by Leigh Witchel
Casting against type can be a great way to stretch dancers . . . as long as you don’t break them. Much of the cast of the Balanchine/Robbins double bill at New York City Ballet got their first shots at their parts at the beginning of the season, and casting turned a lens on which roles worked for some dancers, and which were a surprise.
The company seems to have pegged Olivia MacKinnon as an adagio dancer, but she’s been pallid in big duets. But when she moved casts, from the swooning duo of Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet to the allegro work of the woman in yellow in Dances at a Gathering, she looked far more animated, with attack. Throughout the ballet she danced with more volume when she was going fast. That may be a clue to finally unraveling her place in the repertory.
There were fewer surprise in the rest of the cast, though once Anthony Huxley would have been relegated to the brick-colored role, and considered too short for the arduous partnering role for the man in brown. But his duet with Indiana Woodward, who was in pink, went without a glitch.
For Huxley, the performance was, as always, movement first. That’s his poetry. He had a suspended, floating carriage in the opening balancés, then flew round the stage in jetés. His later solo had high, gorgeous jumps. But when he put his hand to his head to mime “crazy” before he left in the opening, it was just a movement.
Aarón Sanz, wearing green, decided to stick an arabesque and show off his long, long lines. And partnering Emilie Gerrity in mauve during the first duet, he could haul. You could see Gerrity’s nerves when she turned. She had episodes of freezing up during the season, and here turned in a performance of steps. She was freer later on, loosening up to be melodramatic in the final sextet.
Woodward gave a light fluent reading with Chun Wai Chan in purple, as she gently walked into him to be flipped upside down at the end of their duet. Chan sped through fast tours, and he and Huxley did their competitive duet, including moments of of one-upping, with a light touch.
Dominika Afanasenkov, in blue, looked tall next to Woodward and Huxley, but that’s not the only reason your eye would go to her. You can sense her making decisions between two men, or choosing to walk to someone. She acts, she has a great stage face and she glows onstage. She made a smaller role into a big part.
We got a rare glimpse of Ashley Bouder doing the woman in green. She danced both solos (Mira Nadon only did one). Bouder made the mischievous first solo all about starting and stopping. In her second solo, when she interacted with the three men who walked with and around her, at first it seemed as if she already knew what would happen. She opened up more as it went on, and seemed hopeful for a better outcome with Sanz.
Victor Abreu got another juicy break as the young man in brick, and looked very School of American Ballet: fleet, with needle-like leg lines. But even here, he was a little off his axis in multiple turns.
There were other fumbled moments. Davide Riccardo was having trouble with the partnering; in the sextet, an overhead lift was dodgy, as if he couldn’t muscle his partner up. And in the big tosses in the later group dance, MacKinnon wound up perilously close to the floor.
One non-dance fumble: the costumes seemed to badly need refreshing and redyeing. Riccardo in blue looked purple, Chan in purple looked brick.
Like all Balanchine’s multiple movement ballets, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet can be an exercise in casting. Balanchine followed the cues in the music so that each movement, like a meal course, provided a different mood and temper, and a contrast to the others. The solo ballerina role in the first movement suited Miriam Miller. She was moving big with extravagant arabesques and using her height.
Peter Walker had more trouble in this first movement than in Symphony in C. His lines were dodgier, he was wristier and he almost ran out of gas at the end. When he had to do three double tours in succession, though, he forced himself and got it.
His partner, Alexa Maxwell, varied her attack in how she swiveled as Walker brought her round on a diagonal. She’s all over the rep and more of an all-rounder than a specialist, but we still haven’t seen her much in tutu roles.
Her musical sensitivity extended on to her second solo, as she drifted down the stage. She’s hard to pin down in casting. With nimble footwork and elegant port de bras, but without physical quirks or extremities, she doesn’t have a no-brainer use. She’s not hiding from us; we need to get to know her.
Seeing Nadon in the second movement was like seeing Suzanne Farrell in a Patricia McBride role. The casting against type was interesting, not disastrous. Nadon has the back and the soul, but she wisely kept it reined in enough that she wasn’t throwing herself around. As in Tzigane, she was flinging her leg up and controlling it down. She was whipping through turns, tight, fast and on her leg.
Nadon and Gilbert Bolden III had a beautiful continuity and abandon in the partnering; she could fall right into him and flip. She did risky soutenus off balance, almost crumpling into a fall with him holding her but it worked every time. He was there for her; they smiled when they embraced. Together they seemed less in love than in love with passion.
Nadon’s profligacy onstage is a function of her facility and her youth. Luckily, she’s still young enough to keep a light touch even though she’s a stage animal. In ten years she might overpower the role.
Andres Zuniga and Erica Pereira once again did third movement, and Pereira again was on. She gave a subtle, musical performance with elegant port de bras and nailed the complicated turns. Zuniga seemed to be going more for height than quality in his solos, and it felt forced.
Unity Phelan was cast against type in fourth movement, but what is her type? The company seems to see her doing everything. Her technique is impeccable but who knows whether you will get a performance or not. Well, we got one. She went for broke, burst onstage and took risks, pushing the movement all the way. With big arm gestures and full projection and expression, she was vibrant walking with pride and attitude round the stage. It looked as if someone lit a fire under her. Partnering her, Andrew Veyette looked delighted to complement her, also taking risks in turns (but he always does) and smiling when they met. This part is good medicine for her.
The point of knowing a dancer’s type isn’t to pigeonhole. Shorter athletes can play basketball; they’re just going to have to work harder. It’s foolish to get stuck by that but also foolish to ignore it.
Casting against type can also be a great way for artistic directors to stretch themselves. It can make them more skilled at bringing out the best in their dancers, both what’s natural and what’s unexpected. Casting against type is another way to get better at how to cast to type.
copyright © 2024 by Leigh Witchel
Dances at a Gathering, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet – New York City Ballet
Lincoln Center, New York, NY
May 12, 2024
Cover: Olivia MacKinnon in Dances at a Gathering. Photo © Erin Baiano.
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