National Ballet of Canada's Angels' Atlas had no wings

I always look forward to programs where I haven’t seen any of the ballets on the bill (at least live). Therefore, I approached National Ballet of Canada’s brief run at New York City Center with excitement. I had only seen Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto on video, and I had not seen David Dawson’s Anima Animus or Crystal Pite’s Angels’ Atlas at all.

Dawson’s Anima Animus was a collection of contemporary ballet clichés. It was set to Ezio Bosso’s pulsating Esoconcerto. The costumes by Yukimo Takeshima consisted of black and white leotards with a strange panel of illusion flesh in the back that was zipped up with a prominent black zipper. It honestly looked like the upper half of a figure skating costume.

The choreography consisted of a lot of crane lifts, extreme split leg arabesques and males dragging the female on the floor. It was hyperkinetic and watchable, but not memorable. By the end of the first intermission, I could barely remember it. Two tall blondes, Calley Skalnik and Genevieve Penn Nabity as the female leads did anchor the piece with an imperious authority. Otherwise, the ensemble seemed overwhelmed by all the steps. I counted two big falls and other little slips.

Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto was the oldest piece on the program and (as is often the case) by far the best ballet. NY balletomanes will be familiar with the music for the piece. It’s Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and used by Alexei Ratmansky in his popular Concerto DSCH.

It’s always interesting to see how two different choreographers respond to the same music. Ratmansky’s ballet is merrier, more action-packed and (in my opinion) a more organic response to the rhythms of the concerto. MacMillan’s ballet is more of an academic classroom exercise, with the corps in neat little lines, practising their tendus and rond de jambes. When the men jump, they do so in a strict diagonal, as they might in a ballet class. I didn’t like it quite as much as I love Concerto DSCH, but it’s a very fine ballet.

In the first movement, Koto Ishihara and Siphesihle November were the standouts of the evening. They were charming and effervescent. The second movement adagio, however, fell short. MacMillan has a lot of rather sculptural posing in the choreography that he said was inspired by watching the great Canadian ballerina Lynn Seymour in class. Even a cursory Youtube search of her dancing shows her incredible charisma. The dancers I saw last night (Tina Pereira and Peng-Fei Jiang) were merely “nice” and nothing more.

Crystal Pite’s Angels’ Atlas was a strange closer for a program. It’s dark and gloomy: it starts with a completely black stage and all dancers lying on their backs. Over the course of thirty minutes, they contort their bodies and flail their arms in a lot of sturm and drang. At one point, all the dancers fall to the ground in a death domino effect. The projections on the backdrop were intriguing. Silvery darts rise and fall along with the dancers and the music (by Owen Belton).

Pite’s dance vocabulary borrows from Martha Graham: the deep squats, the dramatic arm flailing, the torso contortions. Pite lacks Graham’s genius for tight construction and clear themes. Angels’ Atlas goes on a little too long and while it’s obviously about death, it’s all rather vague. Angels' Atlas unfortunately had no wings.

Overall, the evening was rather mediocre. I remember when National Ballet of Canada toured with Christopher Wheeldon’s A Winter’s Tale. That was memorable. Great dancers, interesting ballet. This time, there was nothing bad, but the repertory choices and dancing exuded competence rather than inspiration.