BWW Reviews: All Robbins, Not All Good

Last Thursday the New York City Ballet paid homage to one of the country's most celebrated choreographers, Jerome Robbins. Glass Pieces, The Cage, Andantino and N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz each show a different side of Robbins choreographic talent, and together make for an exciting and wonderful addition to the company's American Music Festival.

The evening began with one of Robbins' most successful works, and a personal favorite of mine, Glass Pieces. Unfortunately, Pieces fell a little flat on Thursday. The postmodern masterpiece relies heavily on large group movements; which could have been more together. More attention to detail would have helped with some of the issues I saw: lack of spatial awareness; uneven mismatched lines; and some phrasing irregularities.

What saved Glass Pieces was a stunning performance by City Ballet veteran, Wendy Whelan. Whelan's extraordinary strength and musicality were perfectly suited for this work. Her maturity as a performer is remarkable; she displayed a cool and collected presence and gave the audience a wonderfully nuanced performance. Her partner, Adrian Danchig-Waring, supported her effortlessly. Their lines matched perfectly, and their phrasing was impeccably in sync. Glass Pieces looked better during the winter season, but, thankfully, Whelan and Danchig-Waring made up for the issues with the corps.

The Cage, which premiered in 1951, is a dark and dramatic work that delves into a commonly explored topic in the ballet world: the potentially destructive power of female sexuality. Robbins uses a horde of cannibalistic insect ladies and two of their unsuspecting male victims to tell his story. Sterling Hyltin was wonderful as the Novice. Her exquisite flexibility and expressive face allowed her great freedom in the role. She was able to portray both the kind of vulnerable timidity required in the beginning of the ballet as well as the dark and terrifying power that is needed when she succumbs to the group mentality at the ballet's conclusion. Rebecca Krohn was commanding and strong as the Queen and gave a marvelously malevolent performance. The corps looked better in Cage and executed the broken and rigid movements in near perfect unison.

Andantino was a welcome addition to the program. Set to a beautiful score from Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, this pas de deux featured Ashley Bouder and Andrew Yvette, both of whom danced spectacularly. Bouder uses what she has flawlessly. What she might lack in facility, she makes up for ten fold in her strength and unparalleled musicality. Yvette proved to be a nice match for her and performed one of the nicest entrechat six I've seen in years.

The evening ended with the lively and fun N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz. Here, the dancers got to let loose and take off their pointe shoes, a rare treat for any professional ballet dancer. Robbins effortlessly blends the vernacular of popular social dancing into the concert dance setting. It was a great way to end such a diverse program, and it was nice to see the dancers obviously enjoying themselves.

In all, this presentation did a nice job showing the full gamut of Robbins work. We saw something neoclassical and plotless, something dramatic and dark, something light and romantic, and then something fun and casual. Disregarding the dancing and choreography, the orchestra sounded amazing on Thursday, and all of the sets used in the pieces were beautiful. It was as cohesive and pleasing a program that one could hope for. Kudos to Robbins and the Company for an outstanding night of dance.

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