Mary Cargill

Too Much Imagination

Too Much Imagination

"Chaconne", "The Emperor Jones", "Jamelgos"
Limón Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, NY
October 14, 2025


In his affable introduction to the week-long Limón season at the Joyce celebrating the company’s 80th anniversary, Dante Puleio, the Artistic Director, dedicated the performances to his predecessor the late Carla Maxwell, who died this year.  She directed the company from 1978 to 2015, one of the early pioneers in maintaining a modern dance company which had been build around
By Mary Cargill
Looking Forward

New York City Ballet

Looking Forward

"Voices", "Composer's Holiday", "Herman Scherman Pas de Deux", "Forseeable Future"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 9, 2025


The current City Ballet practice of programming ballets by themes meant that the evening, called “Contemporary Choreography I”, had no tutus, limited point shoes, fantastic dancing, and a gradually diminishing audience.  Contemporary, in this case, ranged from 1993 (William Forsythe’s “Herman Schmerman pas de deux”) to yesterday (Jamar Roberts’ “Foreseeable
By Mary Cargill
Dances, Squared

New York City Ballet

Dances, Squared

“Square Dance”, “Episodes”, “Western Symphony”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 20, 2025, matinee


New York City Ballet’s second all-Balanchine program of the Fall season showed two variations on bouncy American square dances (the serenely classical “Square Dance” from 1957 and the raucous “Western Symphony” from 1954), sandwiching the austere, angular “Episodes” (1959) to selections of Anton Webern—something for everyone.  I do miss the old weekly smorgasbord
By Mary Cargill
Love, Found and Lost

New York City Ballet

Love, Found and Lost

“Donizetti Variations”, “Ballade”, “Swan Lake”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 16, 2025


New York City Ballet opened its Fall season with an all Balanchine evening, showing three variations of love, both lost and found, all set to nineteenth-century music.  There were two standards, “Donizetti Variations” and “Swan Lake”, and one rare revival, the 1980 “Ballade”, set to “Ballade for Piano and Orchestra” by Gabriel Fauré.  “Donizetti Variations”
By Mary Cargill
Play On

Mark Morris Dance Group

Play On

"The Muir", "You've Got To Be Modernistic", "Silhouettes", "Mosaic and United" (Program A)
'"The Argument", "Northwest", "Ten Suggestions", "Going Away Party" (Program B)
Mark Morris Dance Group
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY 
July 16, 2025 (Program A) and July 24, 2025 (Program B)


Choreographers use music in many ways; it can provide atmosphere, humming along politely in the background, it can be a floor supporting the dancers, it can hint at a narrative, or it can weave
By Mary Cargill
Cloud Nine

American Ballet Theatre

Cloud Nine

"Sylvia"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 8, July 9 matinee, July 10, July 11, 2025


ABT presented Sir Frederick Ashton’s luminous ballet “Sylvia” after a 10-year hiatus, which meant that most of the dancers had to start from scratch to absorb the elegant style and fiendishly difficult choreography of the multi-layered ballet; their work certainly paid off, as the audience cheered wildly at the curtain calls.  Ashton created the ballet
By Mary Cargill
Kings Behaving Badly

American Ballet Theatre

Kings Behaving Badly

"The Winter's Tale"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
July 1, 2025


ABT has added Christopher Wheeldon's “The Winter’s Tale”, based on the Shakespeare play, to its repertoire.  Wheeldon  is quoted in the program as saying that he got the idea to choreograph the work, often categorized as a “problem play”, from the theatrical director Nicholas Hytner, who said it might work better “if there’s no one actually talking” which is
By Mary Cargill
One Night Only

American Ballet Theatre

One Night Only

Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 26, June 28, matinee, and evening, 2025


ABT’s sturdy production of “Giselle” was given ten times this season, with ten different Giselles scheduled (Catherine Hurlin’s illness gave Devon Teuscher two performances).  Though “Giselle” is one of ABT’s more frequently performed works, this meant that each dancer has very few opportunities to explore and experiment with their approaches, so it was impressive to see how
By Mary Cargill
Taylored Style

Paul Taylor Dance Company

Taylored Style

Program A: "Polaris", "Tablet", "Cloven Kingdom"
Program B: "Tablet", "Churchyard", "Esplanade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
June 19, 2025  (Program A) and June 21, 2025, evening (Program B)


The Paul Taylor Dance Company faces the same problem that all companies built around a founding choreographer face when that choreographer is no longer around—how to keep the company fresh without ignoring the past.  Michael Novak, the current director, has been looking both
By Mary Cargill
Group Effort

Group Effort

"Raymonda Variations", "Cortège Hongrois (excerpt)", "Schubert Symphony", "Glass Pieces (excerpt)"
School of American Ballet Workshop
Peter Jay Sharp Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 7, matinee, 2025



With the exception of the opening “Raymonda Variations”, with its pas de deux and sparking female variations, this year’s SAB workshop featured ensembles, so not many individual dancers stood out. What did shine was beautifully cohesive dancing and a warm spirit—the anonymous couples all looked at each other, the
By Mary Cargill
The Bugs Are Out

New York City Ballet

The Bugs Are Out

"A Midsummer Night'sDream"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 31 evening,  2025


Adorable dancing bugs start and finish Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, performed by very well-trained SAB students with a minimum of cuteness.  Of course there were oohs and aahs from the enthusiastic audience when they fluttered on, but they danced with a sweet-natured concentration and had no “Hi, Grandma” vibes. 
By Mary Cargill
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