A Tribute

George Jackson

28 Sep 2020 — 1 min read

"Ave Maria"

dance solo choreographed in 1914 by Michio Ito
to music composed in 1825 by Franz Schubert
performed by Christin Arthur
set by Dana Tai Soon Burgess
dedicated to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the USA's Supreme Court

It is a slow dance, mostly for the upper body. Watching it, one is ever more aware of independent motions that belong to the head and face, to the neck, to the shoulders and arms plus hands, and to the rib cage above the waist. Yet one is also certain that these parts of the human anatomy are animated by one soul existing in a sea of light and shade. The camera shows us the dancer's whole body only briefly. She is dressed in blue, as painters have depicted this figure of motherhood, womanhood and humanity. She takes barely more than one step, but that suffices.

Christin Arthur dances the solo simply. Ruth Bader Ginsberg (1933 -2020) took the time from her work to attend performances of opera, ballet and drama. These works of art broadened her perspective as a judge.

copyright 2020 by George Jackson

http://dtsbdc.org/ave-maria-by-michio-ito-dedicated-to-ruth-bader-ginsburg/

Read more

Growth and Decay

Growth and Decay

“Meanwhile”
CARVALHO
Brooklyn, NY
August 8, 2026

Since its summer performance series began, CARVALHO, a contemporary art gallery in Brooklyn, New York, has carved out a special place in the city’s art scene. By combining dance with large-scale installation, curator and gallery founder Jennifer Carvalho has successfully given a gallery home to some of the dance world’s most exciting talent—and seems to have drawn in new dance audiences in the process.

CARVALHO’s latest offering, a

Swan Next Door

Swan Next Door

“Swan Lake”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 18, 2026

At the closing performance of American Ballet Theatre’s 2026 summer season, Catherine Hurlin and Isaac Hernández stripped the myth out of "Swan Lake" and danced the leads like two people who could plausibly live down the street from you. Whether the choice was calculated or simply fatigue setting in on a long season, the effect was a unique, if not wholly compelling, reading of the

All the New Things, In All the Wrong Places

All the New Things, In All the Wrong Places

“Don Quixote”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 7, 2026

Though it was promoted as a new production, Susan Jaffe’s new staging of “Don Quixote” for American Ballet Theatre proved to be more of a touch-up, and mostly in the wrong spots. It may have tied the ballet more closely to its titular character – something no one had really complained was missing over the last century – but Jaffe, working together with Susan Jones, missed

Words and Music

Words and Music

Program B: American Heartbeat - County and Western
"Home (Excerpt 1)", "Deck of Cards", "Home" (Excerpt 2"), "Songs that Tell a Story", "Home" (Excerpt 3)", "Going Away Party"
Program C: American Mavericks - West Coast Composers
"Prelude and Prelude", "Jenn and Spencer", "Pacific", "Grand Duo"
Mark Morris Dance Group
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
July 21, 2026 (Program C), July 23, 2026 (Program B)

Programs B and C of Mark Morris’s all-American music season had distinctly different approaches.