Mary Cargill

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
May 27, 2017, matinee

The Saturday matinee of "Giselle" was a mini-festival of debuts, as all the leads made their first New York appearances in the ballet; Sarah Lane as the doomed heroine, Daniil Simkin as Albrecht, Christine Shevchenko as Myrta, and Craig Salstein as Hilarion. None showed any hint of nerves and all gave strong, detailed, and moving performances in one of ABT's most durable classical productions.  

Lane is

"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 26, 2017

After the month-long Here/Now blowout (43 ballets by 22 choreographers) New York City Ballet settled down to a week of Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".  Understandably the corps seemed a bit winded and the energy came in fits and starts, though the children were exceptionally well-drilled.  There were few major debuts --no new Titanias, Oberons, or

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 24, 2017

In a recent interview, Alexei Ratmansky said that his new ballet was modeled after the nineteenth century balletféerie with its elaborate processions and spectacular theatrical effects. Petipa's "The Sleeping Beauty" is of course one of the most famous of these and when asked if his work reconstructing this ballet influenced "Whipped Cream" he agreed emphatically. Like "The Sleeping Beauty" "Whipped Cream"

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 17, 2017, matinee.

"Don Quixote" will probably never appear on anyone's list of all-time great ballets, but it hasn't survived for nearly 150 years only on the strength of its gala-worthy pas de deux with those applause-generating fouettés. The evergreen comedy of a spunky girl who outwits a greedy parent to find true love has, underneath the frivolity, a real heart, the music by the

A Conversation with Cassandra Trenary and Alexei Ratmansky
YoungArts Critical Junctures Salon
New York Live Arts
New York, New York
May 14, 2017

The National YoungArts Foundation was established in 1981 by Ted Arison (founder of the Carnival Cruise Lines) and his wife Lin to support young artists by offering those selected for the program a scholarship to a week-long immersion with other students and mentors. Cassandra Ternary, currently a soloist at ABT, was a 2011 YoungArts recipient and she

"Time is Money", "George Sand", "Dusty Old Dust", "Mary Tyrone", "Sonnet", "Lyric Suite", "Amanda", "A Point of Doctrine", "Kaddish", "Cante Flamenco", "Shadow of Her Sister"
The Deborah Zall Project: In the Company of Women
Martha Graham Studio Theater
New York, New York
May 13, 2017

Modern dance has a flourishing tradition of female choreographers, but also has traditionally looked forwards, not backwards. Deborah Zall, who danced with Martha Graham before establishing an independent career, bucks this a-historical trend by reviving

"The Sleeping Beauty"
Boston Ballet
Boston Opera House
Boston, Massachusetts
May 6, 2017, matinee

Boston Ballet's production of Petipa's "The Sleeping Beauty" has a distinguished pedigree. The company acquired the 1977 Ninette de Valois version for the Royal Ballet; de Valois had danced in the famous 1921 Diaghilev version based on the Mariinsky original and she had produced versions for the Royal Ballet in 1938 and 1946 using Nicholas Sergeyev notations of the Mariinsky production. De Valois, however,

"Jeu de Cartes", "After the Rain", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Odessa"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 4, 2017

The New York City Ballet's spring gala clocked in at a crisp and efficient one and a half hours and included two complete ballets, two pas de deux, no speeches, and no intermission.  The main attraction was Alexei Ratmansky's new work "Odessa", to "Sketches to Sunset" by Leonid Desyatnikov who also composed 

"Concerto Grosso", "Corvidae", "The Exiles", "Suite from a Choreographic Offering", "Night Light"
Límon Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
May 2, 2017

José Límon founded his company in 1946 and after his death in 1972, the LÍmon dancer Carla Maxwell directed it until her recent retirement; Colin Connor, also a Límon dancer, became the artistic director in 2016.  The math says that the company has been run without its founder for 45 years, an astounding

"Russian Seasons", "Namouna, a Grand Divertissement"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
April 26, 2017

The Ratmansky evening of New York City Ballet's heartily advertised "Here/Now Festival" (ballets created for the company in the last thirty years) had two works, both featuring a generous supply of fine and striking dancing. "Russian Seasons" from 2006 with its color-coded costumes and folk-inflected weighty choreograph looks a bit as if the peasants of Nijinska's "Les Noces"

Cholkettu and Ganesha Sthuti", "Sankara Sri Giri", "Anandavalli", "Amrapali"
Neena Prasad
The World Music Institute's "Dancing the Gods"
Symphony Space
New York, New York
April 22, 2017

The World Music Institute's Dancing the Gods sixth annual festival was a two-day presentation of classic Indian dance at Symphony Space; as its curator, Rajika Puri noted, this was the only evening-length program of Indian dance with live music present in New York this year.  Neena Prasad, with three musicians (the singer

"Allegro Brillante", "The Four Temperaments", "Symphony in C"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
April 18, 2017

The New York City Ballet's spring season opened with three popular (judging from the packed house and prolonged ovations) Balanchine ballets. Not surprisingly the women were front and center with some tremendous performances and Alston MacGill's impressive debut in the third movement in "Symphony in C".  "Allegro Brillante", one of Balanchine's most concise and exhilarating salutes