The third week of New York City Ballet’s 75th Anniversary season’s main program was an eclectic triple bill of George Balanchine's Apollo/La Sonnambula/Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2. Of the three ballets, La Sonnambula is on the surface the “easiest.” The male Poet does not need to dance any tricky “soccer” solo the way Apollo does. The Sleepwalker doesn’t have a fiendishly difficult opening solo like the ballerina’s in Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2. The Sleepwalker’s steps include mostly simple, floating bourrées and yearning arabesques.
Yet La Sonnambula is the trickiest ballet to get right. It depends so much on mood, connection and chemistry between the dancers. Many dancers sail through more technically demanding roles and yet falter in La Sonnambula.
The performance of Apollo that opened the program was excellent. Adrian Danchig-Waring remains a gold standard in the role. He is both majestic and powerful, the way a young god should be. If his opening solo doesn’t quite have the raw energy it used to have, he is still musical and appealing. Terpsichore fit Unity Phelan’s skillset like a glove. As Terpsichore, she was leggy, glamorous, a mix of playful and remote. It was overall an excellent performance of Apollo, despite a few shaky partnering moments. Emilie Gerrity was an excellent Polyhymnia, dispatching the famously tricky solo with its pirouettes into arabesque without issue. Sara Adams was hammy and funny as Calliope.
La Sonnambula, however, was not as successful. Phelan was the Sleepwalker. Despite all her gifts she does not have a particularly light, smooth bourrée. Nor does her arabesque float effortlessly into the air. When she moves, she exudes strength rather than the sort of haunted, ethereal wispiness of the Sleepwalker. She and Taylor Stanley (Poet) were poorly matched. Stanley is an excellent dancer who sometimes is too introverted. You didn’t sense any connection. At one point Phelan actually tripped over Stanley’s arm while sleepwalking. The spell was broken. The sense of longing and loss was just not there.
The Coquette (Ashley Laracey) was also miscast. She was the most lady-like mistress/prostitute I’ve ever seen. Laracey does have the requisite fragility for the Sleepwalker. Why was she not Sleepwalker? The best performance came from Daniel Ulbricht as Harlequin. La Sonnambula again tripped up dancers who can triumph in ballets that are much more technically demanding. (On Sunday, Alexa Maxwell and Anthony Huxley were absolutely enchanting in the same ballet, so it can be done.)
Thankfully, the evening ended with a barnstorming performance of Piano Concerto No. 2 aka Ballet Imperial. This forty minute ballet is a dream for ballet lovers who love tiaras, lush music, and difficult virtuoso dancing. The only sour note was the new-ish costumes. The grey-blue color looks washed out onstage, the thick brocade bodices cut the body line in half. The men in particular look like waiters.
The ballerina role is notoriously difficult. Margot Fonteyn once succinctly said, “I danced it very badly.” Thankfully, Sara Mearns tackled all the challenges of the role (including the famous entry which involves repeated pirouettes in tendu) with her trademark brio. Likewise, Tyler Angle last night gave the best performance I’ve seen him give in years. His partnering was expert, his solos had surprising lift and pep. He even completed an impressive diagonal of brisés and the trio of double tours landing on one knee. Emily Kikta was exciting (if a bit unpolished) as the turning solo girl.
The famous Arlene Croce once said that ballerinas as they mature “dance less, but give more.” Sara Mearns is at that stage. Mearns is having a wonderful resurgence in her career. After several years of dancing very little because of medical issues, she is now performing with more confidence than ever.
