Mary Cargill

"Of Love and Rage"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 20, 2022

ABT's newest full-length ballet, by Alexei Ratmansky, is based on the world's oldest surviving novel, "Callirhoe" written in the First century A.D. by the Greek Chariton, described in a 1935 article as "a melodrama of no slight vigor".  It is certainly not a household story, but has elements of Romeo and Juliet (including a false death) and  the

"Divertimento No. 15", "Afternoon of a Faun", "Allegro Brilliante", "The Four Temperaments"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
April 27, 2022

The three Balanchine ballets in this program varied musically and sartorial (tutus for "Divertimento", chiffon for "Allegro" and leotards for 
"The Four Temperaments") but all three showed Balanchine's mastery of geometric shapes to create a hierarchy, with the corps and soloists weaving through the music and around the

"The Four Temperaments", "Sonatine", "Black Swan Pas de Deux", "Swan Lake"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 15 and February 19, matinee, 2022

These two performances featured debuts of many of City Ballet's talented young dancers.  Some, of course, were more successful than others but all of the dancers, new and old, looked comfortable, confident, and very well rehearsed, especially when dancing in pairs; the dancers seemed to be

"Serenade", "Andantino", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Swan Lake"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 11, 2022

New York City Ballet had scheduled a marathon of Peter Martins' "Swan Lake", but like so many plans, it had to be revised, though echos of that eternal bird did remain in the programing.  The audience did get a full evening of Tchaikovsky's music, a pas de deux set to the music originally written

"Mozartiana", "Rubies", "La Valse"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 5, 2022, evening

City Ballet's all Balanchine program spanning 30 years, from the 1951 "La Valse" to the 1981 "Mozartiana" included snapshots of some of Balanchine's most distinctive ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq ("La Valse"), Patricia McBride ("Rubies"), and Suzanne Farrell ("Mozartiana").  The current dancers, so different from the originals, need to both copy the steps and go beyond them to

"Allegro Brillante", "La Source", "Firebird"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 22, 2020

New York City Ballet celebrated Balanchine's 116th birthday with an all-Balanchine program which looked back to his (and ballet's) past.  The classical clarity of "Allegro Brilliante", the nineteenth century Parisian perfume of "La Source", and the Diaghilevish exoticism of "Firebird" are from different streams which flowed into his imagination.

"Allegro Brillante" opened with a flourish, with the