Mary Cargill

"The Muir", "Petrichor", "Festival Dance"
Mark Morris Dance Group"Mark Morris Dance Center
Brooklyn, New York
March 19, 2011

The Mark Morris Dance Group is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, and brought three recent works to Brooklyn to celebrate.  As always, music, live music, was front and center, and each work responded to the different composers in unique ways.  The evening opened with "The Muir", set to Scottish and Irish folk songs arranged by Beethoven for violin, cello, and

Romanza", "Continuo", "Fractals", "Schrumpf", "Stars and Stripes pas de deux", "Swan Lake pas de quatre", "A Taste of Sweet Velvet"
The Royal Ballet School/ABT II
Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, NY
March 5, 2011

The joint program included works danced by students from Britain's Royal Ballet and members of ABT II, formerly the ABT Studio Company.  Since the dancers in ABT II are already performers and the Royal Ballet contingent are still nominally students, it is probably

"Company B", "Phantasmagoria", "Promethean Fire"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
New York City Center
New York, New York
March 2, 2011

A mix up meant that I missed the beginning of Paul Taylor's evergreen "Company B" and had to watch it on the monitor.  Though I couldn't see the details the cast gave their interpretations, it was an interesting exercise, and made Taylor's use of unexpected pauses and shadows to shade the chipper and exuberant music much more vivid than

"Uneven", "Stamping Ground", "Red Sweet"
Aspen Santa Fe Ballet
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
February 24, 2011

The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is celebrating its 15th season, quite an achievement in this era of budget cutting.  The 10-member company danced three pieces at their recent Joyce appearance--at least there were three different titles, but the works (by Cayetano Soto, Jiri Kylian, and Jorma Elo) were so similar that it seemed like one long dance punctuated with some changes in

"Concerto DSCH", "Polyphonia", "For the Love of Duke"
New York City Ballet
Koch Theater
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 
New York, NY
January 22, 2011

"For the Love of Duke", Susan Stroman's new work for City Ballet to Duke Ellington, is made up of two short pieces, "Frankie and Johnny...and Rose", a premiere, and "Blossom Got Kissed", first seen in 1999.  Stroman is best known as a Broadway choreographer, and this new piece will, one

"Walpurgisnacht Ballet", "Duo Concertant", "The Four Temperaments", "Cortege Hongrois"
New York City Ballet
Koch Theater
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 
New York, NY
January 22, 2011

New York City Ballet celebrated Balanchine's birthday with matinee and evening performances of wall-to-wall Balanchine.  The matinee was sort of a marshmallow sandwich, with beautiful fluff surrounding a substantial filling, and showed off some beautiful music.  The company has continued its "Dancers are really just folks" approach by having the

"Rhythm of Rajasthan"
Peter Norton Symphony Space
New York, NY
January 14, 2011

The World Music Institute, an organization devoted to presenting traditional music and dance from around the world, sponsored a visit by folk singers (and one dancer) from the area of Rajasthan.  The very interesting program notes explained that western Rajasthan is probably where the gypsies originated, and it was very interesting to note the connections.  There was a gracious, informal feel to the

"The Nutcracker"
American Ballet Theatre
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn, New York
December 23, 2010

Alexei Ratmansky's new "Nutcracker" for ABT has many delights, and unfortunately, some disappointments.  But the heart of the ballet, the choreography for the main characters, (in this case, Gillian Murphy and David Hallberg as the grown-up vision of Clara and the Nutcracker) shimmers.  Murphy has always been a strong and thrilling dancer, but does have a tendency to hide behind choreography and present

Masters & the Next Generation
"La Cathedrale Engloutie", "Chrysalis", ""There is a Time"
Limón Dance Company
Baryshnikov Arts Center
New York, NY 
December 15, 2010

The two masters of the program title were Jiří Kylián and Jose Limón, and the next generation was Limón dancer Jonathan Fredrickson, whose "Chrysalis" was a clear, if too long, riff on the virgin sacrifice motif.  The opening work, Kylián's 1975 "La Cathedrale Engloutie" was accompanied by his usual somewhat opaque program notes,

Gold Standard

"The Nutcracker"
New York City Ballet
Koch Theater
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 
New York, NY
November 26, 2010

Balanchine's version of "The Nutcracker" returned for its annual visit, all of its innocent beauties intact.  The first act is a glorious celebration of childhood, full of beautifully dressed little girls playing with dolls and rambunctious boys playing with guns--no namby-pamby tut-tutting about gender roles here.  Though Balanchine, nor any in the audience, actually had

"Symmetry", "Moments", "104º Fahrenheit", "Allegretto, Innocente", "Five Songs for Piano"
New Chamber Ballet
City Center Studio 4
New York, NY
November 19, 2010

The New Chamber Ballet is, it seems, born from limitations--live music is too expensive?  Use works with only a piano and a violin.  Stage space is prohibitive?  Perform in a studio without scenery or a backstage.   Flashy male virtuosity is all the rage?  Choreograph introspective, contemplative works for women.