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MATTHEW MURPHY |
Over the past few weeks I’ve been looking back through my iPhoto library and reminiscing about my past three years in ABT. When I was a student at NCSA, I never imagined that I would end up in one of the greatest companies in the world surrounded by people who used to line my dorm room walls; their pictures that is, not the actual people. There have been ups and downs throughout my time with the company but even the downs look somewhat lighter in hindsight. As a continuing introduction of myself to The Winger community, I’d like to share my Top Ten Met Moments with everyone. For the most part I’ve shied away from listing personal performances that stick out in my memory, and am aiming to share some things that people might not think of right away. My memory is rather weak at the moment so I’m sure there are things I’m forgetting but here is what comes to mind.
1. The Firsts:
What better way to start a countdown than with some of the firsts in my career!? I will never forget the first day that I arrived at the Metropolitan Opera House and all of the excitement surrounding it. Walking through the stage door, getting my Met ID, setting foot on stage for the first time; it was all such a whirlwind that I barely took a moment to breathe. However, all of those moments pale in comparison to my first performance.
It was one of the smallest roles in our repertoire, a guard in “La Bayadere,” but it was the perfect introductory role. Luckily it required me to do little else than walk, stop and bow because I remember the weak feeling in my knees when Jose Carreno made his first entrance as Solar and the crowd erupted. “How is this my life?” I remember thinking. Soon after, I was running to change into my suit for our first Met Gala. Even though I was seated in the back corner (where they usually put the first year corps) I don’t think I ever stopped smiling all night.
Only a few days later I sat out in the front of the house for the first time and watched the rep program (“Petit Mort,” “Pilar of Fire” and “Harrison Tribute”) and I was more in awe than ever. There was a storm outside and during “Pilar” you could hear the lightening booming in the distance. It seemed to wake me up to the reality of this incredible experience I was (and still am) fortunate enough to be involved in.
(My first performance with Roman Zhurbin and Grant Delong. Looking so young!)
2. Any Moment Containing Anne Milewski:
By the time you get a few weeks into any season, fatigue starts to set in and trouble is not far behind. If you are easily provoked into fits of laughter, this is an especially trying period, when you must do your best to contain any giggling provoked by the debauchery on stage. For me, it all goes out the window whenever I have to interact with Anne Milewski.
Two seasons ago found me convulsing during “Cinderella” as she flitted around me doing minute facial contortions to break me down when I was supposed to be a frozen stiff bachelor. “Cinderella” was nothing compared to “Manon.” The curtain comes up on the third act and the various courtesans walk off the boat, as their bodies are being ravaged by disease. Anne was the one who I had to take care of, and she would rip her hair out (in a pixie cut disease wig), fall face flat on the floor as if she had died, and go completely dead weight limp in my arms before she would awake and profess her love to me. Needless to say I was hysterical, and felt completely unprofessional, so I did what anyone would do; pass off the tears of laughter for tears of anguish. If you happened to see a sailor who looked particularly distraught in the back, chances are it was me.
(Moments before the curtain went up with my sweetest downfall, Anne Milewski.)
3. Principal Varieties
One of the joys of being surrounded by so many dancers is that almost every night I get to watch someone different do the hardest roles in classical ballet. Every dancer has their different ways of spicing things up and a few in particular stand out in my mind.
During my first run of “Don Q,” Paloma Herrera took the balancing in attitude business in Act 3 to a whole different level. By the time she hit the last balance, standing solid for what must have been over 15 seconds, the audience was hysterical. This only provoked her to take it one step more and slowly fouette (on point) to a develope front without taking her partner’s hand. By this point, the dancers themselves were freaking out and I remember the guy sitting by me literally screaming on stage. Sometimes even we get stunned.
Another vivid memory was when Julio Bocca and Nina Ananiashvili were doing “Swan Lake” and seemed to spontaneously choreograph the final moments of Black Swan Pas to tremendous effect. They managed to catch all of the dancers, and the audience, off guard by spicing up something everyone knows the end of.
There are so many moments, I could go on forever in this category.
(Herman Cornejo showing how you can spice things up as a principal.)
4. Hanging Out in the Dressing Room
Leading up to my first season with the company, one of the things I was most stressed about was finding a suitable place in the dressing room. Even though the space is cavernous and very comfortable, people become fiercely protective of their spots and as a first year dancer, you don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. Fortunately, I ended up on a great row with Blaine Hoven, Daniel Keene(Mantai), Jared Matthews, Eric Underwood and Craig Salstein keeping me company. We all shared a certain sense of humor and it made my time off stage completely refreshing and stress free. Unfortunately, since I missed this whole last season, everything has changed. Jared and Craig have been promoted to soloist, Eric left for Royal Ballet and Daniel departed for National Ballet of Canada. That leaves Blaine and I to break in a whole new set of people next year. We will try to be nice, but they have a lot to live up to.
(A typical view of my dressing room spot, complete with a collection of postcards and pictures that just keeps growing.)
(Jared Matthews and Blaine Hoven prepare for “Le Corsaire.”)
5. Petrouchka Coachman’s Dance
I already know that by my including this on the list, I am going to hear nothing but confusion from my fellow dancers. If there is any part that the boys complained about to no end, it’s the Coachmen’s dance from “Petrouchka.” In a ballet known for its lack of dancing, but incredible dramatic structure, the Coachmen are the only corps role that requires much physical exertion, and it is without a doubt one of the hardest things I have ever done. Consisting of strenuous deep knee bends that make you feel like your knees might be filled with dynamite that is seconds from exploding, preparing every night was a humorous (and stressful) event. I would put on a whole brace and support system (quad, knee and calf supports) before donning my fat suit and overcoat. It was a role we all feared yet doing it is one of the things I remember most from my years of performing.
There is nothing like hearing the incredible Stravinsky music floating up from the orchestra pit as we prepared for our dance. At the moment we began, snow gently started falling from the rafters and we began our workout. Half way through, the boys do a series of traveling knee bends that cross them and take them to the other side of the stage. Usually by this point, you felt like you had a piano on your shoulders and coming up from the knee bends required a little extra effort. Cue the grunting. All of the boys took it upon themselves to add a little extra noise to the proceedings and as we crossed we grunted like cavemen (or people being crushed under the weight of a car) and made our way across the stage. We’d often get notes asking us to tone it down, but sometimes your body just does something without you even prompting it. When we finally reached the other side, it was time for the final stretch of the dance where we were facing the women forming a semi-circle around us. My partner was always Marian Butler, and her whispered words of encouragement were what helped me get through. As we reached the conclusion of our dance, the score would swell to its peak and the music would carry me to another place. After we struck our final pose, we ran off stage for a moment and would all collapse behind one of the set pieces. If only the audience could have seen us.
Even though it was one of the most physically exhausting experiences of my life, the wonderful coaching by Gary Chryst made it one of the most rewarding as well. The corps is often left to fend for themselves when creating the crowd scenes but Gary spent the time coaching everyone and working on developing a believable character that carried through the entire ballet. Maybe since my father was an actor, I found this especially intriguing and a challenge unlike any I had had in my professional career up until that point.
(With Bo Busby in our “Petrouchka” makeup. I think we can all admit that this is the sexiest picture ever taken of me. In fact I would venture as far as to say it’s the sexiest picture of any man ever. Period.)
Stay tuned for more Met moments! Coming soon…
