Mary Cargill

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 27, 2019

Alexei Ratmansky's "Whipped Cream" is a multi-layer confection, full of surprising treats, among them the opportunity Ratmansky gives to some of ABT's explosion of young talent. This performance highlighted this, with one principal (Devon Teuscher as Princess Tea Flower), two soloists (Cassandra Trenary as Princess Praline and Thomas Forster as Prince Coffee) and a corps dancer as the Boy (Jonathan

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 25, 2019 matinee

Alexei Ratmansky's colorful extravaganza "Whipped Cream" returned for the third year, looking vivid and fresh; the dancers, it seems, have become at home in their roles and have added individual touches and comic flourishes.  The many roles, from the Worm Candy Man to the leads, were danced with a snap and vigor, combined with fine comic timing which created a

"Serenade after Plato's Symposium", "The Seasons"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 20, 2019

ABT's Spring gala saluted Alexei Ratmansky's ten year association with the company by presenting an evening of his works, opening with the dense, fascinating "Serenade after Plato's Symposium" and closing with a premiere, "The Seasons", a plotless excursion through Alexander Glazunov's eponymous score, written in 1900 for Marius Petipa.  Fun fact – Glazunov was

"Harlequinade"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 16, 2019

Dying may be easy and comedy hard, as the old saying has it, and "Harle- quinade" has both, though this performance of Petipa's frothy confection of commedia dell'arte characters as reconstructed by Alexei Ratmansky made comedy look easy.  The ballet has all the trappings of an old-fashioned comedy: a poor young man, a beautiful girl, an angry father, and a

"Harlequinade"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 15, 2019 matinee

"Harlequinade", Alexei Ratmansky's gleaming reconstruction of Petipa's 1900 ballet, complete with mime, character dancing, and what looked like hundreds of hats, gave the audience a taste of ballet as seen by the Tsar and his family.  The Tsar, of course, did not have to watch it in the cavernous Met Opera House, so it was easier for him to focus