Mary Cargill

Musical Variations

“Concerto Barocco”, “Kammermusik No. 2”, “Raymonda Variations”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
April 20, 2023

The three ballets on this all-Balanchine program were all abstract responses to music with energetic corps and intense pas de deux, yet each ballet had its own distinctive character.  “Concerto Barocco”, from 1941, is one of Balanchine’s greatest works, a jazzy take on Bach, celebrating female dancing (the lone male

"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 24, 2023

It is no exaggeration to say that without “The Sleeping Beauty”, ballet as we see it today would not exist.  New York City Ballet’s program provides a useful outline of its importance, starting with the group around Diaghilev and without that great impresario, there would be no Balanchine, no Royal Ballet, and possibly no modern ballet at

Without Feathers

"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 15, 2023

The New York City Ballet celebrated the day after Valentine’s with “The Sleeping Beauty”, the apotheosis of love, grandeur, and gorgeous music.  Peter Martins’ version, first seen in 1991, remains somewhat of a mixed bag, but it has some stunningly beautiful scenes with magnificent choreography, and often, excellent performances.  It was produced before

"Copland Dance Episodes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 28, 2023 evening

Justin Peck first used Copland's music for his 2015 ballet "Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes", an abstract piece set to Copland's symphonic arrangement of the ballet score that launched Agnes de Mille. For his new full-length ballet (as advertised and sold by the company, though it is a 70+ minute intermission-less piece) he has incorporated most

"Donizetti Variations", "Haieff Divertimento", "Valse-Fantaisie", "Stravinsky Violin Concerto"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 17, 2023

New York City Ballet's Winter season opened with two pairs of Balanchine ballets, as the 19th century confections "Donizetti Variations" and "Valse-Fantaisie" alternated with the more austere and astringent 20th century works "Haieff Divertimento" and "Stravinsky Violin Concerto".  The pairings, with their contrasting styles, showed so clearly how music propelled Balanchine'

"The Nutcracker"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 25, 2022

For some people, the Christmas season starts with New York City Ballet's magical tree growing up to the sky with scintillating, musical excitement.  The production has remained basically the same for years; though the Chinese dance has lost much of its flavor, the boys still want to grow up to be cavalry officers and the girls still politely sip

"Episodes", "Vienna Waltzes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 13, 2022

In a night filled with debuts, the audience was focused on one particular couple, the first and last performance of the final scene of "Vienna Waltzes" by Sterling Hyltin, who is retiring at the end of the season after on last "Nutcracker", and Robert Fairchild, who left City Ballet in 2017, returning to say farewell to his frequent partner.  

"Episodes", "Vienna Waltzes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 5, 2022

 These two ballets, one so austere and the other so luxurious, are both set to Viennese-based music divided into unrelated sections of various moods.  "Episodes", with its black and white leotards, luminous grey background and atonal music (selections of orchestral music by Anton von Webern), is astringent, precise, and impersonal while "Vienna Waltzes" has elaborate scenery (including

"Raymonda Variations", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Piano Pieces"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 24, 2022, matinee

Though all the music on this program was Russian, the atmosphere was certainly not gloomy; the ballets cheerful collections of beautiful dancing without a tear in sight, set to enticing music by Glazunov and Tchaikovsky.  Glazunov's full length "Raymonda" has some of the most limpid melodies and lush orchestrations in the ballet

"Divertimento No. 15", "Scotch Symphony", "La Sonnambula"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 21, 2022

Though "Divertimento No. 15", set to Mozart, is a vision of Viennese elegance, complete with Austrian shades on Karinska's tutus, this performance found its romantic heart in the flowing Andante and was a courtly introduction to the more traditionally romantic idea of the unattainable in "Scotch Symphony" with its echoes of "La Sylphide", and in