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George Balanchine founded New York City Ballet and gave us classical technique without classical narratives. His work is described as neo-classic or even anti-classic. But since his death in 1983 the Company has been looking at other creatives to provide Company identity.
James Peck’s Rotunda feels closes to Balanchine where the technique of the dancers is exquisite but style for style’s sake feels vapid. After the first interval, Balanchine’s 1972 Duo Concertant to Stravinsky’s Piano and Violin is a delightful conversation between dancers and musicians. It has charm and wit. Pam Tanowitz’s Gustave le Gray No.1 accompanies Caroline Shaw’s exciting piano composition. This ballet presents an extraordinary visual. The dancers are de-sexed in flowing red costumes. This provokes the audience to study new body shapes where line and flow is constantly on the move.
The finale was Kyle Abraham’s Love Letter (on shuffle) to James Blake’s music. This was the meatiest of the evening’s ballets. There are some welcome laughs. One notable one is Abraham’s nod to the great Russian crowd-pleaser Swan Lake as three young women dance Marius Petipa’s chorus- line cygnets. However, they have to compete with a great deal of stage action which is a long way from Tsarist Russia.
Abraham unashamedly clashes time periods and the result is stimulating. Giles Deacon’s costumes suggest references to Elizabethan England, seventeenth century European colonisers and Mohican Punk rock. I read this as a truly American contemporary dance where questions of Black Lives Matter, the destruction of Native American culture and the intercutting of European ‘civilisation’ all exist in the conversation. The whole is cut into different episodes: there is no attempt at harmony. That can be found in the big picture of interconnecting cultural spheres that exist on the New York street and most happily on Sadler’s Wells stage. A joyous ballet of ideas. Phew!
New York City Ballet at Sadlers Wells.
Julia Pascal
George Balanchine founded New York City Ballet and gave us classical technique without classical narratives. His work is described as neo-classic or even anti-classic. But since his death in 1983 the Company has been looking at other creatives to provide Company identity.
James Peck’s Rotunda feels closes to Balanchine where the technique of the dancers is exquisite but style for style’s sake feels vapid. After the first interval, Balanchine’s 1972 Duo Concertant to Stravinsky’s Piano and Violin is a delightful conversation between dancers and musicians. It has charm and wit. Pam Tanowitz’s Gustave le Gray No.1 accompanies Caroline Shaw’s exciting piano composition. This ballet presents an extraordinary visual. The dancers are de-sexed in flowing red costumes. This provokes the audience to study new body shapes where line and flow is constantly on the move.
The finale was Kyle Abraham’s Love Letter (on shuffle) to James Blake’s music. This was the meatiest of the evening’s ballets. There are some welcome laughs. One notable one is Abraham’s nod to the great Russian crowd-pleaser Swan Lake as three young women dance Marius Petipa’s chorus- line cygnets. However, they have to compete with a great deal of stage action which is a long way from Tsarist Russia.
Abraham unashamedly clashes time periods and the result is stimulating. Giles Deacon’s costumes suggest references to Elizabethan England, seventeenth century European colonisers and Mohican Punk rock. I read this as a truly American contemporary dance where questions of Black Lives Matter, the destruction of Native American culture and the intercutting of European ‘civilisation’ all exist in the conversation. The whole is cut into different episodes: there is no attempt at harmony. That can be found in the big picture of interconnecting cultural spheres that exist on the New York street and most happily on Sadler’s Wells stage. A joyous ballet of ideas. Phew!
Julia Pascal © 2024.
By Julia Pascal • dance, music, performance, theatre, year 2024 0 • Tags: dance, Julia Pascal, music, performance, theatre