“Swan Lake”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
March 8, 2025

“Swan Lake” is a measuring stick for any classical company, yet it is surprisingly difficult to find a definitive production without significant flaws. In the years since its 1877 Moscow premiere, different choreographers have changed the setting, cut and added variations and condensed it. It has been done with an all male cast, with and without a jester, with different guises

“The Four Seasons”, “Morpheus’ Dream”, “The Leaves are Fading”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
Feb. 26, 2025

The National Ballet of Canada’s diverse winter triple bill featured works from two British and one German choreographer that showcased a range of styles and movement vocabularies. The feature of the night was David Dawson’s colorful and modern “The Four Seasons”. Following opening night, the company announced that he will be appointed

Shallow Waters

"Swan Lake"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 22, 2025 matinee

Peter Martins’ unique take on the ever-popular “Swan Lake” returned for a two-week visit, its first since 2020, with all of its peculiarities intact; the day-glow costumes of Act I, the drab scenery, and the general dramatic confusion were all on display.  It also displayed a number of debuts, most notably a new Swan Queen in

"Divertimento No. 15", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Carnival of the Animals" 
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 14, 2025

This evening’s performance began with two of Balanchine’s gloriously classical works, the celestial “Divertimento No. 15” to Mozart and the  whipped cream “Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux” and ended with anthropomorphic animals of Christopher Wheeldon’s “Carnival of the Animals”; both the opening and closing ballets were stuffed

"Scotch Symphony", "Sylvia: Pas de Deux", "Firebird"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 13, 2025

In January 2001, I was at a matinee performance of NYCB, expecting a pleasant afternoon watching the light, spun-sugar of “La Source” when the soloist bounded on with the most exuberant and musically incisive heel-to-the-head leaps I had ever seen.  The entire audience gasped and leant forward as if pulled by a magnetic

"Paquita", "In the Night", "Symphony in Three Movements"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 7, 2025

The New York City Ballet fielded a completely new cast of Ratmansky’s new version of Petipa’s “Paquita”, showing yet again, how rich the company currently is.  It was followed by Robbins’ “In the Night” with yet more debuts, and closed with Balanchine’s majestic “Symphony in Three Movements”.  

Allegra

"Paquita", "In the Night", "Symphony in Three Movements"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 6, 2025

 "Paquita", Alexei Ratmansky's new ballet, was to have been danced as the middle ballet, but, due to an injury, this evening’s program had been rearranged, and the program opened with the main attraction.  Unity Phelan, who was already dancing in the first two ballets, had to replace Ashley Laracey in “Symphony in

"Scotch Symphony", "Sylvia: Pas de Deux", "Firebird"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 5, 2025

In her gracious introductory speech to the evening’s program, Wendy Whelan honored Maria Tallchief, born 100 years ago.  Balanchine choreographed the three ballets performed, “Scotch Symphony”, “ “Sylvia Pas de Deux”, and “Firebird”, for her.  These works showed her impressive range,  from the lyrical “Scotch Symphony”, the rigorously classical “Sylvia”

“From You Within Me,” “Variations Pour Une Porte et Un Soupir,” “Mystic Familiar”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 29, 2025

New York City Ballet's "New Combinations" program proved that while anything old can feel new again, the new can just as easily feel like a rehashing of the old. Along with Christopher Wheeldon’s dreary 2023 ballet “From You Within Me” and George Balanchine’s experimental 1974 work “Variations Pour Une Porte et

"Dances Concertantes", "The Cage", "Concertino", "Stravinsky Violin Concerto"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 24, 2025

The evening featured four ballets set to Stravinsky, two by Balanchine (“Dances Concertantes” and “Stravinsky Violin Concerto”) and two by Robbins (“The Cage” and “Concertino”).  Though they shared the same composer, the ballets were all different, and it made for a varied evening.  

“Dances Concertantes” started life in 1944 for the

"Concerto Barocco", "Allegro Brillante", "Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 23, 2025

This all-Balanchine evening showed off three ballets, each with its own distinctive flavor; “Concerto Barocco” has a luminous white and black simplicity, “Allegro Brillante” is a bright and golden celebration of classical technique, and “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” with its haunted-ballroom mauve setting, is an elegiac valentine to a lost (and somewhat imaginary) world.  There were two

“Giselle”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
Nov. 20, 2024

The story of “Giselle” hasn’t changed since its premiere in 1841. Today, “Giselle” is all about the performances. There is a reason this romantic era ballet has endured as long as it has. No other work so perfectly embodies romantic values – idealism, emotion, the supernatural and the irrational. The National Ballet of Canada has been performing Sir Peter Wright’s version