“Radeau/Raft,” “Hex,” “Las Desenamoradas,” “Exhibition”
Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company
Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, NY
November 7, 2025

The tantalizingly brief run of modern dance works by Alpha Omega Theatrical Dance Company proved a rare gem – blink and you'd miss it. Those fortunate enough to attend were treated to Eleo Pomare's once-daring and still-potent choreography, alongside a new work by the company's Artistic Director Enrique Cruz DeJesus, and the evening became an exploration of women’s roles and

“Have We Met?!,” “Serenade after Plato’s Symposium,” “Theme and Variations”
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 30, 2025

For one of the final programs of its fall season, American Ballet Theatre presented a study in contrasts: the world premiere of Juliano Nunes's "Have We Met?!" explored parallel love stories across a century, while George Balanchine's "Theme and Variations" reminded us what timeless classicism looks like. Sandwiched between them, Alexei Ratmansky's 2016 "Serenade after Plato's

"Company B", "Scudorama", "Diggity"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
November 7, 2025

It may have been accidental but this all-Taylor program had a canine theme--there were lots of dogs, flat metallic ones sitting on the stage for the dancers  in the final work, “Diggity”, to maneuver around and Taylor has also explained that one of the inspirations for the middle work, the inscrutably surrealistic “Scudorama” was the memory of a dog

“The Kingdom of the Shades,” “Le Grand Pas de Deux,” “Rhapsody (Pas de Deux),” “The Sleeping Beauty, Act III”
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 28, 2025

Sometimes fortune smiles on an audience. The second version of ABT’s “Classics to the Contemporary” program, which replaced the middle act pieces with Christian Spuck’s “Le Grand Pas de Deux” and an excerpt from Frederick Ashton’s “Rhapsody,” had a last-minute replacement for the opening act’

“Procession”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 1, 2025

How satisfying it is when something lives up to the hype. Choreographic duo Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber have generated a lot of buzz in recent years, creating works for preeminent dance companies across North America and Europe while also crossing over into work in film and theatre. There was a lot of anticipation leading up to the world premiere of

“The Kingdom of the Shades,” “Grand Pas Classique,” “Known by Heart (“Junk” Duet), “The Sleeping Beauty, Act III”
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 26, 2025

It was a showcase of individual talent at ABT’s mixed bill titled “Classics to the Contemporary,” with plenty of solos to dance in Natalia Makarova’s “Kingdom of Shades,” Victor Gsovsky’s “Grand Pas Classique,” Twyla Tharp’s “Known by Heart” duet and the entire third act of

"Rodeo", "Le Grande Pas de Deux", "Rhapsody Pas de Deux", "Theme and Variations"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 31, 2025

ABT celebrated Halloween in grand style, handing out candy to the departing audience, holding a costume contest (I set next to the winning couple, a Venus fly-trap and a trumpet pitcher plant), and a program of tricks and treats (the trick was Christian Spuck’s comedy “Le Grand Pas de Deux” and the treats

“Les Sylphides,” “Gala Performance,” “Rodeo”
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 17, 2025

Celebrating its 85^th anniversary, American Ballet Theatre presented a program titled “A Retrospective of Master Choreographers,” featuring works from deep in the 20^th century. The evening showcased Michel Fokine’s “Les Sylphides,” Antony Tudor’s “Gala Performance,” and Agnes de Mille’s “Rodeo” – all treated with distinctly modern reverence and an almost overcautious care to preserve their original character.

That

"The Kingdom of the Shades", "Rhapsody Pas de Deux", "Grand Pas Classique", "The Sleeping Beauty, Act III"
American Ballet Theatre
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 25, 2025, evening

The program, entitled “Classics to the Contemporary”, had selections from three works ranging from the Shades scene from Marius Petipa’s “La Bayadère” (1877), the final act of his “The Sleeping Beauty” (1890), and a brief pas de deux from Sir Frederick Ashton’s “Rhapsody”

"Les Sylphides", "Gala Performance", "Rodeo"
American Ballet Theatre
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
October 23, 2025

ABT helped celebrate its 85th anniversary with the program entitled “A Retrospective of Major Choreographers” whose works (Michel Fokine’s “Les Sylphides”, Antony Tudor’s “Gala Performance”, and Agnes de MIlle’s “Rodeo”), though long associated with ABT, were all created for different companies.  Though they have very different styles (lyrical, satirical-technical, and American rowdy respectively), they all have a

"Otherwhere", "Leaven"
Tom Gold Dance
Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan
New York, NY
October 20, 2025

Tom Gold Dance was established in 2008 by the former New York City Ballet soloist, Tom Gold, and the revolving cast (made up of dancers with various backgrounds, including current and former NYCB dancers) has been performing Gold’s choreography in smaller venues with regular New York seasons.  Keeping a small company going for so long can’t have been easy, but the dances

“The Barre Project, Blake Works II,” “Thousandth Orange,” “Swift Arrow,” “Time Spell”
Turn It Out with Tiler Peck and Friends
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 16, 2025

Tiler Peck’s intimately curated show – Turn It Out with Tiler Peck and Friends – made a brief but powerful return at City Center with an assortment of four ballets that showcased every performer's strengths while cleverly avoiding their weaknesses. Above all else, the program was a celebration of musicality itself