New York City Ballet’s Swan Lake is a fixer-upper with great bones: mesmerizing lakeside scenes populated by caffeinated swan-maidens, vividly ironic national dances, and an epic denouement. The fixes are low-hanging fruit – why the company hasn’t gotten around to them is a mystery.…
Building Character in Alberto Alonso’s Carmen
Toba Singer reported from Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida, which presented Alberto Alonso’s Carmen Suite, staged by his widow, former Cuban National Ballet dancer, Sonia Calero, on Nov. 8 and 9, 2019.…
Meeting Alicia: Toba Singer reminisces
Legendary ballerina Alicia Alonso, who helmed the Cuban National Ballet for 71 years, has died at age 98. Alonso was a star of American Ballet Theater and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She was also the first Western dancer to appear as a guest artist in the Soviet Union, …
Balanchine & Cunningham: New York City Ballet fires on all cylinders
Things got off to a slow start at New York City Ballet this season but lately they’ve been firing on all cylinders. A triple bill in which the most recent work dates back to 1958 looked thrillingly of the moment on Thursday night.…
The Mysteries and Celebrations of Falling for Dance (I and II) at New York’s City Center
An evening of largely uplifting and celebratory dance at New York City Center’s Fall for Dance opened with a bleak portrayal of intimacy by Crystal Pite. …