"Zéphyre and other ballets by Jean-Philippe Rameau"
The New York Baroque Dance Company
Symphony Space
New York, NY
September 21, 2010
Nymphs, muses, and goddesses invaded Symphony Space with the New York Baroque Dance Company, led by Catherine Turocy, and the New York premiere of Rameau's chamber work "Zéphyre". According to the detailed program notes, there is no record of this at the Paris Opera, and may have been written for the court of Versailles and
"Serenade", "Grazioso", "The Four Seasons"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center, New York
September 14, 2010
The first, presumably of many, fall season for the New York City Ballet (made possible in part by the unfortunate financial problems of the New York City Opera) opened with a festive note. The theater opened an hour early, there was a jazz trio on the promenade serenading the audience enjoying the new seating arrangements, and
"Allegro Brillante", "Romeo and Juliet", "Thaïs", "Manon", "The Dream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
June 21, 2010
ABT's "All Classic Masters Program" was a glorious sight, from Balanchine's bright "Allegro Brillante" to the moonlight glade of Ashton's "Dream". Gillian Murphy was in her element in Balanchine's glorious cacophony of steps, throwing off multiple turns and stops on a dime as if these were as easy as talking. But it was not just a
"La Source", "Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux", "The Lady with the Little Dog", "The Four Temperaments"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center, New York
June 20, 2010
The weekly Sunday afternoon farewell-fest celebrated Albert Evans, a quirky and interesting dancer. His farewell sent me back to my SAB programs, and even though it seems that just a few years have passed since he bounded through "Square Dance", he danced Phlegmatic,
"The Sleeping Beauty"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 14, 2010
Few classical ballets have the impeccable documentation and performing tradition as this most glorious of Petipa's works. The Royal Ballet based its version on notes smuggled out of Revolutionary Russia, and these notes are now available for anyone in the Harvard Library. Petipa's impeccable architecture and magnificent musicality are there for the asking, as the monumental 1999 Kirov reconstruction
"Serenade", "Who Cares?", "Chaconne"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
June 13, 2010
Philip Neal gave his farewell performance at NYCB Sunday afternoon to an appreciative audience, who applauded his every entrance. These entrances, like his career, were understated, elegant, and devoted to the art. He had originally been scheduled to perform what looked like a tag-team arrangement of Balanchine's boisterous "Who Cares?", but the final program saw him in "Serenade"
"Birthday Offering", "Thaïs Pas de Deux", "Awakening Pas de Deux", "The Dream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
June 10, 2010
New York, NY
ABT continued its 70th birthday party with a real bash, dancing Sir Frederick Ashton's 25th birthday homage to company soon to be Royal as well as his "Dream" of a ballet celebrating Shakespeare's 400th birthday. "Birthday Offering" is a set of classical dances to selections of Glazunov, who apparently was
"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
June 3, 2010
American Ballet Theatre celebrated Alicia Alonso's ninetieth birthday with a production of "Don Quixote" with different casts in each act. There was a strong Latin tinge, with the guest Natalia Osipova for spice. The evening opened with a short film of Alonso, including a wonderful bit of her in the old TV series "This is
"Swan Lake"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
June 21, 2010
Kevin McKenzie's bizarre version of the perennially popular "Swan Lake" landed in New York again, with all of its misguided aspects intact. The traditional version, the one the music illuminates, is a mysterious fairy tale about the malign power of nature and the impossibility of real choice in an irrational world. It is, in effect, the opposite of "The Sleeping Beauty", where nature is basically kind,
"Dances Concertantes", "Estancia", Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 29, 2010
Christopher Wheeldon's new ballet "Estancia" is based on an old score and its original story. The flavorful music, by Alberto Ginastera, was commissioned by Lincoln Kirstein for Balanchine in 1941 when America Ballet Caravan was visiting Argentina , but, since the company was disbanded, Balanchine passed up the opportunity. It is hard to imagine what he would have
"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