"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 17, 2014
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" the man behind me shouted after almost every variation during the Polina Semionova/David Hallberg performance of "Giselle". He certainly had a point. Seminova is a tall, long-limbed dancer, not a typical Giselle, but she controlled her extremes to present a fully developed character; a ballerina, it seems, is someone who can do anything but has the taste not to. Her
Cinderella"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 9, 2014
"Who will play the sisters?" was the constant refrain when ABT announced that it would perform Sir Frederick Ashton's version. The Cinderella story certainly seems like a natural in the full-length sweepstakes--a familiar story with a ballroom setting and a happy ending, but the previous two versions (by Ben Stevenson and James Kudelka) were choreographic duds. The somewhat episodic Prokofiev music is not pretty
"La Bayadère"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 23, 2014
The Makarova-Petipa eternal triangle got a glorious sendoff with its opening night cast, including Diana Vishneva as Nikiya, Marcelo Gomes as Solor and Gillian Murphy, in her first appearance this season, as Gamzatti. Vishneva is a beautiful woman with an expressive face, and her Nikiya was no shrinking violet. She was both shocked and angry at the High Brahmin's untoward advances (Victor Barbee
“Robert Schumann’s ‘Davidsbündlertänze’”, “Union Jack”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 17, 2014, matinee
“Robert Schumann’s ‘Davidsbündlertänze’” is an awkward title for a subtle and profound work. The four couples represent various aspects of Schumann’s (and by extension any artist’s) feelings; the two most obvious are Clara the loving and supportive wife, and Clara the wild and slightly dangerous muse. The two other couples represent
"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 14, 2014
The opening scene on "Don Quixote", with the Don and Sancho Panza, is as close to the original as the frivolous, silly, and endearing ballet gets, as Quixote (Victor Barbee) and his side kick (Luis Ribagorda) mimed their search. A vision of Dulcinea appeared, and Barbee slowly dropped to his knees, reverently bowing to beauty. This simple moment encapsulated so beautifully the underlying
"Raymonda Variations", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "Le Tombeau de Couperin", "Symphony in C"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 10, evening, 2014
The marketing department could come up with nothing more imaginative than "All Balanchine", but that didn't matter to the audience, which turned out despite the lack of an advertising hook. Though there really was a hook, beautiful ballets danced very well, which seemed to be enough. The whipped cream music of
"Sthayee", "Aahne nila shaila", "Shivashtaka", "Bhavayami Raghuramam", "Sakhi he", "Omkarakarini"
Rahul Acharya and Vidhya Subramanian
The World Music Institute's "Dancing the Gods"
Skirball Center for the Performing Arts
New York University
New York, New York
April 26, 2014
The World Music Institute, an organization presenting music and dance from a range of countries to New York audiences, sponsored a weekend of classical Indian dance, called "Dancing the Gods". The Saturday night performance might have been called "Dancing Gods", as
"Perpetual Dawn", "Fibers", "Troilus and Cressida (reduced)", "Black Tuesday"
Paul Taylor Dance
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
March 19, 2014
Paul Taylor recently announced that his company, previously dedicated to his works, will be changing format to include other modern choreographers, so this may be the last season of all-Taylor all-the time. Though the concentrated dose of Paul Taylor will be missed, this is actually a hopeful sign--he obviously wants the company to continue (he is 83)
"Airs", "American Dreamer", "Mercuric Tidings"
Paul Taylor Dance
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
March 12, 2014
Though spring apparently has forgotten New York, Paul Taylor can warm up the coldest weather. The company returned to the Koch Theater, with its grand vistas, not to the more familiar City Center. But economics insist that the company rely on taped music, which sounded a bit tinny in Balanchine's hall. But nothing can really dampen the dappled serenity
"Raymonda Suite", "Leaves are Fading Pas de Deux", "Ballebille", "Flames of Paris", "Pas de Quatre" "Cavalry Halt"
Gelsey Kirkland Ballet
Peter Norton Symphony Space
March 7, 2014
Gelsey Kirkland established a ballet school in 2010, with an emphasis the dramatic aspect of dance; she has classes in mime and character dance, two arts which are often shortchanged in today's emphasis on strength and power. This year, she has established a company, made up of both professionals and students from
"KaitlynCaitlin", "Take...Taken...Taking", "The Air turned White", "The Book of Esther: The Journey of Queen Vashti and Queen Esther"
Ariel Rivka Dance, with Texture Contemporary Ballet and Trainor Dance
Ailey Citigroup Theatre
New York, NY
Three comparatively new companies shared the Ailey stage in an interesting and varied program, and the cast, with one exception, was all female. "KaitlynCaitlin", choreographed by the modern dancer Caitlin Trainor for herself and the ballet dancer Kaitlyn Gilliland, opened the program.
"Acheron", "Afternoon of a Faun", "Walpurgisnacht Ballet", "La Valse"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
February 26, 2014
The evening was an all-French affair, featuring a quartet of Gallic composers; it was also the last chance I had of seeing Janie Taylor, whose official farewell will be covered later, but whose iridescent presence couldn't help but haunt the dancing. "Acheron", the new ballet by the Royal Ballet based Liam Scarlett to the "Concerto