New York City Ballet

"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, New York
February 12, 2017, evening

Peter Martins' version of "The Sleeping Beauty" is a bit like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead – when it is good, it is very, very good, and when it is bad it is, not horrid certainly, but certainly disappointing.  Both aspects were on view Sunday night.  Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle as the

"Allegro Brillante", "Swan Lake", "The Four Temperaments"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 31, 2017

The well-balanced, all-Balanchine program wasn't given a name by the marketing department, but it could have been called "Salute to Maria Tallchief", since both "Allegro Brillante" and "Swan Lake" were choreographed for her and Sanguinic in "The Four Temperaments" was one of her important roles. Tallchief was a dancer of power and majesty, characteristics which,

"Fearful Symmetries", "The Shimmering Asphalt", "The Times are Racing"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 26, 2017

For the past several years New York City Ballet has celebrated Balanchine with at least one new work under the rubric of "New Combina- tions", honoring Balanchine's statement "There are no new steps, only new combinations". This year the two premieres, by Pontus Lidberg and Justin Peck, showed that new combinations are hard to

"Allegro Brillante", "Swan Lake", "The Four Temperaments"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
January 18, 2017

The current programming scheme of performing three similar ballets together took a welcome break on Wednesday, as New York City Ballet presented a varied triple bill, proving that variety is really spicy. The all Balanchine program had three varied works: the exhilarating opening, a drama, and a black and white masterpiece.  The newest of these works, "Allegro

"The Nutcracker"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
December 6, 2016

Tolstoi's remark about happy families, it seems, could have been written about the Stahlbaums, and he might have added that happy ballets are all alike, too, a celebration of innocence, wonder, and stability flanked by majestic, musical choreography. In the New York City Ballet's "Nutcracker" Tuesday night, Zachary Catazaro and Gretchen Smith were the warm, generous couple overseeing the cosy hustle-bustle