A little over 2 weeks ago was the New York City Ballet Fall 2014 Gala. Every year I look forward to the performances at this gala to enjoy world premieres of new works from up and coming and established choreographers. But the NYCB Fall Gala holds something special as well, it is the gala dedicated to fashion! Each ballet premiering is usually partnered with a renowned designer like Carolina Herrera, Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen and Thom Browne or with an emerging brilliant designer like Mary Katrantzou or last year’s Iris Van Apfel.
September 23rd was a beautiful day and night, perfect for a trip to the ballet decked out in my Altuzarra x Target sweatshirt and H&M skirt with Steve Madden d’orsay heels.The evening started off with a star-studded red carpet with Sarah Jessica Parker in Mary Katrantzou, celebrating her debut as a ballet designer. Kristen Bell also walked the red carpet in an Zuhair Murad pearl and sequin halter gown. But nonchalantly walking past all of the commotion on the red carpet was Natalie Portman, wife of former NYCB choreographer and dancer, Benjamin Millepied.
The performance evening started with a video introduction to Marc Happel, costume director of NYCB, and the designers that created the costumes for the ballets Morgen, Clearing Dawn, Funerailles and Belles-Lettres.
Morgen was choreographed by Peter Martins with costumes designed by the elegant, Carolina Herrera. The stage was littered with Grecian columns and costumes inspired by togas. The Opera singer, Jennifer Zetlan’s beautiful never-wavering voice slowly lulled you into the action. That’s about as excited I can get when writing about this ballet. Unfortunately, this hour long ballet was more like a hour long slow down. The tempo never quite changed and the dancing was repetitive. With Sara Mearns, Sterling Hyltin and Amar Ramasar cast in the ballet, one would think their strengths would be used for the piece, but instead they were underused and felt off. The work never picked up pace and finished feeling flat and without bringing anything new or different to the ballet world.
Following a much needed pause, was the pas de deux with Wendy Whelan and Tyler Angle, This Bitter Earth. Not a world premiere but just as enjoyable, This Bitter Earth is an excerpt from Five Movements, Three Repeats that deals with loss and is emotional. Costumes were designed by Valentino and fit with the theme of the night, fashion.
Clearing Dawn was the first world premiere of the night choreographed by Troy Schumacher with costumes by Thom Browne. The ballet started with a gathering of the dancers cloaked in over-sized coats. Before the dancing began, the coats flew off the dancers as a bravado unveil. The rest of the piece was a fun cat and mouse game of children being children. Some childhood drama mixed with “monkey see, monkey do” and “tag” persisted for the rest of the wonderfully playful piece. This ballet was my favorite of the night and a very welcome change of pace from the rest of the somber program.
The second debuting ballet was Funerailles choreographed by Liam Scarlett with costumes designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen. To tell you the truth, I barely remember this ballet. I remember there was passion and rejected love but mostly I remember how bizarre it felt. The costumes, while beautiful, did not fit the mood of the choreography. The pianist Elaine Chelton was fantastic while playing the gorgeous score of Franz Liszt. The highlights of the work were the music and Tiler Peck’s beautiful lines.
The night’s finale premiere was the highly anticipated Belles-Lettres choreographed by resident choreographer, Justin Peck.The costumes were designed by Mary Katrantzou who was inspired by the alphabet and title of the piece “Beautiful Letters.” She strategically placed letters in lace throughout the costumes.The performance was engaging but left a slight empty feeling afterward as if the dance did not fully climax satisfactorily. As I sat in the David H. Koch theater, I kept expecting something more, a conflict or a romance or a sudden bout of creativity that never quite came. Though far from the worst performance of the night, I felt Mr. Peck’s work was not his best nor a failure. It sat complacently with me without being utterly memorable or reflective.
After the performance, Alex, @SkimMilkProject, and I went to the Guilty Goose to express our thoughts on the evening. I feel the New York City Ballet has come such a long way as a company and has some of the most talented dancers. They have smartly invested the company in remarkable campaigns, the newest being the Cole Haan ballet flat collaboration. Unfortunately, the choreography is still stuck sometimes. With Justin Peck being their first resident choreographer since 2008’s very first resident choreographer, Christopher Wheeldon, this development has led me to think that NYCB is eager to support emerging choreographers, as they should. More works from Preljocaj and Schumacher need to happen with this company to keep it from going stale. New York City Ballet is still revamping their image and will falter at times, but they are definitely headed in the right direction with the collaborations of Sarah Jessica Parker who has spearheaded the fashion Fall galas.
