“Don Quixote”
Ballet Nacional de Cuba
Opera House
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.
May 29, 2018
by Ashley McKean
copyright © 2018 by Ashley McKean
The Ballet Nacional de Cuba returned to Washington to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its United States debut (at the Kennedy Center in 1978), giving balletgoers a glimpse of a living legend — renowned ballerina, founder and artistic director, Alicia Alonso — and her legacy. The evening
"Itchy Bot Bot (A Family Portrait) "Kimono Wednesday" "Giggling Flame and Roaring Waves" "La Lorona" "The Sound of Snow" "Heartbreak Hotel"
Oakland Ballet Company
Laney College Theater
Oakland, CA
June 2, 2018
Oakland Ballet has a noble past, a rocky interim and a promising future. Artistic Director Graham Lustig, the company’s experienced choreographer and administrator since 2010, offered his possibly most encouraging spring season yet. He also has audiences in mind who never tire of the classics, think “Nutcracker”
New York City Ballet
"Coppélia"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 1, 2018
by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill
Ashley Bouder's first "Coppélia" was part of a busy final week of New York City Ballet's Spring season, which saw a number of debuts, including that of her Frantz, Joseph Gordon. With her forthright stage presence and radiant classical technique, Bouder would seemingly have been a natural for the spunky
American Ballet Theatre
"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
"Nocturne in E Flat", "Witch Dance", "Brahms Waltz", "Quasi Waltz", "As I Remember", "Time is Money", "Mourner's Bench", "Lyric Suite", "Second Line Blues", "Bonewash", "Short Story", "Etude, Op. 9 No. 12"
Modern Rebels
Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
The Tank
New York, New York
May 30, 2018
by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill
The generous program put together by Samantha Géracht, the Artistic Director of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble, was made up of short dances (mainly
"School Demonstration", "Rendezvous," "Blue Rose," Effervescence" "Stars and Stripes"
San Francisco Ballet School
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
San Francisco, CA
May 24, 2018
To young performers recitals are the equivalent of graduation: you finish one set of skills and, hopefully, are allowed to the next level. Every ballet school has them, and teachers work long hours to show off students at their best. Mainly, they are an opportunity for family and friends to enjoy a particular student performing
New York City Ballet
"Coppélia"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 25, 2018
Though New York City Ballet is renowned for its one-act plotless ballets, it is exceptionally satisfying to watch a character (and a dancer) develop and change over several acts, as Tiler Peck and Joaquin De Luz showed in their magnificent "Coppélia". Story ballets also give dancers a chance to show that ballet is richer than a collection of steps and
American Ballet Theatre
“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
American Ballet Theatre
"Harlequinade", "Praedicere", "AfterRite"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 21, 2018
ABT's Spring Gala included three premieres, two of coming attractions ("AfterRite" and excerpts from "Harlequin- ade") and one gala special (tap dancer Michelle Dorrance's "Praedicere"). "Harlequinade" is a reconstruction by Alexei Ratmansky of Petipa's 1900 ballet, based on the Stepanov notations now owned by Harvard, so it is technically not a premiere, but the Petipa version was last
American Ballet Theatre
"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 17, 2018
ABT's Giselle Week hooped along with a fine and moving, if not always technically perfect, performance by Stella Abrera and Cory Sterns, supported by an impressive debut by Katherine Williams as Myrta, a haunting mime scene by Nancy Raffa, and a sparkling and elegant peasant pas de deux by Skylar Brandt and Joseph Gorak.
Abrera's Act I Giselle was fresh and
“Wash/A Variety Show”
Vicky Shick
West End Theatre
New York, NY
May 12, 2018
I remember when a “variety show” was a jumble of generally mediocre acts crammed together in a program that tried to provide a little something for everyone. Vicky Shick’s wryly titled “Wash/A Variety Show” offers quite an alternative – a mash-up of marvelous solos and duets, lightly connected by an interlocked cast and Shick’s magical touch. Shick filled the cozy West End
American Ballet Theatre
"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 16, 2018, matinee
ABT has a solid version of the Romantic classic "Giselle", with beautiful, traditional designs which, even if the first grape was harvested in 1987, look vivid and fresh. Though some of the stage business could be rethought (Bathilde's nose now almost scrapes the sky, eliminating the sad irony of the two girls sharing their love stories, and why, if all