“Chiaroscuro,” “Slice to Sharp,” “Stabat Mater,” “The Decalogue”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 12, 2017
The main event of the evening was the world premiere of Justin Peck’s fourteenth ballet for NYCB called “The Decalogue,” but as the audience waited for the fresh and new, the company dusted off and presented three ballets of the somewhat old. All dating back to 2006 and into the 1990s, the works that led
New York City Ballet
"A Midsummer Night's Dream"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 26, 2017
After the month-long Here/Now blowout (43 ballets by 22 choreographers) New York City Ballet settled down to a week of Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Understandably the corps seemed a bit winded and the energy came in fits and starts, though the children were exceptionally well-drilled. There were few major debuts
American Ballet Theatre
"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 24, 2017
In a recent interview, Alexei Ratmansky said that his new ballet was modeled after the nineteenth century balletféerie with its elaborate processions and spectacular theatrical effects. Petipa's "The Sleeping Beauty" is of course one of the most famous of these and when asked if his work reconstructing this ballet influenced "Whipped Cream" he agreed emphatically. Like "The Sleeping Beauty" "Whipped
American Ballet Theatre
"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
May 17, 2017, matinee.
"Don Quixote" will probably never appear on anyone's list of all-time great ballets, but it hasn't survived for nearly 150 years only on the strength of its gala-worthy pas de deux with those applause-generating fouettés. The evergreen comedy of a spunky girl who outwits a greedy parent to find true love has, underneath the frivolity, a real
A Conversation with Cassandra Trenary and Alexei Ratmansky
YoungArts Critical Junctures Salon
New York Live Arts
New York, New York
May 14, 2017
The National YoungArts Foundation was established in 1981 by Ted Arison (founder of the Carnival Cruise Lines) and his wife Lin to support young artists by offering those selected for the program a scholarship to a week-long immersion with other students and mentors. Cassandra Ternary, currently a soloist at ABT, was a 2011 YoungArts recipient and
"Time is Money", "George Sand", "Dusty Old Dust", "Mary Tyrone", "Sonnet", "Lyric Suite", "Amanda", "A Point of Doctrine", "Kaddish", "Cante Flamenco", "Shadow of Her Sister"
The Deborah Zall Project: In the Company of Women
Martha Graham Studio Theater
New York, New York
May 13, 2017
Modern dance has a flourishing tradition of female choreographers, but also has traditionally looked forwards, not backwards. Deborah Zall, who danced with Martha Graham before establishing an independent career, bucks this a-historical trend by
“Mercurial Manoeuvres,” “Polyphonia,” “Liturgy,” “American Rhapsody”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
April 25, 2017
A program of works by just one choreo- grapher can do wonders at revealing that creator’s weaknesses and strengths. With no one else’s craft for the works to be compared to, hide behind or shine over, the creator is presented to the audience as all they are, and for his part, Christopher Wheeldon really let his
"The Sleeping Beauty"
Boston Ballet
Boston Opera House
Boston, Massachusetts
May 6, 2017, matinee
Boston Ballet's production of Petipa's "The Sleeping Beauty" has a distinguished pedigree. The company acquired the 1977 Ninette de Valois version for the Royal Ballet; de Valois had danced in the famous 1921 Diaghilev version based on the Mariinsky original and she had produced versions for the Royal Ballet in 1938 and 1946 using Nicholas Sergeyev notations of the Mariinsky production. De
New York City Ballet
"Jeu de Cartes", "After the Rain", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Odessa"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
May 4, 2017
The New York City Ballet's spring gala clocked in at a crisp and efficient one and a half hours and included two complete ballets, two pas de deux, no speeches, and no intermission. The main attraction was Alexei Ratmansky's new work "Odessa", to "Sketches to Sunset" by Leonid Desyatnikov who also
"Concerto Grosso", "Corvidae", "The Exiles", "Suite from a Choreographic Offering", "Night Light"
Límon Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
May 2, 2017
José Límon founded his company in 1946 and after his death in 1972, the LÍmon dancer Carla Maxwell directed it until her recent retirement; Colin Connor, also a Límon dancer, became the artistic director in 2016. The math says that the company has been run without its founder for 45 years, an astounding
“Línea Recta,” “Con Brazos Abiertos,” “3.Catorce Dieciséis”
Ballet Hispánico
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
April 20, 2017
The sole woman in a red dress stood in the middle of the stage with her back to the audience. She flicked her wrists, resonating the motion in her elbows and then all through her arms, curved her spine and twisted her body, with these spiraling movements echoing the flamenco beats of the music. Her body bended to the side, with
"Russian Seasons", "Namouna, a Grand Divertissement"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
April 26, 2017
The Ratmansky evening of New York City Ballet's heartily advertised "Here/Now Festival" (ballets created for the company in the last thirty years) had two works, both featuring a generous supply of fine and striking dancing. "Russian Seasons" from 2006 with its color-coded costumes and folk-inflected weighty choreograph looks a bit as if the peasants of