PETER MARTINS'S `FRIANDISES' AT NYCB HAS THRILLS, LITTLE DEPTH

This article originally appeared in the Culture section of Bloomberg News on February 13, 2006.

Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Nine guys cut through the air with space-eating, turning leaps. They're matched by nine young women, more delicately built but equally athletic and fearless. Heading these contingents, the stocky, buoyant Daniel Ulbricht and Tiler Peck, a virtuosa with showgirl lushness, confidently toss off daredevil feats.

``Friandises,'' Peter Martins's newest work for the New York City Ballet, is a gasp-inducing entertainment designed to show off the technical brilliance of the company's rising generation.

Its score of the same name (French for ``sweets'' or ``tidbits'') was commissioned jointly with the Juilliard School from the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Christopher Rouse. In five sections, the music alternately suggests the excitement of living, full-out, at the edge of doom and an idyllic sweetness that exists only in the imagination.

Adam Hougland will choreograph a modern-dance interpretation of the piece for the Juilliard Dance Ensemble. This production can be seen at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Feb. 22-26.

In Martins's version, the two meditative sections are danced by the ensemble. One suggests nostalgia for a lost kingdom. In the other, the women look like mermaids, snared for a moment in pearl fishers' arms.

Both quiet passages are pretty, but with no main couple to focus them, they provide little more than a monotonously lovely landscape. In human terms, they make no point.

Circus Split

The dynamic sections adroitly play the leaders against the group. Ulbricht proves that a dancer can be both a high-flyer and a gyroscope-style turner -- a rare combination.

Peck turns with equal panache -- on point. To top this, she shows how a splay-legged arabesque -- an exaggeration of the classical pose -- can transfer to the ground as a circusy split.

In the finale, the dancers slash through the space one by one on crisscrossing diagonals, their spectacular exploits delivered with classical ballet's unique exactitude.

Granted, the prowess displayed in ``Friandises'' is formidable. But though we gape at it and cheer it, it doesn't provide the meaning yielded by a genuine work of art.

Unfair Comparison

Since 1978, Martins has contributed about 77 ballets to the NYCB repertory. ``Friandises'' is brighter than most of his efforts -- and his dancers do him proud. But the body of work as a whole is disappointing. This is not choreography destined for the history books.

Of course, it's tough to compete with genius. Martins's reputation as a choreographer suffers, unfairly, from the fact that, as the NYCB's main provider of new ballets, he's measured against his predecessor, George Balanchine.

Veteran NYCB fans -- who witnessed the glory days under Balanchine -- habitually carp about Martins's ballets. Even these naysayers admit he has craft, but they sense the absence of imagination. They're also put off by the aridity of his pieces in the classical mode and the hostility between the sexes that prevails in his contemporary-style works.

Other Flaws

It's possible, too, that the detractors conflate Martins's lack of choreographic genius with other perceived flaws. During his tenure, the custodianship of the Balanchine repertoire has, arguably, been careless. Martins is blamed as well for excluding former Balanchine ballerinas, Suzanne Farrell first among them, from staging and coaching NYCB's productions of the master's ballets.

These days, Martins is falling further out of favor as a dance maker while Christopher Wheeldon's star rises. Designated by Martins as the company's resident choreographer, Wheeldon equals or betters his boss when it comes to craft. What's more, his work harbors a wider range -- if not a greater depth -- of feeling.

Could it be that Martins no longer cares to compete? His own ballets often look tired -- dutifully made, but lacking creative force. The same slow withdrawal was evident in the last phase of his dancing career.

A danseur noble if ever there was one, he went through the motions as impeccably and handsomely as ever. But the performances were increasingly sapped of vitality. He looked as if he just didn't want to do it anymore.

© 2006 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.