"Dance/Speak: The Life of Agnes De Mille"
New York Theatre Ballet
Florence Gould Hall
New York, NY
April 17, 2009
The small and innovative company celebrated its 30th anniversary Broadway style, with a play about the life of the American choreographer Agnes de Mille. There was plenty of dancing, carefully reproduced and immaculately rehearsed, but the acerbic, fierce, independent spirit of de Mille was front and center. The work was written by the novelist Anderson Ferrell, a
Tradition and Innovation
"Concerto Barocco", "Oltremare", "Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater, New York
February 6, 2009
In the effort to come up with titles for their programs, the marketing department has reused the "Tradition and Innovation" idea several times for various collections, presumably to mean Tradition=Balanchine and Innovation=A Newish Ballet. However, genius will always equal innovation, and unfortunately, newish ballets tend not to be choreographed by geniuses nowadays.
"All Balanchine"
"Chaconne", "The Four Temperaments", "Vienna Waltzes"
New York City Ballet
Lincoln Center, New York
January 6, 2009
The first night after "Nutcracker" always has a gala feeling, the start of some real dancing. This was doubled by the glorious programming, three of Balanchine's finest and most diverse works. "Chaconne" is one of his iridescent hymns to women, and more specifically to Suzanne Farrell. Wendy Whelan does not resemble Farrell in any way, except
"Theme and Variations", "Romeo and Juliet", "Time","Overgrown Path", "Don Quixote",
"Company B"
American Ballet Theatre
City Center
New York, NY
October 21, 2008
ABT's gala was more substantial and more varied than the usual fouette fest, and two great and very different works sandwiched a group of generally interesting shorter pieces. "Theme and Variations", even with the somewhat kitchy costumes and black backdrop, remains one of Balanchine's jewels, an intricate and facinating synopsis of Petipa.
"On a Theme of Paganini", "Ibsen's House", and "Double Evil"
San Francisco Ballet
City Center
New York, NY
October 14, 2008
Program C of the company's brief visit were three New York premieres, showcasing the many new ballets created for the company's 75th anniversary. As new choreography tends to go nowadays, the dancers were great. The director Helgi Tomasson's new ballet "On a Theme of Paganini" to music by Sergei Rachmaninov, opened the program,
"Commedia", "One", "Monotones II", "Shutters Shut", "Fool's Paradise"
Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company
City Center
New York, NY
October 4, 2008
In his affable, charming opening remarks Morphoses director Christopher Wheeldon explained that the opening ballet Commediawas made to honor the 100th anniversary of Diaghilev's monumental debut in Paris. This bold (or rash depending on your point of view) statement set very high standards, since Diaghilev was a master of program construction, and a bloodhound of
"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 10, 2008
by Mary Cargill
copyright 2008 by Mary Cargill
Herman Cornejo made his official debut as Count Albrecht on Thursday night, though David Hallberg's injury meant that it was actually his second performance. Cornejo is one of ABT's best technicians, but his comparatively slight physique has so far put him in the peasant pas de duex type roles, and he hasn't had much chance
"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera
New York, NY
July 9, 2008
One of the signs of a truly great work of art is that over time various artists can find new ways to portray the characters and new angles to find. I expect the original librettists of "Giselle" would be quite surprised at Albrecht's current characterizations, since they felt he could repent and end up happily with Bathilde. But the story is so strong and so
"The Sleeping Beauty"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 19, 2008
Once upon a time, in far away Russia, there were three brilliant men who loved France and devised a wonderful world based on French ideals of harmony and reason, set in historical periods of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. To make the world more real, the composer used melodies and harmonies from those periods, the costume designer based his designs on the same
"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 11, 2008, Matinee
This vibrant, detailed, and exciting performance of the Petipa-based Spanish comedy remotely connected to Cervantes featured, among other joys, the debut of Herman Cornejo as the poor barber Basilio. The artistic gods aren't known for their fairness, and his comparatively short stature and Puckish looks make the more extravagantly noble ballet heroes a stretch, but his exceptional technique and distinctive personality make
"Le Corsaire"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 24, 2008, Matinee
Memorial Day weekend seemed to turn into the Forth of July with a spirited and invigorated version of the pirate caper. In the recent past, this ballet has appeared to be danced, not just with tongue in cheek, but with a finger holding the nose, as if the company were barely enduring the admittedly mishmash of styles and confusing story. Though Le
"ABT Gala"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 19, 2008
As good galas go, this one went quickly, with a lot of variety, and a couple of sets of fouettes to count. It was, by and large, a preview of the season to come, with excerpts from various works. The novelty was Antony Tudor's Judgment of Paris, a preview, so to speak, of the upcoming Tudor homage in the fall
