"Raymonda Divertissements", "Seven Sonatas", "Thirteen Diversions"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
November 1, 2014, evening

Plotless abstractions ruled this program, as each work explored the choreographers' reactions to different music.  Petipa's "Raymonda Divertisse- ments", of course, originally had a story, but the current version lets the audience float along on that velvet river of music passing through various jewel-like dances, though it is a shame that the river doesn't pass through

"Kindertotenlieder”
Gisèle Vienne and artists
New York Live Arts
New York, NY
October 29, 2014

Contrary to its title, Gisèle Vienne’s “Kindertotenlieder” does not mourn the death of children, nor does it use any of Gustav Mahler’s famous songs from the opus of the same name. Instead, it taps into something deeper and darker, presenting nearly every instantiation of the violent and disturbing triggers of human anxiety, through a creative integration of movement with music, sound, speech, and

"Raymonda Divertissements", "Seven Sonatas", "Fancy Free"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 25, 2014, matinee

Variety is one of the benefits of ABT's fall season--the collection of one-act works don't have to be programmed in blocks, so it is possible to see the ballets in various arrangements.  The Saturday matinee opened and closed, like the opening night performance, with "Raymoda Divertissements" and "Fancy Free", but the middle work was the

"Raymonda Divertissements", "Jardin aux Lilas", "Fancy Free"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 23, 2014

ABT opened its regular season with a fine triple bill, a set of ballets in contrasting styles. The so-called premiere was a collection of Petipa dances to the Galzunov music for "Raymonda" curated by the former Kirov ballerina Irina Kolpakova. There was nothing really new in the choreography--this is not a criticism, since the Petipa (or what we

"Far", "This was Written on Water", "Nritta", "Les Patineurs"
Wayne McGregor/Random Dance, Pontus Lidberg Dance, Aakash Odedra Company, Sarasota Ballet
Fall for Dance Program Five
New York City Center
New York, New York
October 19, 2014

The final Fall for Dance program had three British imports, seasoned with one commissioned work by the Swedish Potus Lidberg.  Wayne McGregor, currenty the Royal Ballet's resident choreographer, was represented by his contemporary company, Random Dance, in an adaptation of his

"Torrent,” “Ostinato,” “Closer,” “Students of the Asphalt Jungle”
Brian Brooks Moving Company with Juilliard Dance, The Australian Ballet, BJM- Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, Rennie Harris Puremovement
Fall For Dance Festival
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 17, 2014

Fall For Dance festival’s fourth program was full of expressions that belie outward appearances. The two middle works, set to gentle, repeating live piano music of Bill Evans and Philip Glass respectively, were rich with content that was

"Apollo", "Monumentum pro Gesualdo", "Movements for Piano and Orchestra", "Duo Concertant", "Agon"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 1, 2014

Balanchine in black and white certainly offers a lot of options, and if theme programming is required, this one certainly was bracing. Though there was a certain lack of variety, there were interesting themes running through, as Apollo danced with the same off-center power as the unnamed swain in "Duo Concertant", and "Movements"

"Serenade", "Mozartiana", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
Sept. 24, 2014

New York City Ballet is continuing its theme evenings, performing ballets that the marketing department can group together. The official opening night of the season (after the fashion-themed gala) featured all Balanchine/all Tschaikovsky. All of these ballets are glorious, of course, but performing them together does seem to imply that the program wasn't

"Playing with Angels", "When We Rise", "Tower", "Introducing Mrs. Stephen P. Baxter", "Criminal Commoners"
Mazzini Dance Collective
Ailey Citigroup Theater
Joan Weill Center for Dance
New York, NY
September 6, 2014

Annmaria Mazzini, formerly with Paul Taylor, has established a small company showcasing her own choreography; its New York season also featured two works by another Taylor alumnus, Orion Duckstein. Her choreography, like her dancing, is dynamic, incisive, luxuriantly feminine, and full of contradictions--woman as comforter, as seeker, and

“Swan Lake”
Bolshoi Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 18, 2014

Just what kind of woman does Prince Siegfried fantasize about?  The question is at the core of Yuri Grigorovich’s version of “Swan Lake,” and the answer will vary with every cast.

By shifting the focus of the story away from the romantic fairy tale narrative, Grigorovich invites a philosophical inquiry centered on Siegfried’s psyche: What is his ideal woman like?  How does

“Spartacus”
Bolshoi Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 25, 2014

As a powerful, masculine and very adult ballet, Yuri Grigorovich’s Soviet-era choreographic chef d’oeuvre, “Spartacus,” is not what you are used to. From the moment the Bolshoi dancers first appeared as the charging Roman soldiers accompanied by Aram Khachaturyan’s commanding score, you were transported into a colorful presentation of a historical tale and a world dominated by a fervent fight for freedom and

"Don Quixote"
Bolshoi Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
July 22, 2014

The Bolshoi's "Don Quixote" has a venerable history; Petipa choreographed it for the company in 1869, and, with various revisions, most notably by Alexander Gorsky in 1900, the Bolshoi has been dancing it steadily.  this current version, from 1999, is a restoration of the Petipa/Gorsky version, with some enhancements. The costumes, too, are based on older ones, the 1903 designs by Vasily