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The Winter Season Winds Down at New York City Ballet “Scenes de Ballet,” “Sonatas and Interludes,” “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,” and “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” by Michael Popkin Saturday night New York City Ballet performed “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” for the final time this season. “Brahms” is one of Balanchine’s most lyrical works. It is more of a poetic ballet than a formal one, an homage to mid-19th century romanticism. Dreamy and nostalgic in mood and set to the music of Johannes Brahms (though orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg)—among Balanchine’s works it relates, despite the grandeur of its scale, more to smaller ballets such as “Liebeslieder Waltzes” than it does to works like “Symphony in C,” “Diamonds” or “Theme and Variations,” which are all more in the lineage of the Imperial Russian style. Unfortunately, Saturday night’s performance was, it must be said, substandard. The problems were most obvious at the level of its principal dancers and were for the most part due to injury and to the retirement of key personnel. It has been a long and grueling season, beginning with frequent two-a-day "Nutcracker" performances in the Fall and extending thereafter for three long months which have also included a killer ten day run of Peter Martins’ “Swan Lake” in early January. Before the season, the company had suffered a huge turnover among the male principal dancers, as Peter Boal, Jock Soto and James Fayette all retired last year and both Ben Millepied and Damien Woetzel were on leave for part of the Autumn. During the season a rash of injuries and illnesses then took their toll. Among the women, Maria Kowroski and Janie Taylor missed the entire season, Jennie Somogyi is just now rounding into form after missing nearly two years with a tendon injury, and the sensational Ashley Bouder went out with an injury ten days ago. The remaining dancers are strong, but no company could take hits like this without it catching up occasionally and on Saturday night it seemed to show in “Brahms.” “Brahms” is made up of four movements which are, in order, Allegro, Intermezzo, Andante and Rondo. Kyra Nichols and Charles Askegard had the principal roles in the Allegro. Nichols has not been dancing much this season, looked out of shape and had an off night. Clarity and purity of form are her greatest virtues now, but these qualities alone were not enough in themselves to carry her through the entire movement. Askegard, her partner, was a last minute replacement for Philip Neal, so in addition the couple cannot have had much rehearsal. In the Intermezzo, Jennifer Ringer and Nilas Martins did a competent job. This is one of Ringer’s very best roles. But, while Martins gave a scrupulous account of the choreography, he also struggled in the lifts and the flow of the dance was not maintained. It read as a series of stops rather than as a continuous legato motion. Ringer used to be partnered by her husband, James Fayette, in this. She has appeared to miss him on stage this season and Saturday night we in the audience missed him too. Yvonne Borree in the Andante had a slightly nervous performance partnered by Nicolaj Hubbe She was, however, fully sincere and open and showed an endearing and even a heartbreaking vulnerability in her pas de deux. Hubbe for his part powered through his solos. The young and gifted Sara Mearns and her partner Amar Ramassar (another last minute substitution) brought the ballet to an end on a very positive note with a more than competent Rondo. Mearns is this year’s “phenom,” a nineteen year old girl who had never danced a solo before she was plucked out of the corps to dance Odette/Odile in Martins’ “Swan Lake” in January. She has been cast prominently ever since. While her Rondo is not going to make anyone forget Suzanne Farrell in this role, or, for that matter, Sofiane Sylve, who danced it magnificently earlier in the week either, Mearns and Ramassar acquitted themselves well. Mearns was, as you might expect, somewhat raw. But she is nonetheless a natural dancer with a strong rhythmic feel for music in general, and a seemingly innate gift for sensing what a moment requires dramatically on the stage. Teresa Reichlen as the soloist in the Allegro, along with the excellent corps, were the positive features of this performance. The role was danced by Gloria Govrin and Karin von Aroldingen once upon a time and is nearly as prominent as that of the principal woman. It is all poetry, soft lyrical jumps into arabesque and effortless extensions into allongee. Reichlen was marvelous in it. One of the tallest girls in the company, she has the allegro attack of a much smaller dancer. Her performance was one for the ages. Each generation one hopes that a new dancer will come along to set the standard in a major role to which others thereafter will have to measure up. It is what the audience will remember when it thinks about a role. This week Reichlen set that standard for this role. The other most positive feature of “Brahms” was, as mentioned, the performance of the corps de ballet. There are no juicier corps roles anywhere in Balanchine than those in “Brahms.” The four boys in the Allegro dancing behind Reichlen; the side girls in the same movement (Ashley Laracey and Sarah Ricard) in steep arabesques; the great diagonals in the Andante when all the girls kneel in deep backbends—these as ever gave one the chills. While the corps has suffered as many injuries as the principals this Winter, injuries are easier to absorb here and the corps de ballet on Saturday night went far in itself towards providing a coherent theatrical experience for this ballet. The earlier ballets on the program were better performed. In Wheeldon’s “Scenes de Ballet” (reviewed in last week’s edition) Tabitha Rinko-Gay and Justin Peck danced the grand pas de deux to strong effect. “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” enjoyed strong performances from Miranda Weese and Damien Woetzel. Tanner’s “Sonatas and Interludes” requires slightly more comment because of Jennie Somogyi’s performance. Returning this Winter from a torn Achilles tendon, Somogyi has progressed cautiously and has at times appeared uncomfortable. Saturday night, though, she looked the best she has since her injury. There is nowhere to hide in Tanner’s ballet. The dancers are costumed in white unitards and the choreography is minimal to the degree that every tremble and readjustment of position shows. The ballet is totally exposing to its dancers and, what we saw with Somogyi thus exposed, was the dancer we have missed, back in shape, moving comfortably and showing even an added strength and emotional gravity born perhaps of the vulnerability such an injury brings and the courage it takes to overcome it. Sebastien Marcovici was her partner. Photo on front page of Nikolaj Hubbe in "Brahms Schoenberg" is by Paul Kolnik. Volume 4, No. 8
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