Ready, Set, Go!
Justin Peck’s new ballet, The Wind-Up, premieres at New York City Ballet
Last night (Jan. 30) New York City Ballet unveiled the first of two new works created for its winter season, Justin Peck’s The Wind-Up. After a few years in which he has used mainly music by his contemporaries, Peck chose, instead, the first movement of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, a driving turbine of a piece. In this ballet for six extraordinary soloists, Peck doubled down on its heroic aspects, the constant forward motion and shocks created by the sforzando chords. Peck’s choreography highlights, even glorifies, the dancers’ extreme athleticism, clarity, and speed. With each fortissimo chord, the dancers explode into the air, or outward from their core, without visible preparation or effort. Daniel Ulbricht, Mira Nadon, Roman Mejia, Tiler Peck, Mia Williams, Chun Wai Chan, clad in costumes that make them look like superheroes (by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung) appear as almost superhuman technicians with stage presence to burn. The Wind-Up is a tribute to their talent and finesse, and by extension to the company itself. That said, in its relentless speed and attack, its clever contrasts of round and straight, pause and explosion, the piece does not have much to show us beyond its brilliant surface. That constant force creates a certain flatness that reflects back on the music itself, stressing its repetitions rather than its contrasts of power and reflection. From the opening, you know exactly what the ballet will be. What a contrast with Bournonville’s Flower Festival in Genzano pas de deux, performed here by Isabella LaFreniere and Ryan Tomash. This short excerpt, which depicts two young people on a stroll, is a hymn to humanity, delicacy of feeling, connection. Nothing is showy, unless you look closely at the intricacy of the way the steps are linked together, in small waves, with highs and lows that flow like a conversation. Ryan Tomash, on loan from the Royal Danish Ballet, was like a ray of sunshine; the steps, little circles of the foot, beats, leaps toward and away from his partner seemed to express an inner state of being. The power-house LaFreniere still has a way to go in finding this quality, but appeared to enjoy, and learn from, her partner’s more relaxed approach to the steps.
