New York City Ballet galas are always elegant affairs, and last week’s, chaired by Liz and Jeff Peek, Deborah Roberts and Diana Taylor, was no exception. Despite near-bursting clouds, guests in color palettes darker than usual for a spring event—NYCB principal dancers Tiler Peck and Gilbert Bolden III looked particularly divine—braved the unsure weather, strolling around Lincoln Center Plaza and posing by Revson Fountain before heading indoors to sip champagne or “The Waltz,” the evening’s hibiscus-topped signature cocktail, on the David H. Koch Theater’s Promenade among cherry blossoms and pink lights.
The co-chair committee was a Who’s Who of Hollywood, with actors Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, Ariana DeBose, Nina Dobrev and Diane Kruger. Spotted among the glitterati were cultural philanthropist and power donor Michael Bloomberg, literal rockstar Debbie Harry, choreographer and Mick Jagger fiancée Melanie Hamrick, author Jill Kargman (who once told Observer that “To me, the term ‘socialite’ negates actual work as the social part eclipses any career”), actress Bianca Lawson, actress Nia Long, TV personality Al Roker, beauty and fashion influencer Jessica Wang and many more.
After cocktails (and before a delightful sit-down dinner), we followed the crowd down into the theater for the evening’s performance. First on the program was See the Music…, an insightful musical exploration of the score of George Balanchine’s ballet Vienna Waltzes, led by the New York City Ballet Orchestra’s music director Andrew Litton and last performed in 2013.
After the orchestra pit rose so the audience could see all sixty-two musicians—what a treat!—Litton explained that the Viennese Waltz, made popular in the late 1700s, has a rhythm slightly different from other waltzes. The second beat of the triple beat gets played slightly early (instead of ONE, two, three, it is more like one, TWO, three). He told the assembled dance enthusiasts that this is an example of the music adapting to the dance, instead of the dance adapting to the music.
To illustrate just how the waltz has evolved over time, the orchestra played excerpts from the ballet’s sections, composed by Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehár and Richard Strauss, and then the pit descended to its usual position, the musicians quieting as the house lights dimmed.
Vienna Waltzes first premiered in 1977 to much acclaim, and it’s easy to see why. The five-part piece, which has only ever been performed by NYCB, shows off Balanchine’s exemplary musicality as well as his collaborators’ talents. The choreography for over fifty dancers is lovely, but Rouben Ter-Arutunian’s scenery (ranging from an Austrian forest to a dance hall to a society café to a grand mirrored ballroom) and Barbara Karinska’s lavish costumes (the last she made for the Company) are absolutely extraordinary.
The ballet opens with two dancers (Emilie Gerrity and Peter Walker) strolling through an evening forest, all verdant greens and deep blues. They are very refined in white gloves, a suit, and a petal pink gown. More couples join and begin waltzing, but the original couple stays on after everyone else leaves, still spinning. It’s all very romantic.
In the second section, the two trees at the front of the stage lift, revealing beautiful dangling roots. A dancer (Megan Fairchild) rushes on, and we are suddenly thrust into the world of ballet. She is wearing a tutu and pointe shoes. She is dancing. Her partner (Joseph Gordon) soon joins, and he is dancing, too. The third section is perhaps the oddest, moving into the world of Americana polka, but then in the fourth, the rest of the trees lift and their roots become drapery dangling from the ceiling. Mira Nadon leads a theatrical half-ballet and half-ballroom segment with magnetic grace.
The fifth section, the ballet’s finale, is an amazing spectacle. The backdrop lifts again to reveal mirrored walls and branchy chandeliers, and we are suddenly in a grand ballroom, watching a woman (Sara Mearns) in a long white gown dance with herself. Many others join, but Mearns glides across the stage as if this is her very own dream, and maybe it is.
