"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
"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"
"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
"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
"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
"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
Pacific Northwest Ballet: Petipa Exotique
Works & Process
Peter B. Lewis Theater
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
New York, NY
February 23, 2014
The audience in New York's Guggenheim Museum watched a rare recreation of some of the French Marius Petipa's Russian choreography danced by performers from Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet, based on manuscripts in the Harvard Theatre Library's Sergeyev Collection, originally smuggled from Russia by the refugee Nicholas Sergeyev, and sold to them by the heirs
"Dances at a Gathering", "Union Jack"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
February 9, 2014
Jerome Robbins' "Dances at a Gathering", the most famous of the piano ballets, is also one of the most fragile. The dancers must have vibrant yet complimentary personalities to create that self-enclosed, nostalgic world. For me, many recent performances are haunted by ghosts of former dancers, and it has seemed to be a series of unconnected slightly saccharine
"Concerto Barocco", "Kammermusik No. 2", "Who Cares?"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 21, 2014
City Ballet opened its Winter season crisply, with three Balanchine works and one intermission. The scrupulous architecture of "Concerto Barocco" is really indestructible, as those glorious patterns weave in and out. At times, though, the corps looked a bit tentative, and there were a few near misses. There were no misses from Sara Mearns, dancing the second
"Freefall", "Kaitlyncaitlin", "Talk Radio"
Trainor Dance
Theater of the Riverside Church
New York, NY
November 14, 2013
Caitlin Trainor, a dance professor at Barnard College, has a small modern dance company, which had its Fall season at the intimate Riverside Church theater. Among the novelties were costumes by Christian Soriano, familiar to Project Runway fans as a designer of fabulous, flamboyant evening gowns. These costumes showed that he is aware of bodies in motion, and they were modest,
"Gong", "A Month in the Country", "Piano Concerto #1"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
November 9, 2013
ABT's fall season, away from the cavernous Metropolitan Opera House, allows it to feature the younger dancers and shorter works, and the dancers have seized their opportunities, giving the performances an exhilarating gusto. Mark Morris' "Gong", while not an especially rich or profound work, let the corps show off in the cascade of steps. It