American Ballet Theatre

"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,

“Coppélia”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York
June 2, 2018

“Coppélia” is among the nineteenth century ballet classics, but compared to others, such as “Giselle” and “Swan Lake,” it is presented much less often. This may be because it is a comic ballet and therefore taken less seriously. But even when it is performed, its dances often look fusty, and its humor outdated. So it was a pleasure to see New York City Ballet’s version

"La Bayadère"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 29, 2018

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

ABT has abandoned its policy of importing guests wholesale to populate its Spring season roster, but with the current shortage of tall, princely men (so many injuries), the company invited the Korean-trained Maryinsky dancer Kimin Kim back for "Bayadère" week, a wise and rewarding decision.  Kim's noble bearing and superb

"Harlequinade", "Praedicere", "AfterRite"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 21, 2018

ABT's Spring Gala included three premieres, two of coming attractions ("AfterRite" and excerpts from "Harlequin- ade") and one gala special (tap dancer Michelle Dorrance's "Praedicere").  "Harlequinade" is a reconstruction by Alexei Ratmansky of Petipa's 1900 ballet, based on the Stepanov notations now owned by Harvard, so it is technically not a premiere, but the Petipa version was last

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 17, 2018

ABT's Giselle Week hooped along with a fine and moving, if not always technically perfect, performance by Stella Abrera and Cory Sterns, supported by an impressive debut by Katherine Williams as Myrta, a haunting mime scene by Nancy Raffa, and a sparkling and elegant peasant pas de deux by Skylar Brandt and Joseph Gorak.  

Abrera's Act I Giselle was fresh and

"Giselle"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 16, 2018, matinee

ABT has a solid version of the Romantic classic "Giselle", with beautiful, traditional designs which, even if the first grape was harvested in 1987, look vivid and fresh.  Though some of the stage business could be rethought (Bathilde's nose now almost scrapes the sky, eliminating the sad irony of the two girls sharing their love stories, and why, if all

"Her Notes", "Symphonic Variations", "Other Dances", "Thirteen Diversions"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
October 22, 2017, matinee

ABT's Sunday matinee showcased four ballets choreographed to concert music, music which was originally intended to stand alone. The choreographers all faced the challenge of improving, so to speak, the original works of art, and though all works were very well danced and had impressive moments, only Ashton's "Symphonic Variations" melded the steps, the atmosphere,