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Sarah Frater's rating
, Where are the modern classics?
By
Sarah Frater
19 Mar 2008
New work is the backbone of New York City Ballet. George Balanchine created umpteen new ballets for the troupe he founded, with an astonishing 21 of them for City Ballet’s landmark Stravinsky Festival in 1972.
Balanchine’s co-director Jerome Robbins also churned out ballets for the company, as has the troupe’s current director Peter Martins, who additionally commissions independent dance makers to produce what we hope will be the classics of the future.
They have to come from somewhere, and you’ll want to know if they were among the quartet in City Ballet’s Four Voices programme at the Coliseum last night.
The first two, Carousel by Christopher Wheeldon and Zakouski by Martins, suffered from some of the dullest dancing in years. Neither qualifies as a modern classic but both would have considerably more appeal if they were danced with emotional shading and old-style charisma. The steps were performed but much of the big-sale Carousel felt flat, while the Zakouski duet was the dance equivalent of MDF. And as for the costume designers, they should be made to break rocks.
Danced with much more confidence was Russian Seasons by some-time Bolshoi director Alexei Ratmansky. It reminds you very much of Kenneth MacMillan’s Song of the Earth and although not in the same artistic league, its evocation of human love, loss and death is convincingly done. The drawback is the bonkers hats for the women, and what look suspiciously like leg-warmers for the men.
Gloom and angst were the dominant mood of In Vento by Mauro Bigonzetti, much of which was too stretch-and-grind for my taste. However, the 11 dancers made some interesting shapes, and all moved with allure. That said, no one can relax the search for the next modern classic.
Four Voices 20 and 21 March, then Ballet and Broadway 19, 20 and 22 March. Information: 0870 145 0200, www.eno.org.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (2)
I was in London for two performances of NYCB (last week). As a subscriber of 30 years, our company did itself, and NYC, proud. I can also assure you that NYCB dancers always give their all. Some of the ballets (especially those you are seeing this week) might need a couple of viewings in order to appreciate them. Also, our style of dancing is -- well -- not the Royal Ballet's (a company I admire and see whenever I can in London). When I attended the gorgeous Coliseum (orchestra), my seat-mates were extremely impressed by NYCB. Sure, there are some duds here and there, but that's certainly the case with everything in the arts (i.e. loved the performances of
the actors -- especially Janet McTeer -- in "God of Carnage, " but the play
needs a rewrite. Not so with several other excellent plays I saw there last week -- get thee to the Old Vic immediately! Ditto to the Donmar.
- Deborah Broide, NYC, USA, 20/03/2008 11:25
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I think anybody paying more than the £35 upper circle seats we found would feel distinctly miffed at "the foremost ballet company in the world". As a novice (but enthusiastic) dance fan I found Carousel sweetly charming and technically well-choreographed. The two dancers in Zakouski (act 2) didn't seem to realise this was the performance night and not a step-through. Even to my eyes it looked as though they couldn't give a damn. The audience reserved their loudest applause for the violinist. "In Vento" by contrast was visually stunning. Haunting music and brilliant lighting that melted the fluid dancers in and out of view. The brilliantly named French soloist Benjamin Millepied, seemed to be made of liquid and moved beautifully, as did his colleagues. The final act of Russian Seasons had distractingly awful costumes but was engaging enough. It was getting a little long for the audience around us and you can't help feeling they should ditch act 2 to give this part of the show the attention it deserves.
- Robert Stone, Hertford UK, 19/03/2008 16:48
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