Christopher Wheeldon wows audiences at City Center
If You Didn't Visit City Center in the Middle of October to See Morphoses…Sorry About That!
Reviewed by Phyllis Goldman
The long-anticipated début of Christopher Wheeldon’s company “Morphoses” took place on October 17 at the City Center Theater. Oddly enough, this theater (pre-New York State Theatre) housed many performances of George Balanchine’s and Lincoln Kirstein’s baby brainchild destined to become the internationally known New York City Ballet (NYCB). Is the same kharma lurking around Wheeldon and his (for now) pick-up company? Some in the dance community have acclaimed him as heir apparent to the Balanchine legacy. He had been resident choreographer for NYCB until his departure to fulfill his wish to have his own company.
City Center has been kind enough to mount Morphoses’ premiere season, and it is, indeed, a perfect venue for the début as the great proscenium space framed his ballets with exquisite clarity. Nothing is permitted to hide. Legs and arms reach into space totally exposed so that if one muscle is not stretched to its fullest, there is the risk of condemnation. Because Wheeldon only chooses dancers with amazing facility, and this ensemble is no exception, fluidity and faultless performing were not issues.
Morphoses Photo by: Erin Baiano
Wheeldon’s primary tools, the body and its limbs, are used to make exquisite pictures in space. With his intuitive taste guiding him, and motivated by his meticulous music choices, he makes dances that capture the essence of beauty. He has an uncanny hand with transitions, moving his dancers on stage in the least predictable manner, changing directions, changing levels, exploring the stage floor and the upper stage space, and add to all this the soul of an artist. The results are gratifying.
Program Two offered “Morphoses,” his signature work from the repertory of NYCB, which debuted in 2002, and “Mesmerics,” premiering at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London in 2003.They served as bookends to enclose several short pas de deux, created by invited choreographers. Preceding each pas de deux was a small, rather arty, film showing the dancers in rehearsal. It was an engaging introduction -- the dancers seen in leg warmers, hair falling, no makeup, and expressions of intensity written on their faces. When the screen lifts, the same dancers are seen in costume, and the real dancing begins. The first work, “Vicissitude,” choreographed by Edwaard Liang, was noted for displaying Maria Kowroski’s superhuman legs – so breathtaking that all eyes were glued on the prodigious arabesque penché that pointed straight to the ceiling, one of several she manipulated with ease.
“Propeller” introduced us to Oksana Panchenko. Maybe it was the side part in her hair, or the French twist, or the particular way she cocked her head…but one had to blink to be sure it was not a young Gelsey Kirkland. Her supple body was folded in and out by her partner, Michael Nunn, one of the two “Ballet Boyz” from London (the other being William Trevitt, also in Wheeldon’s cast.) Panchenko just plain dazzled. The choreography by Liv Lorent allowed her to be lifted off the floor by her cheekbones, no less, feet flexed, legs poker straight, and carried around the stage like a store mannequin. Nunn pulled off a headstand, his head buried in Panchenko’s abdomen (surely nothing but bone there) his legs straight up for what seemed endless minutes.
“Satie Stud,” performed by William Trevitt and choreographed by Michael Clarke, outlined, with the help of accentuated lighting, the definition of Trevitt’s ballet lines: muscular, macho and refreshing to the eye.
“Slingerland Pas de Deux,” a New York premiere by William Forsythe, was the least effective, though the elegant dancing of Aesha Ash, partnered by Gonzalo Garcia, was a feast for the eyes.
So we march backward to the opening – the title piece “Morphoses,” for four dancers to music by Gyorgy Ligeti. Costumed in gradations of shocking orange leotards, Wendy Whelan, Craig Hall, Ashley Bouder, and Edwaard Liang are stretched out on the floor like a compass pointing in four directions. Even then one can notice how perfectly the feet point, how tightly the legs stretch, and begin to think – what will Wheeldon do with all this perfection? A great deal. Inventive, unpredictable, imaginative movement not carried by narrative but totally in the abstract, means the viewer must concentrate on the patterns, on the performers and on those great limbs that cut through the space like darts reaching the bull’s eye.
Mesmerics Photo by: Erin Baiano
Leaving the best for last, “Mesmerics” shows off Wheeldon’s mastery of ballet movement. This is a group piece for six dancers and eight cellos doing an all encompassing job on Philip Glass music. Wheeldon sees to it that the cellos are not always visible to distract from the dancers. When they are revealed, the bows’ crossing the bridge of each instrument simultaneously adds an additional rhythmic image to the choreography. Wheeldon does not permit a plucked string to go without notice. The match is both audibly and visually exciting.
Wheeldon has mastered the art of partnering. Many examples of his skill in pairing dancers (upside down, perched on backs and shoulders, sliding down the length of the body, only to be hoisted up to the shoulders, with legs extended to the maximum point) are to my eye beyond perfection. This piece completely altered my thinking on Whelan, whose skinniness often distorted the perception of her work. In this piece she brings an incredible linear beauty to the choreography.
All in all, ‘Morphoses” was a début of consequence. If one were to nitpick there would be mention of a prevailing sameness to the substance of each of the pieces. An overall calm seemed to settle into all of them. Perhaps a few exclamation points could be inserted for variety’s sake, but not to disturb the tranquility - just to embellish it a bit.