New York City Ballet
"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
"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
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
New York City Ballet
"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
"Sinfonietta Giocosa", "Motion of Displacement", "Ten Poems"
Scottish Ballet
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
April 16, 2017, matinee
The Scottish Ballet brought fourteen of its dancers and three works for its New York debut, a week-long season at the Joyce Theater. The dancers and the repertoire were not especially Scottish – this was no tourist-eye view of the country. Christopher Hampson, the British born Royal Ballet trained choreographer who has directed the company since 2012, selected one
"Five Songs for Piano", "Les Neuf Danseuses", "Harmonic", "Serenade" (excerpt), "Troublemaker", "Diagnosis", "Blooming Bouquet"
Columbia Ballet Collaborative
Miller Theatre
New York, New York
April 15, 2017, matinee
Ten years ago, a group of students at Columbia and Barnard, some of whom had danced professionally and all of whom had studied ballet seriously, decided to put on a show. Though these students have long since graduated, the Columbia Ballet Collaborative, run entirely by students, is thriving, offering classes, commissioning new works,
"Goddesses & Demonesses"
Blanca Li Productions
New York City Center
New York, New York
March 31, 2017
Blanca Li is a Spanish choreographer with modern and flamenco roots, and in 2015 she teamed up with the renowned Bolshoi dancer Maria Alexan- drova to create an exploration of womanhood refracted through various Greek myths. She used their two amazingly strong bodies, imaginative lighting by Caty Olive (who knew Venetian blinds could be so beautiful?), stunning video wizardry by Charles
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Le Sacre du Printemps (the Rehearsal)", "The Open Door", "Brandenburgs"
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
March 26, 2017, matinee
The final performance of Paul Taylor's New York season featured three Taylor works set to great music (by Stravinsky, Elgar, and Bach), outstanding dancing, and one farewell, as Francisco Graciano make his last New York appearance with the company. The afternoon opened with Taylor's oblique take on
Paul Taylor Dance Company
"Continuum", "Ports of Call", "Syzygy"
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
March 24, 2017
In addition to the standard two new Taylor pieces, Paul Taylor's recent New York seasons have featured works by other choreo- graphers, with predictably mixed results. Lila York, whose "Continuum" had its New York premiere this season, danced with Taylor in the 1970s and 1980s, and has choreographed many pieces since retiring from dancing.
Paul Taylor Dance Company
"Danbury Mix", "Ports of Call", "Black Tuesday"
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
March 18, 2017, evening
Paul Taylor's takes on heroic and absurd America were on view Saturday night, as each work dealt with aspects of American life. "Danbury Mix", choreographed in 1988 for the New York City Ballet's American Music Festival, combines (or mixes) three excerpts from pieces by Charles Ives (of Danbury, Connecticut, the
"Served", "Counterpoint", "Oasis"
TomGoldDance
Gerald W. Lynch Theater
John Jay College
New York, NY
March 14, 2017
Tom Gold, a former soloist with the New York City Ballet, has been choreographing for his small company (made up of a revolving group of dancers, several from is old home company) and for his sixth New York season he presented one premiere and two works from 2016, an impressive output. His choreography is musical, light-hearted and very enjoyable and his dancers