"Signs", "A Suite for Kay", "Circus Polka", "Symphony in C", fourth movement
School of American Ballet Workshop
Peter Jay Sharp Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 4, 2022 matinee
This SAB program, attended by a packed and enthusiastic audience, was a bit more piecemeal than usual, with only one complete work, Giana Reisen's premiere "Signs". ("Circus Polka", Jerome Robbins' charming bonne bouche for young dancers, hardly counts as a work.) "A Suite for
"Divertimento No. 15", "Afternoon of a Faun", "Allegro Brilliante", "The Four Temperaments"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
April 27, 2022
The three Balanchine ballets in this program varied musically and sartorial (tutus for "Divertimento", chiffon for "Allegro" and leotards for
"The Four Temperaments") but all three showed Balanchine's mastery of geometric shapes to create a hierarchy, with the corps and soloists weaving through the music and around the
"The Four Temperaments", "Sonatine", "Black Swan Pas de Deux", "Swan Lake"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 15 and February 19, matinee, 2022
These two performances featured debuts of many of City Ballet's talented young dancers. Some, of course, were more successful than others but all of the dancers, new and old, looked comfortable, confident, and very well rehearsed, especially when dancing in pairs; the dancers seemed to be
"Serenade", "Andantino", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Swan Lake"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 11, 2022
New York City Ballet had scheduled a marathon of Peter Martins' "Swan Lake", but like so many plans, it had to be revised, though echos of that eternal bird did remain in the programing. The audience did get a full evening of Tchaikovsky's music, a pas de deux set to the music originally written
"Mozartiana", "Rubies", "La Valse"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 5, 2022, evening
City Ballet's all Balanchine program spanning 30 years, from the 1951 "La Valse" to the 1981 "Mozartiana" included snapshots of some of Balanchine's most distinctive ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq ("La Valse"), Patricia McBride ("Rubies"), and Suzanne Farrell ("Mozartiana"). The current dancers, so different from the originals, need to both copy the steps and go beyond them to
"Allegro Brillante", "La Source", "Firebird"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 22, 2020
New York City Ballet celebrated Balanchine's 116th birthday with an all-Balanchine program which looked back to his (and ballet's) past. The classical clarity of "Allegro Brilliante", the nineteenth century Parisian perfume of "La Source", and the Diaghilevish exoticism of "Firebird" are from different streams which flowed into his imagination.
"Allegro Brillante" opened with a flourish, with the
"The Legat Legacy" edited by Mindy Aloff.
University Press of Florida, 2020.
With its rich list of books on dance history, technique and memoirs, The University Press of Florida has become the go to publisher for dance books. This recent work, a reprinting of the 1939 "Ballet Russe: Memoirs of Nicolas Legat" and the 1977 "Heritage of a Ballet Master: Nicolas Legat" under the title "The Legat Legacy" is a welcome addition.
"Haieff Divertimento", "Concertino", "Episodes", "Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 6, 2020
New York City Ballet's February 6 performance was a look back, featuring two revivals (Balanchine's "Haieff Divertimento" from 1947 and Robbins' "Concertino" from 1982), a rarely performed solo from "Episodes" which was choreographed by Balanchine for Paul Taylor, then a member of the Martha Graham Company. (The first episode by Martha Graham for her
Herman Cornejo: Celebrating 20 Years
Act II pas de deux from "Giselle", Second solo from "Apollo", "Sinatra Suite"
Studio 5
New York City Center
New York, New York
December 2, 2019
Alastair Macaulay's too brief stint as Studio 55 programmer ended with a salute to ABT dancer Herman Cornejo's twenty year career with the company. Cornejo himself selected the repertoire and the dancers (Skylar Brandt in "Giselle" and Luciana Paris in "Sinatra Suite"), which with characteristic modesty highlighted partnering
"The Art of Partnering"
Studio 5
New York City Center
New York, New York
November 25, 2019
The intimate and imaginative Studio 5 presentations give the audience, who sit in a semi-circle around the artists, fascinating glimpses into the creative process. This evening Alastair Macaulay, the former Chief Dance Critic of the "New York Times", put together a discussion on ballet partnering in three works by Balanchine with Jonathan Stafford, the Artistic Director of the New York City Ballet
"Dust", "Private Domain", "Piazzolla Caldera"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 16, 2019, evening
The three Taylor works in this program were all, in different ways, sardonic but sympathetic observations of loneliness and isolation. This emotional downer did seem fitting, for this season is the final one for several Taylor dancers (Michelle Fleet, Parisa Khobdeh, Sean Mahoney, and Jamie Rae Walker – Robert Kleinendorst will retire later this year) and for
"Airs", "Sunset", "Syzygy"
Paul Taylor American Dance
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 9, 2019, evening
For its annual New York season the Taylor Company has not adopted the idea of themed triple bills, where the same dances are performed together. This may be easier on the schedulers, but it does limit and repertory, and a repertory as rich as Taylor's deserved to be seen from all angles. The Saturday night performance showed