American Ballet Theatre. May 14th at the Met Opera House.
Opening night of the ABT Met Opera season. Loved the beautiful dancing by Hee Seo in Giselle.
Opening Night of ABT Met Opera Season
NYCB: Tribute to Robbins
New York City Ballet. May 10th at the Koch Theater.
This evening’s tribute to Jerome Robbins closed with “Something to Dance About” featuring a stunning showcase of 12 choreographic excerpts from Broadway shows…
Never Never Land (Peter Pan, 1954)
New York, New York (On the Town, 1944)
All I Need is the Girl (Gypsy, 1959)
Something’s Coming/Dance at the Gym/Cha Cha (West Side Stories, 1957)
Shall We Dance (The King and I, 1951)
Small House of Uncle Thomas (The King and I, 1951)
Charleston (Billion Dollar Baby, 1945)
The Music that Makes Me Dance (Funny Girl, 1964)
America (West Side Stories, 1957)
Wedding Dance (Fiddler on the Roof, 1964)
Times Square Ballet (On the Town, 1944)
Something Wonderful (The King and I, 1951)
NYCB: All Balanchine
New York City Ballet. April 25th at the Koch Theater.
The highlight of the night goes to Tiler Peck and Joaquin de Luz‘s Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux. I can’t even begin to describe how absolutely incredible Tiler and Joaquin were. So, here are screenshots of Tiler’s own words about their partnering. When Tiler says they went for [the leaps], you know it’s going to be out-of-this-world stunning. Yes, we had as much fun watching you as you did on stage!
The rest of the “All Balanchine” program featured Apollo, Le Tombeau de Couperin, and Symphony in Three Movements.
Master Class with Ballet Hispánico
Joyce Master Class with Ballet Hispánico. April 13th at Gibney Dance.
I had an amazing time learning from Michelle Manzanales. We worked on an excerpt from “Con Brazos Abiertos”.
What I remembered the most were the subtle cultural significance in the piece, Michelle’s emphasis on connecting with other dances, and her reminder to relax. No tension on stage. Not even in our eye brows.
Ballet Hispánico at the Joyce
Ballet Hispánico. April 11th at the Joyce Theater.
Tonight’s program featured two of my all-time favorite choreographies.
The bold and visually stunning “Línea Recta” by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. During the curtain chat, the discussion focused on the contrast between Ballet Hispánico’s strength in partnering and the lack of contact in Flamenco (based on which the piece was created). I thought it was fascinating that Annabelle was able to create the connection between her dancers with limited physical touch.
The powerful story of “Con Brazos Abiertos” by Michelle Manzanales. Ive seen the piece four times, and am still touched by its narrative and feel empowered by its ending. Every single time.
Both of the new works required additional interpretation at the post-curtain chat, for me to appreciate their significance.
“Waiting for Pepe” had several unusual and beautiful choreographic moments. However, without knowing the play “The House of Bernarda Alba” on which the dance is derived, I had trouble following the story arc (e.g., Why is there a chicken lit in neon lights above the stage???), until it was explained by the choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra afterwards.
Similarly, “Espíritus Gemelos” told the story of two Spanish artists, Federico García Lorca and Salvador Dalí. I didn’t grasp the significance of their relationship, until after the curtain chat.
Anna Karenina by Eifman Ballet
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Giselle by Dada Masilo
Throwback to a few shows that I enjoyed this year, but haven’t had a chance to write about…
“Giselle” by Dada Masilo and the Dance Factory was amazing!!!
The dancing was energetic and powerful. The alternate ending was how I always imagined the story of Giselle should have ended. Bravos for creating a character and a story that’s believable!!
April 5th at the Joyce Theater.
Tulsa Ballet
Tulsa Ballet at the Joyce Theater on Wednesday.
What an amazing group of dancers!!! Strong. Powerful. Musical.
I enjoyed learning, at the curtain chat, about the extensive effort the artistic director, Marcello Angelini, put into searching for and recruiting talented dancers. Many candidates don’t know what the company or the city has to offer, but those who come absolutely love dance…. and receive a good contract (40 weeks with benefits) and get to dance a lot.
In fact, more than just dancing a lot, they have also new work created on them often. As part of the “Studio K” that will soon be expanded, the company commissions (and is committed to creating) 4 to 5 new works per year, while giving the choreographers significant resources and artistic freedom.
As a result, tonight’s program featured an incredibly talented group of dancers (from 11 nationalities) and three recent works (by two female and one Asian choreographers).
My favorite goes to the world premier of “Glass Figures” by Ma Cong. I especially like the change of scenario into the night, when the stars came out (i.e., yellow lights hanging off the ceiling) and the night sky turned dark blue. Love the dynamics and movements that accompanied the scenes.
“Shibuya Blues” by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and “Medel (Among)” by Helen Pickett both started out strong, but I personally felt the pieces fizzled out in the second half. However, both were filled with technical elements with jumps, turns, and lifts beautifully executed by the dancers.
Stravinsky and Balanchine
My favorite: “Symphony in Three Movements” opened with 16 ballerinas in white, standing in a single diagonal line across the stage, moving in unison. Five more couples in black and white joined in, before the three principal ballerinas (dressed in red) and three principal male dancers (in black) came on stage. I love the gorgeous movements by the 32 dancers and, of course, the stunning lead role performed by Tiler Peck.
We got a little distracted by the shiny sculptures by Jihan Zencirli Geronimo on display in the promenade.