Boy, uninterrupted: Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky in new biography 3
alexei ratmansky, center, rehearses the sleeping beauty: from rosalie o’connor photo The Boy from Kyiv: Alexei Ratmansky’s Life in Ballet, Marina Harss’s biography of one of the world’s most active choreographers, is just exactly that: a beautifully written, close examination of the many ways in which the 55-year-old artist’s work and life are intertwined. Moreover, her ...
New moves for Misty Copeland
Misty Copeland‘s name is included on American Ballet Theater‘s current roster of principal dancers during its Metropolitan Opera House season (through July 22). But she is not scheduled for any performances, and has not appeared onstage with ABT since before the Covid pandemic interrupted performances in 2020. But Copeland was present nearby at Lincoln Center ...
On Misty Copeland, gold is the new pink 1
May
13
2020
What ‘ballet pink’ has been for more than a century has gone redefined. It is high time. Enough of that insipid shade. Enter a new theme, dusky gold, the color magnificently worn in these photos by the glorious, triumphant ballerina and principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland. Seen sculpting space in the skyscraper ...
Sending in the clowns for classical ballet renewal 2
James Whiteside (Harlequin), Thomas Forster (Pierrot)photo credit: Andrea Mohin / The New York Times The tears of a clown rained down all weekend at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. It was the West Coast premiere of American Ballet Theatre‘s triumphant reconstruction, Harlequinade —and it was a pip. The dashing Commedia del’arte clowns pictured above, diamond-suited Harlequin and ...
Makarova/Godunov triumph in molasses-tempoed Don Q pas de deux 1
Aug
6
2018
Both are Russian-born-and-trained sensations: she of the Kirov, he of the Bolshoi. Both were Soviet defectors. I never saw him dance in person, but he fascinates me. I saw her dance many times, with American Ballet Theatre. I worship her. Note his one-armed lift (of her) at 0:53. Note her turns — every one of ...
Review: ABT’s Misty·fying ‘La Bayadere’ disappoints 2
Let’s start at the end: During curtain calls at American Ballet Theatre’s “La Bayadère” Friday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, ballerina Isabella Boylston gave her bouquet to her partner Jeffrey Cirio with a deferential flourish. Then, in a strange, gender-bending moment, she and third lead Misty Copeland curtsied, and curtsied some more to Cirio, ...
Be sublime! instructs ‘Bayadere’ coach Susan Jones
Jun
11
2018
It was nice to hear from Susan Jones, the impassioned ballet mistress of American Ballet Theatre who lately admits to a special assignment indeed. “For weeks we have worked on every detail of La Bayadère Act 2 Shades,” she shares on Facebook, referring to the famous sequence that opens the second act of “La Bayadère,” ...
Female choreographers to receive ‘guidance and feedback’ from ABT 11
May
10
2018
It’s become a meme: “You can’t make this stuff up.” That was my reaction to American Ballet Theatre’s late-in-the-day scramble, yesterday, onto the #metoo bandwagon. The company’s bumbling response to being called out for nearly 30 years of institutional sexism resulting in the marginalization — if not exclusion — of women from the artistic and ...
Yes, ABT, we like sugar plums. But also ‘Nutcracker’ cookies!
Dec
11
2017
Where cookies are concerned, we discreetly morph from ‘fussy critic’ to the more relaxed mode of ‘indiscriminate gobbler.’ Gosh, these ballet-themed cookies (photos mixed with those of our favorite ABT dancers) make our mouths water. They are the charming creation of Blackmarket Bakery whose award-winning chef Rachel Klemek celebrates American Ballet Theatre’s production of “The ...
Gray Davis’s grandest battement
Jun
4
2017
“I never realized how high it was,” he said. “Luckily, I’m a ballet dancer, so I swung my leg up.” That’s what American Ballet Theatre dancer Gray Davis, 31, told the New York Times in describing how he got himself out of the grisly pit of the subway track at Broadway and 72nd Street station. ...