Mary Cargill

"Rodeo", "Le Grande Pas de Deux", "Rhapsody Pas de Deux", "Theme and Variations"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 31, 2025

ABT celebrated Halloween in grand style, handing out candy to the departing audience, holding a costume contest (I set next to the winning couple, a Venus fly-trap and a trumpet pitcher plant), and a program of tricks and treats (the trick was Christian Spuck’s comedy “Le Grand Pas de Deux” and the treats

"The Kingdom of the Shades", "Rhapsody Pas de Deux", "Grand Pas Classique", "The Sleeping Beauty, Act III"
American Ballet Theatre
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 25, 2025, evening

The program, entitled “Classics to the Contemporary”, had selections from three works ranging from the Shades scene from Marius Petipa’s “La Bayadère” (1877), the final act of his “The Sleeping Beauty” (1890), and a brief pas de deux from Sir Frederick Ashton’s “Rhapsody”

"Les Sylphides", "Gala Performance", "Rodeo"
American Ballet Theatre
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
October 23, 2025

ABT helped celebrate its 85th anniversary with the program entitled “A Retrospective of Major Choreographers” whose works (Michel Fokine’s “Les Sylphides”, Antony Tudor’s “Gala Performance”, and Agnes de MIlle’s “Rodeo”), though long associated with ABT, were all created for different companies.  Though they have very different styles (lyrical, satirical-technical, and American rowdy respectively), they all have a

"Sylvia"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 8, July 9 matinee, July 10, July 11, 2025

ABT presented Sir Frederick Ashton’s luminous ballet “Sylvia” after a 10-year hiatus, which meant that most of the dancers had to start from scratch to absorb the elegant style and fiendishly difficult choreography of the multi-layered ballet; their work certainly paid off, as the audience cheered wildly at the curtain calls.  Ashton created the ballet in 1952

"The Winter's Tale"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 1, 2025

ABT has added Christopher Wheeldon's “The Winter’s Tale”, based on the Shakespeare play, to its repertoire.  Wheeldon  is quoted in the program as saying that he got the idea to choreograph the work, often categorized as a “problem play”, from the theatrical director Nicholas Hytner, who said it might work better “if there’s no one actually talking” which is rather like