
Some Memorable Performances of 2018 – New York
Other years have been more exciting, I think, but this one has had its share of remarkable performances, including a few thrilling ones. Here, in no particular order, are the ones that really stood out, for one reason or another.

Paul Taylor American Modern Dance – David H. Koch season – New York
★★★★✰ Even in stillness, Taylor dancers hold immense power in their bodies, the energy potential within them more nuclear than solar.

Interview: Wendy Whelan on staging her first ballet – at Pacific Northwest Ballet
Passing it On: Wendy Whelan Stages her first ballet, Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, for Pacific Northwest Ballet.

School of American Ballet – Workshop Performance: Scènes de Ballet, Hallelujah Junction, Scotch Symphony – New York
★★★★✰ New York City Ballet’s seemingly endless stream of new talent has a source, and that source is the School of American Ballet…

Vail Dance Festival – ReMix NYC – New York
★★★★✰ After watching two of the four programs, a few things stand out. Firstly, it is clear that this is no simple gala, despite the format; there is a strong personal esthetic and philosophy at work behind the programs.

New York City Ballet – Apollo, The Four Temperaments, Duo Concertant, Symphony in Three Movements – Paris
★★★★✰ The pleasure, above all, in watching this company is their fearless super-charge of energy and their commitment as the inheritors of Balanchine’s ballets.

New York City Ballet – Ballo della Regina, Kammermusik No. 2, Vienna Waltzes – New York
★★★★✰ Vienna Waltzes is a sure-fire hit. It seduces on many fronts: the ridiculously flattering gowns by Karinska (her last for the company), the sumptuous music, the multitudes of dancers…

New York City Ballet – Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Sonatine, Mozartiana, Symphony in C – New York
★★★★✰ Some nights at the ballet you just get lucky: all the works are beautiful and the program is well balanced, and each of the casts is led by a ballerina who seems just right for the role.

New York City Ballet – Symphonic Dances, Pictures at an Exhibition, This Bitter Earth, Everywhere We Go – Washington
New York City Ballet’s second bill in Washington was all about 21st-Century Choreographers, with works by Alexei Ratmansky, Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck and Peter Martins.

Washington Ballet – Petite Mort, 5 Tangos, Polyphonia – Washington
The Washington Ballet hit all the right marks with its 70th anniversary season opening program at the Sidney Harman Hall in October.

New York City Ballet – Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition premiere – New York
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, is there a ballet choreographer working today who is more imaginative, more wholly himself, than Alexei Ratmansky?

New York City Ballet – Spring Gala and Justin Peck premiere, Everywhere We Go – New York
Justin Peck has gone from unknown corps-member to choreographer-of-the-moment in a blink of an eye. (He created his first piece for the company in 2012; this is his sixth.)