American Ballet Theatre
“Giselle”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 14, 2018
by Carol Pardo
copyright © 2018 by Carol Pardo
The ballet "Giselle" is intended to be about its title character, a village girl who dies of a broken heart when she discovers that her beloved is a nobleman in commoner's clothing and betrothed to boot. Yet so great are her feelings for him that, from beyond the grave, she saves him from the Wilis,
“Carousel”
The Imperial Theater
New York, New York
May 10, 2018
Any good production of “Carousel” is noteworthy and the current Broadway revival is better than good. Beautifully directed by Jack O’Brien, strongly cast, sung, and acted throughout, the new production appeals to a general Broadway audience. But with dances by Justin Peck, designs by Santo Loquasto, and appearances in major roles by New York City Ballet principal dancer Amar Ramasar and soloist Brittany Pollack, there’s particular interest
"The Unsung", "The Body is a House Without Walls", "Querida Herida", "Missa Brevis"
Limón Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
May 10, 2018
The Limón Dance Company opened its New York season with a program bookended by two powerful works by José Limón supporting two newer works, both of which sported interesting designs, committed dancers, and somewhat meandering choreography, which put Limón's focused, structured works into sharp relief.
Limón's "The Unsung" from 1970 is a memorial
"Historias rotas" "The Reflective Surface" "Radical Impact"
AXIS Dance Company
Z Space
San Francisco, CA
May 4, 2018
AXIS Dance Company entered its fourth decade with a new staff and new dancers, six of them. Performing Radical Impact Tour at Z Space in San Francisco finally gave the company a decent-sized stage and good lighting possibilities. The program offered a world premiere by former company member Nadia Adame, “Historias rotas;” a reworked version of Amy Seiwert’s
New York City Ballet
"The Four Seasons", "Circus Polka", "Easy", "A Suite of Dances", "Something to Dance About"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
May 3, 2018
New York City Ballet's Spring gala celebrated Jerome Robbins' 100 birthday with three of his works, a premiere by Justin Peck, and a lavish compilation of Robbins' Broadway choreography. Maria Kowroski introduced the evening with a gracious speech and reminded the audience that she is the
San Francisco Ballet
Program C: "Bespoke" "Your Flesh Shall be a Great Poem" "Guernica"
Program D: "The Infinite Ocean" "Let's Begin at the End" "Bjork Ballet"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House
April 24 and 26, 2018
Program C. The third evening of unbound’s premieres felt like an example of the direction contemporary ballet is taking. It also probably offered at least one example that everyone could like in this program. Beautifully danced, each of the works
“Under the Olive Tree (Excerpts),” “Echoe,” “Á Morgun,” “Space Between Words,” “Fractales”
Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami
South Miami Dade Cultural Arts Center (SMDCAC), Lab Theatre Cutler Bay, Florida
Saturday April 21st, 3:30pm
In the Fall of 2016, within months after announcing their retirement from Miami City Ballet, principal dancers Jennifer Kronenberg and Carlos Guerra formed Dimensions Dance Theatre of Miami bringing together Cuban classically trained dancers and former Miami City Ballet dancers versed in
“Embattled Garden,” “Histoire,” “The Legend of Ten”
Martha Graham Dance Company
New York City Center
New York, NY
April 11, 2018
Martha Graham Dance Company opened its season at New York City Center by reaffirming its identity as a troupe of multitalented dancers that may have Graham in their hearts, but whose bodies belong in a whole range of diverse choreographies. The opening night gala program offered an expertly danced world premiere by Lucinda Childs called “Histoire,” a company premiere
San Francisco Ballet
Program A: "The Collective Agreement," "Bound To" "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"
Program B: "Otherness," "Snowblind," "Anima Animus"
San Francisco Ballet
War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco
April 20 and 21, 2018
This past weekend San Francisco Ballet opened its much anticipated, or at least much advertised, unbound-a festival of new works with two programs of three world premieres in each. An additional two evenings will bring the grand total to twelve new choreographies. That’s a
“Ekstasis,” “Panorama,” “Histoire,” “The Rite of Spring”
Martha Graham Dance Company
City Center, New York, NY
April 14, 2018
In an elegant program that started at the most essential, then wove into the complex, the Martha Graham Company offered a program that was pure Martha. All of the works, from the 1933 solo, “Ekstasis,” to Graham’s mature 1984 “The Rite of Spring,” offered Graham’s signature body geometry, the breath, fists, and sweeping kicks creating scenes and stories of
“Apollo,” “Concerto DSCH” and “La Valse”
Miami City Ballet
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts
Miami, Florida
April 13, 2018
Artistic director, Lourdes Lopez addressed the audience before the start of Miami City Ballet’s Program IV and recalled the trajectory of the 2017-2018 season that began with Balanchine’s Emeralds, saw the company’s first post-modern ballet in Brian Brooks’ “One Line Drawn” as well as an all Robbins celebration. The night opened
“The Choreographic Process”
with Alexei Ratmansky
Studio 5
New York City Center
April 16, 2018
When “the” is inserted in front of phrases like “the creative process” or “the choreographic process,” the implication is that there is only one process, to which artists conform. In fact, there are as many such processes as there are artists. How an artist approaches his or her medium is deeply personal and likely to be as unique as handwriting or fingerprints. American Ballet Theatre’