Ballet Away From Home

What to do when New York City Ballet is not performing at "home" - at Lincoln Center?! 

I ventured across the plaza at Lincoln Center to the Metropolitan Opera House to see an ABT performance on Friday night of Giselle. Diana Vishneva was originally cast but has been injured for some months and on Friday was replaced by Nina Ananiashvili.  Having never seen either of them previously I was as happy seeing one or the other. On the other hand if Jose Manuel Carreno had been replaced, I would have been very disappointed! He is such a handsome and generous dancer, so fantastic! The production was lavish in every way. I felt like I was watching a beautiful romantic painting come alive. Nina Ananiashvili may be 44 but you would never guess it. With the announcement that the 2009 season is going to be her last with ABT, I imagine that this performance must have been amongst her last Giselles? With her the ballet really was in three acts: 1st act was Giselle in the village, 2nd act was Giselle in the land of the Wilis, and 3rd act was Giselle giving her bows. Flowers were thrown and she very smoothly caught a beautiful bunch of sunflowers. It was a very special performance!

Then on Saturday morning I took the train up to Saratoga Springs to see New York City Ballet - and my daughter - dancing at SPAC, Saratoga Performing Arts Center . This was my first time ever up to Saratoga and the whole trip was lots of fun, including of course seeing Lydia dance in that quintessential Balanchine piece, Symphony in C.  The experience was lovely, being in the outdoor theatre, with the sounds of birds along with the orchestra, and gentle breezes blowing.

First on the program was Mozartiana, with Wendy Whelan, always spiritual, and spritely Daniel Ulbricht. Next was Prodigal Son, with Ulbricht again, in a fantastic role for him where he always wows the audience. Tess Reichlen with great authority was the Siren. Then Symphony in C was wonderful. Ana Sophia Scheller in 1st movement was very regal. Sara Mearns and Stephen Hanna were smooth and luxurious in 2nd movement. After that I have to admit that I didn't really take in as much because Lydia was in the 3rd movement (it was the first time I was seeing her in the full piece - she performed only in the finale in the excerpt for the Dancer's Choice Program) - and Megan Johnson was in 4th movement. They are new apprentices together and it is very exciting seeing them dance.

Lydia gave me this picture of the two of them in their white tutus! They will perform again in Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet,  and they are learning roles in two more ballets, Baiser de la Fee and Western Symphony. It looks like I will need to take another trip up to Saratoga while NYCB is there for two more weeks, until July 26. I just got home, and I can't wait to go right back!

The town of Saratoga was charming. Where ever I am, I love finding an excellent bakery. I have a favorite bakery in Copenhagen, in Paris, in London, and now I have  favorite bakery in Saratoga: Mrs. London's on the main street.  I probably shouldn't tell you how many delicious things I had - I do have sweet tooth! The crumble cake with peaches and blueberries was superb. The almond croissant was completely up to the best French standards. There were some beautiful chocolate patisseries that I didn't have a chance to try. I definitely need to make a return trip!

Unfortunately I found out too late about an exhibit of dance photographs by Paul Kolnik at Gallery 100, also on Broadway.  Kolnik has been photographing NYCBallet for over 30 years. The show called Jerome Robbins Continuum sounds fascinating with multiple images of ballets over the years. Also included are photographs of Damian Woetzel's farewell performance that just took place on June 18th. So when I go up again I am going to plan enough time to see that, as well as the Dance Museum. So much to do!

This coming weekend I'm looking forward to seeing the Royal Ballet of Flanders from Antwerp, Belgium when they perform William Forsythe's Impressing the Czar, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. This was one of the companies that Lydia visited when we went on her audition tour in Europe in January. Lydia loved this company and was so impressed with the dancers. I am very excited about seeing them perform this piece.

For all of us who love seeing NYCB at Lincoln Center, it is a long time every year between the end of the season in June and the beginning of the next season with the Nutcracker in November and repertory in January. But right now ballet away from "home" is pretty excellent!

PS: For more reports on the performances up at Saratoga, check out Oberon's Grove!  

tags: antwerp  megan johnson  apprentice  bakeries  

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