Mary Cargill

"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

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

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

"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. 

"I'm Old Fashioned", "Plainspoken", "Tarantella", "Western Symphony"
New York City Ballet
Koch Theater
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 
New York, NY
October 7, 2010

The brief fall season included a gala, with the New York premiere of a new Benjamin Millepied ballet, sandwiched between some charming older works.  The evening opened with the orchestra, on their new floating stage, rising up and playing the exhilarating "Candide Overture", and then disappearing back to watch the

"Serenade", "The Magic Flute", and "Stars and Stripes"
New York City Ballet
Koch Theater
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts 
New York, NY
September 30, 2010

New York City Ballet took various looks backward in its programming. "Serenade" is Balanchine's gloriously romantic hymn to femininity, a direct descendant of those pale vision scenes so beloved of nineteenth century audiences, "The Magic Flute" is Peter Martins' take on a lost Ivanov one-act ballet full of nineteenth-century comedic

"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,