The Bournonville Legacy
"La Sylphide, Act II", "A Bournonville Square: pas de trois from 'The King's Volunteers on Amager', Jockey Dance from 'From Siberia to Moscow', the street singer from 'Napoli', pas de deux from 'Kermesse in Bruges', pas de six and tarantella from 'Napoli'
Members of the Royal Danish Ballet
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
July 9, 2019
Ulrik Birkkjaer, formerly with the Royal Danish Ballet and now dancing with the San Francisco Ballet, has put together
American Ballet Theatre
"The Sleeping Beauty"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 6, 2019, evening
ABT's final performance of its spring season starred two of its group of talented soloists, Cassandra Trenary and Joseph Gorak, as Aurora and her prince. The only principal on view that evening was Stella Abrera as the Lilac Fairy; her arch enemy Carabosse was Craig Salstein, a former ABT soloist who left the company a year ago. The ballet
New York City Ballet
"The Sleeping Beauty"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 3, 2019, evening
Unlike Aurora, Alexei Ratmansky's 2015 production of Petipa's "The Sleeping Beauty" doesn't believe in long naps, and Ratmansky has added and subtracted elements over its brief life. This scrupulous attention to detail seems to keep the company awake and fresh, and the dancing, highlighted by Hee Seo's lyrical Aurora and Aran Bell's noble prince, was
Paul Taylor Dance Company
"Brandenburgs", "Rewilding", "Cascade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Neidorff-Karpati Hall
Manhattan School of Music
New York, New York
June 23, 2019, matinee
The final performance of the Paul Taylor Company's part of the Orchestra of St. Luke's Bach Festival was a heartfelt farewell for many in the packed audience, as it was their last chance to see so many members of the company Taylor molded by the choreographer – six members are retiring soon and it will inevitably be
American Ballet Theatre
"Le Corsaire"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 12, 2019 matinee
ABT's version of "Le Corsaire" is loosely based on Petipa's revisions to the 1856 French ballet by Joseph Mazilier, which was even more loosely based on the 1814 poem by Byron. This season, ABT has included a somewhat apologetic note in the program explaining that in 1814 "pirates, pashas, and damsels in distress" were commonplace. In fact, Byron'
Paul Taylor Dance Company
"Junction", "all at once", "Promethean Fire"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Neidorff-Karpati Hall
Manhattan School of Music
New York, New York
June 7, 2019
The Orchestra of St. Luke's is presenting a three-week festival of Bach's music in various New York City venues, including the elegantly restored theater at the Manhattan School of Music where the Paul Taylor Dance Company is performing all six of Taylor's works set to the composer. The company's first
"Clearing", "Trio Sonatas", "Nights and Dreams", "Undercurrent"
Lydia Johnson Dance
The Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, New York
June 6, 2019
The small company (thirteen dancers plus a guest appearance by former New York City Ballet dancer Craig Hall) presented four works by Lydia Johnson, one premiere ("Clearing") and three older pieces. Johnson has a wide-ranging taste in music and the evening had works set to Handel ("Trio Sonatas", Schubert ("Nights and Dreams"), Henryk Górecki ("Undercurrents"), and
New York City Ballet
"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 30, 2019
As is semi-traditional, the New York City Ballet is ending its Spring season with a flourish of Balanchine, Shakespeare, and Mendelssohn with refreshed costumes, looking much brighter (though in an odd oversight, some of the men's bloomers in the second act divertissement were missing their red ribbons). The end of the season also saw a number
American Ballet Theatre
"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
American Ballet Theatre
"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
American Ballet Theatre
"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
American Ballet Theatre
"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