"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 28, 2011
ABT's version of the most famous Romantic ballet is, fortunately, straightforward, clear, and by and large, dramatically strong. The basic structure has not been rethought, so the story of the poor peasant girl and her faithless swain remains as moving and powerful as ever. This season, ABT has imported a number of guests, and the Royal Ballet dancer Alina Cojocaru danced Giselle.
"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 19, 2011
The perennial charmer of a ballet was danced with great verve by two Cuban-trained dancers, Xiomara Reyes and Rolando Sarabia, a guest from the Miami City Ballet. ABT's production does have its faults--the gypsy scene looks like Hungarian goulash served by MacDonald's, but when danced well, it has a sunny and infectious charm. Reyes is a very fine Kitri, with
Balanchine Black & White
"Monumentum Pro Gesualdo/Movements for Piano and Orchestra", "Apollo", "The Four Temperaments"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, New York
May 5, 2011
Yes, a program of all black and white is not balanced, and the individual ballets would probably look more distinctive if they were set in a different context, but a stunning debut (Chase Finlay in "Apollo") and a vibrant and shimmering performance of an unqualified masterpiece "The Four
"Mirrors", "Utopia", "Classroom Fantasy", "Dreamscapes"
Avi Scher & Dancers
Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, NY
April 23, 2011
The young choreographer returned to the Alvin Ailey Theatre with a crop of new dances and an exciting group of dancers. The performance last year was notable for its cast which included outstanding dancers such as Marcelo Gomes, Veronika Part, and Ashley Bouder. This year Scher also had fine dancers from ABT and NYCB, including Tyler Angle, Ana Sophia
Valentina Kozlova's Dance Conservatory Performance Project
Annual Spring Gala 2011
Symphony Space
New York, NY
April 16, 2011
Valentina Koslova, the Bolshoi-trained former New York City Ballet principal, has a ballet school and showed off her dancers in the recent gala. The most promising of these have done well on the competition circuit, but these dancers did not have the slick, brittle demeanor of so many competitors; the sheer joy of dancing shone through. I
"Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow"
YAGP 2011 Gala
New York City Center
New York, NY
March 22, 2011
The Youth America Grand Prix ended its season with its traditional celebration of prize winners and current dancers. The first half featured the young scholarship winners in a variety of dances--this was not a traditional fouette-fest gala, but rather a vaudeville-like selection of various styles and groupings, from solos to groups. The dancers
"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
"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
"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
"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,
"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