New York City Ballet
"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
New York City Ballet
"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
New York City Ballet
"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"
New York City Ballet
"Donizetti Variations", "Haieff Divertimento", "Valse-Fantaisie", "Stravinsky Violin Concerto"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 17, 2023
New York City Ballet's Winter season opened with two pairs of Balanchine ballets, as the 19th century confections "Donizetti Variations" and "Valse-Fantaisie" alternated with the more austere and astringent 20th century works "Haieff Divertimento" and "Stravinsky Violin Concerto". The pairings, with their contrasting styles, showed so clearly how music propelled Balanchine's choreography. These
interview
Butoh began in the ruins of post-war Japan as the "dance of utter darkness." Today it is performed and taught all over the world, and increasingly influential in other techniques and styles. No one is more responsible for this than Vangeline, founder and director of the New York Butoh Institute, which marks its 20th anniversary in 2023. After many years on the margins of the dance world, this year she is flooded in fellowships – including a grant from the
"MADDADDAM"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 30, 2022
Wayne McGregor's "MADDADDAM", a new work inspired by Margaret Atwood's prescient MaddAddam trilogy (published between 2003 and 2013), has been many years in the making. In an alarming example of life imitating art, the premiere of this dystopian ballet set during a global pandemic was delayed by an actual global pandemic. Of her frightening work of speculative fiction, Atwood has written
“The Nutcracker”
New York City Ballet
David Koch Theater
New York, New York
December 6, 2022
When New York City Ballet first presented George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” in 1954, New York Times critic John Martin wasn’t happy. He thought it betrayed Balanchine’s dedication to abstraction, which, he said, had revolutionized ballet. But, as so often happened, Balanchine knew best. He added the full-length narrative work to New York City Ballet’s mostly plotless repertory, and it is
New York City Ballet
"The Nutcracker"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 25, 2022
For some people, the Christmas season starts with New York City Ballet's magical tree growing up to the sky with scintillating, musical excitement. The production has remained basically the same for years; though the Chinese dance has lost much of its flavor, the boys still want to grow up to be cavalry officers and the girls still politely sip their
"The Collective Agreement", "Crepuscular", "Concerto"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 9, 2022
The National Ballet of Canada's 2022-2023 season opened with a mixed program ushering in the new. Toronto-born Hope Muir started her appointment as artistic director of the company in January 2022, marking a new era after Karen Kain's 16 year tenure in the role. This repertory program is the first Muir has put together for the NBoC.
American Ballet Theatre
"The Dream", "The Seasons"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 26, 2022
Frederick Ashton choreographed his version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of Shakespeare's birth. The ballet also celebrated the birth on one of the twentieth century's most noted partnerships, as it gave Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell the starring roles and Ashton's Titania and Oberon are saturated with those dancers' qualities. Alexei
American Ballet Theatre
"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 21, 2022
Alexei Ratmansky's deceptively frivolous "Whipped Cream" got a bracing performance, led by guest artist Daniil Simkin, the original Boy with the insatiable sweet tooth. The wisp of a story of a boy celebrating his first communion by sucking up so much whipped cream that he ended up in a hospital where he hallucinated a magical kingdom with a beautiful Princess Praline,
New York City Ballet
"Episodes", "Vienna Waltzes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 13, 2022
In a night filled with debuts, the audience was focused on one particular couple, the first and last performance of the final scene of "Vienna Waltzes" by Sterling Hyltin, who is retiring at the end of the season after on last "Nutcracker", and Robert Fairchild, who left City Ballet in 2017, returning to say farewell to his frequent partner.