"Femme Fatale"
Tom Gold Dance
The Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Family Auditorium
Marlene Meyerson JCC
New York, NY
October 29, 2026
Tom Gold, a former New York City Ballet soloist, has been choreographing for his small pick-up company since 2008, an impressively resilient number. His insistence on live music is equally impressive, and his choice of chamber works had led to some fine and interesting discoveries. For “Femme Fatale”, he chose small violin and piano works by the famous
American Ballet Theatre
"Birthday Offering", "Mercurial Son", "Ballet Imperial"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026, matinee
Perhaps coincidentally, the “Neoclassical Works” program with ballets from three very different choreographers (Sir Frederick Ashton, Kyle Abraham, and Balanchine) all featured glimpses of men alone on stage searching yearningly or restlessly for something. Ashton’s “Birthday Offering” (1956), a radiantly abstract celebration of classical ballet, had an anonymous cavalier looking longingly around the empty
American Ballet Theatre
"Petal", "Petite Mort", "Paquita"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 22, 2026
ABT’s optimistically named “Fresh Visions and Timeless Classics” program included ABT’s first performances of Helen Pickett’s “Petal”, originally choreographed in 2008 for the Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet, Jiří Kylián’s “Petite Mort”, first danced in 1991 by the Nederlands Dans Theater, and a revival of Natalia Makarova’s 1983 staging for ABT of the final act of Petipa’s “Paquita”
New York City Ballet
"La Sonnambula", "Pithoprakta", "The Unanswered Question", "Theme and Variations"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 13, 2026
Perhaps coincidentally all four ballets in this all-Balanchine program featured women in white. Most of these women were mysteriously unavailable; only the couple in the final “Theme and Variations” seemed set for a happy life, and that was a fairy tale romance, as the ballet is essentially a quick tour of the highlights Petipa’s “The
New York City Ballet
"Continuum", "Solitude", "Bourrée Fantasque"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 7, 2026
The heart of this triple bill was the central work, Alexei Ratmansky’s searing “Solitude”, his powerfully understated reaction to wartime’s destruction. It opened with Christopher Wheeldon’s abstract exercise “Continuum”, one of his sparest and most inventive works, and ended with the rarely seen “Bourrée Fantasque”, Balanchine’s 1949 ballet buffa. The evening ricochetted between comedy and tragedy,
"Mazurkas", "Join"
Limón Dance Company
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
October 6, 2025
The Limón Dance Company, like many other modern companies, is working its way through the issue of how to preserve its past while not being completely tied to it. This program tried to balance the past with the future, with one major revival, José Limón’s 1958 “Mazurkas” and one new work, Aszure Barton’s 2025 “Join”, which was inspired by “Orestes”, a lost work
New York City Ballet
"Pulcinella Variations", "Auspicy", "Shared Rain", "Love Letter (on Shuffle)"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 4, 2026
Since 2012, NYCB’s annual Fall Gala has featured new ballets with costumes by contemporary fashion designers; these galas have, reportedly, raised considerable amounts of money, though artistically, the results have been mixed at best, and few of the new works have long endured. This evening’s program included two veteran fashion gala works, Justin Peck’
New York City Ballet
"La Source", "The Four Temperaments", "The Concert"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 3, 2026 matinee
This performance featured three varied works, one each from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s—it is astounding to realize that the most recent one, Balanchine’s “La Source” (1968), is almost 60 years old. The dancing however was vibrant and fresh, with a number of debuts. It was a finely balance and varied
Sarasota Ballet
"Lilac Garden", "Ashton Divertissements: Meditation from 'Thaïs', Pas de Trois from 'Les Rendezvous', Pas de Cinq from 'Illuminations', Balcony pas de deux from 'Romeo and Juliet'", "Summertide"
After a year’s absence, the Sarasota Ballet returned to the Joyce with an collection of works by British choreographers. The program opened with Antony Tudor’s intense, too rarely seen “Lilac Garden”. Frederick Ashton, the Royal Ballet’s greatest choreographer, many of whose works have been frequently and joyously danced
New York City Ballet
"Jewels"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
September 24, 2026
“Jewels” is famously described as a full-length abstract ballet, but that doesn’t mean it’s about nothing, and many of the dancers in this performance gave such detailed and nuanced attention to their performances that there were hints of narratives and emotional arcs that illuminated their dancing in fascinating ways. The was especially true in "Rubies", where Alexa Maxwell, in her debut
New York City Ballet
"Jewels"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
September 23, 2026
NYCB opened its Fall season with a week of performances celebrating the 60th anniversary of the ever-popular “Jewels”, a nod perhaps to its traditional gift of diamonds. “Jewels” is about more than diamonds, though, it is about mood and atmosphere and in this performance “Emeralds” gleamed the brightest. Its low-key, slightly melancholy nostalgia will probably never evoke the raucous cheers that
Mark Morris Dance Group
Program B: American Heartbeat - County and Western
"Home (Excerpt 1)", "Deck of Cards", "Home" (Excerpt 2"), "Songs that Tell a Story", "Home" (Excerpt 3)", "Going Away Party"
Program C: American Mavericks - West Coast Composers
"Prelude and Prelude", "Jenn and Spencer", "Pacific", "Grand Duo"
Mark Morris Dance Group
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
July 21, 2026 (Program C), July 23, 2026 (Program B)
Programs B and C of Mark Morris’s all-American music season had distinctly different approaches.