“Live! The Realest MC”
A.I.M.
NYU Skirball
New York, New York
April 4, 2019
There was a time when both choreographers and critics thought dance should say it all. Language in any form was considered a corrupting influence that compromised dance’s autonomy. However, as modernism has faded, dancers have stopped being afraid of language. Now it is more often seen as a valuable adjunct to dance. I thought of that during Kyle Abraham’s concert at the
“The Leaves are Fading,’ “Flutter,” “In Absentia,” “Six Years Later,” “Ave Maria,” “Valse Triste”
Natalia Osipova’s Pure Dance with David Hallberg
New York City Center
New York, New York
April 3, 2019
It has become commonplace for ballet stars to gather a few supporting dancers to tour a program of solos and duets. Natalia Osipova is in town this weekend for just such a program at City Center. However, choosing David Hallberg as one of her three
“Lessons in Tradition,” “Harlequin and Pantalone,” “Jump Monk,’ “SOUNDspace”
Dorrance Dance
New York City Center
New York, NY
March 28, 2019
It would be hard to imagine a more joyful choice for a celebration than Dorrance Dance, which opened New York City Center’s seventy-fifth anniversary season Thursday evening. Michelle Dorrance’s tap concerts seem made to lift the spirits. Much of this has to do with Dorrance, herself, a whirlwind of motion who appears to delight in every move
“Herman Schmerman,” “Principia,” “The Runaway”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater,
New York, New York
February 3, 2019
Under the rubric, “New Combinations,” New York City Ballet brought together a premiere by Justin Peck, a new ballet from the fall season by Kyle Abraham, and a ballet by William Forsythe that hasn’t been seen in full since 1994. It proved to be the kind of imaginative programming that makes elements and associations visible that might not otherwise
“Serenade,” “Mozartiana," “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 23, 2019
New York City Ballet began its winter season with programs devoted to Balanchine works set to two of the choreographer’s favorite composers. The opening program on Tuesday was reserved for Stravinsky, with Tschaikovsky following on Wednesday. Repeats of both programs continue through the coming week.
It is unusual to see three Balanchine ballets to Tschaikovsky
“Kreatur”
Sasha Waltz & Guests
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn, New York
November 2, 20 18
Contemporary German choreographers are not known for light-hearted fare, but Sasha Waltz’s “Kreatur,” which opened Friday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, may set a record for dystopian gloom. Not that there is much optimism on either side of the Atlantic these days.
The ninety-minute piece is set for fourteen dancers and is described as an examination of existence in a disrupted society.
“Apollo,” “Concerto Barocco,” Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,” “Divertimento No. 15”
Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet
Balanchine: The City Center Years
New York City Center
New York, New York
November 1, 2018
Last year the Lincoln Center Festival celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of George Balanchine’s “Jewels” by inviting the Paris Opera Ballet, the Bolshoi, and New York City Ballet to perform sections of the work, trading off sections at various performances. One good idea
“Xenos”
Akram Khan
White Light Festival
Rose Theater, Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 31, 2018
Akram Khan has long been one of the UK’s most inventive dance artists. He is known for imaginatively combining classical Indian Kathak dance with contemporary western forms, and for his collaborative productions with important artists from varied genres. “Xenos,” presented as part of Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, has to do with Indian soldiers who fought for Britain in World
“But First A School: The Making of a Balanchine Dancer”
Studio 5
New York City Center
New York, New York
Oct. 29, 2018
New York City Ballet’s first home was New York City Center, and as part of the Center’s seventy-fifth anniversary, it is featuring a George Balanchine celebration, which is going on this week in the main auditorium. Meanwhile, upstairs in Studio 5, a less formal celebration took place on Monday evening. It was a
“Watermill”
BAM Fisher
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn, New York
October 24, 2018
Jerome Robbins created “Watermill” for New York City Ballet in 1972. It was staged for what was then known as the State Theater, now the David H. Koch Theater, a proscenium theater of opera house proportions. Choreographer Luca Veggetti has re-imagined the work for the intimate BAM Fisher, and the ballet benefits greatly from it.
Veggetti has been respectful of Robbins’ vision for “Watermill;” his is
“Songs of Bukovina,” “Garden Blue,” “In the Upper Room”
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
October 19, 2018
Under the rubric, “ABT Women’s Movement,” American Ballet Theatre is promoting women choreographers during its current fall season at the Koch Theater. Two were represented in Friday’s program: Jessica Lang and Twyla Tharp. Tharp, of course, has been on the scene for decades, and “In the Upper Room” has been in ABT’s repertory since
“Sutra”
White Lights Festival
Rose Theater, Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 16, 2018
Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s “Sutra” is a spectacle in the true sense of the word. Created in 2008, it features monks from the Shaolin Temple in China, as well as sculpture by the well-known British artist Antony Gormley and a score, played live, by Polish composer Szymon Brzóska. Cherkaoui also performs the central role, along with child monk, Xing Kaishuo.
