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Crowd Pleasers

“What the Day Owes to the Night,” “Czardas,” “One Last Good Chance,” “Four Corners”
La Compagnie Hervé Koubi,  Stephen McRae, Pam Tanowitz,  Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Fall for Dance, Program 2
City Center
New York, NY
October 3, 2015

by Martha Sherman
copyright © 2015 by Martha Sherman

If you attended the early Fall for Dance festivals, starting a dozen years ago, you may remember the novel combination of elements that this festival offered: its global reach and commitment to dance diversity, its mix of classical and contemporary movement, its accessibility to audiences new to dance, and its crowd-pleasing displays of athletic and gymnastic prowess. The 2015 Festival is built on precisely the same dependable principles, and it delivers just what has now long been expected. That’s not a bad thing, but it isn’t very interesting. Because it avoids taking any risks with the works offered, this popular festival often feels like a missed opportunity, especially with an increasingly dense annual schedule of dance festivals in New York and around the country, and the breadth of dance and performance art that global reach embraces.

Photo: Cast of La Compagnie Hervé Koubi in "What the Day Owes to the Night." Photo © Julieta Cervantes.

Tunnel Vision

“Polaris,” “The Blue of Distance,” “Common Ground,” “New Blood,” “Thou Swell”
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
September 30, 2015

by Leigh Witchel
© 2015 by Leigh Witchel

After a week of Peter Martins’ “Swan Lake,” New York City Ballet got back to the business of making ballets. The fall gala offered four new works from four young men: Justin Peck and Troy Schumacher from the company; Myles Thatcher and Robert Binet from outside the walls. To give the evening more buzz, the company again paired each choreographer with a fashion designer. The result was four handsome, well-made new works, all seemingly joined by a common aesthetic under their skins. But is that a good thing?

Amar Ramasar and Rebecca Krohn in “Thou Swell.” Photo © Paul Kolnik.

Patterns

Chris Schlichting’s “Stripe Tease”
Solange MacArthur Studio Theater
American Dance Institute
Rockville, Maryland
October 3, 2015

by George Jackson
© 2015 by George Jackson

A set starting point and a final stop are among the traits of “Stripe Tease”, which lasts one hour. As the lights come up, although not brightly at first, two bodies dressed simply but diversely in black, walk with determination and pose pliantly. Their poses are like animated pieces of body sculpture – Rodin figures come to life. The jet black of the backdrop curtain and of the dancers’ tricot wear contrasts with the shades of their skin. The only apparent stripes are the slight ones between the dance floor’s panels that have been laid out horizontally. One of the pair of dancers is definitely a man, being bearded and showing tough leg muscles. The other figure, more covered and willowy, wears black ear rings. Later, when distinctly lit, this dancer also registers as male. The pair’s supple poses might become embraces if their bodies touched, but they do not. Contrast between the efficient stepping and the languid undulations is stark. Motion differences become complex, more intricately patterned as additional dancers are added to the cast and as changes occur in the accompanying sound scape and scenery. Schlichting plays with precise repetitions and approximations. Continuity and diversity of the action seem his cardinal concerns rather than the fathoming of form in its overarching sense, the furthering of organic development or the nurturing of individuals’ growth.  

Gracious Living

"Liebeslieder Walzer", "Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
New York, NY
October 1, 2015

by Mary Cargill 
copyright © 2015 by Mary Cargill

For its first non-gala program of the Fall New York City Ballet honored Balanchine, and its audience, with two of the choreo- grapher's most potent works: "Liebeslieder Walzer" and "Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3". "Liebeslieder Walzer" is an ensemble piece which works only when all four couples (Sterling Hyltin and Jared Angle, Ashley Laracey and Justin Peck, Sara Mearns and Ask la Cour, and Jennie Somogyi and Tyler Angle) create a unified, harmonious, civilized nineteenth-century world. The program doesn't list the coach, unfortunately, but the performance was rich, nuanced and captivating; though the ballet never gets a raucous ovation, its gentle candlelight aura lingered.

Jennie Somogyi and Justin Peck in "Liebeslieder Walzer". Photo © Paul Kolnik.

 

Strangers in a Strange Land

"Cinderella"
Mariinsky Ballet
Cal Performances, Zellerbach Hall
Berkeley, CA
October 1, 2015

by Rita Felciano
© 2015 by Rita Felciano

What an odd work Alexander Ratmansky's 2002 "Cinderella" is. If you expected Disney-type romance at its West Coast premiere at Cal Performances opening of this year's dance season, you might have been in disappointed. The house was packed but the "exit polls" expressed as much consternation about this production as admiration for the dancers, particularly, of course the glorious Diana Vishneva and her princely Prince Konstantin Zverev. It would be difficult to completely disagree with the audience's ambivalence since the love story at times almost played second fiddle to the choreographer's fascination with depicting a society that has no room for the individual. And most certainly doesn't believe in the possibility of true love. So when the two lovers at the end fade away into a "Sleeping Beauty" slumber we are rather glad for them.

 Mariinsky Ballet in "Cinderella."
Photo © Vladimir Baranovsky