Marianne Adams

Going Everywhere With Peck

Going Everywhere With Peck


“In Creases,” “Solo,” “Partita,” “Everywhere We Go”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 12, 2024


Ten years is a long time to be doing anything, and when it comes to serving as Resident Choreographer and creating ballets at a rate of up to four per year for one company, it’s an especially admirable feat.  It was thus fitting that New York City Ballet celebrated Justin Peck’s big anniversary as a resident

By Marianne Adams
Women, Center Stage

Women, Center Stage


“Signs,” “Beneath the Tides,” “Concerto for Two Pianos”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 11, 2024


In the Contemporary Choreography program of recent ballets by all female creators, including this season's world premiere, New York City Ballet presented rich dancing and a level of comfort with the material that is seldom seen with newer works. It may not have been the best choreography the company has in its repertory, but all three works were

By Marianne Adams
Kneading Drama

Kneading Drama


“Like Water for Chocolate”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 16, 2024


American Ballet Theatre ending its five-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House with Christopher Wheeldon’s “Like Water for Chocolate” seemed like an emblematic move committed to its determined new identity – a company of story ballets, new world-class choreographies and solid, home-grown dancing talent. It is an encouraging direction for the troupe, even if the ballet itself was not the most scrumptious dish ABT

By Marianne Adams
Start With a Blank Page

Start With a Blank Page


“Woolf Works”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 26, 2024


For its second week of the 2024 New York summer season, American Ballet Theatre stuck to the literary works theme, but with an unexpectedly modern, multi award-winning twist.  Created in 2015, Wayne McGregor’s “Woolf Works” is everything one would expect from him – highly physical, seemingly stripped-down yet loaded with meaning and detail, and pushing the boundaries of traditional ballet.  But it was also

By Marianne Adams
Flamenco Depths, in Equal Measure

Flamenco Depths, in Equal Measure


“Equilibrio”
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
June 19, 2024


It can be too easy to forget just how many elements make up the tapestry of the flamenco genre, but Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana company’s performance of Emilio Ochando’s new “Equilibrio” expertly brought the various strands into focus.  Conceived originally as a solo performance in 2020, Ochando expanded the COVID-19 pandemic creation to the whole company.  Infused with a few modern twists

By Marianne Adams
“Onegin,” By the Book

“Onegin,” By the Book


“Onegin”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 18 and June 19 (matinee), 2024


American Ballet Theatre boldly opened its 2024 season at the Metropolitan Opera House with John Cranko’s “Onegin.” With somewhat last-minute casting changes, the opening night honors fell on Christine Shevchenko and Cory Stearns as Tatiana and Onegin respectively, who danced with dedication; though it was the next day’s matinee performers, also a substitute cast, Chloe Misseldine and Thomas Forster, who brought

By Marianne Adams
All The Colors Fit For Stage

All The Colors Fit For Stage


“Law of Mosaics,” “This Bitter Earth,” “Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux,” “Love Letter (on shuffle)”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 23, 2024


In its second of two programs featuring works by contemporary choreographers, New York City Ballet dazzled and dazed, leaning heavily on the quality of its dancers to bring forward the more vibrant elements of the presented ballets’ expressive palettes, both physical and emotional. The best of the evening – the absolutely devastating

By Marianne Adams
What Was, What Could Have Been

What Was, What Could Have Been


“Fandango,” “Bloom,” “Where We Dwell”
Roman Mejia, Tiler Peck and Herman Cornejo, Ayodele Casel
Fall For Dance – Program 5
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 23, 2021


The last program of this year’s Fall For Dance Festival looked back in looking ahead. Alexei Ratmansky’s 2010 work “Fandango” was presented in a restaging on a male dancer form, Justin Peck’s new work “Bloom” drew heavily on George Balanchine’s iconic “Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux,” and the

By Marianne Adams
Dance, (Un)interrupted

Dance, (Un)interrupted


“Mapping Out A Sky,” “38109,” “Each In His Own Time,” “Meet Ella”
BalletX, Lil Buck, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Caleb Teicher & Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 22, 2021


The Fall For Dance Festival never really left, considering the two programs it offered in a digital streaming format last year, but still its return to a live audience felt like a homecoming.  A bonus on the second night of Program 4 was the unscheduled appearance

By Marianne Adams
Catching Up with Adam Sklute, Artistic Director, Ballet West

interview

Catching Up with Adam Sklute, Artistic Director, Ballet West


April 2021
Salt Lake City, Utah 
by Marianne Adams


As most ballet companies around the world are slowly getting back to what once was normal, Ballet West has clocked in not one, but two live seasons since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. How they did it and what lies ahead were among the topics I was excited to explore in my conversation with Adam Sklute, the company’s Artistic Director.

From Lockdown, to the Stage

 Let’s

By Marianne Adams
Back On Stage: If Cautiously, Relentlessly

Back On Stage: If Cautiously, Relentlessly


Precious Gems: Precious Jewels Variations from “Alladin,” “Aria,” “Tarantella,” Solo from “Lambarena,” “Variations for Four,” Sicilienne from “Emeralds,” Duet from “Concerto Six Twenty-Two,” “Paquita”
Capitol Theatre
Salt Lake City, UT
April 15, 2021


What would ballet look like on a theater stage, when it returns, has been a question plaguing most ballet lovers and insiders alike, and as one of the first companies in the world, and certainly in the United States, to bring its dancers back in front of

By Marianne Adams
To Feast, Perchance to Dream

To Feast, Perchance to Dream


“Who Cares?” (excerpts), “to be seen,” “Concerto Six Twenty-Two” (duet), “Lady Swings the Blues”
Fall for Dance Festival – Program 2
New York City Center (Pre-recorded Digital Broadcast)
New York, NY
October 26, 2020


There may not have been many good news for the dance world this year, but the enduring holding of the Fall for Dance Festival, even if in an abbreviated, digital format, was certainly one of them.  Admittedly, in these trying times the starved audience would have

By Marianne Adams