Sondra Forsyth - Page 6

The eagerly anticipated 2018 NYC Final Round and Gala of Youth America Grand Prix were the best I've seen in all my years of covering YAGP. On the evening of April 18th at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, the technical prowess as well as the beyond-their-years artistry of the competitors in the Final Round gave credence to YAGP's slogan: “Ensuring the Future of Dance”.

Justin Peck, the Resident Choreographer of the New York City Ballet, is listed as the choreographer of “Carousel on Broadway”, currently playing at the Imperial Theatre in NYC. On the afternoon of April 14th 2018, there was still no credit in the Playbill of Agnes de Mille's choreography for the original 1945 production.

The Works & Process series at the Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue in NYC has been giving New Yorkers an up-close-and-personal chance to experience aspects of the creative process for over three decades. One recent installment, a fascinating retrospective entitled “Breaking Bread with Balanchine”, explored Mr. B's passionate involvement with cooking and how his relationship to food influenced his choreography. Food scholar Dr. Meryl Rosofsky researched the “culinary biography” during her resident fellowship at NYU's The Center for Ballet and the Arts.

On April 7th 2016 at New York City Center, Dance Theatre of Harlem ably performed an eclectic quadruple bill in which the closer, the late Geoffrey Holder's “Dougla”, was far and away the best of the evening's offerings.

Back in December of 2017, I wrote a glowing review for BWW DanceWorld of Julliard's New Dances Celebrating the Legacy of Lawrence Rhodes in honor of his retirement after 15 years as artistic director. I am delighted to report that since then, Taryn Kaschock Russell as acting director of Juilliard Dance has kept the program's excellence alive and even judged it a notch upward in terms of superb dancing and choreography. This was evidenced on the afternoon of Saturday, March 24th 2018 during an almost completely satisfying performance of 'Spring Dances' at Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater.

As reported on Broadwayworld.com and elsewhere in December 2017, the New York City Ballet Board of Directors appointed an interim artistic team in the wake of the leave of absence and subsequent resignation of longtime NYCB Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins following accusations against him of sexual harassment.

The 2017 edition of the Juilliard Dance Division's New Dances program celebrates the legacy of its creator and curator, Lawrence Rhodes, who is now artistic director emeritus after an impactful 15 years at the helm as artistic director beginning in 2002. Every annual edition offers four world premieres by emerging choreographers.

On November 16th 2017, opening night of this year's Radio City Christmas Spectacular, the New York City tradition once again treated an excited and cheering audience to a joyous evening of music, dance, technological magic, and of course the inimitable 36-member precision dance team, the Rockettes.

October 26th 2017 was opening night for an 11-day run at New York City Center of award-winning choreographer Matthew Bourne's adaptation of the 1948 film, The Red Shoes.

On October 18th 2017 at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center, the American Ballet Theatre's Fall Gala celebrated Kevin McKenzie's 25th anniversary as Artistic Director with a delightful triple bill.

The World Choreography Awards announced today that seasoned actor/dancer Kenny Wormald will host the seventh annual World Choreography Awards, taking place at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Monday, Oct. 23.

The 14th annual Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center continued the tradition of offering performances of world premiere commissions for works in diverse dance genres by companies from NYC and around the world.

As I noted in my 2015 review of Ballet West's debut at the Joyce Theater in NYC, this company based in Salt Lake City has an admirable command of contemporary ballet . That fact was in evidence once again on October 11th 2017, opening night of Ballet West's five-day run.

In my 2015 review of the Peter Martins version of Swan Lake for the New York City Ballet, I focused on my dismay about the d cor and costumes by Per Kirkeby that strip this classic of its time and place. Yet because I was prepared for that disappointment this time around, I was able to find more to like about the production on the evening of September 20th 2017 when I attended at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center.

On September 19th 2017, opening night of a three-week engagement by Twyla Tharp Dance at the Joyce Theater, a program insert listed an addition to the roster previously slated for the evening.

During a historic evening that was by turns a star-studded celebration of dance and a solemn remembrance of 9/11, the inaugural Chita Rivera Awards offered both joy and solace to the packed house at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on September 11th 2017.

On the evening of Wednesday, July 26th 2017 at Lincoln Center's Koch Theater, the most exciting moment during the Bolshoi Ballet's performance of choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot's ham-handed retelling of the plot of Shakespeare's rollicking comedy, The Taming of the Shrew, was a false fire alarm that sent many audience members scrambling for the exits. The dancers gamely carried on, as noted later in an excellent curtain speech by Lincoln Center Festival Director Nigel Redden, who congratulated them for dancing “impeccably” in spite of the scare.

From July 20th to 23rd 2017 as part of the Lincoln Center Festival in NYC, three of the world's greatest ballet companies danced together for the first time ever in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the premiere of George Balanchine's plotless evening –length masterpiece, Jewels, as well as the 50th anniversary of the festival itself.

John Cranko's Eugene Onegin is often referred to as a “story ballet for grown-ups” since it is devoid of the fantasy birds and other magical creatures that populate so much of the classical ballet canon. The dancers portray real people with real emotions as Cranko brings to life Alexander Pushkin's iconic verse novel. Cranko's version of the tale has new plot twists that some critics have found dismaying while others have applauded them. I fall into the latter category.

An overview on the NYC Metropolitan Opera web site of choreographer Alexei Ratmansky's newest work, “Whipped Cream”, calls the ballet a “dollop of delightful whimsy”. Yet the full-length production by ABT's Artist in Residence, with a run at the opera house from May 23rd to July 1st 2017, is in fact a heaping serving of horror-infused revelry complete with drunken characters and an illness caused by overindulgence in sweets.