by Leigh Witchel
A few days earlier, New York City Ballet danced the same program as this one. In contrast, that show had a few dancers swimming upstream in parts, where in this one the same dancers, as well as some others, were working right to their strengths.
This cast of “The Four Temperaments” had even more debuts than the previous, but this was their second show rather than the initial one. Just one performance can make a world of difference in calm; the audience didn’t spend the whole time watching everyone pushing their pelvis forward.
Claire Kretzschmar and Samuel Melnikov danced the first theme with the sphinx-like, matter-of-fact quality that Lincoln Kirstein would have called angelic. Her leg shot high, but not from nervous energy. Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara and Davide Riccardo projected the same composure together when she pivoted to look at him. Even when she traveled, gripped to his shoulder as he dragged her, she didn’t give away secrets. She also kept the torqued arabesque to an arabesque, without diving to penchée.
Sebastían Villarini-Velez’ jumps went high in Melancholic; his arms and poses were neatly sculpted. There was less sadness in his interpretation, or even moving with effort or resistance, than an underlying physical tautness to his movement and phrasing that produced an analogous emotional feeling. A leaning pose right before he exited recalled paintings of the martyrdom of his name-saint, and the final bend off stage was less conflicted and more dramatic: a Mannerist interpretation.
Isabella LaFreniere danced Sanguinic like Merrill Ashley used to: as an Amazon. She was indeed sanguine, with an enigmatic but predatory smile that suggested she liked the chase and intended to conquer. Gilbert Bolden III had to work to keep up with her. His jumps and beats were handsome; his turns were less secure.
Russell Janzen may be the sleeper male principal in the company, less for his virtuosity than his intelligence and attention to detail. Phlegmatic is especially suited to his physique and character. His demeanor was reticent enough that his hand had to lead him onstage, otherwise he might not have entered. Before the women entered, he took an effortful breath, and then lifted his foot. It was a thought-out performance.
After wrestling through a Black Swan duet at the earlier show that wasn’t a natural fit, Mira Nadon made an easy debut in Choleric. She flew out and her legs slashed high, hair-trigger and poised to strike. But unlike Odile, this was a weapon she had full mastery of. She controlled it, not the other way round.
Elaine Chelton played “Sonatine” at a brisk tempo. As with Indiana Woodward, the part both suited and extended Megan Fairchild. She gave the walks near the opening a subtle jazzy inflection, but the mood she conveyed was a reverie, with a mix of control and soft focus. Gonzalo Garcia took the part more heartily than Taylor Stanley; in his solo he jumped and slapped his knees as if he were doing folk dance. He partnered Fairchild unobtrusively, but the bow was part of his extended farewell. He gave her roses and a kiss.
Where Tiler Peck had to finesse Odette, Odile is right up her alley. It shows off the balances and turns she’s mistress of, and doesn’t require sustaining an arabesque line. The contrast is even inside the choreography in the moment where Odile imitates Odette by slowing down and striking an arabesque and pose. And there was Peck, an allegro ballerina imitating an adagio one.
Jovani Furlan, who along with Peter Walker and Harrison Ball, was just promoted to principal dancer, went on the offensive and added complications to Siegfried’s solo, such as beats in a tour jeté, or doing air turns with his leg at his knee. He might not have felt a need to attack the part quite as hard if he had been dancing the full-length, where he would have had both a warm-up to the killer showpiece and context for audience.
In her solo Peck risked double attitudes, but made both, then floated an à la seconde turn. The coda was edgy. Furlan got lots of height in his jumps, soaring in to enter. Peck can be a gyroscope in turns, this time wasn’t that secure. She still pushed her cards in the fouettés, starting by sprinkling in doubles but hedging back to singles. They flickered on and off balance, but she made them all including a finish, completing Odile’s triumphant duping of Siegfried through her masquerade. But then at the bows, that sweet smile was no scheming Odile and all Tiler Peck.
Odette seemed like a no-brainer for Unity Phelan and her debut proved it. What the part asks for – a clean but eloquent and elastic line – is Phelan’s best quality.
Her adagio was close to textbook; she made all the right moves. Peter Walker, also making his debut, partnered well. In her solo she had an easy back. Her arms were flappy and heavily bird-like in contrast to classical, but it wasn’t nervous flapping. That looked like how she’d been coached.
Walker has the legs for a prince; but he’s not a consistent technician. When he tried to up the ante like Furlan by doing tours in passé he almost lost one. His intellectual and emotional approach to leading roles was impetuous and rough-edged. He clearly showed you the thought process, but it was almost a revelation to his Siegfried that Odette might want him to put the crossbow down. When von Rotbart showed up you could sense Siegfried’s impatience as he gestured to Odette, “move out of the way so I can shoot him!”
Walker seemed to have hooked into Siegfried’s confusion as his entry into his character. When he embraced Odette as she was about to turn back into a Swan he seemed genuinely not to understand what was happening to her. It made sense and was honest, but not the best argument for Siegfried as a hero. Do you want a prince to look overwhelmed even at the ballet’s end?
It’s a shame Balanchine’s choreography for the coda doesn’t include the yearning diagonal of fouetté arabesques. Phelan would have looked even more beautiful in those than the sissonnes she did; she has a stretchy jump more than a high one. She snapped back into position from each sissonne like a taut rubber band and plunged into the entrechats with fast and agile feet.
Cast changes are the reason to go to a show again. Casting against type is a great way to strengthen a dancer, but casting to it can be the reassurance both the audience and the dancer crave.
copyright © 2022 by Leigh Witchel
“The Four Temperaments” “Sonatine,” “Black Swan Pas de Deux,”“Swan Lake” – New York City Ballet
Lincoln Center, New York, NY
February 22, 2022
Cover: Peter Walker and Unity Phelan in “Swan Lake.” Photo credit © Erin Baiano.
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