"Why I Am Not Where You Are", "Namouna, a Grand Divertissement"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
April 29, 2010
The Spring Gala featured two new ballets, both to French music, and both, according to interviews published in the playbill, based on stories. The evening opened with an intriguing film (by former NYCB dancer Kirstin Sloan) focused on the designs that the architect Santiago Calatrava has done for several of the new
"Soiree Musicale", "Capriol Suite", "Three Virgins and a Devil", "Suite from Mazurkas"
New York Theatre Ballet
Florence Gould Hall
New York, NY
April 23, 2010
The New York Theatre Ballet is the small group affiliated with the school founded by the famous Cecchetti teacher Margaret Craske, and it gives regular performances of chamber ballets, works which would be lost on larger stages. Though the company performs new works, it is best known for its scrupulous and honorable
"Aureole", "3 Epitaphs", "Company B", "Esplanade"
Taylor2
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
April 16, 2010
Taylor2, a group of six young dancers established by Paul Taylor in 1993 to bring his works to broader audiences, is in residence at the Joyce, sharing a season with other Two's, Ailey and ABT. Taylor2 has provided many dancers to the larger company, but this is is no sense a student venture; the dancing was spectacular, warm, gracious, and daring. The repertoire
"Excursions", "Enjoy Your Rabbit", "Five Songs for Piano", "Navarasa", "Ah, Mio Cor", "Solid Ground"
Columbia Ballet Collaborative
Miller Theatre
Columbia University
New York, NY
April 9, 2010
The Columbia Ballet Collaborative, founded in 2007 by a group of Columbia students who had been professional dancers, presented six ballets by young choreographers. The Collaborative is of course, a part-time venture, but the presentation was completely professional, well-rehearsed, and elegantly danced. The choreography was of the contemporary ballet style,
"No Matter What", "Mystery in the Wind", "Little Stories", "Touch", "Utopia", "Inner Voice"
Avi Scher & Dancers
Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, NY
April 3, 2010
25-year old Avi Scher made his New York debut as a company director with the help of a number of extraordinary dancers. His aim, he explained in his opening welcome, is to present top-level dancers in intimate venues at affordable prices. He has put together a luxurious pick-up
"String Sextet", "Walpurgisnacht", "Sunny Duet", "Solea", "DGV:Dance A Grand Vitesse"
Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon
New York City Center
New York, NY
March 17, 2010
This very young company (the first rehearsal was in April 2008) made an impressive debut at City Center. Angel Corella, one of ABT's most popular male phenoms, founded it to develop classical ballet in Spain, and there are many Latins in the company, along with a number of Slavic dancers, and some American
"Brandenburgs", "Brief Encounters", "Also Playing"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
March 2, 2010
There are, to over-generalize, three faces to Paul Taylor, the serene, the dark, and the comic. Two of them, the serene and the comic, were featured at the gala performance. The first, "Brandenburgs", was choreographed in 1988, and the other two are new this year. Unfortunately, for me, though not for the audience, the new ones were disappointing.
Mark Morris Dance Group
"Behemoth", "Looky", and "Socrates"
BAM Opera House
Brooklyn, New York
February 23, 2010
The Mark Morris Dance Company gave a brief season at BAM, with two works new to New York, "Looky" (2007), and the new ballet "Socrates", in addition to the 1990 "Behemoth". Morris, though always musical and inventive, has at times seemed deliberately quirky and overly cute, but this program was rich and moving. "Behemoth" showed his contrary side--this most musically astute
"Kings of the Dance"
New York City Center
New York, NY
February 20, 2010
Men, men, and more men seems to be the mantra for ballet today, and the line-up presented by this
year's Kings--Jose Manuel Carreno, Guillaume Cote, Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg, Joaquin De Luz, Denis Matvienko, Desmond Richardson, and Nikolay Tsiskaridze--could dance a phone book and pack in an audience. At times the choreography did take on a mind-numbing similarity; kings of choreography aren't as prevalent
"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater,
New York, NY
February 4, 2010
Kathryn Morgan, who was only recently promoted to soloist, made her debut as Aurora, supported by Tyler Angle, also making his debut. They had danced the final pas de deux for the 2009 Dancer's Choice gala with impressive dignity, but a pas de deux is a different animal than a full-length ballet, especially one as technically and emotionally exacting
"Naive and Sentimental Music" and "Who Cares?"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 5, 2010
The New York City Ballet opened its Winter season with a program entitled, generically, "Tradition and Innovation", a general catchall title which can fit anything. There wasn't much innovation, but there was, one hopes, a new tradition established as Balanchine's "Who Cares?" included "Clap yo' hands", set , not to Hersey Kay's orchestrations, to but a scratchy 1926 recording
"The Nutcracker"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
November 27, 2009
For many New Yorkers, black Friday is also white Friday, when the wonderful Balanchine version of "The Nutcracker" makes its first appearance. This perennial is a cash cow, yes, but it is also a heartwarming salute to innocence and childhood and to the Maryinsky Ballet of Balanchine's youth. The first act brims with good cheer, as the wealthy Staulbaums meet