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Goodbye to All That Blaze: Joaquin De Luz Dances His Farewell Goodbye to All That Blaze: Joaquin De Luz Dances His Farewell
(35 minutes later)
Leave the stage before the stage leaves you. That motto was prescribed by Diaghilev’s great ballerina Tamara Karsavina. It was followed on Sunday by Joaquin De Luz, who gave his farewell performance with New York City Ballet while still in full command of his remarkable technical blaze.Leave the stage before the stage leaves you. That motto was prescribed by Diaghilev’s great ballerina Tamara Karsavina. It was followed on Sunday by Joaquin De Luz, who gave his farewell performance with New York City Ballet while still in full command of his remarkable technical blaze.
This was also the ending of the company’s four-week fall season, one of lows offstage and highs onstage. Very seldom during the whole season — and never for a moment on Sunday — did the company dance as if shadowed by the scandal of the Alexandra Waterbury lawsuit, in which City Ballet, three dancers and a donor are accused of demeaning and mistreating women.This was also the ending of the company’s four-week fall season, one of lows offstage and highs onstage. Very seldom during the whole season — and never for a moment on Sunday — did the company dance as if shadowed by the scandal of the Alexandra Waterbury lawsuit, in which City Ballet, three dancers and a donor are accused of demeaning and mistreating women.
You can see why some call Mr. De Luz the Tom Cruise of ballet. There’s some physical resemblance, but he also has Mr. Cruise’s action-man attack and intensity. He opened his farewell with George Balanchine’s “Theme and Variations” (1947), among the most challenging heroic assignments for the male dancer: One of its variations features a long series of double air turns alternating with pirouettes as part of a single phrase. Mr. De Luz delivered them as if he could have done twice as many.You can see why some call Mr. De Luz the Tom Cruise of ballet. There’s some physical resemblance, but he also has Mr. Cruise’s action-man attack and intensity. He opened his farewell with George Balanchine’s “Theme and Variations” (1947), among the most challenging heroic assignments for the male dancer: One of its variations features a long series of double air turns alternating with pirouettes as part of a single phrase. Mr. De Luz delivered them as if he could have done twice as many.
[Read our portrait of Joaquin De Luz on the eve of his retirement.][Read our portrait of Joaquin De Luz on the eve of his retirement.]
Throughout, he sunnily exemplified the elegant chivalry at ballet’s heart. His cheerful good manners to his ballerinas have been unfailing; though he’s a surefire star, he still behaves with a humility that shows he knows this art is larger than he. Tiler Peck was his ballerina in this “Theme”; at one of their several curtain calls, she suddenly embraced him in a hug.Throughout, he sunnily exemplified the elegant chivalry at ballet’s heart. His cheerful good manners to his ballerinas have been unfailing; though he’s a surefire star, he still behaves with a humility that shows he knows this art is larger than he. Tiler Peck was his ballerina in this “Theme”; at one of their several curtain calls, she suddenly embraced him in a hug.
As Mr. De Luz danced his second ballet, Jerome Robbins’s “A Suite of Dances” (1994), he exemplified another motto: Leave the stage while you are still in love with dance. “Suite” is for a man alone onstage with a cellist, who plays movements from Bach’s cello suites. Earlier this year, Mr. De Luz was coached in it by Mikhail Baryshnikov, for whom Robbins made it.As Mr. De Luz danced his second ballet, Jerome Robbins’s “A Suite of Dances” (1994), he exemplified another motto: Leave the stage while you are still in love with dance. “Suite” is for a man alone onstage with a cellist, who plays movements from Bach’s cello suites. Earlier this year, Mr. De Luz was coached in it by Mikhail Baryshnikov, for whom Robbins made it.
Yet Sunday’s performance showed Mr. De Luz discovering further nuances of space, music, gesture and choreography. Here he opened up large arcs with one raised arm; there he lingered over a point of connection between cello and dance. You could feel his affection for dancing: not nostalgic tenderness, but the joy of fresh discovery.Yet Sunday’s performance showed Mr. De Luz discovering further nuances of space, music, gesture and choreography. Here he opened up large arcs with one raised arm; there he lingered over a point of connection between cello and dance. You could feel his affection for dancing: not nostalgic tenderness, but the joy of fresh discovery.
The program ended with Peter Martins’s “Todo Buenos Aires” (2000, revised in 2005), a study of tango’s smoldering atmosphere in which the lead male soloist is partly detached from two ballerinas and their four male partners. Though underchoreographed and often clichéd, it gave Mr. De Luz opportunities to show his more somber sides, as well as suddenly to break loose in a circuit of jumps and spins around the stage, as if returning to his element.The program ended with Peter Martins’s “Todo Buenos Aires” (2000, revised in 2005), a study of tango’s smoldering atmosphere in which the lead male soloist is partly detached from two ballerinas and their four male partners. Though underchoreographed and often clichéd, it gave Mr. De Luz opportunities to show his more somber sides, as well as suddenly to break loose in a circuit of jumps and spins around the stage, as if returning to his element.
The curtain calls, bows and ceremony that followed left nobody in any doubt of the high (and high-spirited) regard in which Mr. De Luz is held. As one female principal after another presented him with bouquets, Maria Kowroski hooked a leg around his pelvis and raised an arm in a fleeting and funny quote of the erotic-modernist duet they had danced earlier this week in Balanchine’s “Prodigal Son.” The curtain calls, bows and ceremony that followed left nobody in any doubt of the high (and high-spirited) regard in which Mr. De Luz is held. As one female principal after another presented him with bouquets, Maria Kowroski hooked a leg around his pelvis and raised an arm in a fleeting and funny quote of the erotic-modernist duet they had danced earlier last week in Balanchine’s “Prodigal Son.”
Then came the company’s male principals, each presenting Mr. De Luz with a single red rose. Gonzalo Garcia, Mr. De Luz’s fellow Spaniard, presented him with the flag of Spain, then played the charging bull to Mr. De Luz’s matador.Then came the company’s male principals, each presenting Mr. De Luz with a single red rose. Gonzalo Garcia, Mr. De Luz’s fellow Spaniard, presented him with the flag of Spain, then played the charging bull to Mr. De Luz’s matador.
At the end, while Mr. De Luz danced a bit of flamenco with his mother, confetti began to fall. Mr. De Luz turned to the audience one last time to acknowledge its cheers. Then, quickly and without melodrama, he descended to the floor to kiss the stage itself. That was our final view of him; the curtain fell.At the end, while Mr. De Luz danced a bit of flamenco with his mother, confetti began to fall. Mr. De Luz turned to the audience one last time to acknowledge its cheers. Then, quickly and without melodrama, he descended to the floor to kiss the stage itself. That was our final view of him; the curtain fell.
If the Waterbury case counts as a crisis, then dancers, women not least, all season long have responded to it with grit, artistry and cheer. On Mr. De Luz’s farewell program, “A Suite of Dances” was preceded by Balanchine’s Bach classic “Concerto Barocco” (1941), in which Ms. Kowroski and Abi Stafford danced with greater sparkle and impulsiveness than ever before; the way Ms. Kowroski ran forward on point at top speed in one phrase stills tingles in memory.If the Waterbury case counts as a crisis, then dancers, women not least, all season long have responded to it with grit, artistry and cheer. On Mr. De Luz’s farewell program, “A Suite of Dances” was preceded by Balanchine’s Bach classic “Concerto Barocco” (1941), in which Ms. Kowroski and Abi Stafford danced with greater sparkle and impulsiveness than ever before; the way Ms. Kowroski ran forward on point at top speed in one phrase stills tingles in memory.
Last week, the company presented a “Robbins 100” bill, ending with “Something to Dance About,” Warren Carlyle’s presentation of hit numbers from Robbins’s Broadway shows. When this was new in May, it seemed to me an agreeably harmless concoction. After a few more viewings, I now hope the company jettisons it. The numbers are all too bite-sized, with awkwardly cute transitions as characters from one show segue into numbers from another. Bizarrely, Anita of “West Side Story” dances “America!” in a red-spangly dress that makes a nonsense of the West Side social history Robbins was depicting; perversely, the bottle dance from “Fiddler on the Roof” is performed without bottles.Last week, the company presented a “Robbins 100” bill, ending with “Something to Dance About,” Warren Carlyle’s presentation of hit numbers from Robbins’s Broadway shows. When this was new in May, it seemed to me an agreeably harmless concoction. After a few more viewings, I now hope the company jettisons it. The numbers are all too bite-sized, with awkwardly cute transitions as characters from one show segue into numbers from another. Bizarrely, Anita of “West Side Story” dances “America!” in a red-spangly dress that makes a nonsense of the West Side social history Robbins was depicting; perversely, the bottle dance from “Fiddler on the Roof” is performed without bottles.
Other Robbins choreography was looking much fresher. “Afternoon of a Faun,” (1953), a delicate masterpiece sometimes spoiled in recent years by too-knowing interpretations, returned with two remarkably innocent but dissimilar casts: Joseph Gordon with Sterling Hyltin, and Kennard Henson (a young corps dancer in his first lead role) with Lauren Lovette. (All save Ms. Hyltin were debut performances.) Two senior casts found the poetry of “Other Dances” (1976); the choreography did particular good to Ashley Bouder: no pertness here, but a blithe largeness of scale.Other Robbins choreography was looking much fresher. “Afternoon of a Faun,” (1953), a delicate masterpiece sometimes spoiled in recent years by too-knowing interpretations, returned with two remarkably innocent but dissimilar casts: Joseph Gordon with Sterling Hyltin, and Kennard Henson (a young corps dancer in his first lead role) with Lauren Lovette. (All save Ms. Hyltin were debut performances.) Two senior casts found the poetry of “Other Dances” (1976); the choreography did particular good to Ashley Bouder: no pertness here, but a blithe largeness of scale.
Late on Saturday, the company announced its first promotions since the resignation of Peter Martins from his post as ballet master in chief on Jan. 1. Joseph Gordon, who has made debuts in several leading roles this fall, is now a principal; one woman (Claire Kretzschmar) and five men (Daniel Applebaum, Harrison Coll, Aaron Sanz, Sebastian Villarini-Velez, Peter Walker) have been promoted to soloist rank. Although we are still waiting to hear who Mr. Martins’s successor will be, City Ballet remains a living organism, carrying on regardless.Late on Saturday, the company announced its first promotions since the resignation of Peter Martins from his post as ballet master in chief on Jan. 1. Joseph Gordon, who has made debuts in several leading roles this fall, is now a principal; one woman (Claire Kretzschmar) and five men (Daniel Applebaum, Harrison Coll, Aaron Sanz, Sebastian Villarini-Velez, Peter Walker) have been promoted to soloist rank. Although we are still waiting to hear who Mr. Martins’s successor will be, City Ballet remains a living organism, carrying on regardless.