ABT 2019 - Tharp Trio (and a little extra)

Hello, friends!  Sorry for the radio silence - I actually have seen a few things that I'm at a loss to talk about satisfactorily.  I may try to at the end of this post, just to get them out of my head and move on to the next.  But, first, let me chat about my recent visit to ABT!

I decided to skip seeing Whipped Cream this year - I loved seeing it two years in a row and I find it to be enchanting, but I instead opted to see the trio of Twyla Tharp pieces, since I've never seen two of them and the third thrills me to no end.  I will also have a report on a very strange, possibly intoxicated, seat neighbor, so this could be a very full post indeed!

First, let me mention that I am so sick of rain.  OK, moving on.  Thankfully, the rain had lessened enough that I could walk from the covered area by Geffen Hall to the covered area by the Met without having to get my umbrella back out.  I always silently worry about my wet umbrella unleashing water everywhere, even when I have it wrapped in a plastic bag.  I guess it's just another one of my silly worry things.  I arrived at the Met a little early, so I wandered through the gift shop.  Of course, I found a few things I'd like to have; maybe after pay day.  When they opened the house, I went right up to the balcony and got a brownie, because I do enjoy a treat.  They sell a good brownie!  Fun note:  during the orchestra's warm-up, I could hear a French horn playing "I Could Have Danced All Night," and I'm pretty sure I heard a clarinet tooting a bit of "Afternoon of a Faun."  My ears were perked up already...

photo credit: Andrea Mohin (not the cast I saw)

The first piece was Twyla's "The Brahms-Haydn Variations," first done by ABT in 2000.  I'm pretty sure I haven't seen this piece before; I loved it!  I totally want to see it again asap!  Unfortunately, that dreaded slip of paper fell out of the program, letting us know that Herman Cornejo is still injured, so taking his place in this ballet was Arron Scott (now dancing with the ever-sparkling Skylar Brandt).  Besides this couple, there are six other featured couples, with sixteen corps dancers, in the ballet.  I just loved all of the shapes in space that the choreography made - each of the couples had a nice rapport and the steps were lovely.  I'm not a huge Misty Copeland fan, but she was really grand here, partnered with my new favorite Joo Won Ahn (I did get annoyed that she got the biggest ovation during the curtain call, but her fandom is real).  But I also enjoyed Zhong-Jing Fang and Calvin Royal quite a bit, along with the previously mentioned Arron and Skylar.  Oh, everyone was good.  I really would like to see this ballet again to revel in all the movement, expansiveness, and musicality.

photo credit: Nan Melville (not the cast I saw)

A bit of a seat neighbor teaser:  the couple on my left turned out to be a solo lady, rather reeking of alcohol.  OK, whatever.  I was glad to have space to put my bag on the floor where her plus-one should've been.  During the first intermission, I can only assume to went up to the bar to reload.  She was on fire during the second intermission, which I will detail later.  The second piece was "Deuce Coupe," which was an ABT premiere, though the ballet was set on the Joffrey in 1973.  This piece was one of Tharp's first to combine a modern dance sensibility and formal ballet vocabulary.  We see one ballerina in white (danced last night by the beautiful Christine Shevchenko), who is going through different ballet steps and sequences while the rest of the company is dressed in loud contemporary clothes and doing looser, more modern steps.  It's a wonderful combination of movement and style, with looseness and fun, all set to music by the Beach Boys.  I will say that some of the recorded music sounded a little wan and scratchy, they could maybe find better recordings.  But I just loved the joy and freedom of the piece.  James Whiteside had a hilarious bit where the music was sped up to a nearly undanceable tempo, though he kept up beautifully.  And there was a terrific duet with Misty Copeland and Shevchenko, showing the strength, power, and beauty of women.  I thought "Deuce Coupe" was terrific and I think the rest of the audience did, too.  There was a rousing and lengthy ovation and curtain call.  I was a little disappointed that Twyla didn't come out, since this was an ABT premiere, but oh well.

During the lengthy second intermission, I made the mistake of engaging with my perhaps-inebriated seat neighbor, who talked the entire break about a) the horror that is Peter Martins; b) who she thinks really killed JFK; c) the direct line from LBJ to the orange nightmare currently inhabiting the White House; d) the reason carbon dioxide makes her fall asleep during most ballets; e) [vaguely racist things about Misty Copeland and her fan base]; and f) Justin Peck is way better than Alexei Ratmansky.  Whew.  She was exhausting, especially before seeing the exhilarating "In the Upper Room," which requires a lot of energy from the audience as well as the dancers, but I politely nodded my head and commented occasionally when she stopped talking.  I guess I can safely say that I haven't had a conversation like that one before, at least not in the Met.

photo credit: Nan Melville (not the cast I saw)

I always love "In the Upper Room" - it's just exciting, exhausting, powerful yet graceful, and I always catch different moments to thrill me whenever I see it.  I seriously have no idea how those dancers keep up that energy throughout.  The Philip Glass score is relentless (in a good way, for once) and the connection of the dancers to the music and the movement is amazing, as are the lighting and smoke effects (though it did seem to be a little excessive, smoke-wise, for a bit in the middle of the piece).  As usual, I loved the experience of seeing it.  My perhaps-inebriated seat neighbor somehow fell asleep during it, which shocks me, because the energy of the piece just hits me really hard, but I guess carbon dioxide is a powerful force.

a terrible shot of Twyla from my phone

During the extended ovation and curtain call, I was thrilled to see that Twyla DID come out!  She came out and hugged all of the dancers, which was sweet, then she rejected the flowers the usher tried to give her.  Adorably rejected, I should say.  Then she invited the people who helped her stage "Deuce Coupe" to come out for applause as well.  She danced around, soaked in the applause, finally accepted a bouquet of flowers, only to throw them into the front row of the audience!  It was a delightful end to the evening.  She's just a force, even after all of these years.  The Times did a terrific story on her working with ABT (you can read it HERE, if you can access stories through their website).  I'm so glad she is getting some attention and I'm ever so thrilled that ABT is making a commitment to women choreographers; I am almost levitating with excitement over seeing Jane Eyre next week.

Passage photo credit: Julieta Cervantes

As for my other recent experiences, I guess I can say that what I want to see right now is the challenging, and maybe a journey, or exploring the unknown - I saw a reading of an exciting new musical that I probably shouldn't talk about, but I can say that it will change the world if they can find a brave producer.  I greatly enjoyed seeing Shaina Taub in concert at Joe's Pub.  She's one of the best composer/lyricists working right now and she's also passionate in her commitment to social justice.  Her song "When," addressing gun control, is just wrenching.  She's funny, yet incisive, and oh so talented.  I also recently enjoyed seeing Christopher Chen's new play Passage at Soho Rep - a loose interpretation of EM Forster's A Passage to India, Passage is unique and quite unlike anything I've seen.  Directed beautifully by Saheem Ali, the show discusses colonialism, privilege, power, and connection - the cast is comprised entirely of actors of color and they bring the audience into the piece on occasion, so we're never let off the hook in this political, but very human, journey.  I was perplexed, and moved, and provoked throughout and I found Passage a very exciting experience.  I was less excited (though probably provoked in a negative way) by Ink at Manhattan Theatre Club.  It was a slick, professionally-presented story about rich men behaving badly but they're still rich and privileged by the end.  I just wasn't having it.  And that's on me.  I guess that's what I DON'T want to see right now and I wish that theater companies would trust audiences and put more exciting and diverse work on their mainstages.  I will say that my opinion was not a universal opinion and Ink got great reviews and a terrific ovation after the performance I attended.  It also got much Tony-nom love.  But with my entertainment dollars dwindling due to my constant need to contribute to progressive causes, safe stories by and about white men just aren't where I want to spend my time and money.  Your mileage, of course, will vary.