movement toward the beginning, in the first section, was a combination of robotic and more casual walks, kind of like the ensemble walking across the back of the stage in the second part of Robbins's Glass Pieces. This kind of movement was interspersed with the swimming-like motions. In later sections, dancers seemed to run in place.

Oh, and during Janie's section, there was a point where the men all picked her up and hoisted her high above them, like in MacMillan's Manon or the Balanchine ballet where the woman is carried around the whole time by a group of men and the lone man on the floor keeps reaching up for her (sorry, can never remember the name of that ballet). My friend loved this part, and I did as well, but couldn't really figure out how it played into the rest of that section.

In general, my first impressions of this ballet were: some interesting movement reminiscent of other ballets that didn't seem to add up to much and didn't really make me feel anything.

At the end, Millepied, Lang and the costume designer (Karen Young) and lighting designer (Penny Jacobus) took the stage for a bow. The applause seemed more polite than hearty (in contrast to the crazy applause Wheeldon always gets!), but that could just be me projecting my own thoughts onto everyone else.

What about you guys? I saw some mentions on Facebook of people liking it. Who else saw it and what did you think?

Vote for David Sedaris to be on Dancing With the Stars!

Fabulous publishing industry blog, Galley Cat, is taking votes on which author you'd most like to see on Dancing With the Stars. They think there a way to push an author into that spotlight with enough publicity. I'd unfortunately missed Galley Cat's initial nomination post or I'd have nominated Junot Diaz or Gary Shteyngart, but of the existing nominees I'd by far most want to see David Sedaris.

If you're on Facebook, go here to vote. Other nominees include Jodi Picoult, Nora Roberts, Harlan Coben, and several others. Claire Cook thus far seems to have the most votes.

C'mon, vote, and help get an author on the show!

Above image taken from the Guardian.

Benjamin Millepied Interview in "The Daily Beast"

"'I will never be a star,'" said Millepied, who claims to spend his down time reading and "'working a lot by myself at home. When I see the attention movie stars get, it doesn't make me want to be in that position at all.'"

Good, albeit short-ish interview with Millepied in the Daily Beast. It's a Bauhaus tattoo on his midriff In addition to last night's premiere at NYCB, he apparently has another ballet premiering in the Netherlands next week – wow. And he may work with Kanye West.

See the rest of the interview here. They've also got a gallery of male ballet dancers, or "men in tights" rather!

I did see Millepied's Plainspoken last night. Liked but didn't love it. Will write about it as soon as I get a chance – this weekend probably. Today I'm going to see an alternative production of Petrouchka, and tonight a friend's new modern dance piece. Happy Friday everyone!

Morphoses at the Guggenheim

Over the weekend, Morphoses had its first NYC program sans former artistic director Christopher Wheeldon. They presented two pieces, at the Guggenheim, as part of the museum's Works and Process program. They commissioned two choreographers – American Jessica Lang and Swedish dancemaker Pontus Lidberg- to each make a different dance set to a score by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang.

(I wrote about seeing an early rehearsal here).

Using most of the same dancers (most of whom are from American Ballet Theater now, instead of New York City Ballet, as they were when Wheeldon was A.D.), the two came up with vastly different dances, both very engaging.

Lang's (top four photos – all photos by Richard Termine) was more a study of gravity, as she explained (hence Misty Copeland here "climbing the wall"), and of contrasts between the masculine and feminine (indicated, to her, in the music by percussion and chimes).

Interestingly Lidberg heard the music differently and used the percussion section first, melting into the chime section, so apparently the music had no prearranged order. His dance was more lyrical, with the visual theme of a night-blooming flower.

I love that Morphoses now seems to be using a lot of ABT dancers – all soloists or standout corps members — Misty Copeland and Kristi Boone, Eric Tamm, Blaine Hoven, and Isaac Stappas – because I really connect with them. Other dancers included Melissa Barak, Laura Feig, Gabrielle Lamb, Rachel Sherak, Andrea Spiridonakos, and Matthew Prescott. And Lang mentioned that she also used her husband, modern dancer Kanji Segawa (the man doing the floor work on the right-hand side in the photo third from the top), in her piece, which worked well since the aesthetic of modern dance is more "grounded" than ballet.

To hear the music and see some of the dance, here is an excellent video made by the Guggenheim:

"Story Night": Dancing With the Stars Season 11, Week 3

So tonight is story night, meaning each dance must tell a little story.

First on are Jennifer and Derek dancing samba. Their story is that she's a teacher and he's her student. At first she (pretend) disciplines him then turns into hot teacher and seduces him. Wow, I thought that went very well. Samba is the hardest Latin dance (imo, but I think it's pretty well accepted). Part of her stunning performance is due to her pants with the shimmies – they really do make you look like you're shaking it more! But she did have the twisting pelvic action down, and she did really beautifully with most of it. She got a bit too jumpy in the middle, especially after they had a little flub. But they put that crazy hard samba roll in shadow position in toward the end, and those are damn hard. They didn't have many of them, but still. Big kudos to her for not screwing up the hardest part. By the way, didn't she look like Sarah Palin with her hair in a bun and the glasses?

Next, Florence and Corky, waltz: They dance to Edelweiss, and interesting – I didn't know she ever starred in the theater version of The Sound of Music. Their dance is about two people finding a mutual attraction, she's resistant at first, then they come together. Aw, beyond sweet! The choreography was very basic, but so beautifully executed and so well acted it made you appreciate the simplicity of the steps. I love Corky for doing that! The emotion was subtle and she acted that perfectly, which makes sense of course since she's an actress. The only thing – and it may be because I've recently seen Janie Taylor in Benjamin Millepied's Why Am I Not Where You Are at NYCBallet, and her character in that is blind at the beginning – but something about Florence's performance made it seem like she was blind; seemed like she was kind of happy that this guy was sweeping her away, but that she couldn't see him, was looking through him. I think it was because she kept her head and upper body so still. She really needs to loosen up her back and shoulders and neck.

Next, Kurt and Anna dance foxtrot. Okay, first of all, he says during practice that being 6'2 it's almost impossible to look good dancing ballroom; he looks like a big tree. Not so! Roberto Bolle, Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg – Kurt, practically every male ballet dancer I love is huge! Aw, I loved this dance! Story is it's raining, he has an umbrella, she's sitting at a bus stop umbrella-less and a bit down, and he cheers her up by sweeping her away. Perfectly done. He was polished, very gentlemanly, had good rise and fall action. Only thing is that he's still looking a bit stiff in the upper body too. The ballroom frame does feel really unnatural when you're dancing. Everyone needs to watch videos of pros – like Mirko Gozzoli and Alessia Betti , Jonathan Wilkins and Hazel Newberry, and Katusha Demidova and Arunas Bizokas. The pro dancers on the show should show their celebs more videos! It just helps to have a sense of what you should look like – an idea at least for you to try to emulate. But seriously, he had the rise and fall down pat, he had really good form, he was a good, proper partner, and it was really beautifully done.

Margaret and Louis, samba.

They don't really have a story; they're just at the Copacabana. I loved it! Again, the shimmy dress – shimmies always make samba look better But really, it was so much better than I was expecting. I think she's probably club danced before – well, often given her personality, and it shows. This is a dance where if the pro gives the celeb moves – like stationary body rolls and pelvic gyrations – they can look good, even if they're not really doing the basic dance movement properly. And he did give her some basics – the voltas (sideway movement), the whisks (brushing one leg behind the other in a stationary position). She didn't move her pelvis fully enough but somehow she still looked okay. Can't put my finger on why, exactly. Maybe she just had the personality that suited the dance and came out there like she owned it. I like her and hope she doesn't get booted yet. Haha, the rainbow dress: I love Louis's expression when she yelled, "This is the gayest thing that's ever happened on this show!"

Audrina and Tony, waltz. Their story is that he's a marine, he's off at war, and she dreams of his coming back. I thought she looked beautiful and acted it well; it had a lot of emotional depth, and her dress was beautiful. The judges loved it, but I can't help but find fault. She just looked so stiff – everyone's having problems with the frame in closed position, but she also had very wiry-looking arms. She needed to be far more fluid. She also needs to point her toes and think about the lines she's making, particularly with ronde de jambs. It just looked like a formless kick. The judges really loved her though. Hmmm.

Bristol and Mark's foxtrot. Story is, he's a homeless person and he sees her on the street and tries to get her attention, and then he turns into a guy in a suit and she drops her raincoat and they dance. Not sure I fully got it. Anyway, this had to be the most basic dance I've ever seen Mark do. Funny that Len had a problem, saying it was "too contemporary for my taste." It was basic foxtrot, Len… She looked pretty and Carrie Ann's right that she has a really lovely movement quality with the lightness of the feet, just her overall dancer personality. There's something endearing about her as a dancer. But something just didn't connect here – maybe there just wasn't enough for her to do, it was too slow, too basic. She doesn't have enough acting skills to kind of fill it the silences in the dance, you know?

Brandy and Maks, samba. Story kind of got lost to me – she's a singer and he's her bodyguard and she's trying to flirt with him and win him over? I love the dress – my favorite kind of samba dress- the big, ruffly skirt! I didn't really like the dance though, and again, I'm disagreeing with the judges, who loved it. I thought she had good rhythm, which is to be expected of a singer, but her feet were too pointed inward and it really messed up the line. And she didn't really get the fullness of the pelvic movement down; it was more like she was just rocking out, doing her own thing, than doing real samba movement. It almost had a hip hop quality. She did all the footwork properly though. I don't really know what the judges saw that I missed. Their comments were so general and they seemed more intent on reprimanding Maks for strict (Russian) teaching skills (ie: kneeing her hard in the butt when she didn't take a big enough step). Yeah, I've had a Russian teacher almost break my wrist once, so I agree with their condemnation. America is a litigious society, Russians; you gotta be careful here!

Kyle and Lacey, waltz. I like her description of a waltz: "it looks like you're dancing on clouds." Story is they meet and fall for each other in a coffee shop. She's a waitress and he's the patron, but for some reason she's wearing a bra, pants, and an apron. I really couldn't focus on the dance at first because I was trying so hard to figure out why they were at a sweet, kind of Our Town-like coffee shop and the waitress was wearing a bra. Anyway, I thought he did pretty well considering he had such a problem with the gracefulness in practice. I thought he got better as the dance progressed, and by the end, he really had the rise and fall down and he looked much lighter on his feet and gave the dance an aura of romance. I felt like he was goofing a bit earlier, like when he dipped her and he gave the camera that cocky look. But then he got more serious emotionally and his dancing improved along with it. It was far from perfect, but I think he has talent and an endearing personality and I hope he stays on for a long time.

The Situation and Karina, foxtrot. Okay, I was at the Guggenheim tonight watching Morphoses's upcoming David Lang program (which is going to be excellent!) and I recorded this show. When I turned the TV on, this dance was on, and I honestly had no idea what dance it was. It looked like a Latin dance with rise and fall action. At first I thought it was bolero but that wasn't the rhythm. Anyway, the story was that they were in a time machine, so it was futuristic. But it turned out cute. He's working very hard, you can tell – much harder than before. He's really taking this seriously now. You could tell he was working hard to get the heel toe action down, and he succeeded with that. I think it's just that his extreme pigeon toes are throwing off the line so much. And he's really not a natural mover, really doesn't have a natural talent for dance, so it's an uphill battle. But he's trying, and I think Bruno is right that he's entertaining, so I'm still rooting for him!

Rick and Cheryl, samba. Story: he's supposed to have screwed up and lost a big game for his team and is at the bar trying to drink away his sorrows, and she's a sambista dancing on the bartop trying to get him over his blue funk. I thought this was a bit reminiscent, at least up front, of Elena Grinenko and Tucker Carlson. She was doing all the dancing. When he finally joined in, I thought he understood the movement, but just hadn't incorporated it into his body yet. The voltas were way too straight-hipped, but then he had good full pelvic twisting action in the stationary samba walks. So he understood the movement of samba, just didn't have it in his body yet in some of the more difficult steps. It takes time.

Anyway, this week is harder to find a standout; no one really blew me away. I guess Kurt and Jennifer are my favorites. I have no idea who should go home. What about you guys?

NYCB Brings Back "The Magic Flute" and Ashley Bouder Astounds in "Serenade"

On Thursday evening, New York City Ballet performed for the first time since 1982 Peter Martins's The Magic Flute (pictured below – both photos by Paul Kolnik). But first on was Balanchine's Serenade, with Rebecca Krohn (in the photo at left, the ballerina the farthest left) debuting in the role of the "angel." Jenifer Ringer (center) was the "lost girl," and Ashley Bouder (on the right) the dancer who dominates the first section.

Every time I see this ballet I see something new and though she wasn't debuting in the role, this was my first time seeing Ashley Bouder. She completely blew me away and brought to life a "character" I never really even noticed before. I use quotes because of course Balanchine insisted that this is a story-less ballet and he didn't create any such characters, but over time viewers have come to create their own story and now, for example, everyone calls the ballerina whose actions seem to bless and save the woman who falls and seems distraught over a man, the "dark angel." Anyway, I realized for the first time when I saw Ashley dance that her character is supposed to be the A-student, the one who can do all the astounding feats and just flies all over the stage in those jetes. I kept thinking of Natalia Osipova. Wow. That's always been my least favorite part of the ballet – that "class section" at the beginning; I always long for the final, more poetic part when what can most be read as a story takes place, with the angel and a male figure representing to me blind justice save the tragic woman's soul.

Anyway, for the first time I really didn't want the first part to end. Ashley was just so spellbinding. It wasn't just that her jetes were so stunning though; it was that she created a character who ate up the stage, but not out of competitiveness and need for attention, but simply because she was so good she couldn't help it. That's what her dancing conveyed to me anyway, and then I couldn't take my eyes off her.

Rebecca Krohn did very well in her debut as the angel. Only thing was that she was so much shorter than tall Ask la Cour (in photo above) that when followed him from behind with her hands wrapped around his eyes, she really had to stretch.

Jonathan Stafford also made his debut in this ballet, as the "distraught girl's boyfriend," if you want to call him that. I thought he danced very well, but I think I personally prefer Charles Askegard in this role because I see that man as tantalizing her, tormenting her, and responsible for her downfall, and there is just something innately cocky about Askegard. Jonathan Stafford is too sweet

Okay, so The Magic Flute. NYCB as I said hasn't performed this in a while and it's kind of obvious why: it just doesn't seem to fit at all in their repertoire. It was a short story ballet filled with slapstick and cutesy characters. It was danced very well – and Megan Fairchild and Andrew Veyette are two of the company's best actors and they did in my mind as much as could possibly be done it. Everyone did well, actually, and it seems the dancers enjoyed the opportunity to do something they never get a chance to.

The story bears no relation whatsoever to the Mozart opera. It's the story of a farm girl (Megan) who likes a peasant boy (Andrew) but she is betrothed to this incredibly hilariously dorky older man, the town's Marquis (played well by Adam Hendrickson).This is where most of the slaptick comes in – in trying to seduce them the Marquis falls all over the village women, goes to kiss Megan's hand but ends up with Andrew's, literally falls all over poor Megan, etc. etc. Eventually, a strange hooded character indicates to the peasant boy that everything will be all right, he will get the girl, but he must watch for something to fall from the sky. That something is a flute, which comes bearing a huge sign for all the audience to see: "If you play this flute, people will dance against their will." Audience cracked up at this of course.

So, Andrew grabbed the flute and tried it out on his friends, realizing it works! I have to say Andrew's flute playing was very believable. Of course the flutist is in the orchestra pit but damn did it look like Andrew was making that music!

So, now every time the Marquis tried to grab Andrew and toss him off Megan, Andrew would starting playing the flute and the Marquis would start hopping around like a madman. Angry at his lack of control, he pulls his men on peasant boy, eventually tries to get the court involved, and soon everyone is madly hopping about. There's no choreography for the uncontrollable dancing – everyone just hops about punching the air at random. Eventually everything works itself out and Andrew and Megan end up happily together.

The costumes were cute and the sets were very well done (it was suggested at intermission that ABT might want to hire set designer David Mitchell for their productions), I'm just not sure this ballet really belongs at NYCB. But it's nice for a change.

The program ended with Balanchine's patriotic Stars and Stripes set to Sousa. Savannah Lowery had the lead in the second section – the "second campaign" – and she fell during her stage entrance. It looked like just a slip but then she didn't dance her part full out at all – jetes were very low and she looked very concerned going on pointe. It soon became clear she'd really hurt herself when she didn't return for her solo seconds later. The company didn't have time to replace her with another ballerina right then, so the corps members just kind of looked on and sweetly smiled as they stood still during what should have been Lowery's solo. It was kind of like that experimental Jerome Bel film where the camera focuses solely on the corps members while the Swan Lake music swells.

Anyway, by the end, after the fourth campaign when all campaigns return, she'd been replaced by trooper Gwyneth Muller, who my companion noticed seemed not to have much makeup on. There probably aren't too many emergencies like this where a dancer who thinks she's done for the night (she's played Megan's mother in The Magic Flute) but hasn't yet left the building has to get in costume and run back out onstage for a main solo! Anyway, she did well. I hope Savannah's okay though.

Janie Taylor Debuts in Millepied's "Why Am I Not Where You Are" Etc.

I've been remiss in my New York City Ballet posts! Last week I saw two programs: one featuring three dances to three different violin concertos – Peter Martins's Barber Violin Concerto, Robbins' Opus 19 / The Dreamer, and Balanchine's Stravinsky Violin Concerto. And the other program was another in the "See the Music" series but was also dedicated to Santiago Calatrava, who designed sets for all three of the ballets performed – Benjamin Millepied's Why Am I Not Where You Are (pictured above, photo by Paul Kolnik), Christopher Wheeldon's Estancia (pictured below, photo also by Kolnik), and Mauro Bigonzetti's Luce Nascosta, all of which premiered last season and which I wrote about here, here, and here.

Calatrava was in the theater, and after encouragement by Peter Martins, he rose and took a bow.

Then, as with the first "See the Music" program, before the performance began, the orchestra pit rose and conductor Faycal Karoui gave a humorous little explanation of various parts of the Thierry Escaich score from Millepied's Why, the first ballet performed.

These explanations are really interesting to me, I have to say. I only took one classical music class in college and now wish I'd taken more. Karoui talked about how there were four main parts to the score: a waltz, a tango, a disco, and a final climactic part, and he talked about the differences in tempo between them, and between them and a typical waltz, tango, etc.. He also talked about how the ballet has a central male character (danced very well by Sean Suozzi – in top picture, being carried by the group of men), and how you can hear that central character's theme – or voice – throughout each section of the music. But the voice changes with each section: at first, he's shy and mysterious (and his voice in the first section is portrayed by a violin solo), then as the orchestra grows sharper and stronger in the second, tango, section, so did the character, etc.

When we got to the "disco" section (it sounded nothing like disco to me but just slightly more mechanical and percussive than the preceding sections), Karoui really began rocking out as he led the orchestra. It was like he was actually dancing in a disco, and I nearly cracked up. I'm not sure if that's what he normally does down in that pit – if he regularly starts to embody the music literally like that, or if he was just being a goof for the audience. He didn't seem to be hamming it up at that point, though – oddly – so who knows. Anyway, he is very entertaining and I find his musical explanations very educational as well. What more can you ask than to be both entertained and educated, right?

Anyway, Janie Taylor debuted in the Millepied. She was supposed to have debuted when the ballet did last season but she was out with injury and so Kathryn Morgan had filled in. Character-wise I thought she played it the same as Morgan. Except with Morgan it seemed to have a West Side Story feel to it; with Janie it was darker and more La Valse-like. Both were tragic, but in a different way; Kathryn's character seemed more innocent. Anyway, this was my second time seeing the ballet and it grew on me. It's very dramatic, not a dull moment in the whole thing, and you're really on the edge of your seat, both because of the intensity of the music – maintained throughout each section – and the dramatic story of the poor innocent guy who's drawn into another world by his enchantment by this ethereal creature, only to get trapped and ultimately destroyed, along with her.

To me, Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar, with their bravura roles, largely stole the show – I think I remember thinking the same last time. She with those crazy fast chaine turns all around stage that almost make you sickly dizzy, and he with his virtuosic leap sequence – they are kind of the sinister characters, seducing Suozzi but also the audience.

Then came Estancia, and it was my first time seeing Ana Sophia Scheller and Adrian Danchig-Waring (pictured above) in the leads. I'm not a huge fan of this ballet – well, I like the ensemble sections, particularly the dancing and taming of the "horses" – but I nearly fall asleep during the middle, romance part, where city boy wins country girl over. I think it's just the choreography in that middle section (that I found relatively bland) that slows it down – along with the music – but I liked Scheller and Danchig-Waring just as much as the first pair of leads – Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle. In fact, they seemed to fit the roles a bit more. Scheller reminded me of the main character of Agnes de Mille's Rodeo and there was something more sweetly, playfully tomboyish about her look than Peck's. And Danchig-Waring perfectly suited the city boy trying to woo her. He acted his part very well. And his movement is always very sharp. Andrew Veyette and Georgina Pazcoquin as the horses who are eventually tamed, were fabulously entertaining.

And lastly was Bigonzetti's Luce Nascosta (picture at left by Kolnik), which I've seen now three times and which I like but think is too long. I missed seeing Craig Hall in the middle section that seems to be softer and looser than the other sections, where the movement is more marked by those extreme shapes with the flexed hands, splayed fingers, and angular balances and slides on pointe. Hall seems to have the ability to move in a more undulating, kind of serpentine way than most of the others and it seems to me to suit that middle section well.

In the previous program, I loved Megan Fairchild again as the "modern" dancer in Barber Violin Concerto, and, as always, Gonzalo Garcia as "the dreamer" in Robbins' Opus 19!

Now I Want to Root for Kurt Warner

Last night my neighbors were really noisy so I recorded Dancing With the Stars and went out to a bar to watch the Yankees. While watching the game (which we won!), I chatted a bit with a guy I met, and throughout the course of our conversation I mentioned that I was a dance fan / former ballroom dancer and from Arizona. He asked me if I was a Diamondbacks fan, and I said no, I was horrendously upset when they beat us in the World Series in 2001, even though I went to high school with the then-pitcher Curt Schilling… I'd worked downtown and Lower Manhattan just desperately needed a parade – something happy – that year; I think the series just became a symbol of much more than what it was because of what had happened. Plus, the Diamondbacks are a newish team and didn't exist when I was growing up in Phoenix, so I didn't really have a connection with them.

Anyway, so the guy asked me if I was a Cardinals fan. And I'm such a dork, I know nothing at all about any sport but baseball. I said, "What, is that a minor league team?" And he started laughing. He said, "No. Football. You know, Kurt Warner, the Super Bowl?…" All I know of the Super Bowl is Mark Sanchez :S I laughed and said I didn't know football. He said, "Well, you're rooting for Kurt Warner, right? I mean on Dancing With the Stars?" And then I put two and two together and realized that the football guy this season is the guy he's talking about. So, Kurt on DWTS played for Arizona, who knew And, look, he had A-Rod's number…

Anyway, so on DWTS, I thought Michael Bolton rightly went home last night, even though I felt badly for him regarding Bruno's nasty comment, which I didn't think he deserved. I didn't think his was the worst jive ever in 11 seasons; there have been too many untalented people on the show (Kate, Cloris, Buzz) or contestants who refused to work (that guy who was partnered with Ashley several seasons ago whose name I can't now remember) for that to be correct. But I think Michael was having a hard time, it would have been an uphill struggle, and someone had to go. He might have improved but I think I'd rather see if The Situation can.

And regarding that whole spiel about the audience booing: I hadn't even known there any controversy as to whom they booed – I thought it was clear it was the judges' relatively low scores for Jennifer and Derek. Apparently some thought they were booing Tom Bergeron's interviewing Sarah Palin?… Did you guys think that?

Above photo by Rob Schumacher, taken from AZCentral.