{"id":1045,"date":"2011-05-09T16:31:12","date_gmt":"2011-05-09T20:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=1045"},"modified":"2011-10-11T16:31:46","modified_gmt":"2011-10-11T20:31:46","slug":"a-new-apollo-chase-finlay-of-new-york-city-ballet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=1045","title":{"rendered":"A New Apollo: Chase Finlay of New York City Ballet"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

By Rachel Straus<\/p>\n

There is no better way to anoint a rising City Ballet male star than to award him the title role in Balanchine’s \u201cApollo.\u201d On May 5 corps dancer Chase Finlay hit the big time, receiving curtain calls and roars of applause. The 21-year-old looked like a young Nordic god (much the way Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins did when he first appeared as “Apollo” in 1967). With a Martins-style majesty, Finlay subsumed his new role. Seated and gazing at his dancing Muses\u2014Terpsichore (Sterling Hyltin), Polyhymnia (Tiler Peck) and Calliope (Ana Sophia Scheller)\u2014Finlay captivated in stillness as much as in his boldly vigorous movements.<\/p>\n

Beyond Finlay\u2019s debut, Thursday’s programming felt celestial. Beginning the night were the Balanchine-Stravinsky masterworks \u201cMonumentum Pro Gesualdo\u201d (1960) and \u201cMovements for Piano and Orchestra\u201d (1963). Though these short ballets were made three years apart, they became side-by-side companion pieces. While \u201cMonumentum\u201d features choreographic lyricism and equilibrium, \u201cMovements\u201d traffics in cubist asymmetries. In the latter work, the building blocks of classical vocabulary (plie, tendu, fifth position) are interrupted in transit. Spiral movements are forced into right angles. Despite a lack of narrative, principals Maria Kowroski and S\u00e9bastian Marcovici plied a psychologically complex relationship. Neither intimates nor strangers, they danced like two people in a coolly impassioned debate. With hands flexed, they seemed to end their conversation at an impasse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo: Paul Kolnick<\/p><\/div>\n

But getting back to Finlay. More should be said about this \u201cApollo,\u201d which appeared second on the program. In Balanchine\u2019s 1928 ballet, the young god\u2019s moment of benediction comes when his muses perform a unison triple handclap. Then the women open their palms for Apollo to rest his head. When Finlay stood and laid his brow, he looked absolutely relieved, having passed through the work’s most iconic moments. They include the instance when Finlay extends his arms skyward like Michelangelo\u2019s \u201cVitruvian-Man,” echoing the string instruments’ sonic force. Performing this gesture convincingly requires a Nietzsche-like approach to the self. (\u201cThe world itself is the will to power – and nothing else! And you yourself are the will to power – and nothing else!\u201d)<\/p>\n

Hopefully, Finlay’s ability to embody youthful absolutism will be confined to the stage. Recently\u00a0French Vogue<\/em> featured Finlay half naked in Bruce Webber’s photos. Of equal interest, but of a less salacious sort, is the dancing of principal Sterling Hyltin. Her musical responsiveness and love of moving make her appear triple her size. As Terpsichore, Hyltin was bodily electric.<\/p>\n

Another hair-on-arm raising experience were the performances of Balanchine\u2019s \u201cFour Temperaments.\u201d (1946). Seen on May 5 and May 7, the casting was powerfully good. Jennie Somogyi\u2019s dancing in \u201cSanguinic\u201d possessed a boxer’s controlled strike and the elegance of a leopard in full lope. Gonzalo Garcia\u2019s solo in \u201cMelancholic\u201d was velvety phrased and gravely projected.<\/p>\n

With 11 Balanchine works selected for opening week, the choreographer’s triple passion for movement abstraction, minimalist costuming, and modernist music was revealed. Called \u201cBlack and White,\u201d the series was not a bit monochromatic. Like a spring awakening, the dancers bloomed with color and energy.<\/p>\n