New York City Ballet – Spring Gala with Wheeldon premiere – New York
But ‘A Place for Us’ (new Wheeldon) feels like a bauble, not quite a jewel.
New York City Ballet – Who Cares?, Ivesiana, Tarantella, Stars & Stripes – New York
But stuck in the middle of all this brightness was Ivesiana, like a ghost at a birthday party. It is a most unsettling ballet.
Paul Taylor – Cascade, To Make Crops Grow, Beloved Renegade – New York
Beloved Renegade – I’d venture to say that this is one of Taylor’s great works, heartfelt, profound, complex and deeply musical.
Paul Taylor – Gala: Junction, 3 Epitaphs, Perpetual Dawn, Offenbach – New York
Opening night was a gala performance; one might have expected Esplanade, or Arden Court, but that’s just not Taylor’s style. For a choreographer who has been criticized for being too popular in his tastes, Taylor can be very odd indeed.
New York City Ballet – N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, Waltz Project – New York
N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz is certainly not Robbins’ finest or most original work but perhaps because of its relative straightforwardness, it reveals much about what is so remarkable about this choreographer.
New York City Ballet – Paz de la Jolla premiere and bill – New York
It’s a good thing indeed when a visit to the ballet turns out to be a night full of surprises, all of them good.
New York City Ballet – Divertimento from Le Baiser de la Fée quad bill – New York
Is there a ballet more deceptive than Balanchine’s Divertimento from ‘Le Baiser de la Fée’? If so, I’m not aware of it.
New York City Ballet – Two Hearts, Year of the Rabbit, Les Carillons – New York
There should be more nights like this at New York City Ballet.
New York City Ballet – Black and White program – New York
I’ve noticed two troubling trends this season at New York City Ballet. Perhaps they are connected. The first is the creeping tendency toward stolid tempi from the pit…
New York City Ballet – Stravinsky/Balanchine Firebird quad bill – New Work
The highlight of the program was the seldom-performed Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la Fée”. It is a deceptively shadowy work, a fairy tale in the guise of a conventional divertissement.
New York City Ballet – Apollo, Orpheus, Agon – New York
What is there to say about Orpheus, except that it seems to slip deeper into the recesses of time? I’ve read that at the première, the critic and poet Edwin Denby was so moved by it that he sat dumbfounded during intermission, unable to stand. It is difficult to imagine such a reaction today.
Paris Opera Ballet – Orpheus and Eurydice – New York
Bausch is a mystery. To some, she represents the summit of poetry and expression, worthy of a cult-like following. Clearly, these dancers derive great emotional sustenance from performing her work. And it suits them. But, with the exception of Gillot’s solo and a few moments here and there, it left me cold.
Paris Opera Ballet – Giselle – New York
The arrival of the wilis takes one’s breath away. Not only are they individually beautiful, with their soft port-de-bras and milky-white shoulders, but they are all eerily the same, in every way: same size, same build, same arms, same tilt of the head, same gaze, same feet.
Paris Opera Ballet – Suite en Blanc, L’Arlesienne, Bolero – New York
Nicolas Le Riche was fabulously predatory in Bolero, a raging furnace of self-love and sex appeal. One imagines that after the show he must have ravaged a hundred virgins, but maybe he simply went home and soaked his feet in the tub, but in any case, he was magnificent, good taste (and choreography) be damned.
Australian Ballet – Infinity Mixed Bill & Swan Lake – New York
How can a company make good impression with just a few performances of one or two programs? The pieces have to be representative, interesting, and show the company in a the best possible light. It’s not easy, as the recent Lincoln Center performances of Australian Ballet have shown.
New York City Ballet – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – New York
In the second act, storytelling gives way to pure dance, the highpoint of which is one of the most delicate, poetic pas de deux ever made – an allegory of love, danced by an unidentified couple. It is a Balanchinean vision of absolute trust and partnership…
New York City Ballet – Spring Gala – New York
I think it’s safe to say that neither of the new works knocked the planet off its axis…
New York City Ballet – Opening Night of Spring Season – New York
It’s becoming something of a New York City Ballet tradition to start off the season with, if not a whimper, then let’s say a less-than-stellar performance. Perhaps it’s a kind of exorcism, a ritual cleansing. Maybe that’s why the gala usually takes place a few days later…
