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Sara Mearns at Jacob’s Pillow

“Sara Mearns: Beyond Ballet”
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, MA
August 17, 2019

by Gay Morris
copyright © 2019 by Gay Morris

Sara Mearns is a dancer of power and range, so it is not surprising that she might want to join the burgeoning number of ballerinas who have sought to explore the challenges of genres outside their own. Mearns, a principal with New York City Ballet, appeared last week at Jacob’s Pillow in a production entitled “Sara Mearns: Beyond Ballet,” and in it she applied herself to new dance forms with the seriousness and focus one would expect from this exceptional dancer. She danced in works by five choreographers, and was accompanied by three different partners during the course of the performance. What made her show unusual was that all her partners, and all but one of the choreographers, were women.

Sara Mearns and Honji Wang in the Company Wang Ramierez duet, "No.1." Photo: Christopher Duggan.

Saying Something, Meaning More

"Darl," "Seventy-Two Hours," "Two Sides Of," "Reverie," "Dialogue Dances"
The Joyce Ballet Festival, Program B
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
August 10, 2019 

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2019 by Marianne Adams

Program B of the Joyce Ballet Festival, curated by The Royal Ballet’s star Lauren Cuthbertson, at first could have seemed like an odd grab bag of material, as thematically its one United States and four world premieres hardly had a connecting thread (besides the almost uniform prominence of Cuthbertson).  On reflection though, the program amounted to the ballerina's expression of a multitude of angles, from humorous to lyrical, to ethnic, to dramatic, and a multitude of themes, all in the little time a night’s bill can allot. Whether these were facets of her interests, or themes she wanted to put in front of the audience, the whole was made richer by its parts, and seemed to have left a lot still unsaid upon the curtain’s fall.

Photo of Lauren Cuthbertson in "Darl." Photo Copyright (c) by Maria Baranova

Curating and Collaborating

"Then and Again", "Song of a Wayfarer", "Elite Syncopations (divertissement)"
Ballet Festival Program C
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
August 13, 2019

by Carol Pardo
copyright ©2019 by Carol Pardo

If The Joyce Theater's 2019 Ballet Festival is intended as a showcase of or for the Royal Ballet, this program, created by the designer -- and former dancer -- Jean-Marc Puissant, a frequent collaborator with Christoper Wheeldon at the Royal and in New York, seemed a strange way to show it. Members of the company did not arrive onstage until "Elite Syncopations" the final ballet of the evening and the only one actually in repertory at the Royal Ballet. Even then, they were joined by Cassandra Trenary of American Ballet Theatre. True, Gemma Bond, choreographer of "Then and Again" danced with the Royal Ballet and studied at its school, but after years at A.B.T. she seems like a local. True, Béjart's "Song of a Wayfarer'" was made for Rudolf Nureyev who found his home in the West with the company. But those links are indirect. Perhaps Trenary's presence and the program as a whole were intended to underscore the theme of collaboration, considered by the Royal's director Kevin O'Hare to be central to this edition of the festival.

Joseph Gordon in Maurice Béjart's "Song of a Wayfarer" photo by Maria Baronova

 

Bits and Pieces

"Asphodel Meadows pas de deux", "Dance of the Blessed Spirits from 'Orpheus and Eurydice: Dance in the Elysian Fields,'" "Concerto pas de deux", "Within the Golden Hour (two duets)", "Obsidian Tear," "Qualia pas de deux," "Jojo," "Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan"
Ballet Festival Program A
The Joyce Theater
New York, NY
August 6, 2019

by Carol Pardo
copyright ©2019 by Carol Pardo

Once upon a time, the Royal Ballet was a reliably frequent visitor to New York City. The locals knew its dancers, repertory and history almost as well as those of the home teams. The high cost of touring put an end to such familiarity. So the prospect of seeing even a small sliver of the company, in combination with the dearth of ballet in town in August, filled the Joyce with an enthusiastic audience. The program, comprised of solos and duets and over in eighty minutes, was a lightning fast Cook's tour of the company's history, dancers familiar and new, and repertory, spanning Ashton and MacMillan, but with the accent on the younger generations, and dances less than a decade old.

Joseph Sissens in Sir Frederick Ashton's "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" photo by Maria Baronova

A Brilliant Collaboration at Jacob’s Pillow

“The Day”
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, MA
August 3, 2019

by Gay Morris
copyright © 2019 by Gay Morris

“THE DAY” was the brainchild of cellist Maya Beiser, but by the time it was finished it was a genuine gesamtkunst- werk involving nine creative people, including choreo- grapher Lucinda Childs and dancer Wendy Whelan. The work was given its world premiere this past week at Jacob’s Pillow.

Maya Beiser and Wendy Whelan in "THE DAY" with choreography by Lucinda Childs and music by David Lang. Photo at left and below by Hayim Heron.

Kyle Abraham’s A.I.M. at Jacob’s Pillow

“state,” “INDY,” “The Quiet Dance,” “Show Pony,” “Drive”
A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, MA
August 1, 2019

by Gay Morris
copyright © 2019 by Gay Morris

Kyle Abraham is everywhere these days, or almost everywhere. He is so busy creating dances for such companies as New York City Ballet and the Paul Taylor Dance Company, he rarely has time to perform with A.I.M., his own group. Jacob’s Pillow audiences are fortunate this week to be able to see Abraham dance a solo with A.I.M (the show runs through Sunday). He created the work, entitled “INDY,” last year for the Joyce Theater in New York. It was the first solo he had made for himself in nearly ten years.

Kyle Abraham in his solo, 'INDY." Photo: Grace Kathryn Landefeld.