The Nutcrackers are all finished so it's time for a delectable five week season of short works (plus Romeo and Juliet) from the New York City Ballet. I'll be heading to as much as I can, "Ocean's Kingdom" probably getting a miss, and up first was an all Balanchine quad bill that positively overflowed with a sense of fun.
The curtain rose on "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" whose miniature set is scarily reminiscent of Act I of the Nutcracker, Christmas tree included. The ballet itself takes a similar tack, sweet with a creepiness at the core. A slight tale of a toy soldier's infatuation with a ballerina doll, that ends as nastily as you might expect of a Hans Christian Andersen story. This isn't really Balanchine's finest work though, lacking shading which results in a charming few minutes followed by an unexpectedly bleak end. Erica Pereira and Daniel Ulbricht both captured the stilted movement of the toys, Ulbricht has a fabulous spring to him which was entirely appropriate, but neither found much depth in the characters. Overall "Tin Soldier" is just a bit too cutesy.
The second ballet, "Le Tombeau de Couperin" is as Balanchine as they come, almost to the point of looking like a pastiche. Plain costumes on a plain background with mirrored and repeating choreography for 8 couples. To be honest the atmosphere was one of technical strength, though there was some scrappiness, but to very little overall effect. There's no emotion, despite the glories of the music which was well played by the NYCB Orchestra under Faycal Karoui, and not much to hold interest. Lots going on, all of which looked very pretty, but the point of it all doesn't seem to reach much beyond prettiness.
The "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux" is similarly pretty but my word is it good fun and coming in under ten minutes it's no wonder this piece is so beloved of Gala programmers. You need great dancers however and Tiler Peck and Gonzalo Garcia comfortably delivered the goods. Peck's turns are things of wonder and she did it all with a smile on her face like it was the easiest thing in the world. There's no emotion here, but the short length means it isn't an issue: eye-popping ballet fireworks.
The grand finale was the truly spectacular, "Union Jack". As a Brit, sitting through this was faintly embarrassing (did the flag really need to be so big?), but the sheer joy of it all is totally infectious. Balanchine takes British quirks, from Kilts to Sailors through Pearly Queens, and creates a magnificently silly but rather triumphant hour long ballet. It's a huge company piece, more than 70 dancers on-stage, and the dancing was first rate with everyone looking like they were having a great time. To pick highlights seems almost unfair but it would be remiss of me not to mention how absurdly well Andrew Veyette slipped into the role of the Pearly King. He made the Costermonger pas de deux genuinely funny. "Union Jack" is dance as pure theatre and I couldn't have enjoyed it more.
A very decent bill that ended on a massive high. None of the works really found much greater meaning but the quality was high and each work had its strengths. Lots more to come over the next month or so and I can only hope it'll all be as strong as this.
(Review of Performance on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at the David H. Koch Theater)
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