Videos of Maria Tallchief are few and far between, and many of the existing films are not of very high quality. They are filmed in a tiny TV soundstage, and poor camera angles and video quality make it hard to sense her impact in the theater.
Last night’s New York City Ballet program gave you an idea of Tallchief’s versatility and depth. It was a program of ballets originated by Tallchief, in celebration of the centennial of her birth. Scotch Symphony, Sylvia: Pas de Deux, and Firebird require three very different ballerinas with very different skillsets. It thus boggles the mind that they were all created on the same person.
Scotch Symphony is an odd ballet. It seems to be a tribute to La Sylphide, but without any of the black magic and angst. What it is, is a lovely vehicle for a ballerina. People still talk about Mira Nadon’s Scotch Symphony performance in her SAB workshop. In recent years, Sterling Hyltin has made something special of the role.
Indiana Woodward’s debut last night was excellent. Woodward is not the tall, stately ballerina that Tallchief was. She is sweet, light, effervescent. She has a delicate, sylph-like jump that fits descriptions of Marie Taglioni. One joy in watching Woodward is the way she’s able to slowly lift and lower her leg. So many NYCB dancers are so accustomed to allegro work that this adagio control is limited. Not with Woodward. One remembers that Woodward’s breakout role was La Sylphide. Jovani Furlan’s role is less meaty, but he was an excellent partner. His solo double tours in the final movement were perhaps not as smooth as they were pre-injury. Baily Jones’ allegro solo in the first movement was well-danced but low-impact.
Sylvia: Pas de Deux made its return after a long absence. In the fall, I saw ABT do this, and last night Megan Fairchild and Joseph Gordon made it practically a different ballet. With Fairchild, this ballet becomes a display of allegro technique. Quick hops on pointe, difficult turns and balances and Fairchild does it all with way more ease than the ABT ballerinas.
However, this ballet also calls for a grandeur and expansiveness that Fairchild lacks. She does not have as much back and leg flexibility as she used to. Her developpés rarely got above the hip, and her arabesques almost never reached 90 degrees. When she had to dip into Gordon’s arms in the adagio, there was little lushness to her movement. Gordon fared better. He does have both the allegro chops to pull off the difficult solo with those double tours in second position AND a regal expansiveness in his adagio work.