Mary Cargill

“Barber Violin Concerto,” “Fancy Free,”“Who Cares?”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 30, 2016, matinee

The all-American music program devised by Andrew Litton, NYCB's new Music Director, for the opening night was repeated on Saturday without the Candide overture and with some exciting debuts. Peter Martins' "Barber Violin Concerto" opened the program with a newish cast (Georgina Pazcoguin had made her debut on Thursday). Martins choreographed it in 1988 for the American Music

"Nocturne/Etude/Prelude", "Welcome a Stranger", "Simkin and the City", "Simkin and the Stage", "Islands of Memories"
Daniil Simkin's Intensio
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
January 5, 2016

Daniil Simkin, a principal dancer with ABT, has created a small company of several dancers from ABT and a guest from Les Ballet Jazz de Montreal, Céline Cassone.  The company hopes, according to its website, to "combine the new ways of technology with the substance of world-class dance."  Technology did

"Gravity", "The Other Woman", "Voicelessness", "Friction", "Mozart Trio"
New Chamber Ballet
City Center, Studio 5
New York, NY
November 20, 2015

Miro Magloire's New Chamber Ballet, a group of six female dancers and two musicians, performed five works (two premieres) in City Center's intimate Studio 5.  The space is untheatrical--no curtain, no wings and no lighting, with the audience sharing the space sitting on folding chairs. But this just goes to show that any performance space can draw

"All That We See", "Dear and Blackbirds", "The Last Time This Ended", "Invisible Divide"
BalletCollective
NYU Skirball Center
New York, NY
November 4, 2015

Troy Schumacher's BalletCollective is a company of seven dancers from the New York City Ballet, where Schumacher also dances. Obviously they all have day jobs, but the performances of this young company (founded in 2010) are not those of a casual pick-up group. Schumacher has a unique voice and he uses his supremely talented dancers with

"After You", "Company B", "Piano Concerto #1"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 29 2015

ABT's two-week Fall season featured no tutus and lots of opportunities for the dancers to shine. The Thursday night program was especially rich, showing off three choreographers exploring different types of groups; none of them used ballet's traditional hierarchies. Mark Morris' "After You" looks richer at each viewing. The dancers moved gently through the music with open chests and a

"After You", "Le Spectre de la Rose", "Valse Fantaisie", "Company B"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 24, 2015, matinee

ABT's Saturday matinee sandwiched two military works (Mark Morris' new "After You" to Hummel's "Military" septet and Paul Taylor's "Company B" to World War II favorites by the Andrews Sisters) around a frothy center.  Despite its martial title, Hummel's music is light, bouncy and friendly and Morris met it on equal terms. The twelve

"Harlequinade", "N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 17, 2015, matinee

New York City Ballet's Saturday matinee celebrated youth with works by two venerable choreo- graphers: Balanchine with his 1965 "Harlequinade", a reworking of Petipa's 1900 ballet, and Jerome Robbins' 1958 "N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz".  "Harlequinade" retells the old story of young love outwitting the grownups using several Commedia dell'arte characters.  Columbine's doddering old father is trying

Fall for Dance, Program 3
"Eu danço—8 Solos no Geral", "Pheromones", "Maninyas", "Brandenburgs"
Companhia Urbana de Dança, Fang-Yi Sheu and Herman Cornejo, Houston Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company
City Center
New York, NY
October 6, 2015

The annual Fall for Dance at City Center offers a brief taste of different types of dancing on each program, almost guaranteeing that the audience with enjoy at least one piece. The audience is adventurous and appreciative and the dancers respond,

"Liebeslieder Walzer", "Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 1, 2015

For its first non-gala program of the Fall New York City Ballet honored Balanchine, and its audience, with two of the choreo- grapher's most potent works: "Liebeslieder Walzer" and "Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3". "Liebeslieder Walzer" is an ensemble piece which works only when all four couples (Sterling Hyltin and Jared Angle, Ashley Laracey and Justin Peck, Sara Mearns and Ask

"Unsaid", "In Passing", "Rouge et Noir"
The Ashley Bouder Project
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
August 8, 2015

The Ashley Bouder Project is a collaboration between the ballerina, several dancers from the New York City Ballet, musicians and choreographers.  The company also stresses production values and the lighting and designs were imaginative and colorful--a refreshing change from the seemingly ubiquitous grey and black of most modern ballet.  The opening work, "Unsaid" (choreographed by the Miami City Ballet dancer

"Wild Swans", "Don't Tread on Me or My String Quartet", "SI-8 and SI-9", "Exit Wounds...And Then They Come Home", "Arranged", "Allegro con Brio", "Sur"
Chamber Dance Project
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
August 6, 2015

The Chamber Dance Project, directed by Diane Coburn Bruning, iw a small dance company with a strong musical component. "Chamber" refers to the music as well as the dancers, and the four musicians, two violins, a viola and a cello played on stage for

"The Peony Pavilion"
The National Ballet of China
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 8, 2015

"The Peony Pavilion" was written in 1598 and the love story, basically a mixture of "Romeo and Juliet" and "Orpheus and Eurydice," is a mainstay of Chinese opera. The Lincoln Center Festival showcased the 20  hour version in 1999, an explosion of colorful costumes, singing and acrobatics. This year, the Festival presented another take, a two-hour distillation by the National Ballet