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.
Fall for Dance 2018, Program 1 – Boston Ballet, Sara Mearns, Caleb Teicher & Co, Cie Hervé Koubi – New York
★★★★✰ On the second night the program was offered, Mearns was stunning, but the remaining three pieces, by three different companies were, to varying degrees, engaging, although hers was a tough act to follow.
Sarasota Ballet – Monotones I & II, Symphony of Sorrows, There Where She Loved – New York
★★✰✰✰ After viewing Ashton on a bill with works by Ricardo Graziano and Christopher Wheeldon, I’m not worried about Ashton’s relevance nor his resonance with a future audience. …Both the Graziano and Wheeldon posed some problems from what some might consider a “female” perspective.
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.
New York City Ballet – Pictures at an Exhibition, ‘Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes, Mercurial Maoeucres – New York
‘Rōdē,ō: Four Dance Episodes premiere: It turns out that this combination of male vigor, Copland, and Peck is a felicitous one.
New York City Ballet – All Bach and Hear the Dance: Russia bills – New York
More from the NYCB Winter Season with Marina Harss reviewing 2 bills made up of 6 works: Concerto Barocco, The Goldberg Variations, Symphonic Dances, The Cage, Andantino and Cortege Hongrois…
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.)
New York City Ballet – Jewels: Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds – Washington
In many ways, Jewels is Balanchine’s choreographic résumé – a retrospective and a vivid showcase of his aesthetics and creative genius…
New York City Ballet – Tradition and Innovation & Just for Fun bills – New York
Jeu de Cartes, by Peter Martins, is jaunty and busy, a cross between the pas de deux in Balanchine’s Rubies, the trios in Danses Concertantes, and the non-stop action of Martins’ Fearful Symmetries….
