Star Dust
We are all of us, beings, in a constant state of continual change. We humans are a composition of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen.
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After a week of the well-balanced meal that is “Jewels”—the nutritive, potentially tedious, leafy greens of “Emeralds,” the gamy, carnivorous “Rubies,” and the decadent, shiny white mountains of meringue in “Diamonds”—the New York City Ballet continued its 75th Anniversary All-Balanchine Fall Season with rather more dyspeptic fare. Week two kicked off with the triple hot wing challenge of “Western Symphony,” “Tarantella,” and “Stars and Stripes.” The murky, brief “Unanswered Question” section from “Ivesiana” was tossed in like a Tums tablet. I can’t say the program wasn’t fun, but it was a lot to digest. Real (tambourines), fake (a plastic trumpet), and imaginary (harmonicas, banjos, fiddles) instruments were played. There were three variations on coda fouettés, two dance-off trick competitions, and two calf-busting relevé diagonals. Two finales featured principals resting against the front wings in funny hats. Yes, two.
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We are all of us, beings, in a constant state of continual change. We humans are a composition of oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen.
Continue ReadingThe title of Catherine Tharin’s latest production, “In the Wake of Yes,” is a reference to “Molly Bloom’s Soliloquy,” an inner monologue on womanhood and sexuality, from James Joyce’s Ulysses. Tharin matches the tone of this work as she picks up on an exuberant string of “yeses” from that text. Her witty series of dances explores romance and its complications. At the center of the show is a film by Lois Robertson that lifts the dancers out of the tiny East Village stage and transports them (and us) to scenes of contemporary New York City. Tharin, who danced with the...
Continue ReadingThrough its newly opened program, “Other Dances,” Dutch National Ballet kicks off the summer with a slate of lighthearted fare that varies in precise approach but altogether evokes an effervescent mood.
Continue ReadingTaking the historian’s long view, the message within “Last and First Men,” that “the whole duration of humanity, its evolution, and many successive species, is but a flash in the lifetime of the cosmos,” is, to me, ultimately a comfort.
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Love Faye’s writing. Loved her dancing when we worked together at City Ballet. So smart.
Faye Arthur’s reviews are most insightful – I enjoy and learn – thanks
So descriptive of the performance that I closed my eyes and could see the ballet from a seat in the First Ring.