Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – A look back at AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE’s satisfying fall season at the David H. Koch Theater

• By drediman
• November 2, 2022
• No Comments

After beginning its fall season with a week of family-friendly Whipped Cream performances (you can read my impressions here), American Ballet Theatre shifted gears in its second week of performances by offering a pair of eclectically curated mixed bills. In summary, these programs showcased the versatility of the evolving company and were an altogether satisfying way for Ballet Theatre to conclude its residency at the David H. Koch Theater.

During Ballet Theatre’s gala performance last Thursday, the company danced two works, the first of which was Jiří Kylián 1978 Sinfonietta. Set to a stirring Janáček’s score, Kylián’s ballet is a straightforward and uplifting ode to man, his potential, and place in the natural. Relying on a limited roster of steps and shapes, the clean and open ballet showcased the classical training of the company’s dancers, as well as their propensity for contemporary dance (most of the time, I didn’t even notice that the women weren’t wearing point shoes). In stark contrast to the tidiness and choreographic purity of Kylián’s work, the evening continued with the world premiere of Christopher Rudd’s Lifted, a dance theater meditation on the Black experience. Although Rudd creates striking tableaus and makes fascinating use of modular walls of mirrors, the work – which is set to varied music by Carlos Simon – is ultimately more posing and emotive movement than it is dance. Despite my reservations towards the unfocused piece (whose creative team and cast is comprised of all-Black artists), Calvin Royal III’s central performance brought much needed specificity and grounded energy to the meandering work.

As typical for gala performances, the dances were accompanied by requisite speeches, most notably the one jointly and convivially delivered by outgoing and incoming artistic directors Kevin McKenzie and Susan Jaffe, respectively. Although I found it to be a tad awkward at times, their speech was ultimately a moving recognition of the proverbial passing of the torch.

In addition to the gala performance, I also attended the final performance of the season on Sunday afternoon. Happily, it was a mostly glorious affair, featuring the enticing pairing of Frederick Ashton’s The Dream and Alexei Ratmansky’s The Seasons. The mixed bill began with Ashton’s beloved one-act ballet adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Set to Mendelssohn’s enchanting score, the work shimmers with invention and narrative wit. Sunday’s cast positively glowed, starting with the great Gillian Murphy’s soft, effortless dancing as Titiana (the veteran principal first made a name for herself primarily as a supreme technician) and relative newcomer Daniel Carmago’s heroic dancing as Oberan (Mr. Carmago replaced an injured Cory Stearns). In one of his signature roles, fan favorite dynamo Herman Cornejo brought tons of personality and high flying fire power to his performance as Puck. The program the proceeded and concluded with Ratmansky’s The Season. Set to Glazunov’s gorgeous score, the ballet is a quirky, busy, and at times confounding depiction of the four seasons (in contrast to Jerome Robbins’ safe and arguably derivative The Four Seasons for New York City Ballet). Sunday’s performance was largely excellent, particularly the performances by relative newcomer Zimmi Coker as The Rose, veteran Isabella Boylston (confident and technically impressive as ever) as The Spirit of the Corn, and especially Catherine Hurlin in an utterly ravishing and all too brief turn as Bacchante.

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AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: 2022 FALL SEASON
Dance
David H. Koch Theater
Approximately 2 hours per program (including on intermission)
Closed