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The Celebration Continues

"The Four Temperaments", "Pas de Trois (Glinka)", "Pas de Deux from Agon", "Divertimento No. 15"
The Joffrey Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet
Balanchine: The City Center Years
New York City Center
New York, New York
November 3, 2018, matinee

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

The City Center's brief Balanchine celebration made the wide appeal of Balanchine's choreography clear on this Saturday matinee as the varied program had no performances by Balanchine's own company.  These performances had different accents, some thicker than others, but the companies all met the challenges with enthusiasm and care.  The Joffrey's "The Four Temperaments" was on the careful side (the company has only recently acquired it), but was scrupulously clear; the choreography was blazingly vivid, if not always as sharply accented as it can be at NYCB.

Stefan Goncalves in "The Four Temperaments" photo © Paul Kolnik

'Kreatur"

“Kreatur”
Sasha Waltz & Guests
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn, New York
November 2, 20 18

by Gay Morris
copyright© 2018 by Gay Morris

Contemporary German choreo- graphers are not known for light-hearted fare, but Sasha Waltz’s “Kreatur,” which opened Friday at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, may set a record for dystopian gloom. Not that there is much optimism on either side of the Atlantic these days.

Dancers in the opening section of Sasha Waltz's "Kreatur." Photo: Stephanie Berger.

Balanchine's City Center Years Continues

“Apollo,” “Concerto Barocco,” Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,” “Divertimento No. 15”
Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, Royal Ballet, San Francisco Ballet
Balanchine: The City Center Years
New York City Center
New York, New York
November 1, 2018

by Gay Morris
copyright© 2018 by Gay Morris

Last year the Lincoln Center Festival celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of George Balanchine’s “Jewels” by inviting the Paris Opera Ballet, the Bolshoi, and New York City Ballet to perform sections of the work, trading off sections at various performances. One good idea deserves another, and now City Center, as part of its seventy-fifth anniversary is devoting this week to Balanchine works danced by a variety of companies. The repertory is made up of ballets danced during the company’s residency at City Center from 1948 to 1964.

Mariinsky Ballet dancers Xander Parish, Maria Khoreva, Anastasia Nuikina and Daria Ionova in George Balanchine's "Apollo" at New York City Center.

At the Beginning

"Serenade", "Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux", "Tarantella", "Symphony in C"
Miami City Ballet, The Mariinsky Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet
Balanchine: The City Center Years
New York City Center
New York, New York
October 31, 2018

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2018 by Mary Cargill

When Mayor Fiorello La Guardia established the New York City Center 75 years ago, the current president Arlene Shuler's gracious opening speech reminded the audience it was New York's first performing arts center.  Several years later, in 1948, it became the first home of the New York City Ballet, and the Center is hosting a five-day festival of eight companies performing 13 of the ballets originally performed at City Center.  New York City Ballet, of course, joined the roster, along with Miami City Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet, both led by former Balanchine dancers. In addition, the eclectic Joffrey Ballet, and three international companies, the Mariinsky, the Royal Ballet, and the Paris Opera Ballet, represent Balanchine's universal appeal, (though, probably due to logistics, the American companies got the larger ballets and the foreign companies the pas de deux).

New York City Ballet in "Symphony in C photo © Paul Kolnik

Akram Khan's "Xenos"

“Xenos”
Akram Khan
White Light Festival
Rose Theater, Lincoln Center
New York, New York
October 31, 2018 

by Gay Morris
copyright© 2018 by Gay Morris

Akram Khan has long been one of the UK’s most inventive dance artists. He is known for imaginatively combining classical Indian Kathak dance with contemporary western forms, and for his collaborative productions with important artists from varied genres. “Xenos,” presented as part of Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, has to do with Indian soldiers who fought for Britain in World War I. As such, this hour-long solo may be one of Khan’s greatest challenges.

Akram Khan removing the strings of bells worn by Kathak dancers in his solo,  "Xenos." Photo: Jean Louis Fernandez.

A Peek Into the Dark

“Silhouettes”
Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company
Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium
National Portrait Gallery
Washington, DC
October 30, 2018

by Arielle Ostry
copyright © 2018 by Arielle Ostry

Before photography was invented in 1839, silhouettes were pretty trendy. These simple, economical cut-outs of a person’s profile were easily available, so even people belonging to marginalized minority groups were able to get silhouettes made. As a result, those who study these underrated slivers of history are able to recognize America’s diversity. The concept of silhouette features the distinct difference between light and dark, and the National Portrait Gallery’s (NPG) new exhibit, “Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now,” is based on this simplistic art form, exploring the past versus present usage. All the while, Dana Tai Soon Burgess’s latest work, inspired by the “Black Out” exhibit, investigates the multiple abstract contrasts — good and evil, love and greed, remorse and empathy — occupying a person’s subconscious mind. The topic of silhouette provided a vast opportunity for subjective imagery and symbolism, and Burgess and his company capitalized on this chance to present an elaborate, revealing show.

Photo: from left to right, Joan Ayap and Christin Arthur in "Silhouettes." Photo by Matailong Du.