American Ballet Theatre

"Le Corsaire"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 12, 2019 matinee

ABT's version of "Le Corsaire" is loosely based on Petipa's revisions to the 1856 French ballet by Joseph Mazilier, which was even more loosely based on the 1814 poem by Byron.  This season, ABT has included a somewhat apologetic note in the program explaining that in 1814 "pirates, pashas, and damsels in distress" were commonplace.  In fact, Byron'

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 27, 2019

Alexei Ratmansky's "Whipped Cream" is a multi-layer confection, full of surprising treats, among them the opportunity Ratmansky gives to some of ABT's explosion of young talent. This performance highlighted this, with one principal (Devon Teuscher as Princess Tea Flower), two soloists (Cassandra Trenary as Princess Praline and Thomas Forster as Prince Coffee) and a corps dancer as the Boy (Jonathan

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 25, 2019 matinee

Alexei Ratmansky's colorful extravaganza "Whipped Cream" returned for the third year, looking vivid and fresh; the dancers, it seems, have become at home in their roles and have added individual touches and comic flourishes.  The many roles, from the Worm Candy Man to the leads, were danced with a snap and vigor, combined with fine comic timing which created a

"Serenade after Plato's Symposium", "The Seasons"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 20, 2019

ABT's Spring gala saluted Alexei Ratmansky's ten year association with the company by presenting an evening of his works, opening with the dense, fascinating "Serenade after Plato's Symposium" and closing with a premiere, "The Seasons", a plotless excursion through Alexander Glazunov's eponymous score, written in 1900 for Marius Petipa.  Fun fact – Glazunov was

"Harlequinade"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 16, 2019

Dying may be easy and comedy hard, as the old saying has it, and "Harle- quinade" has both, though this performance of Petipa's frothy confection of commedia dell'arte characters as reconstructed by Alexei Ratmansky made comedy look easy.  The ballet has all the trappings of an old-fashioned comedy: a poor young man, a beautiful girl, an angry father, and a

"Harlequinade"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 15, 2019 matinee

"Harlequinade", Alexei Ratmansky's gleaming reconstruction of Petipa's 1900 ballet, complete with mime, character dancing, and what looked like hundreds of hats, gave the audience a taste of ballet as seen by the Tsar and his family.  The Tsar, of course, did not have to watch it in the cavernous Met Opera House, so it was easier for him to focus

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 5, 2018

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

ABT's spring season may be winding down, but the company is still showing off its dancers and in the final week, devoted to Alexei Ratmansky's "Whipped Cream", Arron Scott danced his first Boy and Calvin Royal III made his New York debut at Prince Coffee.  Both dancers gave their parts a

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
July 4, 2018,matinee

Alexei Ratmansky's witty, frothy, and dance-filled 2017 ballet returned for the final week of ABT's spring season.  The season may have been winding down but the dancers looked fresh and eager, even on a sweltering July 4 matinee.  The simple story involves a young boy (Gabe Stone Shayer in his New York debut) who eats too much

"Don Quixote"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 30, 2018, matinee

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

"Don Quixote", with choreography attributed somewhat loosely to Petipa, is a sunny take on a piece of Cervantes' sprawling story, an explosion of energy in make-believe Spain.  But at its heart, it can be a gentle and genuine love story as the heart wins out over the pocketbook, and an effective

“Harlequinade”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York
June 6, 2018

American Ballet Theatre is offering four casts in eight performances of Alexei Ratmansky’s reconstruction of Marius Petipa’s “Harlequinade” this week at the Metropolitan Opera House. The cast I saw was particularly interesting because nearly all the major roles were taken by dancers from the company’s lower ranks. This gave them a chance to prove themselves, and they more than met the challenge. Harlequin was portrayed

"Harlequinade"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 4, 2018

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

Nineteenth century ballet comedies often involve poor girls in love with poor young men, rebelling against a parent who has a beady eye on a rich suitor ("Don Quixote" and "La Fille Mal Gardée" are familiar examples), with true love winning happily in the end.  (As Oscar Wilde would say, that's why it'

"Harlequinade"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 5, 2018

The Petipa/ Ratmansky soufflé "Harlequinade" has many ingredients, chief among them the older terre à terre style, with its sharp, fast footwork; making lace with their feet is a frequent description of those Imperial ballerinas.  Columbine, the heroine of the comic ballet, has choreography packed with these terre à terre moves, as she hops almost continually – slow hops, fast hops, backwards,