Do you ever wonder how choreographers choose their titles? After seeing James Whiteside’s New American Romance on the last day of American Ballet Theatre’s fall season at the former New York State Theater, I spent some time pondering that. The five women in its cast of eight wear dark blue, swirling, ankle-length tutus (provided by Primadonna). The music to which Whiteside set his ballet, … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2019
Noh Transformations
Anyone who has seen a Japanese Noh play will not forget it easily. The poetic speech, the masked characters and their slow, ceremonious behavior, the tiny details that expose a world. Karole Armitage has studied and thought about the form for many years, perhaps while performing in Merce Cunningham’s company or being the resident choreographer for the Ballet de Lorraine (among many other … [Read more...]
Fashion and Dance Get Married
The New York City Ballet's Fall Gala You can discover online a photo of Sarah Jessica Parker, swirling the yards of fuschia material in which designer Zac Posen had garbed her for the New York City Ballet’s Fashion Gala (she was one of six Gala chairpeople). The September 26th event— the eighth of its kind for NYCB— garnered 2.6 million dollars and occasioned the premieres of two new ballets: … [Read more...]