New York City Ballet – Classic NYCB I including Haieff Divertimento & Episodes – New York
★★★★✰ The four ballets make for a slightly over-long evening (both Episodes and Rodeo are substantial works). But it’s a small price to pay for seeing these rarities back onstage.
Paul Taylor American Modern Dance – Gala including new Kyle Abraham – New York
★★★★✰ As a special one-off, Michael Trusnovec, now a guest artist, danced the solo from George Balanchine’s spiky and ascetic Episodes which he made for Paul Taylor in 1959.
Suzanne Farrell Ballet – Forever Balanchine: Farewell Performances – Washington
★★★★★ As artistic director of her own troupe, Farrell was able to take her devotion to Balanchine and her aspiration to promote and preserve his legacy to a new level. For nearly 20 years, Washington audiences have enjoyed an annual mini-festival of Balanchine’s works…
New York City Ballet – Liturgy, Polyphonia, Odessa, The Times are Racing – New York
★★★★✰ The oldest piece on the program is Wheeldon’s Polyphonia. Made in 2001, it has stood the test of time. Just last week it was performed at the Fall for Dance festival…
New York City Ballet – HERE/NOW Festival, Wheeldon Quad bill – New York
★★★✰✰ It’s a shame that the company didn’t choose to revive some Wheeldon rarities from its back catalogue…
New York City Ballet – Divertimento No. 15, Episodes, Vienna Waltzes – New York
★★★★✰ Divertimento’s aura still shines; you want to see it again, to figure out its fluid, almost magical transitions. It’s a shame it will only be performed four times this season; it takes more than that for the audience, and the dancers, to really get to know it.
Boston Ballet – Shades of Sound: Chroma, Episodes, Black Cake – Boston
All three performances brought home the fact that this is a very strong company with the skills to perform any choreography that comes its way…
Keigwin + Company – Program 1, National Symphony Orchestra: NEW MOVES: symphony + dance season – Washington
The idea behind the National Symphony Orchestra’s “NEW MOVES: symphony + dance” festival was ingenious and simple: to promote American contemporary music and to attract new audiences …
Suzanne Farrell Ballet – Mozartiana, Episodes – Washington
The much admired Suzanne Farrell Ballet have just been performing at their Kennedy Center home in Washington – Oksana Khadarina reviews the Balanchine works (Mozartiana and Episodes) on Programme A…
New York City Ballet – Black & White Balanchine bill – New York
What most struck me on this particular evening was the transparency, and clarity of intention, that marked each work.
Bill T. Jones – Ravel: Landscape or Portrait? and Story/ – New York
It takes a certain amount of nerve to build a dance season around some of the great masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire. It’s not simply a matter of status in the musical canon; these pieces are strong, they produce emotions, they command attention for themselves. But Bill T Jones is not a timid artist…
