Sondra Forsyth - Page 7

On September 9th 2014, opening night of the NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA's six-day run at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center presented by the Joyce Theater Foundation, I found myself enchanted by most of Christopher Wheeldon's choreography for the evening-length production of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". I was also delighted overall with the inventive score by Joby Talbott as well as the elaborate costumes and sets by Bob Crowley. The dancing was first rate, too. What wasn't so wonderful was the silly love story that dramaturge Nicholas Wright felt compelled to introduce into Lewis Carroll's deservedly iconic childhood tale of a plucky young heroine off on her own for a great adventure in dreamland.

Returning to NYC after a nine-year hiatus, the storied Bolshoi Ballet danced to nearly sold-out houses night after night at the Koch Theater during the 2014 Lincoln Center Festival in July. The evening of July 25th, when I saw the company's largely turgid production of "Spartacus", was no exception. Other reviewers had already panned the company's first two ballets of the warhorse repertoire for the run, "Swan Lake" and "Don Quixote". None other than Alistair Macaulay of The New York Times wrote on July 16th that the Bolshoi "seems keen to prove that it has reverted to the ghastly artistic torpor it enjoyed in the last two decades of the Soviet era."

On June 27th 2014 at the Koch Theatre in Lincoln Center during The Boston Ballet's first ever engagement in New York City, the company proved to be better than the New York City Ballet at dancing Balanchine. I know I'm not alone in holding that opinion because I overheard several people seated near me express the same sentiment during the enthusiastic applause for Symphony in Three Movements. The principals and soloists were superb, but the corps de ballet was the true star of the show. In particular, the follow-up movements that flowed flawlessly down a long diagonal line of dancers were mesmerizing. Mr. B, who helped bestow the Ford Foundation funding that allowed E. Virginia Williams to found the company in 1963, would surely have been proud.

On June 3rd 2014, The School of American Ballet's 50th annual Workshop Performance at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Lincoln Center once again proved that Balanchine was right when he famously said "But first a school". That remark was Mr. B's response after Lincoln Kirstein invited him to come to the United States to co-found a ballet company in 1933. Eight decades later, as evidenced by the overall high level of talent and artistry on stage, SAB continues to deserve its reputation as this country's foremost pre-professional training ground for ballet dancers versed in the Balanchine style.

A roll call of dance greats - performers, directors, critics, and historians - took the stage one after the other at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts in New York City on the evening of May 30th 2014 to share their memories of one of the greatest of them all, Frederic Franklin.

On the rain-soaked evening of May 16th 2014, ABT delivered a mood-boosting performance of 'Don Quixote' for a full house of grateful dancegoers at the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center. Dazzling Gallic-flavored dancing and full-throttle comedy to the music of Minkus helped to push dire flash flood warnings out of the minds of many in the audience. I heard plenty of comments during intermissions by people who said that driving in from the suburbs or sloshing through sidewalk puddles was more than worth the trouble. I agreed!

The All Robbins program offered this spring season by New York City Ballet is a testament to the range and depth of the choreographer's genius. 'Glass Pieces', the 1983 work to the driving rhythms of music by Philip Glass, is an ideal opener with its masterful blend of postmodern and classical movement styles that call to mind the pulsating urgency of urban life.

A judicious mix of now-classic Limon works from the 1950s and 1960s along with pieces by current choreographers made for a superb evening of dance on Friday, May 3rd 2014 at the Joyce. For me, Limon's decades-old masterworks have stood the test of time. Not only that, but I applaud artistic director Carla Maxwell for choosing to keep them alive for today's dancegoers. As I always used to tell my ballet students, we can't hang our history on a wall in a museum. The only way to preserve our past is for each new generation of dancers to be adept at performing the entire range of what has gone before as well as what is being created in the present.

Dance Theatre of Harlem's 2014 run at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the second New York season after a nine-year absence, drew to a satisfying close on the afternoon of Sunday, April 27th with a well-chosen triple bill. The beloved troupe, America's first African American ballet company, was forced to go on hiatus in 2004 when it announced its $2.3 million debt. Now under the able artistic direction of Virginia Johnson, who was a DTH principal ballerina for 28 years, the resurrected national treasure is dedicated to carrying on the mission of founders Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook to 'present a ballet company of African-American and other racially diverse artists who perform the most demanding repertory at the highest level of quality.'

Opening night of Ballet Hispanico's 2014 spring season at the Joyce on April 15th once again featured the fascinating fusion of Latin themes with contemporary movement that has become Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro's trademark during his four years at the helm.

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Youth America Grand Prix, known to all as YAGP, the international competition founded by former Bolshoi principals Larissa and Gennadi Saveliev offered a three-evening celebration at the Koch from April 9th to 11th 2014 that completely converted this former naysayer into a diehard fan. All of my complaints from 2012 and 2013 have been addressed.

On the evening of Sunday, April 6th 2014, an Injury Prevention Workshop wrapped up The Complete Dancer Series for the 2013-2014 academic year at The School at Steps. At $10 per ticket with student discounts, the event attracted an impressively large audience of parents, dance teachers, and dance students. Many of the children looked to be as young as eight or nine. They were by and large interested and attentive, with hands waving eagerly in hopes of getting a chance to use one of the "Magic Circles" during a Pilates demonstration or ask questions during the Q&A session. The kids were also thrilled to receive swag bags with items such as posters, resistance bands, article reprints, and hair accessories from Bunheads.

The evening of March 25th 2014 was opening night for a six-day run at the Joyce Theater of 'Glory', a mostly glorious offering choreographed by Greek-born Andonis Foniadakis for the Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve. A press release referred to the piece as 'an evening-length work' but that depends on your definition of an evening at the theater. 'Glory' is only about an hour long and is performed, wisely, without an intermission. Interrupting the action would have been a mistake. Even so, programming for adults rarely lasts a mere 60 minutes. The company might have been better off giving us a double bill, although to be fair the tickets are modestly priced at $10 to $49 and $26 to $37 for Joyce Theater members.

On the evening of March 20th 2014, as part of the Diamond Anniversary celebration of the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the Koch Theater, the troupe offered a triple bill that included a recent world premiere and an enduring favorite from 1982. The first two offerings, choreographed in 2012 and 2013 respectively, earned only tepid applause from everyone in the audience including me. The closing piece, on the other hand, rightfully received a nearly thunderous ovation and I was clapping as enthusiastically as the rest of the dancegoers. I only hope that this disparity between the work that was choreographed over three decades ago and those more newly created is not an indication that Taylor, at 83, is no longer turning out the top quality dances that secured him a place in the pantheon of great American modern dance pioneers.

I'm not a fan of the fact that standing ovations, once reserved for truly superb performances, have become almost routine in NYC. Often, in spite of not being able to see the curtain calls while everyone in front of me is up and blocking my view, I remain stubbornly in my seat if I feel that plain old clapping is sufficient. Yet on the evening of Friday, March 15th 2014 at City Center, I was on my feet with the rest of the audience to applaud Les Ballets de Monte Carlo's excellent performance of choreographer-director Jean-Christophe Maillot's "LAC - after Swan Lake". The ballet premiered in 2011 but the all-too-brief run from March 14th to 16th this year, celebrating Maillot's 20th anniversary with Monte Carlo, was the first chance NYC dancegoers have had to see this magnificent production. That's probably more superlatives than I've ever included in the first paragraph of any review!

For the third year, China Arts and Entertainment Group is treating NYC dancegoers to an all-too-limited engagement of a lavish and exquisitely performed dance theater piece at the Koch Theater in Lincoln Center. Opening night of 'The Red Dress' on Thursday March 6th 2014 will be followed by performances on the evenings of March 7th and 8th and a matinee on March 9th. Don't miss this chance to see superbly trained dancers, gorgeous costumes, immaculate ensemble work, ingenious stagecraft, and an enigmatic but satisfying story line. The title refers to the fact that Chinese brides traditionally wear red because it is a strong color that brings good luck. Yet the heroine of this drama seems never to have her dream wedding come true. The musical accompaniment includes some singing in Chinese but you won't need a translation to understand the plot. The universal language of dance tells all.

As a welcome surprise during the New York City Ballet matinee on Saturday, March 1st 2014 at the Koch Theater, the recently renovated orchestra pit rose so that Interim Music Director Andrews Sills could give us an interesting history lesson with the musicians in full view. Under the direction of Guest Conductor Henrik Vagn Christensen, they played passages from Debussy's "Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun" and from works by Saint-Saens, Wagner, and Chopin while Sills explained that Debussy was "a bridge" between the legacy of the romantic age and the modern era.

Balanchine once said, "See the music, hear the dance". The audience at the Koch Theater on the afternoon of February 22nd 2014 had the opportunity to do exactly that when the works of three very different choreographers brought treasured violin concertos to life. Kudos to Concertmasters Arturo Delmoni and Kurt Nikkanen, who offered admirable solo violin performances.

During February 2014, the third snowiest on record in NYC, winter weary dancegoers are welcoming the mood-boosting comedy and charm of the New York City Ballet's version of "Coppelia". Staged by Balanchine with the legendary Alexandra Danilova in 1974, the production has musical passages for added male variations from "La Source" and "Sylvia" interpolated into Delibes' inspired original score. Balanchine, who famously said "Ballet is Woman," clearly knew that the vigor and bravura of the gentlemen is also important. On the evening of February 15th at the Koch Theatre, the long-limbed Andrew Veyette as Franz did a decent job of delivering those qualities, although he can't match the virtuosity of many of his NYCB colleagues or the pyrotechnics of American Ballet Theatre's male contingent.

On February 12th 2014 at the Joyce Theater, Royal New Zealand Ballet under the artistic direction of iconic ballet star Ethan Stiefel opened a five-day run that marks the conclusion of the troupe's first U.S. tour in 21 years. Dancegoers in four cities -- Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Minneapolis, and New York -- have had the chance to see the admirable results of Stiefel's vision and hard work with the 61-year-old company since he took the helm in September of 2011 at the age of 38.