BAFFLED IN NEW YORK

North Carolina Dance Theatre / Joyce Theater, NYC / April 13-18, 2004

“It’s a puzzlement,” says the monarch in The King and I. Having witnessed one of North Carolina Dance Theatre’s rare New York performances, I can only agree with the king. The company is led by a pair of former New York City Ballet principals, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride—the latter one of the great dancers of the twentieth century, the originator and/or brilliant interpreter of many a Balanchine role. Why, I wonder, did this energetic and engaging troupe ignore this heritage and offer a program comprising three pieces of middling worth only obliquely related to classical dancing?

My plaintive why is only intensified by the fact that NCDT’s repertory features a goodly number of Balanchine’s major works—all of them staged by McBride. The programming for New York is baffling—and frustrating. Even more so since, in the same week, Edward Villella—another star for the history books and frequently McBride’s partner at NYCB—is bringing his Miami City Ballet, consistently praised for the vitality of its Balanchine productions, within commuting distance of inner New York and essentially keeping the visit a secret. (Friday evening, April 16, at the Tilles Center on Long Island, MCB will offer the Rubies section of its excellent production of Jewels and two new additions to its sizeable Balanchine rep: Ballo della Regina, staged by Merrill Ashley, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto, staged by Maria Calegari and Bart Cook. Further information is available at www.tillescenter.com.) As far as I know, not a word of this appearance has been breathed to the dance press.

At any rate, there we were at the Joyce, watching NCDT in The River—vintage Alvin Ailey, to be sure, but hardly a piece that showcases classical prowess; Bonnefoux’s Shindig, a hoedown (set to welcome live music from the bluegrass band Greasy Beans) with sprightly footwork that fails to provide any adagio relief from its relentlessly brisk-‘n’-cheery allegro footwork; and Nicolo Fonte’s Brave! an all-too-generic modern-ballet deal featuring (1) an ominous atmosphere with intimations of violence; (2) sleek inky costumes that slowly—oh, so very slowly—give way to faux-nudity; (3) a plethora of high stools that get sat on and moved around; and (4) a cringe-inducing text (“I spoke my mind . . . I faced my fears . . . to love without prejudice”). Whose taste was the program geared to? The Joyce audience that supports annual four-week engagements of Pilobolus?

As so often, when choreography disappoints, the dancers cheer you up. NCDT’s are an engaging bunch. Uri Sands, a former Ailey stand-out, is the most gorgeous and sophisticated of them, with his eloquent upper body and a self-containment that seems to harbor deep emotional experience. He is the only one among them, at least in the offered repertory, who seems fully adult—and poetic.

Rebecca Carmazzi, captures some of the qualities that characterized McBride: the beautiful head that seems always to be turning to the light; the ability to be utterly clear, present in the space, wholly herself—without fuss or clamoring for attention. Nicholle-Rochelle, blessed with the build and looks of a Vegas showgirl, has the appetite and aplomb for pyrotechnical feats. Dynamos like this risk being coarse or mechanical; Nicholle-Rochelle is appealing because she seems to be having a good time.

Heather Ferranti-Ferguson, well matched with Sands in The River, is the loveliest of the women; she shares his calm and his suggestion of passions running deep. She’s a lyrical dancer essentially, but not one of those insubstantial, ineffable descendants of the Sylphide. Her movement is weighted, as if she’s been matching every ballet class she takes with one in modern dance.

The company harbors a slew of young men who might be undergrads at some mid-Western college—modest, still somewhat raw, their athletic inclinations lured off the beaten path into dancing. Their classical training seems to be right on target, urging them to be swift, crisp, immune to affectation. I wanted to see them again, so I could sort out which of them was which. And next time I hope to see them rising to the challenges and rewards of dancing Balanchine.

Photo credit: Marilyn Frenkel: Members of North Carolina Dance Theatre in Nicolo Fonte’s Brave!

© 2004 Tobi Tobias