"The Arrogant King", "The Perfect King", "The Story of the Stories", "The Ascetic Prince", "The Trojan King"
Rajika Puri in Sutradhari Natyam
Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, NY
October 6, 2013

In the question and answer session after the performance, Rajika Puri explained that she is trying to be a bridge, to show her Western audience the meaning behind the stories her dances tell.  She sings her own lyrics, often in English, a convention, she said, not used in

Fall Gala
"Capricious Maneuvers", "Neverwhere", "Spectral Evidence", "Western Symphony" (4th movement)
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
September 17, 2013

NYCB's fall gala focused on new works, with costumes by fashion designers, presumably to pull in a fashion-conscious audience with lots of money.  Each new work was introduced by a short film of the designer talking about his/her process, very "Project Runwayish".  Black, white and red were the colors

Roberto Bolle and Friends Gala
City Center
New York, New York
September 17, 2012

2013 is, apparently, the Year of Italian Culture in the United States, and to help celebrate this, the Italian Roberto Bolle brought his magnificent presence, along with some dancer friends, for a one-night performance of various solos and pas de deux.  This was not your usual gala-fodder (with the exception of "The Dying Swan") since most of the dances were unfamiliar.  Unfortunately,

"The Impulse Wants Company", "Epistasis"
BalletCollective
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
August 14, 2013

Ballet 6.0, for those who are counting, is a mini-festival of small, ballet-inspired companies.  BalletCollective (founded in 2010 by New York City Ballet dancer Troy Schumacher as Satellite Ballet and Collective), it their own words "assembles artists, poets, composers, choreographers, and designers to collaborate as equals".  This Diaghilevian idea includes seven supremely talented current and former New York City

"Sylvia"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 26, 2013 Matinee

Veronkia Part and Cory Stearns were scheduled to make joint debuts as the nymph Sylvia and her beloved Aminta; however at the last minute Stearns was injurned and replaced by Marcelo Gomes. (There wasn't even enough time to put a slip in the program.)  Gomes, of course, is an experienced Aminta and a partner extraordinaire, but much of the partnering requires split second

"Sylvia"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, New York
June 24, 2013

Michael Mayer, the director of the new "Rigoletto" at the Met, explained his decision to set the opera in 1950's Las Vegas by saying "It gives the audience a chance to recognize these people in a way that doesn't require a giant imaginative leap.  I'm not totaly sure where Manuta is in Italy, it's not one of those beautiful places I'

"Change of Heart", "Dusk", "Night of the Flying Horses", "Night and Dreams"
Lydia Johnson Dance
Ailey Citigroup Theater
New York, New York
June 7, 2013

Lydia Johnson's appealing group of dancers, augmented by Carlos Lopez, a former soloist with ABT, presented a series of four dances at the intimate Alvin Ailey Theater.  The music, which ranged from Bach to Osvaldo Golijov, unfortunately was taped, but the dancers managed to make their movements seem spontaneous.  Johnson's

"Le Corsaire"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 6, 2013

ABT has revised it scenery and costumes for "Le Corsaire", that delicious romp through Byron courtesy of Petipa and a number of others.  The first production used the sets and costumes from a Bolshoi production, and they were colorful, too colorful in fact, considering the saturated pinks and yellow tutus worn in the sublime Jardin Animé.  The new sets

"Concerto DSCH", "Sonatas and Interludes", "In Creases", "Stars and Stripes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
June 4, 2013 

Ballet choreography grows from past works, which is one of its strengths, but this can also be limiting.  The shadows that Balanchine cast have at times seemed to limit new growth, as choreographers either imitate or react to him, and his ghosts (some paler than others) have appeared in many new ballets.

"Red Angels", "Sonatas and Interludes", "In Creases", "A Fool for You"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
May 29, 2013

In its unceasing and understandable efforts to attract a new (young and hip) audience, NYCB offered an evening of $29 seats, selling out almost immediately.  The atmosphere was fresh and excited, and the applause was enthusiastic.  Whether this will translate into permanent fans is as yet unknown, but seat prices are certainly

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
Mary 28, 2013

The first glimpse that New York had of Natalia Osipova came during the Bolshoi tour of 2005, when she burst out of the corps with her flying jumps and engaging personality.  I wrote at the time that it she seemed to have turned up at the Bolshoi school one day with a note around her neck saying "Hello, my name is

"Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes", "A Month in the Country", "Symphony in C"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 21 and May 22 matinee, 2013

ABT took a brief break from its three-act warhorses to present an intriguing triple bill, sandwiching its premiere of Sir Frederick Ashton's delicate chamber ballet "A Month in the Country" between two different takes on white ballets, Mark Morris' witty romp through some piano