Mary Cargill

"Coppélia"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 30, matinee and May 31, 2026

The first “Coppélia” was subtitled (in French), “The Girl with the Enamel Eyes”, a reference to the macabre story by E. T. A. Hoffmann (the poor doll’s eyes are pulled out of her head by the evil doctor, eventually causing the hero to jump to his death) which inspired one of the most perfect of ballet comedies.  Those nineteenth

"Coppélia"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 24, 2026

Though the dreary, rainy Memorial Day weekend weather didn’t cooperate, the theatre was warm and sunny, as Megan Fairchild said goodbye to NYCB dancing a bright, confident, and luscious Swanilda.  As I was leaving, I overheard a man saying this was his first ballet and why on earth was she retiring—a question anyone in the audience might have asked, as Fairchild sailed

"Opus 19/The Dreamer", "Standard Deviation", "Symphonie Espagnole"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 12 and May 17, 2026

All three ballets in the program, entitled Eclectic NYCB, were set to music featuring guest soloists.  The music ranged from the 19th century (Édouard Lalo’s “Symphony Espangnole” for Tiler Peck’s new work, the 20th century (Prokofiev’s “Violin Concerto No. 1, op. 19” for Robbins’ “Opus 19/The Dreamer”) and the 21st

"Voices", "In Memory of...", "Diamonds"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 8, 2026

The evening’s performance had works by Ratmansky, Robbins, and Balanchine, and though none showed them at their finest, it did show that craft and imagination, plus very good dancing, can be rewarding.  Ratmansky’s “Voices” is rather austere opening work, an experiment in movement to pure sound without melody or clear rhythm; ironically the biggest applause went to the

"Continuum", "Each in Their Own Time", "Distant Cries", "Concerto DSCH"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 1, 2026

NYCB’s programming has had some ups and downs this season, and this program, called forthrightly “Contemporary Choreography III” (Contemporary Choreography I and II were danced in the Fall and Winter seasons respectively so it seems that one contemporary collection a season is allotted), opened with three rather dark and knotty works, which, perhaps coincidentally, were

"Divertimento No. 15", "Zakouski", "Composer's Holiday", "Heatscape"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
April 29, 2026

This evening’s program, one pas de deux (Peter Martins’ “Zakouski”) and three longer works (Balanchine’s sublime “Divertimento No. 15”, and two newer works by younger choreographers (Gianna Reisen’s “Composer’s Holiday” and Justin Peck’s “Heatscape”), seemed to be designed to show off the company’s current impressive collection of dancers. “Zakouski” celebrated the soon

"Symphony in C", "Agon", "Firebird"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
April 24, 2026

This all-Balanchine program had a packed and enthusiastic audience, saluting several debuts and two farewells—Megan Fairchild, who danced the first movement of “Symphony in C”, is retiring at the end of the season and Taylor Stanley, who performed the sarabande in “Agon”, has announced his 2027 retirement. The company seemed to sense the audience’s excitement, and the dancing