Jewels
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 22, 2023
In the midst of the many debuts during NYCB’s week-long Jewelathon, NYCB assembled a veteran cast of ballerinas, with Ashley Bouder and Ashley Laracey in “Emeralds”, Megan Fairchild in “Rubies”, and Sara Mearns in “Diamonds”, and showed that experience can be just as exciting as debuts. There were new faces among the men, though, with Chun Wai Chan (with
"Jewels"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 23, 2023 matinee
This performance of “Jewels” featured two sections with new faces (Indiana Woodward and Emile Gerrity in “Emeralds” and Unity Phelan in ”Diamonds” made their debuts earlier this week) and one familiar one, as Tiler Peck returned to “Rubies”. “Emeralds” is the most fragile of the three and life, as they say, isn’t fair, and neither, unfortunately is ballet.
"Jewels"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
September 21, 2023
New York City Ballet’s all-Balanchine fall season opened with a week of the ever-popular “Jewels”, Balanchine’s salute to mood and style. The lush romanticism of “Emeralds”, the American cockiness of “Rubies”, and the Russian grandeur of “Diamonds” call for much more than accurate steps, as the dancers need to convey an inner life; these works may be plotless
"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 4, 2023, matinee
ABT celebrated the 4th of July with their solid version of the Russo/French "Giselle", a ballet with few fireworks though with plenty of drama. The two American leads, Devon Teuscher (in her New York debut) and Aran Bell, gave rich, detailed, and committed performances. Teuscher, a tall, regal dancer, is not a typical Giselle (she is a stunning Myrta, a
"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 5, 2023 matinee
ABT's policy of giving as many principals as possible a shot at a role limits the opportunities to explore and to grow into a role--one or two performances of "Giselle" every few years makes it difficult to play around with different interpretations and also means that dancers get cast in roles for which they might not seem suited. But this policy does
"Like Water For Chocolate"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 24, 2023, matinee
Balanchine once famously said that there are no mothers in law in ballet, but that is certainly not true, as his revered "The Sleeping Beauty" proves; no one has trouble figuring out the relation of the Queen to the Prince in Act III. But his point that ballet is not suited to complex plots is certainly valid, and Christopher
“Fancy Free”, Agon”, “Brandenburg”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 10, 2023
This program opened with Jerome Robbins’ first work, “Fancy Free” (1944) and closed with his final ballet, “Brandenburg” (1997), with Balanchine’s “Agon” in the middle. When “Fancy Free’s” three sailors first jumped out on the Ballet Theatre (now ABT) stage, the US was fighting World War II, and many in the audience would have recognized
“La Source”, “Namouna, A Grand Divertissement”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
April 29, 2023, evening
“La Source” and “Namouna” were both elaborate 19th century ballets first presented at the Paris Opera choreographed by Frenchman to French music. “La Source” (1866,) with music by Léo Delibes and choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon and “Namouna” (1882), with music by Édouard Lalo and choreography Lucien Petipa (Marius’ older brother), have complicated plots, full
“Concerto Barocco”, “Kammermusik No. 2”, “Raymonda Variations”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
April 20, 2023
The three ballets on this all-Balanchine program were all abstract responses to music with energetic corps and intense pas de deux, yet each ballet had its own distinctive character. “Concerto Barocco”, from 1941, is one of Balanchine’s greatest works, a jazzy take on Bach, celebrating female dancing (the lone male turns
"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 24, 2023
It is no exaggeration to say that without “The Sleeping Beauty”, ballet as we see it today would not exist. New York City Ballet’s program provides a useful outline of its importance, starting with the group around Diaghilev and without that great impresario, there would be no Balanchine, no Royal Ballet, and possibly no modern ballet at
"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 15, 2023
The New York City Ballet celebrated the day after Valentine’s with “The Sleeping Beauty”, the apotheosis of love, grandeur, and gorgeous music. Peter Martins’ version, first seen in 1991, remains somewhat of a mixed bag, but it has some stunningly beautiful scenes with magnificent choreography, and often, excellent performances. It was produced before
"Copland Dance Episodes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 28, 2023 evening
Justin Peck first used Copland's music for his 2015 ballet "Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes", an abstract piece set to Copland's symphonic arrangement of the ballet score that launched Agnes de Mille. For his new full-length ballet (as advertised and sold by the company, though it is a 70+ minute intermission-less piece) he has incorporated most of his earlier "Rodeo"