ABT 2016 Fall Season - Monotones, Symphonic Variations, Daphnis & Chloe

In the interest of trying to save a little bit of money to take with me to Italy (only ten days before blastoff!), I only made it to one afternoon of ABT's fall season at the Koch Theater, and it was an uneven one, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless.  I enjoyed some fall weather scenery, and I wandered around the theater to get some photos (you'll see some at the bottom).  I was tickled by the ushers and seat neighbors (more on them later) and I did really enjoy the first two pieces of the afternoon.  The last piece...not so much. But maybe I need to see it again to understand it...

photo credit: Marty Sohl

I was up in the third ring, in an aisle seat off to the left side.  It was an excellent seat to see all the action, along with all of the terrific lighting design.  First up was a piece I saw, and adored, last fall - Monotones I and II, choreographed by Frederick Ashton to music by Erik Satie. When I see this piece, I think of the quote attributed to Balanchine (badly paraphrased by me): you should hear the steps and see the music in ballet.  I definitely do see the music when I watch Monotones.  The first portion is two women and one man, in light green unitards with beanie-type hats, that make them all look rather otherworldly. They move in unison throughout space with such grace and control, it made me hold my breath.  There is such power and delicacy in each step, beautifully moving through space and time in perfect unison.  In the second portion, we see two men and one woman, whose body is manipulated through extensions and incredible lifts.  They're wearing the same unitard/beanie combo, only their outfits are white.  There's such a wonderful, ethereal quality to this ballet, as if it happens throughout eternity, in all time and all space.  Such loveliness.  

(not the cast I saw)

The second piece was another choreographed-by-Frederick Ashton ballet: Symphonic Variations, with music by Cesar Franck.  I didn't know this ballet or this music at all, so it was a gorgeous surprise to me.  There were six dancers, all onstage throughout the ballet, three men, three women, all artfully placed geometrically in the theater space.  At first, the ladies were dancing alone, with the gentlemen all standing quietly. Then, one man started to dance, first alone, then with one lady, two ladies, then all three.  The use of quick steps then total stillness, as if we're all always observing someone, was lovely. Again, it was beautiful movement through space, no story, per se, but you still felt a sense of the relationships between the movement.  The main duo was Devon Teuscher and James Whiteside and they were fantastic.  Beautifully matched and oh so powerfully delicate.  Skylar Brandt was also sparkling and terrific, as her usual. Apparently, ABT hasn't done this piece in about ten years - I hope they bring it back soon. 

photo credit: Agathe Poupeney (not the cast I saw)

After an intermission, the third piece of the evening commenced. It was an ABT premiere of a new Benjamin Millepied ballet, Daphnis and Chloe, with music by Ravel.  Ravel apparently wrote the music to be done as a ballet, but I'm not quite sure this is the most successful treatment of the music.  The dancing was quite nice, but it was so diffused, I never knew which way to look. People were running back and forth, and there were oddly colored geometric shapes that kept flying in and out of the piece.  I don't know, maybe this was a little too busy, and a little too long, for me.  Every time I thought, 'oh, that's a pleasant pas de deux for Daphnis and Chloe, it must be near the end,' there would be another one.  There were at least three endings, in my opinion.  Oddly, I got a little offended that the gentlemen all had different costumes, so we could tell them apart, but all the women had on the same style dress through the first third of the ballet.  We weren't supposed to be able to tell the women apart?  I don't know.  Stella Abrera was her usual-lovely self as Chloe, but I didn't get to see her do much herself that wasn't in relation to what the men were doing. I guess this ballet would not pass the Bechdel Test, though I guess Cassandra Trenery, as the temptress, did have some nice solo work.  There goes that theory of mine.  : )

Maybe I just didn't get it, which is always possible.  I don't think I'd rush to see this ballet again, but if it were on a program with other pieces I like, I'd be willing to give it another shot.  I did enjoy the music, and I also enjoyed the chorale passages. And the dancing WAS pretty, it just didn't make sense to me, so maybe that's just on me.  Going back to the beginning of the program, the ushers were just not taking ANY guff from anyone. One usher would not let a gent in without a ticket - he kept trying to push his way in and she wasn't having it.  They also threw out a young person who refused to turn off their phone and stop texting once the program started. Hurray for the ushers.  There was a trio in front of me - the woman in the center kept talking to the person on her right, then the person on her left.  Finally, the man on her left (her husband?  I couldn't tell) just leaned away from her so she would leave him alone.  The woman next to me was so excited to be seeing ballet again (she said she'd been living in Ft Worth and hadn't seen ballet in awhile).  I guess she didn't stay that happy, since she left before the last piece was even over.  And there was someone in front of me, to the left, who apparently knew all the music, because they were humming along, a little too loudly (I mean, if I could hear it...).  God love a Sunday matinee.  I just got my new ABT season brochure in the mail, so I can't wait to pick and choose which wonderments I get to experience next spring.  Hopefully, after I get back from Italy, I'll still be able to afford the tickets...