After an absence of two decades or more, the New York City Ballet is back in the business of national touring, though in a newly reduced, more nimble form.
The company has formed a 17-member traveling ensemble that will make its debut with three performances at the Vail International Dance Festival beginning Sunday.
Kathy Brown, the company’s executive director, insists that the new group, called New York City Ballet Moves, might be smaller, but it represents no diminution in quality from the main company.
“It’s not a student company,” Brown said. “It’s not a second company. It’s meant to have the same complement of principals, soloists and corps (de ballet) members as you would see if you came here (to New York).”
Among the dancers coming to Vail in this version are some of the troupe’s most recognized names, including Tyler Angle, Joaquin De Luz, Tiler Peck, Daniel Ulbricht and Wendy Whelan.
The touring ensemble’s premiere in Vail came about through the connections of the festival’s artistic director Damian Woetzel, a longtime principal dancer with New York City Ballet until his retirement in 2008.
“It’s a thrill in so many different ways — to bring the company, the dancers and some of these repertoires — and to be launching something, which is a wonderful moment to be in,” Woetzel said.
Large-scale dance companies used to be a common sight on the stages of performing arts centers across the United States, but the escalating costs and daunting logistics of such presentations made them all but extinct by the 1990s.
Consider that bringing the full New York City Ballet on tour would mean transporting more than 200 people — 92 dancers, 62 orchestra musicians plus a support team of costumers, makeup artists and technicians.
“I think it’s just harder and harder for presenters to find the funding to support a company like ours that is just so expensive to move around,” Brown said.
Tested in Jackson, Wyo.
Faced with that reality, the company devised this idea of a smaller company and tested it last year under the auspices of the Dancers’ Workshop at the Center for the Arts in Jackson, Wyo.
Because of its smaller forces, Moves will not be able to present all the works in the New York City Ballet’s active repertoire, but there are many it can accommodate.
During its first two performances in Vail, the group will perform a cross-section of old and new works, including such classics as Jerome Robbins’ “Dances at a Gathering” (1969) and noted recent creations like Christopher Wheeldon’s “Polyphonia” (2001).
All the selections set to classical scores will be accompanied by various combinations of five New York City Ballet musicians traveling with the ensemble — violinist Kurt Nikkanen and four pianists.
“What I wanted to do is show this breadth of what the company is today,” Woetzel said.
On Tuesday, the ensemble will take part in the festival’s “UpClose” series — more intimate, informal programs that are presented with extensive commentary.
This one, hosted by Woetzel and Peter Martins, the New York City Ballet’s ballet master in chief, will focus on the company’s celebrated former artist leader, George Balanchine, and his choreography for men.
“It’s a little unusual in one sense because Balanchine was sort of famous for saying, ‘Ballet is woman,’ ” Woetzel said. “But, of course, nothing is as simple as it seems. He said ‘Ballet is woman,’ but what was he really saying?”
After the formation of Moves was announced in January, the dancers union, the American Guild of Musical Artists, objected to it, saying it violated the company’s labor contract. But Brown said that those initial differences have been resolved.
According to her, Martins envisions the creation of a second such ensemble, so that the New York City Ballet could potentially have two groups of dancers on the road at the same time.
Interest in Moves is running high, Brown said. It is set to return to Jackson later this summer, and then perform in California in the fall and Princeton, N.J., in the spring.
“There’s a lot of potential for this to grow,” Brown said. “We’re just rolling it out now, and there has been a really enthusiastic response on the part of the presenters across the country, who previously couldn’t bring the New York City Ballet and now have this opportunity.”
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
NEW YORK CITY BALLET MOVES.
Dance. The New York City Ballet’s new 17-member touring company makes its debut at the Vail International Dance Festival with three performances. 7:30 Sunday, Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, Vail, “Dances at a Gathering,” “Duo Concertant” and “A Fool For You;” 7:30 p.m. Monday, Ford Amphitheater, “21st Century Moves,” and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Vilar Performing Arts Center, Beaver Creek, “UpClose: The Male Dancer by Balanchine,” Peter Martins and Damian Woetzel, hosts. Sunday and Monday, $20 lawn seating, $70 and $90 reserved seating; Tuesday, $55 and $75. 888-920-2787 or
