Mary Cargill

"Knightlife", "Third Wheels", "Libera!", "Danse Baroque", "Murmuration"
American Ballet Theatre Studio Company 
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
April 15, 2016

The 16-member Studio Company, augmented with students from ABT's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, opened its brief New York season with several New York and one world premiere; the works varied in quality but the dancing was uniformly strong, gracious, and engaging. Two of the works, "Knightlife" and "Danse Baroque", used dancers from Level 7 of the

"Equinox", "Diversion of Angels", "Promethean Fire"
Paul Taylor’s American Modern Dance
New York, New York
April 3, 2016, matinee

The final performance of the season was a demon- stration of Taylor's musicality, craft, and daring, and a salute to his dancers. The program opened with "Equinox" (choreographed in 1983) set to Brahms' First String Quartet, not exactly a score that brings to mind frisky youths.  But Taylor heard his own rhythms, and the deceptively simple work

"Ride the Culture Loop", "We Remember", "Steps of Silence", "Kurt Weill"
Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
The Theater at the 14th Street Y
New York, NY
March 9, 2016

"Theater" is listed first in the title of the company founded by the late Anna Sokolow and the dancers all lived up to the billing, giving dramatically incisive and committed performances; there were no too cool for school vacant stares that so many modern choreographers ask for in the compelling

"Episodes", "Agon", "The Four Temperaments"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
February 26, 2016

The current tread of programming similar ballet together has its uses. "If you like one you will like them all", the marketing department seems to promise subscribers, but it does dilute the effect that contrast can offer and it is a shame that the idea of a program as a substantial meal has been lost. But the current "Balanchine Black

"Square Dance", "Prodigal Son", "Stravinsky Violin Concerto"
Pacific Northwest Ballet
New York City Center
New York, NY
February 25, 2016

The Pacific Northwest Ballet returned to City Center with an all-Balanchine program, a vote of confidence, perhaps, by their director, Peter Boal, who obviously believes that his dancers can stand up to comparisons with the home company. This confidence was certainly justified and the company looked well-rehearsed, at ease and dynamic. Boal has inculcated a remarkable style, devoid

"La Sylphide", "Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No 2"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 13, 2016, evening

New York City Ballet paired its Romantic Bournonville classic "La Sylphide", new last year but based on the nine- teenth century Danish version, with Balanchine's "Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2", one of his streamlined homages to Petipa, a relationship made clear in its original title "Ballet Imperial".  This was an imaginative juxtaposition, the older work

"Ballo della Regina", "Kammermusik No. 2", "Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 6, 2016, matinee

NYCB's all Balanchine program opened with a bang (Tiler Peck's debut in "Ballo della Regina") and closed with a flourish, ending with "Theme and Variations", where Balanchine appears to have made a bet that he could to "The Sleeping Beauty" in 20 minutes, a bet which he won.  "Ballo della

“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

"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."  

"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

"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

"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