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Moves, Like Words, Becoming Stories

“Woolf Works”
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 17, 2025

by Marianne Adams
copyright © 2025 by Marianne Adams

In a full lineup of classics or classical-feeling story ballets, Wayne McGregor’s “Woolf Works” to Max Richter’s music stood as American Ballet Theatre’s one edgy and daring offering this season. Rooted in literary works by Virginia Woolf and wholly embedded in McGregor’s signature pliant style, this ballet showcased the company at its versatile best, with deeper and more seasoned interpretation from how it was presented last year.  

Photo of Devon Teuscher in Act 1 of “Woolf Works.” Photo © Marty Sohl.

Civilization and its Discontents

“Anna Karenina”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
June 13, 2025

by Denise Sum
copyright © 2025 by Denise Sum

When “Anna Karenina” appeared on the National Ballet of Canada’s season schedule, it was a surprise that it was not the John Neumeier version that the company co-produced in 2018 alongside the Bolshoi Ballet and Hamburg Ballet. Instead, the NBoC announced that it would present the North American premiere of Christian Spuck’s 2014 version, originally created for Ballet Zürich and the Norwegian National Ballet. Neumeier’s version, while ambitious, was far from a hit. It ran too long, was inconsistent in its frame of reference and changed random aspects of Leo Tolstoy’s narrative seemingly for the sake of being different. Thus, an alternate version of “Anna Karenina” was a welcome change. Spuck’s vision of this tragic tale delivered on all fronts – it is visually arresting, choreographically and musically interesting, dramatically cohesive and succinct. Spuck, who now directs Staatsballett Berlin, has worked in opera and theatre and it shows. His interdisciplinary background is an asset when reimagining an epic narrative like “Anna Karenina”. Spuck’s production calls to mind the German concept of “total art” or gesamtkunstwerk – integrating music, movement, sets, costumes, video, lighting and storytelling into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Heather Ogden and Christopher Gerty in "Anna Karenina". Photo by Karolina Kuras. 

Taylored Style

Program A: "Polaris", "Tablet", "Cloven Kingdom"
Program B: "Tablet", "Churchyard", "Esplanade"
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Joyce Theater
New York, New York
June 19, 2025  (Program A) and June 21, 2025, evening (Program B)

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2025 by Mary Cargill

The Paul Taylor Dance Company faces the same problem that all companies built around a founding choreographer face when that choreographer is no longer around—how to keep the company fresh without ignoring the past.  Michael Novak, the current director, has been looking both backwards and forwards without seeming to loose his focus; he has featured new works, especially those of Lauren Lovette, the former NYCB principal who is now the Taylor Company’s resident choreographer, and also reviving older Taylor works which have dropped out of the current repertoire.  And of course, he has worked to keep the well-known works in dancing shape.  The Joyce seasons have featured lesser-known Taylor works and the smaller theater suits the more experimental Taylor.  (I can’t forget Jada Pearman in the 2022 revival of Taylor’s 1957 haunting “Events II”, where she and Eran Bugge quietly shifted positions while listening to the sound of rain falling.)  This year there were two revivals, the 1960 “Tablet” and the 1969 “Churchyard”, both of which have not been performed for some fifty years, as well as three major works from the 1970’s, “Polaris” (1976), “Cloven Kingdom” (1976), and the evergreen “Esplanade” (1975).

Jada Pearman and Paul Taylor dancers in "Esplanade" photo © Steven Pisano

 

Heart and Soul

"Swan Lake"
American Ballet Theatre
Metropolitan Opera House
New York, NY
June 11, matinee 2025

by Mary Cargill 
copyright © 2025 by Mary Cargill

After last year’s New York debut in “Swan Lake”, the critics all raved about Chloe Misseldine’s performance and her on-stage promotion to principal.  I didn’t see it so wondered if her 2025 “Swan Lake” would live up to the hype.  The answer is “No”—it far exceeded it.  Not since the old Royal Ballet’s performances have I seen an Odette who made the emotional arc of the pas de deux so vivid and so immediate.  Of course, the Royal Ballet at that time had an exemplary production, set in the mythical Middle Ages, with an elegiac, sculptural last act.  The issues with ABT’s current Keven McKenzie production have long been evident, and it is clear that after 25 years they are not going to improve, but the clarity of Misseldine’s mime certainly showed some of them up. She made it clear that the mysterious lake was made from her mother’s tears, mourning for her swan-daughter, but the set design clearly showed that Siegfried’s old castle was built beside it, and the irritating and unnecsssary Prologue (fairy tales don't need prequels) showed that the Swamp Man lived in the lake before capturing Odette as she was running around in her nighty.  Not only does this contradict her story, it ruins the drama of Odette’s official entrance where music builds the excitement of her leap onto the stage—what is the surprise  when the audience has already seen her?  And while no one would ever think Siegfried was a candidate for Mensa, it does seem that he or someone in his retinue would notice a lake suddenly appearing at his front door.

ABT dancers in "Swan Lake" photo © Rosalie O'Connor

Group Effort

"Raymonda Variations", "Cortège Hongrois (excerpt)", "Schubert Symphony", "Glass Pieces (excerpt)"
School of American Ballet Workshop
Peter Jay Sharp Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
June 7, matinee, 2025

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2025 by Mary Cargill

With the exception of the opening “Raymonda Variations”, with its pas de deux and sparking female variations, this year’s SAB workshop featured ensembles, so not many individual dancers stood out. What did shine was beautifully cohesive dancing and a warm spirit—the anonymous couples all looked at each other, the men generously offering their arms and the women reacting with a gentle graciousness that elevated the scrupulous dancing into a performance.  This was especially true of the new ballet, a premiere by NYCB corps member Laine Habony entitled “Schubert Symphony”, a lacy neoclassical work choreographed to the second and third movements of Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 3 in D Major.

 

Such sweet sorrow

Adieu: A Celebration of Guillaume Côté
“Bolero”, “Reverence”, “King’s Fall”, “Grand Mirage”
The National Ballet of Canada
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
Toronto, Canada
May 30, 2025

by Denise Sum
copyright © 2025 by Denise Sum

Guillaume Côté has been a household name in Canadian ballet almost since the start of his career at The National Ballet of Canada 26 years ago. Chosen for prime principal roles early on, his range and depth as a dancer lived up to and surpassed the promise of those early days. He raised the profile of the NBoC and guested internationally with the likes of American Ballet Theatre and La Scala Theatre Ballet. Originally from Lac-Saint-Jean, a small town in Quebec, he graduated from Canada’s National Ballet School and stayed at the NBoC for his entire career. He is also somewhat of a renaissance man, versed not just in dance performance but also in choreography and music composition. He was one of the first choreographic associates of the NBoC and also is the director of Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur. Most recently, he founded his own company, Côté Danse, which will soon tour Canada, the United States and Germany. His story is the stuff of Canadian ballet legends. 

Guillaume Côté in "Grand Mirage". Photo by Karolina Kuras. 

The Bugs are Out

"A Midsummer Night'sDream"
New York City Ballet
David H. Koch Theater
Lincoln Center
New York, New York
May 31 evening,  2025

by Mary Cargill
copyright © 2025 by Mary Cargill

Adorable dancing bugs start and finish Balanchine’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, performed by very well-trained SAB students with a minimum of cuteness.  Of course there were oohs and aahs from the enthusiastic audience when they fluttered on, but they danced with a sweet-natured concentration and had no “Hi, Grandma” vibes.  The rest of the cast, too, rarely let the Shakespearian comedy carry over into slapstick, and the dancers gave their roles individuality and nuance.  Balanchine’s version does have some logical inconsistencies—why does Oberon repeat his mime as if the audience didn’t get it the first time, why does Titania have a luminous pas de deux with an anonymous boy-toy, and why, when the first act emphasizes the completely arbitrary and inconsistent nature of love does the second half feature an iridescent  pas de deux  by an unrelated couple celebrating trust, confidence, and maturity?  But these questions do disappear when watching the glorious, beautiful, and often very funny work.

SAB students in Balanchine's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" photo © Paul Kolnik