Does being a great muse make you a great director? Suzanne Farrell was one of choreographer George Balanchine’s inspirations and formed her own group dedicated to performing and preserving his ballets. It arrived Wednesday night offering a pocket-size program of his works, but the muse isn’t as inspired as the master.
The opener, “Haieff Divertimento,” a 1947 ballet named after its composer, Siberian-born Alexei Haieff, is rarely seen — New York City Ballet hasn’t performed it for almost two decades.
Danced in simple pale-blue costumes, the piece starts out courtly and youthful. A solo man leading four couples bows to one another and to the audience. But then the stage darkens and a woman joins him for a sultry blues-tinged duet.
Unlike most Balanchine ballets, here it’s the men who get the most attention, as well as short solos.
But despite Kirk Henning’s warm lead performance, “Haieff Divertimento” gets a stilted and cramped reading that won’t make the case for keeping it around.
A muse has her mementos, and Farrell shows off two Tchaikovsky duets Balanchine made for her more than four decades ago. Watching from the audience Wednesday night was Jacques d’Amboise, her original dance partner in both.
The “Diamonds” pas de deux is as melancholy and as regal as its music. Awash in rhinestones, Violeta Angelova did what she could to bring it grandeur but had an unlucky performance, with skids and a headdress that came unhinged.
“Meditation” is Balanchine’s version of his relationship with Farrell — a man, lost and alone onstage, is visited by an angelic woman with flowing hair.
There were no fumbles here, and Elisabeth Holowchuk does yeoman service leading three of the four ballets in the program, but she’s dancing Farrell’s roles without her mystique and charisma.
Most everyone looks their best in Balanchine’s modern masterwork “Agon,” which gets an unaffected and clean but spirited performance.
Farrell was squeezed out of New York City Ballet in uncertain circumstances: Depending on who’s talking, it was either a power play or a budget cut.
Can her own little group dance Balanchine on a budget?
Sure, but in New York it’s up against her former, flusher company. Farrell’s dancers are working hard, but New York City Ballet gets the pick of the litter. For her troupe to be “best in show,” Farrell’s dancers need to be cast in the right roles and given extra TLC.