Mary Cargill

"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

"Playing with Angels", "When We Rise", "Tower", "Introducing Mrs. Stephen P. Baxter", "Criminal Commoners"
Mazzini Dance Collective
Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance
New York, NY
September 6, 2014

Annmaria Mazzini, formerly with Paul Taylor, has established a small company showcasing her own choreography; its New York season also featured two works by another Taylor alumnus, Orion Duckstein. Her choreography, like her dancing, is dynamic, incisive, luxuriantly feminine, and full of contradictions--woman as comforter, as seeker, and

"Don Quixote"
Bolshoi Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 22, 2014

The Bolshoi's "Don Quixote" has a venerable history; Petipa choreographed it for the company in 1869, and, with various revisions, most notably by Alexander Gorsky in 1900, the Bolshoi has been dancing it steadily.  this current version, from 1999, is a restoration of the Petipa/Gorsky version, with some enhancements. The costumes, too, are based on older ones, the 1903 designs by Vasily

"Swan Lake"
Bolshoi Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 15, 2014

Ballet companies, it seems, might as well program "$wan Lake" and be honest about it, since there are no productions around resembling the original Petipa/Ivanov story.  The Bolshoi's Grigorovich reworking is no worse, but certainly no better, than others seen in New York.  It is, at least, set in the Middle Ages, though the designs (by Simon Virsaladze) seem to be influenced

"Coppélia"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
July 5, 2014, Matinee and Evening

The final ABT performances this year celebrated (or mourned, as it were) the departure of soloists Yuriko Kajiya (in her debut as Swanilda) and Jared Matthews, who are leaving to join the Houston Ballet.  Since Paloma Herrera (Matthew's Swanilda) has announced that she will retire next year, every performance of hers is also a small farewell.  Kajiya's Franz was