Choreography: Justin Peck, George Balanchine, Pam Tanowitz, Kyle Abraham
George Balanchine enjoyed a long and fabled career, dancing with the Mariinsky Company in Moscow, the Ballets Russes in Paris, before moving to New York to found the School of American Ballet, which trained the dancers who formed the first New York City Ballet Company. The Company is making its first appearance at Sadler’s Wells after a 14-year-long absence from London.
The fourth part of this four-part programme is a seething mass of baroque costuming, a stage awash with river-effect gobos, a squelchy rhythm track, auto-tuned vocals, and a climactic reworking of Joy Division’s Atmosphere, for which ‘unfortunate’ might be the kindest adjective. James Blake does the music, Dan Scully does the lights, Kyle Abraham does the choreography, and the dancers do their best. In contrast, the first three parts are coherent, graceful, and gorgeous to behold.
In the opening piece, Rotunda, there’s a full orchestra playing Nico Muhly’s music, as twelve dancers in multi-coloured warm-up gear make patterns, showboat, fill the otherwise empty stage with movement and grace and don’t even hint at a narrative. It’s just dancing for the sake of it, and it is joyous. It’s light-hearted, light-footed, and fun. Dancers are good to watch walking downstage to take a bow. These amazing dancers are putting their skills to rather more difficult tasks but the sense of play and self-expression, choreographed by Justin Peck, define the piece.
The central section of the evening, two pieces featuring dancers and musicians sharing the stage, is the heart of the show. First Balanchine’s own choreography to Stravinsky’s Duo Concertant. A grand piano, a music stand, a pianist (Elaine Chelton), a violinist (Kurt Nikkanen) and a pair of dancers, seemingly waiting to be inspired to move. When the inspiration takes hold they engage in a series of dazzling pas des deux on a bare stage, with delicate, sensitive lighting provided by Mark Stanley. The last movement of the piece features the dancers moving in and out of pin spots, letting the light find a head, a shoulder, an arm, finishing on a disembodied spotlit forearm. It’s an image of astounding simple beauty, provided by the least flashy ensemble imaginable.
Its companion piece is Pam Tanowitz’s choreography of Gustave le Gray No. 1, with music composed by Caroline Shaw. The piano is still on stage, played this time by Stephen Gosling. Four dancers in glowing scarlet costumes designed by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung, costumes that extend their physical form with wing-like fabric extensions, create striking synchronised patterns on the bare stage while a sympathetic lighting design (by Davison Scandrett) paints them in warm modulating colours and outlines them with dramatic side light. It is a very impressive integration of light, costume and movement that paints wonderful pictures. There’s even a joke involving hi-jacked instruments. It gets a welcome laugh in a piece that is otherwise quite solemn. Spectacular, but solemn.
The New York City Ballet is a hugely talented ensemble of dancers, who present varied, imaginative, daring programmes of exquisitely executed dances. They are trying new things alongside a stunning repertoire of Balanchine and Jerome Robbins choreographies. They have been absent from London for far too long. It’s good to have them back.
Runs until 10 March 2024
