Marianne Adams - danceviewtimes

American Ballet Theatre

Modernity Wins

“Petal,” “Petite Mort,” “Paquita”
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 25, 2026

In programming Helen Pickett’s stripped-down, richly hued “Petal” and Jiří Kylián’s curious “Petite Mort” with Natalia Makarova’s tired staging of “Paquita,” ABT, perhaps inadvertently, made the best case yet for a slick (and sensual) modern direction. The dancing was most multilayered and revealing of the dancers in those works, and while the company danced the lone classical offering well

New York City Ballet

An Understated, Warm Goodbye

“The Four Temperaments,” “Each In Their Own Time,” “Once with you,” “Agon”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 18, 2026

It is rare for ballet stars to time a retirement well. Most often, it comes either too soon or when the peak of their creative form is meaningfully behind them. Adrian Danchig-Waring set his date a year ago. In 2024 a spinal infection nearly killed him, and he promised himself that if he

To Break a Heart

“Oscar”
The Australian Ballet
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 11, 2026 (matinee)

By the time the moon began to weep red tears, it was clear how much of himself Christopher Wheeldon had put into his “Oscar.” The 2024 work was danced by The Australian Ballet, which returned to New York for the first time in more than a decade thanks to its new Artistic Director, David Hallberg. Though the city saw it a mere five times, at

New York City Ballet

Yesterday's Tomorrow

"La Sonnambula," "Pithoprakta," "The Unanswered Question," "Theme and Variations"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 8, 2026

Amid premieres and a retirement, one of the most talked-about ballets of NYCB’s fall season was the revival of George Balanchine’s 1968 “Pithoprakta,” which the company saved for week five. Made back then on the legendary Suzanne Farrell, the work left the company’s repertory a year later, as did the ballerina. Now, decades

New York City Ballet

The House Balanchine Built, Redecorated

"Pulcinella Variations," "Auspicy," "Shared Rain," "Love Letters (On Shuffle)"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 6, 2026

As New York City Ballet’s Contemporary Choreography program wore on, I kept wondering what Mr. B would say if he were watching. Two new works, Alysa Pires’s “Auspicy” and Jennifer Archibald’s “Shared Rain,” were sandwiched between two recent ones, Justin Peck’s “Pulcinella Variations” and Kyle Abraham’s “Love Letter (on shuffle).” All four

book review

Dance About Art, Book About Maxwell

Book: "Clara Gibson Maxwell: Dancing on the Edge"
By Larisa Oancea
The Film Gallery, 2026

Somewhere in the middle of "Clara Gibson Maxwell: Dancing on the Edge," Larisa Oancea quotes her subject's guiding principle: "Context is content." It happens to be a fitting motto for a book that traces a choreographer who has spent decades in conversation with philosophy, architecture, jazz, literature, and somatic practice — and it sets the tone for a biography as restless and wide-ranging as

American Ballet Theatre

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

American Ballet Theatre

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

American Ballet Theatre

Not Your Average Bird

“Swan Lake”
American Ballet Theatre
The Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 19 and July 18 (matinee), 2026

Much has been written about the splendor of Chloe Misseldine's dancing in American Ballet Theatre's "Swan Lake" over the past couple of years, including the debut that led to her onstage promotion, but little of it prepares one for the nuance of the live experience. In her third season dancing the dual roles of Odette/Odile, Misseldine has refined

Game of Thrones

"Mary, Queen of Scots”
Scottish Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
June 4, 2026

In a regrettably brief five-performance run, Scottish Ballet brought New York a work that was, above all else, generously inventive — a history play filtered through a dying mind, where fact and fever dream shared equal billing. While the life of Mary Stuart is not a topic of any kind of regular discussion in these lands, the love, care and detail with which the

New York City Ballet

Filling The Stage

"Opus 19/The Dreamer,” “Standard Deviation,” “Symphonie Espagnole”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 17, 2026 (matinee), May 28, 2026

For her much-promoted sophomore piece at NYCB – “Symphonie Espagnole” to Éduard Lalo’s eponymous music – Tiler Peck said she wanted to go big, filling the stage with dancers. By coincidence or design, the two works accompanying the buzzed-about creation – Jerome Robbins's "Opus 19/The Dreamer" and Alysa Pires's "Standard

New York City Ballet

In Balanchine's Shadow

"Divertimento No. 15,” “Zakouski,” “Composer’s Holiday,” “Heatscape”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 26, 2026

If nothing else, a program that started with George Balanchine's enthralling "Divertimento No. 15" and ended with Justin Peck's "Heatscape" showed how far away from its foundation the company has traveled with its repertory. The distance was thrown into sharp relief by what came between: Peter Martins's "Zakouski," which felt experimental by comparison, and

See all