Marianne Adams

“Significant Strangers,” “Counterpoint,” “Blind Revelry”
Tom Gold Dance
The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College
New York, NY
April 3, 2019

The spring program by Tom Gold Dance at The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, lasting only two days, was brief but choreogra- phically engaging. Tom Gold’s three works selected for the evening presented whimsical partnerships with the world premiere of “Significant Strangers,” theater with the New York premiere of last year’s dramatic “Blind Revelry,” and distinctly more modern

“Serenade,” “Mozartiana,” “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 26, 2019 (matinee)

You cannot go wrong with the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky or the choreography of George Balanchine, and so in some ways New York City Ballet’s “All Tschaikovsky/ Balanchine” program, a fairly regular staple of the company’s seasons, was set up for success. The many debuts in two of the bill’s works wouldn’t have

“Estrogen/Genius,” “Distant Kin,” “North Star,” “Mudan 175/39”
Garth Fagan Dance
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
November 2, 2018

Garth Fagan Dance returned to the Joyce Theater this fall for less than a week, but was determined to make the most of the appearance. Each night’s program presented the company’s two new works, Garth Fagan’s “The North Star,” which was a celebration of the life of Frederick Douglass, and Norwood Pennewell’s “Distant Kin,” so

“Reclamation Map,” “Balamouk,” “Midnight Raga,” “The Crane Calling (exerpt)”
Fall For Dance Festival – Program 3
Tayeh Dance with Heather Christian, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Nederlands Dans Theater 2, National Ballet of China
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 5, 2018

In the middle of this year’s Fall For Dance Festival, Program 3 was an assembly of all premieres – two of the works were new to the U.S. audience, the other two altogether new creations. It may

“Bach Cello Suites,” “Dances of Isadora Duncan – A Solo Tribute,” “Bzzz,” “The Barbarian Nights, or First Dawns of the World (excerpt)”
Fall For Dance Festival
Boston Ballet, Sara Mearns, Caleb Teicher & Company and Cie Hervé Koubi
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 1, 2018

Perhaps the best attribute of the Fall For Dance Festival, this year in its 15^th season, is its ability to expose viewers to works and artists they may not otherwise see

“Embattled Garden,” “Histoire,” “The Legend of Ten”
Martha Graham Dance Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
April 11, 2018

Martha Graham Dance Company opened its season at New York City Center by reaffirming its identity as a troupe of multitalented dancers that may have Graham in their hearts, but whose bodies belong in a whole range of diverse choreographies. The opening night gala program offered an expertly danced world premiere by Lucinda Childs called “Histoire,” a company premiere

“Autobiography”
Company Wayne McGregor
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
March 3, 2018

British choreo- grapher Wayne McGregor is known for pushing boundaries and finding unconven- tional inspirations, but the New York premiere of his uniquely personal new work showed the artist overreaching. The release of “Autobiography” came at the time of the 25^th anniversary of the artist’s creative life and to craft it the choreographer sequenced his own genome, using the chromosomes

“The Taming of the Shrew”
The Bolshoi Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 28, 2017

The famed Bolshoi Ballet has given New Yorkers many tastes of its excellent classical repertory during the company’s visits over the years, but has gotten some understandable criticism for those selections – the classics are great, but was the company stuck in time and where were the new works? This year’s presentation of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s “The Taming of the

“El Pintor,” “Pá Triana Voy,” “Sentio,” “Caminos,” “A Solas,” “A Mi Manera”
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana
BAM Fisher
New York, NY
May 17, 2017

In a short run at the BAM Fisher theater, Carlota Santana’s spirited company presented impressive flamenco technique, a cherished relationship with the dance form and generous storytelling through dance. The intimate setting of a small stage allowed for a closer connection to the dancers and their expression, and the performance amounted to a

“Don Quixote”
American Ballet Theatre
The Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 16, 2017
 
For her debut in the role with American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland presented the crowd with a robust but not particularly enthusiastic Kitri, and fellow debutants Jeffrey Cirio as Basilio, Luciana Paris as Mercedes and Calvin Royal III as Espada enlivened the production with joyful and appealing dancing. The ballet wasn’t perfect, but the shining moments shone brightly, even if that light did

“Chiaroscuro,” “Slice to Sharp,” “Stabat Mater,” “The Decalogue”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 12, 2017
 
The main event of the evening was the world premiere of Justin Peck’s fourteenth ballet for NYCB called “The Decalogue,” but as the audience waited for the fresh and new, the company dusted off and presented three ballets of the somewhat old.  All dating back to 2006 and into the 1990s, the works that led

“Mercurial Manoeuvres,” “Polyphonia,” “Liturgy,” “American Rhapsody”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
April 25, 2017
 
A program of works by just one choreo- grapher can do wonders at revealing that creator’s weaknesses and strengths.  With no one else’s craft for the works to be compared to, hide behind or shine over, the creator is presented to the audience as all they are, and for his part, Christopher Wheeldon really let his