"Clearing", "Trio Sonatas", "Nights and Dreams", "Undercurrent"
Lydia Johnson Dance
The Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, New York
June 6, 2019

The small company (thirteen dancers plus a guest appearance by former New York City Ballet dancer Craig Hall) presented four works by Lydia Johnson, one premiere ("Clearing") and three older pieces.  Johnson has a wide-ranging taste in music and the evening had works set to Handel ("Trio Sonatas", Schubert ("Nights and Dreams"), Henryk Górecki ("Undercurrents"), and

“Classically Dope” by Wavelengths Winds et alia;
Copland’s “Billy the Kid” Suite and
“From the New World” i.e., Dvorak’s Symphony #9 by
The National Symphony Orchestra
The Anthem
Washington, DC
June 5, 2019

An anthem is a hymn in praise of joy. DC’s huge, fairly new venue for the performing arts – The Anthem – is being called a concert hall. It opened on The Wharf, the city’s renovated Southwest waterfront, in October 2017 and is being

"Concerto Barocco," 'Garland Dance' from "The Sleeping Beauty", "New Sleep (pas de deux)", "Bourrée Fantasque"
School of American Ballet
Peter J. Sharp Theater
New York, NY
June 1, 2019 (matinee)

At this graduation performance by the students of the School of American Ballet, there was no single dancer who generated ongoing buzz (Paloma Herrera, 1991) or who made hearts stop (Monique Meunier, 1990). The virtues of this performance were not so much individual as collective: the ardor and scrupulousness of

“Jane Eyre”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 4, 2019

Cathy Marston’s expressionist ballet based on Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre” got its first performance at American Ballet Theatre Tuesday night. Originally produced in 2016 in Doncaster, England by the Northern Ballet, this was its U.S. premiere. With an excellent score by Philip Feeney and scenery by Patrick Kinmonth (who also designed the costumes) the ballet’s twelve scenes over two acts were

“Rajastra: The King’s Cloth” “Hamsa” “”Jangala”
Oakland Ballet Company
Odell Johnson Performing Arts Center Oakland, CA
June 1, 2019

Making the most out of whatever resources are available to you probably is not the least of a successful artistic director’s skills. Graham Lustig, the heart and brain behind the blossoming Oakland Ballet Company, certainly has what it takes. The company’s last season program was smartly planned, admirably danced and well received by the sizable matinee audience at

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
New York City Ballet
Lincoln Center, New York
May 29, 2019

George Balan-chine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is a perfect antidote for our troubled times. Shakespeare’s play may include tensions and quarrels, but by the end, harmony is achieved and love triumphs. In Balanchine’s hands Shakespeare’s narrative is given an added abundance of humor and beauty. For a few hours, at least, we can enter an enchanted world where

“Valse Fantaisie”, “Change”,
“Passage”, “Dougla”
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Ballet Across America
Opera House,
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
May 28, 2019

This time Ballet Across America spanned just the nation’s East Coast, but from New York to Florida. Opening night was all Dance Theatre of Harlem’s. It started with company director Virginia Johnson, chic in a sharply cut suit, stepping in front of the curtains and briefly addressing the audience. Johnson

“Scotch Symphony,” “Duo Concertant,” "Sonatine", "Stravinsky Violin Concerto"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
May 24, 2019

That the musicians, soloists and orchestra alike  received the loudest and longest ovations throughout the night at this all Balanchine bill would probably have pleased the choreographer, who firmly believed that music is the floor for dancing. But that increasing volume and duration was in inverse proportion to the quality of the dancing. The evening

“The Seasons,” “Songs of Bukovina,” “On the Dnieper,”
American Ballet Theater
New York Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
May 23, 2019

American Ballet Theater’s spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House is, in part, dedicated to the works of Alexei Ratmansky, who is celebrating his tenth anniversary as artist in residence with the company. Last week there was an all Ratmansky program that featured a premiere, “The Seasons,” set to Alexander Glazunov’s well-known score, as well as