NYCB: Orpheus – once hot, now on life support

Sometimes dances that were once popular and all the rage become dated. Such is the case with Balanchine’s Orpheus. It was such a success when it premiered that rumor was that it was this ballet that convinced Morton Baum to invite Ballet Society to a permanent residence at City Center, and thus become New York City Ballet.

Today, the work looks like a curiosity. The Isami Noguchi sets and costumes are the best part. They give the ballet a distinct look and flavor. I also like Balanchine’s obvious cross-pollination with Martha Graham. At one point, the dancers hunch over and stretch their arms upwards and torsos downwards. A classic Martha Graham step.

But it’s clear that no one in in the company advocates for this ballet, and it shows. There exists a grainy black and white film with Nicholas Magallanes as Orpheus and Violette Verdy as Eurydice that is genuinely moving. They believed, and therefore we believed. What I saw onstage Thursday night was dancers going through the motions without any conviction.

Adrian Danchig-Waring, so riveting as Apollo, was smoothly efficient as Orpheus. Looked handsome, danced the steps, but didn’t live the role. Brittany Pollack was sweet as Eurydice, but where was the sensuality? The ballet looked poorly rehearsed. When Orpheus finally looks at Eurydice, she is supposed to be snatched immediately from behind a curtain. Instead, no one was there to pull Pollack, so Danchig-Waring actually pushed her through the curtain.

The smaller roles can be lots of fun with the right dancers. Davide Riccardo however looked out of sorts as Dark Angel, without any of the sinister glee Amar Ramasar used to bring to the role. And Megan LeCrone wandered onstage aimlessly in the Bacchantes section. Where was the coaching?

The other two ballets on the program were timeless classics. Serenade always works, no matter the cast. The curtain goes up on the seventeen moonlit dancers, and the audience applauds. On the way out of the theater I heard a woman seeing Serenade for the first time going on about how magical the “invisible” promenade of the Dark Angel (a luminous Emilie Gerrity) was. Waltz Girl is one of Unity Phelan’s best roles. Her final backbend while being carried aloft was gorgeous.

Theme and Variations is usually a crowd-pleasing closer. But the performance on Thursday night was bumpy for many reasons. One was that Megan Fairchild was a last-minute sub for Tiler Peck. Peck had a family emergency, per her Instagram. The lack of rehearsal with Joseph Gordon showed. Their pas de deux had some awkward partnering moments.

Another issue was that both Gordon and Fairchild were felled by the Everest-like demands for the lead couple. Fairchild has been dancing this role for many years, but last night she couldn’t quite keep up. The pas de chats and gargouillades had no elevation. She was often ever-so-slightly behind the beat in her variations. Father Time is undefeated.

Joseph Gordon was disappointing. This elegant virtuoso almost always exceeds expectations. But alas, he also couldn’t keep up. The infamous variation with the tours/pirouettes was marred by pirouettes that traveled wildly, sloppy landings, and finally Gordon just cut the variation short and finished well before the musical cue to finish.

Even an off performance of Theme and Variations thrills the audience. What’s more, Fairchild and Gordon obviously believe in the ballet. They made mistakes, but anyone can have a bad night. Someone at New York City Ballet needs to believe in Orpheus before they present it again.