Stars and Stripes

They’re saucy, sweet and stunning! They’re the ballerinas of American Contemporary Ballet and they’re helping close the company’s 2025-26 season with performances of “Spectacular Balanchine,” a program devoted to the choreography of George Balanchine. Running through June 20 at ACB’s downtown, proscenium-less space, the concert, conceived by artistic director Lincoln Jones, a Balanchine devotee, featured excerpts from the master’s hit list, and more than lived up to its grand billing.

Performance

American Contemporary Ballet: “Spectacular Balanchine!”

Place

Bank of America Plaza, Los Angeles, California, June 4, 2026

Words

Victoria Looseleaf

Madeline Houk and Pierson Hall in “Stars and Stripes” by George Balanchine. Photograph by Mark Harris

Indeed, with live music—as is standard with the company and always exquisitely arranged and played —the opening night performance had it all. From jazzy rhythms and humor to heart-stoppingly executed moves, this was an evening designed to bring unmitigated joy to a world gone, well, ostensibly amok. And while Balanchine once famously declared, “Ballet is woman,” the troupe’s Maté Szentes, with his virtuoso technique, exceptional partnering and regal bearing—the perfect male counterpart - was on a terpsichorean tear throughout the evening.

The first half began with “The Sweet and Lowdown” and “The Concert Suite,” selections from the brilliant “Who Cares?” (1970). With toe-tapping music by the OG of Manhattan sophistication, George Gershwin, whose famously familiar Broadways works were composed between 1924 and 1931, soared with sunny melodies that served as the basis for syncopated group dances and gentle quixotic duets. Staged here by Zippora Karz (as were nearly all the numbers on the bill), 10 gals in sparkly tutus (courtesy of Pacific Northwest Ballet), assayed gorgeous arabesques and bourrées, with shades of Florenz Ziegfeld, the “glorifier of the American girl,” on view.

This was, in a sense, immersive Balanchine, the well-drilled ensemble incarnating the choreographer’s demand for meticulousness. Taylor Berwick and Kate Huntington also captivated, as did other standouts, including Hannah Barr, Tatiana Burns and Sofie Treibitz.

With “The Concert Suite,” Kristin Steckmann and Sarah Bukowski, both retiring from the troupe later this month, danced Fascinating Girl and Jumping Girl respectively, with Cecilia Johnson doing the honors as Turning Girl. A pleasure to watch, the dancers’ lines and articulated footwork were always present.

Maté Szentes and Sarah Bukowski in “Who Cares? Concert Suite” by George Balanchine. Photograph by Mark Harris

Enter, then, Szentes, a noble—and indefatigable—partner, the pas de deux perfection personified, made even more heartfelt as set to Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” and “Embraceable You.”

With Martha Carter’s evocative lighting, this was a kind of ballet heaven, the corps’ in-your-face unisons (another ACB draw is the close proximity to the performers), and refined elegance embodying the score and days gone by, where martinis and modernism ruled in Gershwin’s day. Familiar tunes, including “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise,” oozed both lyricism and longing, Szentes’ solos superb, his effortless leaps Astaire-like, his entrechats seemingly transcending time and space.

The second half of the program opened with a hum-along “Camptown Races,” Stephen Collins Foster’s ditty that segued perfectly into the Adagio from “Western Symphony,” the traditional American tunes originally arranged by Hershy Kay, with James and Kathy McMillen doing an equally stellar version here and throughout the evening.

Szentes, now in cowboy mode, coupled beautifully with Quincey Smith (she’s also retiring at the end of this season), the costumes by Ruoxuan Li from Karinska’s original designs. Not exactly the John Wayne type, Szentes still radiated heat in his Stetson while high-stepping to the sounds of traditional Americana-type tunes, such as “Good Night, Ladies,” said ladies of the ballet including Berwick, Ruthie Dalby, Victoria Manning Long and Vanessa Meikle.

Not really an adagio, but more a waltz tempo, which seamlessly blended über-classical partnering with the gestures of American folk dance, this foray into horse opera territory further exemplified Balanchine’s love of this country, with the women doing themselves proud.

Also in fine form was Pierson Hall as El Capitan, a sturdy partner to Madeline Houk’s Liberty Bell in the Grand Pas de Deux from Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes.” Replete with pirouettes, quasi-march steps and intoxicating lifts, as well as solo variations, the number thrilled. And while there was no enormous flag rising patriotically during the full-length work’s dazzling finale, the essence of the music paired with Mr. B’s movement vocabulary proved infectious.

Maté Szentes and Kristin Steckmann in “Who Cares? Concert Suite” by George Balanchine. Photograph by Mark Harris

As it was in the 1976 work, “Union Jack: Wrens.” With Annette Cherkasov as a marvelous soloist—did someone say fouettés—and an octet of women made to represent the Women’s Royal Naval Service, the piece, replete with a series of variations blending military precision with folksy rhythms, as well as incorporating seminally flexed feet and crossed arms, rocked.

With this country’s semiquincentennial being celebrated on July 4, Jones once again has his finger on the cultural pulse, his curatorial skills praiseworthy, his dancers sublime. Congratulations, as well, to the musicians, including Emma McCartney on flute and piccolo, pianist Brandon Zhou, clarinetist Jesus David Milano Melgarejo and a crack string quartet, for breathing fresh life into familiar ditties.

Finally, kudos to the entire ACB family for turning an otherwise ordinary evening into one that not only lifted the spirits—opening night Champagne being part of the deal—but also left a lasting impression, as great dance often does, making this writer grateful to be alive. Onward, then, to a 2026-27 season!

Victoria Looseleaf

Victoria Looseleaf is an award-winning, Los Angeles-based international arts journalist who covers music and dance festivals around the world. Among the many publications she has contributed to are the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Dance Magazine and KCET’s Artbound. In addition, she taught dance history at USC and Santa Monica College. Looseleaf’s novella-in-verse, Isn't It Rich? is available from Amazon, and and her latest book, Russ & Iggy’s Art Alphabet with illustrations by JT Steiny, was recently published by Red Sky Presents. Looseleaf can be reached through X, Facebook, Instagram and Linked In, as well as at her online arts magazine ArtNowLA.

comments

Mindy Aloff 15 juin 2026

Very glad to read this.
A small note: Hershy Kay’s name has only one ‘e’ in Hershy.

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