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ABT's Onegin

“Onegin”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 4, 2012

by Gay Morris
© 2012 Gay Morris


American Ballet Theater unveiled a new production of John Cranko’s “Onegin” Tuesday that looks surprisingly like the old one. Santo Loquasto’s designs are lighter and more impressionistic than those Jürgen Rose created for the original staging, but they keep to the same time periods of early and mid-nineteenth century. Since the choreography and direction remain as they were in the past, the net effect is that the ballet seems slightly airier but otherwise little changed. This may have been part of the plan, since it does not alter Cranko’s original conception and allows emphasis to remain on the plot and characters. Not that much could detract from Tuesday’s stellar cast, which was led by Marcelo Gomes, Diana Vishneva, Natalia Osipova and Jared Matthews.

ABT's Tudor Quickie

American Ballet Theatre
Antony Tudor Centennial Celebration
New York City Center
October 31, 2008

by Gay Morris
copyright 2008 by Gay Morris

Antony Tudor is considered one of the great ballet choreographers of the twentieth century, and since his career was closely associated with American Ballet Theatre it is not surprising that ABT would celebrate the centennial of Tudor’s birth, as it did on Friday evening as part of its fall season at City Center. However, Tudor was never easy to place professionally nor easy to deal with personally. Unlike Jerome Robbins, whose long association with New York City was honored by that company last spring, Tudor was not a native son, he did not create a large body of choreography, and he only worked intermittently with ABT. In short, although the company has always claimed Tudor as its own, he was not totally part of it. The ambiguous nature of this relationship may be one of the reasons why Friday’s celebration did not feel altogether committed, showing only sporadic evidence of thought or love.

NYCB's Youthful "Romeo + Juliet"

"Romeo + Juliet "
      New York City Ballet
      New York State Theater
      New York, NY
      May 1, 2007   

by Gay Morris
      copyright © 2007 by Gay Morris

According to published accounts, Peter Martins seriously considered whether the world needed another “Romeo and Juliet” before embarking on a production for New York City Ballet. The world probably does not need another ”Romeo and Juliet” ballet, there are already more than enough, but at least Martins’ production has many good things in it. The company premiered the work Tuesday evening as the main feature of its glamorous spring gala, this year made even more glamorous by the presence of President Bill Clinton in the audience. Martins dedicated the evening to Lincoln Kirstein as part of the New York City Ballet founder’s centenary celebrations. It was probably more a convenience than a conscious effort to create a work in Kirstein’s honor since it is hard to imagine Kirstein being interested in a “Romeo and Juliet” that was transposed fairly literally from play to ballet. Kirstein was more concerned with advanced art works than with traditional ones.