Up and comers
Weekly Dispatch From: The Corps
With a new crop of soloists this winter and spring season, New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet has had a chance to shine. With more classically-leaning ballets full of solos like Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda Variations, and even Paquita, the winter season especially pulled my eye towards Kloe Walker. An alumn of Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (a school renowned for its graduates technique- leading many, like Walker, David Gabriel, Ashley Bouder, John and Abi Stafford to star-lit careers) her technique is fresh and crystal-clear. Watching her in her Dewdrop debut this January, I realized that if I wanted to know exactly what the choreography was, I could just watch her. Not only was the technique there, but the artistry, to.
In Tiler Peck’s Symphonie Espagnole this spring, Walker bent her upper body, sparkled her smile at the audience, and suspended her movements, all while arabesquing at breathtaking height. Peck has already proven herself to have a good nose for the up-and-coming talent, through both her choreography and curations, so her stamp of approval is really the cherry on top of Walker’s break-out season. And it really does feel like she broke out of nowhere- she joined the company less than two years ago.
One even more recent addition to the corps is Mia Williams. She debuted this winter as Princess Florine in the sleeping beauty, and as the fairy of Eloquence. In this video, she is given a tempo so speedy I laughed- yes this is new york city ballet, and yes, this is the next great allegro dancer of the company, but must the tempo be quite that allegro? Nonetheless, Williams pulls it off with great pizazz, not missing a beat, and so really maybe my qualm is that she’s done dancing so soon. One role Williams will not soon be finished with is Swanhilda in Coppelia- she learned the role and danced excerpts in a “Family Saturdays” performance, which are essentially used a soft landing for young dancers in major roles.
Speaking of major roles, looking ahead to the 26-27 season of programing, my wish list includes Emeralds for Walker, Rubies for Williams, both as Juliet (unlikely, I know, but with 14 performances a girl can dream of casts spanning company ranks) and to finish it off, maybe some Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet or Stravinsky Violin Concerto as well. Either way, I’m very excited to see these ballerinas (and, honestly, countless others, the bottom ranks of the company are overflowing with talent right now) continue to tackle new roles, so keep your eyes out for them and be sure to squeal as loud I do when you see their name under principal casting.
Where to see dance this week:
The NYC Emerging Artists Project is a launch pad for young professional dancers and choreographers, culminating after two weeks in a performance. Tickets sell out fast, but you can support the project and artists here.
That is it for this week’s dispatch! In this new series, I will just be sharing little updates and thoughts on the goings on around me. In WTSDTW, there will be some less known or more affordable options for seeing dance in the NYC metro-area. I’ve been writing less in a whirlwind of summer plans and school finals but am trying to commit to writing weekly for a few months.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Mia Williams this season! She dances with great joy.
Loved this! A great update with lovely photos!