Speak, Memory

American Ballet Theatre: Antony Tudor’s The Leaves Are Fading / New York City Center, NYC / October 24, 26, 28, 31, and November 3.

Julie Kent, Marcelo Gomes and Melissa Thomas of American Ballet Theatre in Antony Tudor’s The Leaves are Fading. Photo by Rosalie O’Connor.

The Leaves Are Fading is an evocation of youthful love and friendship framed by one of the most famous unadorned cross-stage walks in ballet history. The path is traced by a woman in a ground-brushing, apple-green dress, seemingly lost in thought. Though she is onstage only at the opening and close of Leaves, the half-hour of dancing between her brief appearances seems to emanate from her thoughts and mood. She lends the ballet its fragrance of nostalgia.

The full article appeared in Voice of Dance (http://www.voiceofdance.org) on October 26, 2007. To read it, click here.