"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
"Symphony in C", "Symphony in Three Movements", and "Western Symphony"
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
New York, NY
May 3, 2008, matinee
One of the few-all Balanchine programs in this Robbins-fest season was also an all symphonic program, an immersion into Balanchine's astounding variety; three completely different responses to three different symphonies, all developed from the majestic geometry of the Russian classical ballet in which he grew up. "Symphony in C" and "Western
Miami City Ballet
"Raymonda Variations", "Sonatine", "Tarantella", and "In the Upper Room"
Tilles Center for the Performing Arts
Long Island University, New York
April 25, 2008
The Miami City Ballet made one of its too rare and too brief visits to the New York vicinity, appearing for two days in the spacious and well-designed Tilles Center of Long Island University; the company has yet to appear in Manhattan. This visit confirmed the virtues seen in earlier performances, and
"Suite from Mazurkas", "Jardin aux Lilas", "Little Improvisations", Pas de Deux from Romeo & Juliet", "Judgment of Paris"
New York Theatre Ballet
Florence Gould Hall
New York, NY
April 4, 2008
The enterprising New York Theatre Ballet celebrated two 100-year anniversaries in their recent performance of works by Jose Limon and Antony Tudor. The company has long been known for its dignified revivals of Tudor works (Sallie Wilson, the famous Tudor dancer, has worked extensively with the
"Raymonda, Act 3", "Paquita, Grand Pas", La Bayadere, Act 3"
Kirov Ballet
New York City Center
New York, NY
April 1, 2008
A reduced contingent of the Kirov danced on the inconvenient and unfamiliar City Center stage offering outtakes of three of Petipa's wonderful ballets; not the ideal way to judge a company's artistic strength.
But the opening scence of "Raymonda", with the magnificent Vladimir Ponomarev summoning the dancers with a majectic sweep of his arm, promised
