Marianne Adams

“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

“Línea Recta,” “Con Brazos Abiertos,” “3.Catorce Dieciséis”
Ballet Hispánico
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
April 20, 2017

The sole woman in a red dress stood in the middle of the stage with her back to the audience. She flicked her wrists, resonating the motion in her elbows and then all through her arms, curved her spine and twisted her body, with these spiraling movements echoing the flamenco beats of the music. Her body bended to the side, with

“Romeo & Juliet”
The Joffrey Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
March 29, 2017

The marquee event of The Joffrey Ballet’s brief return to New York City after being gone for 22 years was its modernized “Romeo & Juliet,” which was fresh and interesting, but also imperfect. The premise of this 2008 ballet by Polish choreographer Krzysztof Pastor, with dramaturgy by Willem Bruls, was that throughout the epochs and time, some things, like cultural divisions and struggles

“Primitive Mysteries,” “Rust,” “Mosaic,” “Diversion of Angels”
Martha Graham Dance Company
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
February 17, 2017

The Martha Graham Dance Company’s latest New York season, intriguingly titled “Sacred / Profane,” offered a mix of two Graham works and two newer choreographies, including one world premiere by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, in its second program.  The works presented an interplay of ritual and innocence, problems of torture, a mosaic of human identity and spectrums of love,

“Birthday Offering,” “Kabalevsky Violin Concerto,” “Concerto Grosso,” “Chromatic Fantasy,” “Concerto,” “See The Youth Advance!,” “New Scarlett”
ABT Studio Company & The Royal Ballet School
NYU Skirball Center for the Performance Arts
New York, NY
February 10, 2017

It’s fascinating to watch young dancers, those just on the cusp of professional careers, as they feel their way through and experiment with various works. There is their exploration of what the work ought to look like, of course, but

“Sleeping Beauty”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 9, 2017

NYCB’s “Sleeping Beauty” remains a beautiful production, and the smartly chosen cast of veterans and debutants gave the season’s early performance a good balance of stability and risk. Not all went smoothly, but the high points of the evening, particularly Sara Mearns’s debut as Fairy Carabosse, struck a memorable chord.

Dancing alongside Megan Fairchild as Aurora, Joaquin De Luz as Prince