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A wish your heart makes

"Cinderella"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
March 10, 2023  

by Denise Sum
copyright © 2023 by Denise Sum

James Kudelka’s “Cinderella” has been a perennial favorite at the National Ballet of Canada since its premiere in 2004. With its broad appeal, “Cinderella” was programmed over March break to draw in families and hopefully gain some new audience members for the company. Kudelka’s modern take on the familiar fairy tale has something for everyone – humor, romance, intricate choreography, stunning designs and high production value. The last time “Cinderella” was performed by the NBoC was in 2016. This most recent run features several noteworthy debuts. 

Genevieve Penn Nabity in “Cinderella”. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of the National Ballet of Canada. 

Identity and Archetypes

"Symphony in C", "Alleged Dances", "Anima Animus"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
March 3, 2023  

by Denise Sum
copyright © 2023 by Denise Sum

The National Ballet of Canada artistic director Hope Muir continues to enrich the company’s repertoire with another interesting mixed program, featuring two new works (a world premiere and a company premiere). As with last year’s fall mixed program which featured ballets by black choreographers Alonzo King and Vaness G.R. Montoya, Muir continues to show a commitment to creating space for representation of BIPOC and women choreographers at the NBoC. Here, she has commissioned a new work, “Alleged Dances” by Rena Butler, whom she collaborated with previously at Charlotte Ballet. Muir also brought British choreographer David Dawson’s striking “Anima Animus” to Toronto audiences for the first time. Throwing in George Balanchine’s brilliant “Symphony in C”, this triple bill highlights the company’s tremendous range. 

Genevieve Penn Nabity and Ben Rudisin in “Anima Animus”. Photo by Bruce Zinger. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada.

The Source

"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 24, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

It is no exaggeration to say that without “The Sleeping Beauty”, ballet as we see it today would not exist.  New York City Ballet’s program provides a useful outline of its importance, starting with the group around Diaghilev and without that great impresario, there would be no Balanchine, no Royal Ballet, and possibly no modern ballet at all. “The Sleeping Beauty” is more than a collection of pretty music and difficult dancing attached to a simple fairy tale, and any production should try to convey what it is about the work that has captivated so many brilliant artists over the years.  Of course, the dancers should not look as if they were tiptoeing around a great cathedral, overawed by the grandeur, but they should all be part of the overarching story.  That story, to me, isn’t just about a nasty guest who was overlooked, and the moral isn’t “doublecheck your list”, it illustrates, so elegantly, the importance of generosity.

Emily Kikta and Peter Walker in "The Sleeing Beauty" photo © Erin Baiano

Without Feathers

"The Sleeping Beauty"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
February 15, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

The New York City Ballet celebrated the day after Valentine’s with “The Sleeping Beauty”, the apotheosis of love, grandeur, and gorgeous music.  Peter Martins’ version, first seen in 1991, remains somewhat of a mixed bag, but it has some stunningly beautiful scenes with magnificent choreography, and often, excellent performances.  It was produced before the Mariinsky and ABT revivals, both based on the notated Petitpa choreography, now housed at Harvard University, and it lacks much of the moral seriousness of these versions.  Those knitting ladies are not just dancing to bouncy music, they show the audience the importance of forgiveness, as the King wavers between justice and mercy.  And Carabosse, the embodiment of petty vindictiveness (an all to human trait) is not Von Rothbart’s first cousin; she is not an irrational evil being who must be destroyed, as she too is forgiven and invited to the wedding.  Martins’ version has changed very little over the years (though for some reason, in this performance the Prince entered the hunting scene hatless—his hat was stored in the wings and picked up later, worn for about a minute and then removed—which made the Lilac Fairy’s forecast that a prince with a feather in his hat would awaken Aurora a bit pointless).

New York City Ballet in "The Sleeping Beauty" photo © Paul Kolnik

Not His First Rodeo

"Copland Dance Episodes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 28, 2023 evening

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

Justin Peck first used Copland's music for his 2015 ballet "Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes", an abstract piece set to Copland's symphonic arrangement of the ballet score that launched Agnes de Mille. For his new full-length ballet (as advertised and sold by the company, though it is a 70+ minute intermission-less piece) he has incorporated most of his earlier "Rodeo" and added two other Copland dance scores, "Appalachian Spring", composed for Martha Graham, and "Billy the Kid", from a now rarely seen ballet commissioned by Lincoln Kirstein and choreographed by Eugene Loring, with Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" as the overture.  All of these works have a spacious grandeur and a Western twang (Copland interspersed cowboy and folk songs into his ballets) and his music evokes sunsets, campfires, boundless horizons, and determined optimism, which the orchestra, conducted by Andrew Litton, brought to life, beginning with the blazingly confident trumpets of the overture.

New York City Ballet in Justin Peck's "Copland Dance Episodes" photo © Erin Baiano.

Two by Two

"Donizetti Variations", "Haieff Divertimento", "Valse-Fantaisie", "Stravinsky Violin Concerto"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
January 17, 2023

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2023 by Mary Cargill

New York City Ballet's Winter season opened with two pairs of Balanchine ballets, as the 19th century confections "Donizetti Variations" and "Valse-Fantaisie" alternated with the more austere and astringent 20th century works "Haieff Divertimento" and "Stravinsky Violin Concerto".  The pairings, with their contrasting styles, showed so clearly how music propelled Balanchine's choreography.  These ballets are all wedded to their scores, the movements intertwined with the music, and, with the barest whisper of a narrative, all have a distinctive emotion.

Ashley Laracey and Joseph Gordon in "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" photo © Erin Baiano

Vangeline's Story

-- By Tom Phillips 

Butoh began in the ruins of post-war Japan as the "dance of utter darkness."  Today it is performed and taught all over the world, and increasingly influential in other techniques and styles. No one is more responsible for this than Vangeline, founder and director of the New York Butoh Institute, which marks its 20th anniversary in 2023. After many years on the margins of the dance world, this year she is flooded in fellowships – including a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to study the brain waves of Butoh dancers. The company is currently in residence with Gibney Dance in New York, for a January 26 showing of Vangeline's "The Slowest Wave."  February 6-10 they'll be at the University of Houston, where scientists will record the dancers' brain activity.

Vangeline was born in 1970 in France, and came to New York in 1992. She told us her life story recently while sitting and stretching on the floor of her dance studio, near the banks of the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.     

            Vangeline Theatre in "The Slowest Wave"  Photo: Michael Blase                         

Mad World

"MADDADDAM"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 30, 2022 

by Denise Sum
copyright © 2022 by Denise Sum

Wayne McGregor's "MADDADDAM", a new work inspired by Margaret Atwood's prescient MaddAddam trilogy (published between 2003 and 2013), has been many years in the making. In an alarming example of life imitating art, the premiere of this dystopian ballet set during a global pandemic was delayed by an actual global pandemic. Of her frightening work of speculative fiction, Atwood has written "it does not include any technologies or biobeings that do not already exist, are not under construction, or are not possible in theory." Lest audience members get too comfortable distancing themselves from the horrific hypothetical scenarios of "MADDADDAM", the message that they could occur in the near future is sobering. It is heavy and dark content, hardly an obvious choice for a classical ballet company. Then again, McGregor has shown with "Woolf Works" that he is not one to shy away from complex, literary material. A large scale, big budget work, "MADDADDAM" brings together many repeat collaborators of McGregor in this joint production between the National Ballet of Canada and the Royal Ballet. It features an original score by Max Richter, design by We Not I and film design by Ravi Deepres. British designer Gareth Pugh created brilliantly imaginative costumes. Atwood is listed as "creative consultant", but has said in interviews that she gave McGregor and his team carte blanche in reimagining her books for the stage. 

Artists of the Ballet in Wayne McGregor's "MADDADDAM". Photo © Karolina Kuras. 

A Holiday Favorite

“The Nutcracker”
New York City Ballet
David Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
December 6, 2022

by Gay Morris
copyright © 2022 by Gay Morris

When New York City Ballet first presented George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” in 1954, New York Times critic John Martin wasn’t happy. He thought it betrayed Balanchine’s dedication to abstraction, which, he said, had revolutionized ballet. But, as so often happened, Balanchine knew best. He added the full-length narrative work to New York City Ballet’s mostly plotless repertory, and it is still a hit to this day, not to mention a major source of revenue for the company.

With these thoughts in mind, I joined the crowd at Lincoln Center on Tuesday evening for one of the many “Nutcracker” performances, with varied casts, that New York City Ballet offers annually from late November through December. And once again, the ballet showed why it has become as much a part of New York’s festive season as the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and neighborhood caroling.

Old Faithful

"The Nutcracker"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
November 25, 2022

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2022 by Mary Cargill

For some people, the Christmas season starts with New York City Ballet's magical tree growing up to the sky with scintillating, musical excitement.  The production has remained basically the same for years; though the Chinese dance has lost much of its flavor, the boys still want to grow up to be cavalry officers and the girls still politely sip their tea and rock their dolls. 

New York City Ballet in "The Nutcracker" photo © Martha Swope

In with the new

"The Collective Agreement", "Crepuscular", "Concerto"
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
November 9, 2022 

by Denise Sum
copyright © 2022 by Denise Sum

The National Ballet of Canada's 2022-2023 season opened with a mixed program ushering in the new. Toronto-born Hope Muir started her appointment as artistic director of the company in January 2022, marking a new era after Karen Kain's 16 year tenure in the role. This repertory program is the first Muir has put together for the NBoC. Muir has expressed a commitment to foster more diversity in the company and its programming, which could be seen here. It featured a new work created by Vanesa G.R. Montoya, principal dancer at Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, which premiered in the summer of 2021 during the company's outdoor performances at the Harbourfront Centre. It also included Alonzo King's "The Collective Agreement", the NBoC's first acquisition from King and the first time this work has been performed in Canada. The program concluded with a revival of Sir Kenneth MacMillan's "Concerto", last performed by the company in 1990. 

Jurgita Dronina and Harrison James in "The Collective Agreement". Photo by Karolina Kuras. 

For the Dancers

"The Dream", "The Seasons"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 26, 2022

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2022 by Mary Cargill

Frederick Ashton choreographed his version of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" as part of the 400th anniversary celebration of Shakespeare's birth.  The ballet also celebrated the birth on one of the twentieth century's most noted partnerships, as it gave Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell the starring  roles and Ashton's Titania and Oberon are saturated with those dancers' qualities. Alexei Ratmansky's "The Seasons", set to Alexander Glazunov's luscious one-act ballet score, premiered in 2019 and celebrated Ratmansky's tenth year as ABT's Artist in Residence, and its cornucopia of dances, to quote the choreographer, "is a celebration of American Ballet Theatre and its dancers".  But ballet dancers don't last forever and new dancers take over roles; fortunately both of these works can bloom with different casts.

Herman Cornejo  in Frederick Ashton's "The Dream" photo © Marty Sohl

Cream Puff

"Whipped Cream"
American Ballet Theatre
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 21, 2022

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2022 by Mary Cargill

Alexei Ratmansky's deceptively frivolous "Whipped Cream" got a bracing performance, led by guest artist Daniil Simkin, the original Boy with the insatiable sweet tooth.  The wisp of a story of a boy celebrating his first communion by sucking up so much whipped cream that he ended up in a hospital where he hallucinated a magical kingdom with a beautiful Princess Praline, only to find, after being threatened by a tipsy doctor, that he could return to that land and eat all the sweets he wanted does not seem like a solid foundation on which to build a complex, full-length ballet.  But Ratmansky, using the original libretto (slightly modified--the rioting proletarian cakes were dropped), the long-neglected Richard Strauss ballet score, and elaborate, detailed sets and costumes by the pop-surrealist Mark Ryden, has created a wonderfully layered, densely choreographed, and captivating extravaganza.  Unlike "The Sleeping Beauty", whose grandeur it nods to, there is no uplifting message, but there is a gentle understanding of childhood, of its confusion and helplessness when faced with authority.  Obviously, watching a boy rewarded for his greed is not going to make anyone a better person, but watching him enjoy himself in such a colorful world certainly makes people happier and the ballet is an innocent, rapturous joy.

ABT dancers in the finale of Alexei Ratmansky's "Whipped Cream" photo © Gene Schiavone

One Night Only

"Episodes", "Vienna Waltzes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 13, 2022

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2022 by Mary Cargill

In a night filled with debuts, the audience was focused on one particular couple, the first and last performance of the final scene of "Vienna Waltzes" by Sterling Hyltin, who is retiring at the end of the season after on last "Nutcracker", and Robert Fairchild, who left City Ballet in 2017, returning to say farewell to his frequent partner.  (Hyltin danced with him in his farewell performance of "Duo Concertant" and requested him for hers.). The audience greeted both with loud applause, but then watched with a breathless silence, concentrating on every nuance.

Sterling Hyltin and Robert Fairchild in "Vienna Waltzes" photo © Paul Kolnik

Viennese Snapshots

"Episodes", "Vienna Waltzes"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 5, 2022

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2022 by Mary Cargill

 

These two ballets, one so austere and the other so luxurious, are both set to Viennese-based music divided into unrelated sections of various moods.  "Episodes", with its black and white leotards, luminous grey background and atonal music (selections of orchestral music by Anton von Webern), is astringent, precise, and impersonal while "Vienna Waltzes" has elaborate scenery (including a majestic transformation scene worthy of any 19th century ballet), yards of gorgeous fabric, luscious melodies by Johann Strauss II, Franz Lehár, and Richard Strauss, and semi-narratives; Balanchine had astounding range as this intriguing program showed.

New York City Ballet in "Vienna Waltzes" photo © Paul Kolnik