Wheeldon--Hype

On the 17th, K and I went to opening night of the Christopher Wheeldon's new company at City Center. Everyone was there (we noticed Mark Morris, Caroline Kennedy, Isaac Mizrahi), eager to weigh in on this new venture--he is wunderkind who used to dance from NYC Ballet, became a resident choreographer, and in a few years, he is know considered to be the best hope for contemporary ballet, combining the neoclassical of City Ballet (Balanchine) with the more traditional romanticism of the Royal Ballet (Tudor). Unfortunately, as K noted, sometimes he also wanders into the pastoral terrains of Peter Martins, which is decided not where he should go.

A word about the unfortunate limitations of City Center as a venue. It has the worst sight lines and if you are not sitting in the orchestra, you end up sitting forward, or tilting your head, or pushing to one side of the seat (or some combination of the three) in order to be able to witness the dance. It is not a comfortable place to spend $30 for a seat, which is terrible because this is what I can afford, and I like the Center's programming. But if the event is sold out, every seat in the back is partially obstructed not by pillars but by the layout of the seats and the design of the hall.

Wheeldon may be hype. But there are flashes of his brilliance, but it is not to be found in his pas de deux's. They are tiresome. Though the woman is thrust into the air, balanced precariously, she only becomes an appendange and is denied her strength and her expressivity. She is an appendage. I thought of the feminist (Lacanian) critique of ballet that argued in the pas de deux the woman becomes the phallus. At least in Balanchine, the female in the pas de deux is always the star and the male dancer is a sturdy step ladder that allows her to reach otherwise unattainable heights. Not so in Wheeldon. Yet someone has whispered into his ears that he does a good pas de deux. He included in the program a pas de deux choreographed by my favorite William Forsythe -- a piece of so much tension (with the great dancer Wendy Whelan!) that had little of the athleticism of Wheeldon, but many more times intensity and visual interest. The couple were inextricably linked and unable to disconnect. It was riveting--as Forsythe always is.

Yet Wheeldon included some great pieces that he had choreographed--but at the end of a long night's program. Dance of the Hours was done for the Met and was a sugary, crowd pleaser that showed he had a Balanchine-like sense of geometry that could mix with a Mark Morris like sense of humor. He is not above simplicity and not above overstressing the musical themes for a bit of a laugh.

The last piece Fool's Paradise had the audience enthralled. It was a thrilling to watch and used the elements of stagecraft to full advantage. A rectangular ritualistic box of light, leaf-like paper falling from the rafters seemingly dancing in the wind--both were beautiful accompaniment to a dance that was pleasingly endless in its repetition of phrases and gestures, and appropriately autumnal in it colors and the motif of things falling and light changing . Once again Wendy Whelan was excellent, and Wheeldon is lucky--he has been able to work with the best dancers--clearly he is a favorite among NYCB dancers (perhaps he is a welcome relief from Martins....)though it doesn't seem that Wheeldon has yet to live up to his hype. As K said if he included only his last two pieces plus the Forsythe pas de deux the whole evening would have been much stronger.