"Birthday Offering", "Shades of Spring", "Varii Capricci"
Sarasota Ballet
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
August 16, 2022
After a two-year interruption the Sarasota Ballet finally made it back to the Joyce Theater for its third August visit. Many of the dancers are new to the company and many old favorites have retired, but the company looked polished and cohesive. The Director, the former Royal Ballet dancer Iain Webb, has built an impressive repertoire, with many works by Sir
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 16, 2022, matinee
Kenneth MacMillan's "Romeo and Juliet" is an audience magnet and the Met was pointing straight north for Cassandra Trenary's debut as the doomed heroine. Though the work does have its dry patches--cue those frizzy haired harlots who help pad the second act (and who seem to have had a fresh perm for the occasion)--it is a true tear-jerker,
American Ballet Theatre
"Theme and Variations", "Single Eye", "Zig Zag"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 22, 2022, matinee
This performance of ABT's only triple bill this season, subtitled (a bit hopefully) "American Splendor", was dedicated to Kevin McKenzie, after 30 years as Director of ABT. The evening opened with brief remarks by Gillian Murphy and Herman Cornejo introduced a short film summarizing Mr. McKenzie's career (including adorable pictures of him as
American Ballet Theatre
"Of Love and Rage"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 22, 2022, matinee
"Of Love and Rage", Alexei Ratmansky's newest work for ABT, may never become a second "Romeo and Juliet", able to fill the Met with its name alone, and audiences new to it will always have to study the synopsis with devoted attention. Nevertheless, with the luminous settings and elegant costumes (Jean-Marc Puissant), the robust Khachaturian score, and the
New York City Ballet
"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)
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Program A: "Fibers", "Images and Reflections", "Hope is a Thing with Feathers", "Profiles", "Aureole"
Program B: "Tracer", "Events II", "A Call for Softer Landings", "Profiles", "Aureole"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
June 17, 2022 (Program B) and June 18, 2022 matinee (Program A)
The Taylor Company's brief Joyce season was a history lesson of sorts, featuring several early Taylor works, some not seen since their original performances, and a possible glimpse of the future,
American Ballet Theatre
"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 14, 2022
ABT's colorful version of the long-after Petipa ballet "Don Quixote" showcased three of its exciting younger dancers (Skylar Brandt at Kitri, Cassandra Trenary as Mercedes/Queen of the Dryads, and Gabe Stone Shayer as Espada), along with one of its most thrilling stars, Herman Cornejo, as Basilio. Now 40, Cornejo is not going to be dancing Basilio for much longer
American Ballet Theatre
"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 15, 2022
"Don Quixote" as a ballet tends to ignore the poor fellow, using him as a hook to hang all those dances on, so it was surprising to see how the tall, lean Cy Doherty commanded attention in the opening scene, staring at the vision of Dulcinea with a befuddled but awestruck sincerity as his creaking, aged body reached for her in vain.
"Signs", "A Suite for Kay", "Circus Polka", "Symphony in C", fourth movement
School of American Ballet Workshop
Peter Jay Sharp Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 4, 2022 matinee
This SAB program, attended by a packed and enthusiastic audience, was a bit more piecemeal than usual, with only one complete work, Giana Reisen's premiere "Signs". ("Circus Polka", Jerome Robbins' charming bonne bouche for young dancers, hardly counts as a work.) "A Suite
New York City Ballet
"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
New York City Ballet
"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
New York City Ballet
"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