Friday, March 15th, 2013
Peck, a twenty-five year old City Ballet corps member, is not a complete novice in the art of choreography. La Jolla is his fourth work for City Ballet, following his most recent critical success, Year of the Rabbit. But La Jolla, set to Bohuslav Martinu’s Sinfonietta la Jolla, didn’t win me over. Peck’s choreography rarely conjures any sense of La Jolla as an actual place. The ballet seems to be in the service of displaying the dancers’ high level of technical ability, and Peck’s choreographic proficiency. He skillfully arranges his 18 dancers in geometric formations and patterns through an array of steps that feature the classical ballet lexicon. It’s a charming, impressive display. However the confounding part about La Jolla is what it actually evokes: the urgent, frenetic pace of New York.
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Tags: Alexei Ratmansky, Amar Ramasar, California, Cleo Person, Concerto DSCH, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, New York City Ballet, New York State Theater, Paz de la Jolla, Reid Bartelme, Sterling Hyltin, Tyler Peck, Year of the Rabbit
Posted in The Torn Tutu | Comments Off on Paz de la Jolla: A trip to the ballet, not to California
Monday, May 7th, 2012
Have you ever wondered what it would take to partner a female ballet dancer? The May 6 matinee at New York City Ballet was an excellent primer for any one considering that question. In each of the four works from the All (Jerome) Robbins program, at the former New York State Theater, the male lead rarely left the side of his female partner.
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Tags: Andantino, Fokine, Frederic Chopin, George Balanchine, In G Major, In the Night, Jerome Robbins, Jock Soto, Maria Kowroski, Massine, Nancy McDill, New York City Ballet, New York State Theater, Petipa, Ravel, Robert Fairchild, Sebastian Marcovici, Sterling Hyltin, The Cage, Tyler Angle, Water Flowing Together
Posted in The Torn Tutu | Comments Off on Lifting Ballerinas