Martha Graham Dance Company – Graham Deconstructed: El Penitente, Hérodiade – New York
★★★✰✰ Both El Penitente and Hérodiade are from the 40’s, a period when Graham was transitioning from exploration of American and Native-American themes to a more mythical mode.
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 – Concerto Barocco, Kammermusik No. 2, Who Cares? – New York
There is perhaps no better way to start off a season at New York City Ballet than with a performance of Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco.
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.
Ballet Across America – Sarasota, Washington and Pennsylvania Ballet – Washington
I am happy to report that the biggest discovery of the second program was The Sarasota Ballet, a company founded in 1991 and currently directed by former Royal Ballet dancer Iain Webb…
New York City Ballet – Concerto Barocco, Kammermusik No. 2, Firebird, Symphony in C – Saratoga Springs
After the dreary bombast of Alexei Ratmansky’s recent Firebird for American Ballet Theatre, the Balanchine/Robbins version, with its blessedly shorter score (Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite), heavenly Chagall designs and the great Ashley Bouder in one of her first great roles, was a welcome palliative.
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…
