What happens when a choreographer goes off the beaten path? This past Friday's New Combinations program at The New York City Ballet staged unique works in the repertory of four icons of the field: Wheeldon, Peck, Robbins, and Ratmansky. The four choreographers taken together offer ballets that we can view as academic curiosities, forgettable B-Sides, or explosive new dance visions.
I think I've seen Jewels at least 200 times in my life. Notwithstanding all the performances-excellent, good, mediocre, or just beyond mention, the ballet always yields rewards in its seemingly abundant outpouring of music and dance. We all know Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky from so many Balanchine ballets. Who would have thought of Gabriel Fauré?
New York City Ballet (NYCB) has gone through some changes in the past year. In an interview with Jonathan Stafford, Artistic Director, and Wendy Whelan, Associate Artistic Director, Whelan said, 'Change is hard, but change is natural. It's not always easy, but it is informative. And ultimately, it's healthy. It's part of life.'
This past year, while attending an extraordinary program at Paris's Opéra Garnier which featured the Paris Opera Ballet tackling, among other works, Pina Bausch's Rite of Spring, I wondered to myself, 'Why is New York still the house of Balanchine?' Sure, it could be argued other choreographers have made their mark on the company, from Robbins to Wheeldon to Peck, but the basic machinery of the pieces and their executions is consistently Balanchine in a way that Paris isn't Nureyev. Lincoln Center is nearly as synonymous with Balanchine as Bayreuth is with Wagner. Happily, this past Tuesday's four-part 'All Balanchine' program was an excellent justification for the company's conservation of the choreographer's composition and indelible flair.
The new artistic director and co-director of the New York City Ballet looked a little nervous Tuesday as they awkwardly welcomed the Kennedy Center audience to their annual week-long residency.
Bringing together some of today's most remarkable ballet talents, Daniel Ulbricht's Stars of American Ballet returns to Jacob's Pillow, appearing in the Ted Shawn Theatre August 22-26. A principal dancer with New York City Ballet since 2007, Ulbricht is lauded as "one of the best male ballet dancers in New York" (Dance Magazine). As Artistic Director, curator, and performer, Ulbricht brings a unique vision and perspective to performance. With a cast highlighting 14 powerhouse dancers of New York City Ballet, this collective celebrates the legacy of choreographic legend Jerome Robbins with a program of his masterpieces on the occasion of his centennial, augmented by two Robbins-related PillowTalks.
Festival Ballet Theatre (FBT), Orange County's resident professional ballet company, will present the family favorite production of The Nutcracker, December 9 - 24, 2017 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California.
Festival Ballet Theatre (FBT), Orange County's resident professional ballet company, will present the family favorite production of The Nutcracker, December 9 - 24, 2017 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California.
On Saturday evening, October 14, 2017, at the David H. Koch Theater, I saw a performance by NYCB including five contemporary pieces choreographed by four members of NYCB and the fifth who had trained at SAB (School of American Ballet, the official school of NYCB).
Orange County's resident professional ballet company, Festival Ballet Theatre, celebrated the 10th Anniversary of their annual Gala Of The Stars on Friday, August 18th with stellar performances from some of the most distinguished dancers of our time.
New York City Ballet continues to include new choreographies in its repertoire, billed this season as the Here and Now Festival. On May 12, 2017 NYCB performed four newer works created in 1994, 1998, 2006, and a world premiere.
The Works & Process Rotunda Projects Initiative Gala at the Guggenheim Museum raised more than $450,000 in commissioning funds for the Works & Process Rotunda Projects program. The announced initiative will expand the Guggenheim's Works & Process program's commissioned performances into the museum's iconic rotunda. BroadwayWorld has photos from the event below!
April 12, 2016 (BOSTON, MA)—Boston Ballet's spring season kicks off with Mikko Nissinen's Swan Lake, back by popular demand after a record-breaking world premiere in October 2014. Described by Robert Greskovic of The Wall Street Journal as “artful” and “luminous,” the timeless classical masterpiece features choreography by Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and costumes and sets by award-winning designer Robert Perdziola. Boston Ballet welcomes Gonzalo Garcia, principal dancer with New York City Ballet (NYCB), as a guest artist. He will perform Prince Siegfried with Boston Ballet principal dancer Misa Kuranaga on April 29 and 30. Mikko Nissinen's Swan Lake runs April 29–May 26 at The Boston Opera House. Due to the high-ticket demand, an additional performance has been added on May 25 at 7:30 pm.
Boston Ballet's spring season kicks off with Mikko Nissinen's Swan Lake, back by popular demand after a record-breaking world premiere in October 2014.
To judge by Sunday's matinee on April 24, 2016, the New York City Ballet is in good dancing hands-shall I say excellent hands. If two of the three ballets that afternoon did not always meet the demands of the choreographic high level set forward by Balanchine, the dancing most certainly did. It was, to be understated, superb.
April 12, 2016 (BOSTON, MA)—Boston Ballet's spring season kicks off with Mikko Nissinen's Swan Lake, back by popular demand after a record-breaking world premiere in October 2014. Described by Robert Greskovic of The Wall Street Journal as “artful” and “luminous,” the timeless classical masterpiece features choreography by Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and costumes and sets by award-winning designer Robert Perdziola. Boston Ballet welcomes Gonzalo Garcia, principal dancer with New York City Ballet (NYCB), as a guest artist. He will perform Prince Siegfried with Boston Ballet principal dancer Misa Kuranaga on April 29 and 30. Mikko Nissinen's Swan Lake runs April 29–May 26 at The Boston Opera House. Due to the high-ticket demand, an additional performance has been added on May 25 at 7:30 pm.