There was an interesting Q&A session after last night's show, featuring Peter Boal and Benjamin Millepied (who is here as the choreographer of one of the ballets in the programme rather than as a dancer). It could have been better attended, and probably would have been if there had been any sort of announcement during the evening - I only knew about it because someone told me when I was there on Tuesday. It seemed especially relevant to hear Boal talking about the change in NYCB after Balanchine died, and the difficulty the company had in adapting to the new regime, and the difficulty Peter Martins had in taking over the management of dancers who had previously been his peers.

Boal, by the way, said he wished he could have danced more of the classics - Monica Mason please note!

Have to agree, I thought the evening was fantastic, one of the best in a long time. I was really impressed with Yvonne Bourree in Duo Concertante. Not so much with Millepied's piece - it didn't seem to go anywhere. It looked exhausting too - thought the guy was on verge of collapsing! Am looking forward to the matinee on Saturday.

Someone asked Boal about the differences between NYCB and other dancers: he said he's been doing class with the RB this week and had been very interested to see how differently things were done. He demonstrated with his hands the difference in emphasis and timing of a pas de bourree, showing how the Balanchine technique put the emphasis on speed. He was the first Balanchine-trained person I've ever heard say that some of the beauty of the step was sacrificed to achieve the speed.

He was asked if he, an excellent teacher himself, had been inspired by any particular teacher: he said (surprise!) Stanley Williams, who had taught him 'through the head' rather than 'through the feet'; he said it was the idea that his mind was controlling what he did that had made dance worthwhile for him.

Someone asked about the difference in NYCB since Balanchine died: he said he joined the company a month after Balanchine's death, and gave a succinct account of the difficulties faced by the dancers, Peter Martins and Jerome Robbins at the time - not entirely irrelevant to the current RB situation.

Asked about his favourite roles, he said Prodigal Son and Apollo, because he enjoys acting;, and, as I mentioned above, that looking back he wished he'd had the opportunity to do more of the classics.

Apologies to Mr Boal if I've misquoted him - I didn't take many notes - and alos to Benjamin Millepied, who had interesting things to say about the transition from dancer to choreographer and the influence of contemporary technique on a ballet company.

Of course, NYCB doesn't have any need to perform full length ballets, besides Nutcracker. But, over the last decade or so, they do seem to have achieved a good balance between the heritage of the company (Balanchine and Robbins), and inviting a huge amount of people to create new works on them, some of them as successfully as Wheeldon. It gave to me the feeling of being a very fresh, open company working in a receptive environment (audience included, of course), regardless, particular problems one AD may face eventually.
I’ve seen the whole company performing bills at the New York State Theatre, and I must say what an amazing company they are.

It wasn't exactly smiles all the way though. While I love NYCB dancers for their vitality, strength and precision I seem to be developing an aversion to the work of one of their founding choreographers - Jerome Robbins. The evening opened with Robbins' 'In the Night'. It's sweet pleasing movement to sweet Chopin nocturnes... pair after pair after pair of dancers come out, sweetly and pleasingly meander about and then go off. Desperately pleasant and the dance equivalent of how I recall John Denver - the ever-smiling, ever-upbeat, ever-nice, country singer who would have looked at the rubble of the World Trade Center towers and seen a positive message in it. No passion, no bite. It also has a dated feel and the costumes, particularly on somebody like Jock Soto look incongruous against what these dancers are really about.

There was more spirit in Benjamin Millepied's 'Triple Duet' to some pieces for solo flute by Bach. This took a Robbins base and moved it on some - more excitement and fizz. This was a premiere and it was well received though I can't remember so much of it now I'm afraid. 'Duo Concertant' replaced the on-stage flute with piano and violin and Yvonne Borree and Peter Boal as the listening dancers. RB had this in the repertoire danced by Bruce Sansom and Viviana Durante and I recall helping sponsor it back in back in the mists of time - and feeling dead chuffed on the opening night that it was such a stunning work. It's a tight, concentrated piece with bursts of energy, bursts of light, bursts of syncopated movement and utterly absorbing for the few minutes it casts a spell over the audience. However I think I've seen it danced more together and it wasn't my DDM (Definitive Dance Moment).

The last piece was Christopher Wheeldon's 'Polyphonia' and my hit by some margin, but I think most people were raving about this on its first London showing. Wheeldon of course is Royal Ballet School trained, was in RB for a while but has been at NYCB for much of his professional life and in a series of commissions for NYCB and across the USA, he has created quite a name for himself as a choreographer going places. For RB earlier this year he created Tryst - a critical hit, but Polyphonia is a stronger work and really announces his international arrival.

The music by Ligeti is tough stuff. In 'toughness' terms this is a move on from Balanchine choosing Stravinsky and Wheeldon's choreography seems to move some of Balanchine's style forward also - and by no small margin. The sparse clarity and angularity is there but the tempo of movement cuts across the music and makes its own often slow time. But there is such deep harmony and resonance in the counterpoint and like no movement I've seen before. It also put some of 'Tryst' into better perspective for me.

All four pairs of dancers looked strong, but inevitably one's eyes are most drawn to the scarily pared Wendy Whelan and the butch strength of Jock Soto - so powerful you can practically smell the pheromones. Their central pas de deux was my moment and you could hear a pin drop as two powerful dancers at the height of their careers manipulated each other with such slow purpose.

Their pdd ended with Whelan, having steadily and miraculously wound herself around Soto's thigh, sitting at his feet gazing out at the audience like a 60's model - knowing her power and cleverness but so aloof and a little contemptuous at having bothered to do it. "It was the work of moments but now I can rest and look properly cool again!" she seemed to say. They have years left yet, but the world (not just NYCB) will be immeasurably poorer when they are no longer able to dance together.

The costumes, deep plum, and moody low lighting were simple yet elegant foils for the music and choreography. I kept thinking that this must have been what audiences experienced in New York when they turned out to see the work of an initially not-so-well-known Balanchine. In a way I hate it when I see works so talked up and often as not I'm a little disappointed by the reality. I hope all our readers get to see Polyphonia at some point, and find in it all that I and many others have admired.

Anyway... having made it with minutes to spare I was shocked to be told in the foyer that Stretton had left the RB and my mind was thus reeling when first sitting down to start the evening. Despite this, I enjoyed In The Night, though Marcovici in the first pdd seemed a bit heavy and clumsy for the piece. A certain Jock Soto caught my eye in this with some quite wonderful partnering and more, luckily, was to follow from him later in the evening. I also enjoyed the vivacious Triple Duet with the male dancer positively radiating energy and fun. The programme lists him as Craig Fowler but since no such dancer exists I believe it was Craig Hall - if I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

Before the second intermission was Duo Concertant which I have to say was not quite my cup of tea - I found the 'secret glimpse' scenario too contrived and forced, but the dancing is pure Balanchine and thus very fine. I just wish there was more dancing and less standing around - this isn't quite Ashton, after all.

Finally, the rising star that got away, Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia. Wicked. A bulls-eye in the target of neo-classical ballet, bursting with new ideas while keeping the audience on his side with accessible and genuinely enjoyable feats of bravura.

And Jock Soto - well, if I've seen better partnering I must have forgotten it, temporarily rendered amnesiac by the brilliance of his dancing and acting. He is a flexible oak tree of a man, completely watchable and able to be perfectly precise in every detail without once seeming mechanical, laboured or effortful. Brilliant, and that one performance was worth the ticket price alone.

One day London may be lucky enough to get the full NYCB experience and I would then urge everyone to drag any potential dance fans along as they are sure to have a great time.

http://www.nycballet.com/about/bio_hall.html