Saturday’s Gala at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center had a relaxed, laid-back feel that matched the hot, humid evening, but the outdoor setting and sticky weather didn’t stop the crowds from dressing up for the occasion. Nor was the event lacking in star power: Rita Moreno, who played “Anita” in the film version of [...]

Designed by NYCB soloist Craig Hall The New York State Theater was packed on Friday night, and not just with the typical crowd of New York City Ballet devotees. Young people, too, had flocked to Lincoln Center to see the Dancers’ Choice program, a benefit for the Dancers’ Emergency Fund. Principal dancer Jonathan Stafford [...]

Christopher Wheeldon’s Rococo Variations - photo by Paul Kolnik “Here and Now” was a fitting title for a program that featured four contemporary works - the oldest premiered in 1998 - by some of the most sought-after choreographers in ballet today. But I was swept far away from the here and the now, traveling to [...]

There are a ton of upcoming performances and events that I’m really excited about. I’ll certainly try to post reviews of them all, but in the meantime, here’s a peek at some of the performances that I’ll be seeing over the next two weeks: 1) New York City Ballet’s “Here and Now”: This program includes [...]

Albert Evans, Rebecca Krohn, Jonathan Stafford, and Rachel Rutherford in Russian Seasons (photo by John Ross) Every season, the artistic staff at New York City Ballet has the daunting task of creating a variety of programs that will attract audiences, show variety and breadth - choreographically, musically, and thematically - and will offer the dancers room to [...]

There was definitely a beginning-of-the-season buzz in the air at the NY State Theater on Wednesday night. I heard plenty of snippets of gossip about dancers, and just as many opinions about their dancing. But the mood shifted ever so subtly when Peter Martins came on stage before the performance began. He [...]

At the end of March, American Ballet Theater’s artistic director, Kevin McKenzie, announced the launch of a new multi-year program that will invite female choreographers - one per year for the next three years - to create works for ABT II, a pre-professional company of dancers no older than 20.  Funded by Altria Group, Inc, [...]

Over the past week, I’ve heard two pieces of music for dance on WYNC, New York public radio: John Adams’ The Chairman Dances, which Peter Martins used for a 1988 ballet of the same name; and Georges Bizet’s Symphony No. 1 in C major, which is the score for George Balanchine’s 1947 Symphony in C, [...]

American Songs and Dances is a fitting title for the New York City Ballet program I saw on Wednesday night, which included Thou Swell, Ives, Songs, and West Side Story Suite. These are all period pieces, occurring at a specific time and place in America - and all (refreshingly) without tutus. Peter Martins’ [...]