If you were wondering why ballet audience members were rolling around the floor of the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center last week, they were celebrating the second annual New York City Ballet Art Series.
The Art Series, this year in collaboration with French Street Artist JR, was created in 2013 as a way to help attract young audiences to the ballet, a goal recently published statistics prove it achieved. Reportedly, last year’s “Les Ballets de Faile,” brought in over 3,000 newcomers over two performances. Seventy-five percent of the audience said they would return, and if the hundreds of people interacting with artwork in the lobby before filling nearly every seat in the theater was any indication, they did.
Last year, the art duo known as Failecreated a floor-to-ceiling tower of colorful pop imagery that looked like a skyscraper of comic books, inspired by the artist’s signature style and exploration of the ballet’s archives. In the Faile tower, we saw images of ballerinas being taken away by octopi on space ships, vintage advertisements, growling wolf-men, and pin-up style ladies clutching guns and lounging on rocket ships. Following suit, the performances involved jazz music, an 80’s electronic composition, discordant piano sounds, and even a piece that incorporated the sound of a door slamming shut.
This year, the artist JR created an enormous vinyl piece installed on the floor of the lobby of the theater. Upon entry, viewers were encouraged to head to the fourth rung of the lobby and to look down. From there, what is less visible from ground level becomes clear. A glossy photo of a giant paper eyeball looks up at you, with lifesize images of 80 dancers lying on the floor in beautiful stretched out poses, full of movement captured in time. Additionally, ink transfers on wood of close ups of individual dancers, their feet, and their costumes stand around the theater.
When looking at the series this year in comparison to last, it became very apparent that this is not a case of the establishment slapping the name of a popular artist on its program and hoping people will attend. The dances that follow, as they did last year, mirror the themes of elegance, interaction, collaboration, and natural beauty and appreciation for the body. In “Kammermusik No. 2,” for example, we see a dance performed by an ensemble of eight men and two women — a rare and unusual ballet ensemble according to an introduction by one of the dancers before the performance. While the men dance to the music of the orchestra, the women soloists dance to the piano, and evoke the thrill of the chase. The men band together and make dramatic gestures and formations as if on the playground beckoning red rover to come on over. The women tease the stage, sometimes finding themselves caught up in the arms of their male pursuant, other times performing their own dances center stage with the men in the background.
The second dance, “After the Rain,” was by far the most traditionally beautiful. The stage was bathed in a peach light, and the dancers’ costumes appeared almost invisible, emphasizing their natural movements. The pas de deux, or dance between a man and a woman often with identical steps, was set to Arvo Pårt’s “Spiegel im Spiegal.” The haunting and melodic piece lends itself to the beauty that is this couple’s dance. When he spun left, she spun right to meet him. If he leaned back tall, she collapsed into his trusting body. When his body lay on the floor, hers became his blanket. At times it seemed like they were one entity, her feet hardly ever touching the ground.
In another pas de deux called “The Infernal Machine,” we are entertained by a dance that illustrates the exact opposite emotions and movement of “After the Rain.” The set is black, along with the dancers costumes. The music is heavy, with fast and staccato percussion, and crescendos in a way that could only be described as suspenseful. The two dance mechanically and in a combative manner, as if cogs in this sinister machine. They often end up in a pose that resembles a scorpion or spider’s stance. The two work both collaboratively and against each other, and showcasing the beauty of the body in combat.
The last performance was certainly the most eye catching and energetic. “Rubies,” set to a score of the same name by composer Igor Stravinsky, is a dance of great sassiness, flirtation, and athletic fetes. Female solo dancers smile, sway, and dip their hips in coquettish manner as the corps de ballet move together to showcase them. “Rubies” is one part of George Balanchine’s series “Jewels.” The dancers are clad in red sparkly costumes, which match the set behind them — just as the green and white sets and costumes in “Emeralds” and “Diamonds,” the other dances in the series that were not on view that night. While this dance definitely ended the night of performances with a spectacle, it felt contrived, as if to say, this “new” audience would not understand a ballet without being entertained by shiny costumes and impressive acrobatic movements. While it’s appreciated that the NYC Ballet is attempting to make their work more accessible to contemporary audiences, it was a bit presumptuous to put dancers in flashy red body suits with a sequined red set to woo us.
JR is known for putting personalities on display in his work. Whether it be through his “Inside Out” project, where he and his team take photos from people who have “something to say” and mail them back posters, or his “Face 2 Face” project, comprised of images of Israeli and Palestinian people in his signature large scale black and white photographs placed next to each other on walls in both cities, JR is always giving a voice to the unrecognized. With his piece for the ballet, he finds success in this again, giving seemingly inaccessible dancers a chance to interact with audiences and express their personalities up close.
The New York City Ballet Art Series will have additional performances of different dances on Friday February 7, and Thursday February 13. The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center will also hold one week of open hours for the general public to view the exhibition free of charge on the following dates: Sunday, February 2 through Sunday, February 9, with hours on Sundays from 10 AM to 1 PM; Monday to Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM; and Saturday from 10 AM to noon.
