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New York City Ballet

Fashion Forward

"The Wind Still Brings", "Composer's Holiday", "Not Our Fate", "Pulcinella Variations"
New York City Ballet
Koch Theater
New York, New York
September 27, 2017

New York City Ballet's Fall gala, with its now traditional spotlight on fashion designers, clocked in at an efficient two hours. There was a brief opening film with glimpses of the new designs, no speeches, no intermissions, and four new ballets. The first three shared a distinct family resemblance (opaque titles, young dancers, bare

New York City Ballet

The Heart of the Matter

"Swan Lake"
New York City Ballet
Koch Theater
New York, New York
September 27, 2017

Peter Martins' "Swan Lake", for all its problematic moments, does leave the iconic black and white pas de deux reasonably intact, and, since they constitute "Swan Lake's" emotional core, a committed pair can wrest a moving performance from those dreary, blotchy paint drips. Even without Odette's mime to explain the situation (how is Martins' Siegfried to know that foreswearing Odette will doom her?

Bolshoi, Untamed

“The Taming of the Shrew”
The Bolshoi Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 28, 2017

The famed Bolshoi Ballet has given New Yorkers many tastes of its excellent classical repertory during the company’s visits over the years, but has gotten some understandable criticism for those selections – the classics are great, but was the company stuck in time and where were the new works? This year’s presentation of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s “The Taming of the

American Ballet Theatre

Souvenirs

"AfterEffect", "The Nutcracker pas de deux", "Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher", "Mozartiana"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 8, 2017, matinee.

The final Saturday matinee's all-Tchaikovsky program was a real souvenir program, with a ballets set to the composer's "Souvenir de Florence", his "Souvenir d'un Lieu Cher", his "Nutcracker", with its cosy memories, and his "Mozartiana", his salute to the earlier composer. But it was also a souvenir for

American Ballet Theatre

Muddy Waters

"Swan Lake"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 14, 2017, matinee

ABT's ever-popular but problematic "Swan Lake" had a glorious new swan queen in Devon Teuscher, who made her New York debut in front on an enthusiastic matinee audience. Fortunately, most of her choreography remains traditional, though the truncated and breathless Act 4 (or Act 2, Scene 2 in this version) continues to flutter anticlimactically and Odette still has to

American Ballet Theatre

The Circus Comes to Town

"Le Corsaire"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 5, 2017

The Ringling Brothers may be defunct but New Yorkers can still enjoy three-ringed entertainment as "Le Corsaire" is still floating, with its milling throngs of slave girls auditioning for a role in an "I dreamt I joined a harem in my Maidenform bra" advertisement, its dashing men jumping with sub-Byronic flair, and its intricate female choreography culminating in the j

Storytelling

“El Pintor,” “Pá Triana Voy,” “Sentio,” “Caminos,” “A Solas,” “A Mi Manera”
Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana
BAM Fisher
New York, NY
May 17, 2017

In a short run at the BAM Fisher theater, Carlota Santana’s spirited company presented impressive flamenco technique, a cherished relationship with the dance form and generous storytelling through dance. The intimate setting of a small stage allowed for a closer connection to the dancers and their expression, and the performance amounted to a

American Ballet Theatre

A Fable for Our Time

"The Golden Cockerel"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 1, 2017

Alexei Ratmansky's version of "The Golden Cockerel", based in part on the earlier Fokine ballet, is a hybrid work, a partially mimed (and quite complicated) story with episodes of dancing set to the music of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera. The original 1914 full-length ballet was danced to the opera with singers on the side of the stage, though Fokine'

Hard Work, and a Wedding

“Don Quixote”
American Ballet Theatre
The Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
May 16, 2017

For her debut in the role with American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland presented the crowd with a robust but not particularly enthusiastic Kitri, and fellow debutants Jeffrey Cirio as Basilio, Luciana Paris as Mercedes and Calvin Royal III as Espada enlivened the production with joyful and appealing dancing. The ballet wasn’t perfect, but the shining moments shone brightly, even if that light did

American Ballet Theatre

The Home Team

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 27, 2017, evening

For the past two years ABT has limited its guest-star list, relying on its own dancers, which has meant several long-awaited debuts, Gillian Murphy's "Giselle" among them. Murphy is a strong, sturdy, redhead who dances a stupendous Myrta, not the traditional dark-haired shrinking violet but as her sepia-toned Nikiya proved, she is a

American Ballet Theatre

Mr. ABT

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 30, 2017

ABT has produced some outstanding "Giselles" this season, but the Wednesday night performance celebrating Marcelo Gomes' twenty years at ABT was extra-special, culminating in emotional curtain calls where the audience and the company thanked Gomes for so many years of committed, generous, dramatic, as well as comic, performances. Though he has given up some roles (I especially miss his noble but flawed Solor and his

American Ballet Theatre

To the Cottage Born

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
May 27, 2017, matinee

The Saturday matinee of "Giselle" was a mini-festival of debuts, as all the leads made their first New York appearances in the ballet; Sarah Lane as the doomed heroine, Daniil Simkin as Albrecht, Christine Shevchenko as Myrta, and Craig Salstein as Hilarion. None showed any hint of nerves and all gave strong, detailed, and moving performances in one of ABT's most durable classical productions.

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