Mary Cargill

"Pictures at an Exhibition", " 'Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes", "Mercurial Manoeuvres"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
February 11, 2015

New York City Ballet's "New Combina- tions" program showed works by three modern choreo- graphers, Alexei Ratmansky, Justin Peck and Christopher Wheeldon. Each piece was an abstract take on symphonic music and had a rambunctious corps surrounding a mysterious couple with a casual atmosphere--there were no tutus in sight and

"Donizetti Variations", "La Valse", "Chaconne"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 28, 2015

by Mary Cargill 
copyright © 2015 by Mary Cargill 

The New York City Ballet's intriguing program showcased three takes on Balanchine's views of romance, each featuring a central couple surrounded by formal corps patterns. The Bournonville-influenced "Donizetti Variations" will probably never appear on anyone's list of Balanchine's greatest hits, but it is a supremely

"Preludes", "Homage to Edgar Allan Poe", "Are We There Yet?", "Frida"
Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
The Theater at the 14th Street Y
New York, NY 
December 7, 2014, 3:00

The Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble presented a group of dances by modern choreographer Anna Sokolow with American themes; George Gershwin, whose music was used for her 1984 "Preludes" represented the cheerful, optimistic side, while "Homage to Edgar Allan Poe" (1986 and 1993) and "Frida" (1997) focused on the artistic

"Don Quixote"
Mikhailovsky Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
November 22, 2014, matinee

The Mikhailovsky Ballet's production of "Don Quixote" lists seven choreographers (Petipa and Gorsky, of course, but also Fyodor Lopukhov, Kasyan Goleyzovsky, Nina Anisimova, Igor Belsky and Robert Gerbek) plus one stager (Mikhail Messerer). It would probably take a dance archaeologist to sort out the different layers and figure out who actually did what, but the outline and choreography of this production is very similar

"Le Halte de Cavalerie", "Class Concert", "Prelude"
Mikhailovsky Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
November 19, 2014

The Mikhailovsky's triple bill was a brief trip through its archives, featuring a one-act Petipa comedy, a 1960 Bolshoi classroom extravaganza and a 21st century piece by its former director Nacho Duato. The program was presented in chronological order, but unfortunately, the quality of the choreography was in descending order, though the dancing throughout was generally first rate. "Le

“Giselle”
Mikhailovsky Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York,
November 12, 2014, matinee

The Mikhailovsky Ballet, known in Soviet times as the Maly, is based in St. Petersburg, formerly known as Leningrad, and is a smaller cousin of the Maryinksy, formerly known as the Kirov. With all these name changes, it is probaby no surprise that their "Giselle" eschews named characters, and the active village is inhabited by Gamekeeper, Count, Duke, Mother, etc.  Giselle does keep her

"Raymonda Divertissements", "Seven Sonatas", "Thirteen Diversions"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
November 1, 2014, evening

Plotless abstractions ruled this program, as each work explored the choreographers' reactions to different music.  Petipa's "Raymonda Divertisse- ments", of course, originally had a story, but the current version lets the audience float along on that velvet river of music passing through various jewel-like dances, though it is a shame that the river doesn't pass through

"Raymonda Divertissements", "Seven Sonatas", "Fancy Free"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 25, 2014, matinee

Variety is one of the benefits of ABT's fall season--the collection of one-act works don't have to be programmed in blocks, so it is possible to see the ballets in various arrangements.  The Saturday matinee opened and closed, like the opening night performance, with "Raymoda Divertissements" and "Fancy Free", but the middle work was the

"Raymonda Divertissements", "Jardin aux Lilas", "Fancy Free"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 23, 2014

ABT opened its regular season with a fine triple bill, a set of ballets in contrasting styles. The so-called premiere was a collection of Petipa dances to the Galzunov music for "Raymonda" curated by the former Kirov ballerina Irina Kolpakova. There was nothing really new in the choreography--this is not a criticism, since the Petipa (or what we

"Far", "This was Written on Water", "Nritta", "Les Patineurs"
Wayne McGregor/Random Dance, Pontus Lidberg Dance, Aakash Odedra Company, Sarasota Ballet
Fall for Dance Program Five
New York City Center
New York, New York
October 19, 2014

The final Fall for Dance program had three British imports, seasoned with one commissioned work by the Swedish Potus Lidberg.  Wayne McGregor, currenty the Royal Ballet's resident choreographer, was represented by his contemporary company, Random Dance, in an adaptation of his

"Apollo", "Monumentum pro Gesualdo", "Movements for Piano and Orchestra", "Duo Concertant", "Agon"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 1, 2014

Balanchine in black and white certainly offers a lot of options, and if theme programming is required, this one certainly was bracing. Though there was a certain lack of variety, there were interesting themes running through, as Apollo danced with the same off-center power as the unnamed swain in "Duo Concertant", and "Movements"

"Serenade", "Mozartiana", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
Sept. 24, 2014

New York City Ballet is continuing its theme evenings, performing ballets that the marketing department can group together. The official opening night of the season (after the fashion-themed gala) featured all Balanchine/all Tschaikovsky. All of these ballets are glorious, of course, but performing them together does seem to imply that the program wasn't