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.
Sylvia: Pas de Deux is mostly interesting because of Balanchine’s cross pollination with other ballets. The developpé into swooning dip seems rather obviously inspired by the adagio in Symphony in C (choreographed two years earlier). The hops en pointe in a circle show up decades later in Ballo della Regina. He outright lifted the entire male variation for Coppélia. Otherwise, the pas de deux itself does not have the same beauty or musicality as Ashton’s version.
Firebird closed the program. It is a classic, despite Balanchine himself disliking the ballet. The Chagall backdrops themselves trigger applause. This was Tallchief’s trademark role and one imagines was the most reflective of her talents. Incredible split jumps, long, majestic arms and back and a regal persona. This is also a ballet that seems to bring out the very best in its interpreters. Ashley Hod dances very much as I’d imagine Tallchief to have danced. Hod is tall, stately and authoritative, but also with quicksilver jumps and agility. I loved her soft, wing-like arms in her farewell solo. Her off-stage husband Andrew Veyette made way more out of the Prince Ivan role than I’ve ever seen. He was funny and goofy. Miriam Miller looked fabulous as the Princess.
In a week, veteran principal Ashley Bouder is set to retire in Firebird. She made a comment about why Firebird is so popular: “The firebird, you know, she gives her feathers, she gives herself, and at the end, she has nothing left. I feel like that’s kind of a poetic way to end a career.”
Firebird is (like Odette/Odile) another self-sacrificing bird. This archetype is an eternal gift to both ballerinas and audiences. Maria Tallchief’s roles are also a continuing gift to both ballerinas and audiences. NYCB is like many ballet companies in that it often fails to honor its history (it has dropped its traditional January 22 celebration of Balanchine’s birthday). But last night, the company did right by both Maria Tallchief and her role in the company’s history.
