NYCB Balanchine and Robbins: A Star is Born

You can often tell if a particular program is going to be something special at New York City Ballet by doing the promenade eye test. During intermission, do you see past and present NYCB dancers excitedly bunched together? On Sunday afternoon’s performance, there were clusters of current and former company dancers milling about the promenade.

Out of curiosity I asked one dancer who they were there to see. “Domenika and Chris in Afternoon of a Faun!” he gushed.

And it was indeed a remarkable debut for Domenika Afanasenkov and Christopher Grant as the studio dancers. Afanasenkov (who looks strikingly like former NYCB principal Janie Taylor) is only a first-year corps de ballet member, but she already danced with a knowing sensuality, as well as a languorous movement that was perfect for Robbins’ miniature. When she unfurled her leg in developpé, she seemed fully aware of her own appeal. Grant was a striking Adonis whose vain stretching in the mirror was warranted. If I looked that good, I’d want to look at myself too. When the two connected, there was a palpable frisson. One of the things Afanasenkov instinctually got was that the female dancer might be a vision, a cousin of the Sylph or Wili. I hate to say “a star is born” but that is what the performance felt like.

The afternoon was wonderful. It opened with Square Dance, Balanchine’s merry tribute to the American tradition. I’ve never seen a poor performance of Square Dance. The peppy allegro dancing practically writes itself. But Taylor Stanley was also controlled and sculptural in the adagio solo that Balanchine added for Bart Cook. Erica Pereira in the role originated by Patricia Wilde gave a pleasant, cheery performance. She can certainly dispatch all the petit allegro steps, including the difficult gargouillades (in the original version with the stage caller, the accompanying line was “make your feet go wickety-wack”). She’s just missing the last bit of individuality. Her performances often seem correct without being exciting.

Haieff Divertimento also got another revival. This is minor Balanchine by any definition. With that being said, Indiana Woodward and Harrison Ball made more of the work than a cast I saw earlier in the season. They were flirtier, more able to highlight the jazzy accents of the choreography.

Harrison Ball will be retiring next week and now is a good time to pay tribute to this remarkable, beautiful dancer. In recent years, injuries made his appearances infrequent. However, whenever he danced, he always made the most out of his time onstage. I remember last fall I only saw him as the Poet in La Sonnambula. However, he was the most remarkable Poet I’ve ever seen: yearning, impetuous, romantic. I saw details and gestures I’d never noticed before. He is the best Puck. He captured the androgynous quality and impish mischief of the character perfectly. He was the best male in Mozartiana. Precise, witty, gallant. He never phoned it in. He is the definition of quality over quantity, and will be missed.

Indiana Woodward was the MVP of the afternoon, because after a brief intermission, she returned to dance Donizetti Variations as a last-minute substitute for an injured Megan Fairchild. Woodward and Anthony Huxley couldn’t have had much (if any) rehearsal, but that didn’t show. Both were fast, charming, effervescent. Woodward’s pas de chats were a thing of beauty: light, springy, merry. Huxley’s variations also showed his trademark combination of bravura and modesty.

It was really a beautiful performance at the ballet. As balletomanes say goodbye to Harrison Ball, we say hello to the young talent Domenika Afanasenkov. The cycle continues.