In Belles Lettres, back at New York City Ballet, a different Justin Pck
The cast of Justin Peck’s “Belles Lettres”: Ashley Laracey, Taylor Stanley, Brittany Pollack, Gilbert Bolden III, David Gabriel, Unity Phelan, Chun Wai Chan, Jules Mabie
My first New York City Ballet of the season was tonight, April 24. It turns out that Balanchine's "Scotch Symphony," Justin Peck's "Belles Lettres," and Jerome Robbins's "Glass Pieces" make an excellent program. It's nice to see this 2014 Peck ballet again after several years. It predates his current style and preoccupation with limning the malaise of our age. Perhaps the music, by César Franck, gives him greater freedom and range. The movement is expansive and fluid, without the clipped, almost mathematical precision of present-day Peck. I particularly like the way the various pas de deux in the ballet develop and blossom, with full, uninterrupted phrasing; Peck hears this in the music, and he allows himself to go there in a way he seldom does when using music by his contemporaries. It’s a little gushy, but that’s ok. There is a hint of “Concerto DSCH” in the circles of figures who surround a dancer crouching on the ground. And another hint, of Balanchine, in the moment in which the women return with their hair down when the music becomes increasingly dramatic; also, a nod to the slow movement of “Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto.” David Gabriel is touchingly lyrical as he stretches into space, the odd one out, alone but also free from the rather smothering love represented by the ballet’s four couples. The costumes by Mary Katrantzou, with low waists for the women and embroidered appliques for everyone, are beautiful. It is a satisfying ballet. “Scotch,” which opened the program, was excitingly danced by Indiana Woodward and Gilbert Bolden, stepping in for Jovani Furlan. Woodward dances with imagination and rapture; she seems to live the ballet, sharing each moment with her partner. . (Baily Jones was bland in the opening section.) Bolden, recently promoted to principal, has completed his moulting to stylish cavalier, partnering with assurance and a wonderfully light touch.
