The main event at New York City Ballet on Saturday night was supposed to be the first program entirely by Christopher Wheeldon — a triple bill with a premiere, an import and a mainstay. But an unchoreographed drama threatened to steal the show.
Jennie Somogyi tore her right Achilles tendon just after a strong start to her duet with Gonzalo Garcia in “Polyphonia,” Wheeldon’s 2001 breakout work. The crowd gasped, then fell silent as she limped offstage. Garcia briefly continued to dance — alone — before exiting, leaving the stage empty for what was probably less than a minute but seemed like an eternity.
The cast soldiered on — dancing a trio without her. Tiler Peck threw on the costume and finished Somogyi’s last duet, ending up in all three works and as the evening’s hero.
Even having to cope with the unexpected, the cast gave a top-notch performance. Sara Mearns added new delicacy to her interpretation, and Sterling Hyltin refused to play it safe in her debut in this work — she made it all the way to the curtain call before she almost skidded.
Happily, the rest of the evening went as planned. The premiere, “Les Carillons” to the suites from Bizet’s “L’Arlésienne,” has a large cast — five principal and five corps couples — and a collage of moods from martial to soulful, yet it felt like a painting, with colors blocked out but no shading.
Wheeldon’s longtime muse, Wendy Whelan, filled that in. After an emotional pas de deux with Robert Fairchild, she wandered through a crowd of celebrants pensive and alone. Wheeldon repaid Peck’s MVP teamwork in “Polyphonia” here, giving her a solo with intricate footwork and curling arms. It showed her in a new, delicate light.
The import, “DGV,” looks clearer than it did at its Royal Ballet premiere in 2006. Michael Nyman’s score was made for the opening of a high-speed railroad line, and the pulsing beat propels the dance. Danced among curved metal mesh panels and lit by an eerie phosphorescent glow, it’s a mechanical ritual set in a “Blade Runner” world.
All four leading couples did fine work, but Maria Kowroski looked her best, floating above Tyler Angle with her legs stretched beyond 180 degrees.
Each of the ballets will be danced this week, and the whole program will be repeated Saturday at 2 p.m. Even without unplanned drama, a new Wheeldon ballet is an event. At their debuts, they can be a frenzy of steps that seems like ingenuity for its own sake. But if they arrive as skeletons, they gain their soul as they go.