Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Dance recap: NEW YORK CITY BALLET vibrantly kicks off its winter season and COMPAGNIE HERVÉ KOUBI rivets at The Joyce

• By drediman
• January 30, 2024
• No Comments

This past week, dance fans had plenty to chew on, particularly with the vibrant opening of New York City Ballet’s winter season and the return of the riveting Compagnie Hervé KOUBI to The Joyce Theater.

NEW YORK CITY BALLET
David H. Koch Theater

After a fall season comprised solely of Balanchine works, New York City Ballet continued its landmark 75th anniversary season by commencing its winter season last week with nary a ballet by the company’s legendary founder in sight. The two initial bills on display (RECOMMENDED) – meant to capture City Ballet’s evolution from its foundational Balanchine days – were an all-Robbins program, a well as one featuring more contemporary works by Christopher Wheeldon, Peter Martins, and Justin Peck. Overall, the company looks refreshed and in crisp shape. In the Robbins program, highlights included a terrifically animated Sebastián Villarini-Vélez in Fancy Free, an altogether exquisite rendition of In the Night (kudos particularly to the women – Indiana Woodward, Emilie Gerrity, and Tiler Peck), and Unity Phelan cementing her status as a stylish prima ballerina of note in the Fall segment of The Four Seasons. In the latter mixed bill, Wheeldon’s Polyphonia looked sensationally on point, while Taylor Stanley (filling in for an indisposed Roman Mejia) and KJ Takahashi both bared the souls of true artists in Peck’s modern “sneaker ballet” classic The Times Are Racing. Comparatively, the histrionics of Martins’ emotive Barber Violin Concerto fell flat.

COMPAGNIE HERVÉ KOUBI
The Joyce Theater

Then down at The Joyce Theater, the French troupe Compagnie Hervé KOUBI wrapped up performances of its latest evening length piece Sol Invictus (RECOMMENDED), which was co-presented by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. Known for its preternaturally gifted dancers and intoxicating blend of contemporary dance, street dance, and martial arts, the company invariably wows with its daredevil athleticism. Indeed, that’s still the case — the jaw-dropping head-pirouettes and the spectacular tumbling drew especially audible gasps and enthusiastic applause from the audience. The last time I saw them was back in 2020 — also at The Joyce — where they memorably performed Les Nuits Barbares ou les Premiers Matins du Monde. While I missed the unforgettable imagery of that piece, Sol Invictus is nevertheless a worthy follow-up that simultaneously takes your breath away with its dynamism while managing to weave together individual elements into a unified vision. If the poetic references are sometimes a bit on the nose (e.g., various visual references to biblical scenes), I nevertheless applaud the commitment and the newfound diversity the company has injected into its performances. Indeed, I spotted more women and dancers with varying abilities onstage this go around. Regardless of background, I was uniformly struck by the vitality and force of their performances.