Brittany Pollack: Performance Analysis
Not only is Brittany Pollack an admirable ballerina, but she also stands out on account of her striking womanliness. It is, therefore, not surprising how often she is cast in the ballets of Justin Peck. She appeared in no less than three of the four works featured in the program of the Festival (No. 3) dedicated to Mr. Peck’s choreography.
In Creases has not had the benefit of an extended run during any season since its premiere five years ago. Regardless, it is a lovely ballet. An ensemble work for eight dancers who during its course create luxuriant patterns, all in the cast during the spring impacted this viewer, especially Pollack.
On the other hand, I have already seen The Dreamers (2016)--a pas de deux for Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar set to the music of a movement from a Bohuslav Martinu Piano Quintet--several times. A stream of directional changes (left to right and vice versa) in the ballerina’s pirouettes—signifying perhaps capricious, volatile thoughts and feelings?— characterizes this work. Mearns’ and Ramasar’s classy performances combined with Martinu’s arresting music ensure this ballet’s viability.
More problematic was New Blood, whose unprepossessing music by Steve Reich I should have listened to beforehand. Maybe having done so would …show more content…
have made watching it a more rewarding experience. Undoubtedly, however, the experience would have been even less gratifying if Pollack was not in the ballet--both due to her dancing and the fact that she always looks nifty, even when attired in as outlandish an outfit as the one on display here.
After the program’s only intermission came the major piece of the evening--Everywhere We Go.
While there are similarities between this and other ballets, it is, nevertheless, an enticing work which contains moments--from both a musical and choreographic standpoint--of considerable delicacy and power. All the men impressed; but the women signally dazzled in Janie Taylor’s bright costumes for them. Pollack and several members of the female corps were fabulous. Although it is an effective ballet in any case, what ultimately made watching Everywhere We Go so richly satisfying, however, was the presence of the four (!) female principals in the cast: Sterling Hyltin, Maria Kowroski, Teresa Reichlen, and Tiler
Peck.
In Creases has not had the benefit of an extended run during any season since its premiere five years ago. Regardless, it is a lovely ballet. An ensemble work for eight dancers who during its course create luxuriant patterns, all in the cast during the spring impacted this viewer, especially Pollack.
On the other hand, I have already seen The Dreamers (2016)--a pas de deux for Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar set to the music of a movement from a Bohuslav Martinu Piano Quintet--several times. A stream of directional changes (left to right and vice versa) in the ballerina’s pirouettes—signifying perhaps capricious, volatile thoughts and feelings?— characterizes this work. Mearns’ and Ramasar’s classy performances combined with Martinu’s arresting music ensure this ballet’s viability.
More problematic was New Blood, whose unprepossessing music by Steve Reich I should have listened to beforehand. Maybe having done so would …show more content…
have made watching it a more rewarding experience. Undoubtedly, however, the experience would have been even less gratifying if Pollack was not in the ballet--both due to her dancing and the fact that she always looks nifty, even when attired in as outlandish an outfit as the one on display here.
After the program’s only intermission came the major piece of the evening--Everywhere We Go.
While there are similarities between this and other ballets, it is, nevertheless, an enticing work which contains moments--from both a musical and choreographic standpoint--of considerable delicacy and power. All the men impressed; but the women signally dazzled in Janie Taylor’s bright costumes for them. Pollack and several members of the female corps were fabulous. Although it is an effective ballet in any case, what ultimately made watching Everywhere We Go so richly satisfying, however, was the presence of the four (!) female principals in the cast: Sterling Hyltin, Maria Kowroski, Teresa Reichlen, and Tiler
Peck.