Mary Cargill

"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 to

"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 was

"Dances at a Gathering", "Diamonds"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 26 and 27, 2026

In the past, “Dances at a Gathering” has been programmed as the closing ballet, letting the audience drift out, luxuriating in the memory of Chopin and chiffon.  However as time went on, it seemed that some in the audience used the final profound nocturne, where the dancers stand and let their thoughts flow through the music, as a

"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 21, 2026, matinee and evening

Two “Sleeping Beauties” in one day may seem like too much a good thing, but as Mae West said “Too much of a good thing is wonderful”.  Two very different couples, Mira Nadon with Peter Walker (matinee) and Emma von Enck with David Gabriel (evening), were each dancing their second “The Sleeping Beauty” after debuting earlier in the week.

"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 13, 2026

Peter Martins’ 1991 production of “The Sleeping Beauty” returned to City Ballet for two well-sold weeks; it has remained basically unchanged for 25 years, with the same strengths and weaknesses.  Fortunately this performance, with Indiana Woodward and Chun Wai Chan as the royal couple and Ashley Laracey as the Lilac Fairy, and a number of debuts in supporting roles, was definitely on

"Dig the Say", "This Bitter Earth", " "The Naked King", "Everywhere We Go"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 5th and February 8th, 2026

Alexei Ratmansky’s new ballet “The Naked King”, a retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s always timely “The Emperor Has No Clothes”, is another of his explorations of ballet’s history.  Shortly before he died Diaghilev had come up with the idea of using the Andersen story for a ballet,

"Serenade", "The Prodigal Son", "Paquita"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 31, 2026 matinee

The programming gods, who can sometimes be arbitrary, provided an outstanding triple bill, a perfect example of scheduling a complete meal.  It opened with “Serenade”, a most luscious appetizer, followed by the dramatic meat of “The Prodigal Son”, and ended with a fine dessert, the Spanish frivolity of Ratmansky’s take on the Grand Pas of Petipa’s “Paquita”

"Walpurgisnacht Ballet", "Flower Festival in Genzano Pas de Deux", "The Wind-Up", "Opus 19/The Dreamer"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 29, 2026

The premiere of Justin Peck’s new ballet “The Wind-Up”, was the centerpiece of this program. He used the first movement of Beethoven’s “Eroica Symphony” and a cast of six of the most interesting and vibrant of NYCB’s currently packed roster.  Balanchine’s “Walpurgisnacht Ballet” which is set