Category: DANCE

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Coppelia

New York City Ballet. June 2nd at the Koch Theater.

Tonight’s Coppelia is my favorite program of this year’s NYCB season!!! Ashley Boulder is absolutely gorgeous as Swanilda.

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La Bayadère

American Ballet Theater. May 30th at the Met Opera House.

Tonight’s La Bayadère featured a stunning cast: Gorgeous dancing by Skylar Brandt as Gamzatti, Sarah Lane as Nikiya, and wonderful air time by Herman Cornejo.

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Classic NYCB

New York City Ballet. May 29th at the Koch Theater.

My favorite of the night goes to “Not Our Fate” by Lauren Lovette. The piece showing the relationships between five couples (including same-sex couples) was emotional and moving. I love Lauren’s distinctive movement vocabulary: the way the dancers jumped, the way they turned and twirled, and the curved paths in the air that the dancers went through during assisted lifts. The piece feels dynamic. Everything is evolving. Nothing is ever straight. Altogether, the dancers filled the stage with tangled stories and their innermost desires for love.

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Firebird

American Ballet Theatre. May 26th at the Met Opera House.

Misty Copeland reprised her role as the Firebird, when the show first opened last season. I also loved Cassie Trenary‘s wonderful dancing and gorgeous expressions as the Maiden.

We were also treated to AfterRite by Wayne McGregor. This is the third choreography that I saw within the past year, set to the dramatic music “The Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky. The other two were Pina Bausch’s and Martha Graham’s creations. It was interesting to see a different interpretation of the music.

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Parsons Dance

Parsons Dance. May 24th at the Joyce Theater.

My favorite of the night is the ballet “Wolfgang” originally created in 2005 for the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Of course, having seen “Caught” several times, the piece still impresses every single time.

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Giselle

American Ballet Theatre. May 19th at the Met Opera House.

One of the most beautiful Giselle I’ve seen so far. Hee Seo dramatically captured Giselle’s sorrows and madness. The chemistry between Hee Seo and Roberto Bolle, as Count Albrecht, was wonderful and conveyed the depth of their love for each other.

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José Limón at the Joyce

José Limón Dance Company. May 12th at the Joyce Theater.

José Limón presented quite a different program tonight than they did last year.

Both the opening and closing work were longer in length, and each featured a distinct theme drawn from real world inspirations. “The Unsung, The Body Is a House Without Walls” pays homage to the Native Americans. The piece is powerful and does not have any accompanying music. The only sound comes from the dancers hitting the floor. “Missa Brevis” featuring more than two dozen dancers tells the story of the human spirit overcoming hardships at the end of WWII.

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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)