"Harlequinade"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 4, 2018

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

Nineteenth century ballet comedies often involve poor girls in love with poor young men, rebelling against a parent who has a beady eye on a rich suitor ("Don Quixote" and "La Fille Mal Gardée" are familiar examples), with true love winning happily in the end.  (As Oscar Wilde would say, that's why it'

"Harlequinade"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 5, 2018

The Petipa/ Ratmansky soufflé "Harlequinade" has many ingredients, chief among them the older terre à terre style, with its sharp, fast footwork; making lace with their feet is a frequent description of those Imperial ballerinas.  Columbine, the heroine of the comic ballet, has choreography packed with these terre à terre moves, as she hops almost continually – slow hops, fast hops, backwards,

“Coppélia”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York
June 2, 2018

“Coppélia” is among the nineteenth century ballet classics, but compared to others, such as “Giselle” and “Swan Lake,” it is presented much less often. This may be because it is a comic ballet and therefore taken less seriously. But even when it is performed, its dances often look fusty, and its humor outdated. So it was a pleasure to see New York City Ballet’s version

"La Bayadère"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 29, 2018

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

ABT has abandoned its policy of importing guests wholesale to populate its Spring season roster, but with the current shortage of tall, princely men (so many injuries), the company invited the Korean-trained Maryinsky dancer Kimin Kim back for "Bayadère" week, a wise and rewarding decision.  Kim's noble bearing and superb

“Giselle”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 18, 2018

Every generation hopes for dancers who bring iconic roles to life. In 2005, when Natalia Osipova suddenly emerged from the Bolshoi corps de ballet dancing as if shot from the proverbial canon as Kitri in “Don Quixote,” she did it for that role. Thirteen years later, dancing alongside David Hallberg at ABT last Friday night in “Giselle” (her only New York performance this year), she confirmed