Tag: Balanchine, George

Alexei Ratmansky Unleashes the Pain of the War in Ukraine at NYC Ballet

How does a body stand upright when the world is spinning around it? Or, worse, when that world is breaking down with such vehemence that the air seems to grow more toxic by the minute? In Alexei Ratmansky’s new ballet “Solitude,” dancers waver and buckle as inner and outer forces wreak havoc on their bodies. […]

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Haunted by War in Ukraine, a Choreographer Steps Into New York City Ballet

For the choreographer Alexei Ratmansky, the last two years have brought an uncomfortable intermingling of life and art. Known for ballets that combine wit with an almost surrealistic imagination, he has found his thoughts drawn insistently toward the war in Ukraine, the country where he spent his early years and began his dancing career, where […]

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From Ballet to Blackjack, a Dance Pioneer’s Amazing Odyssey

Among the blaring lights and all-hours amusements of downtown Las Vegas, in a sea of slot machines at the Four Queens Hotel and Casino, George Lee sits quietly at a blackjack table, dealing cards eight hours a day, five days a week, a job he’s been doing for more than 40 years. Lee, 88, was […]

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At City Ballet, History Is Made With Two Black Dewdrops

The pressure was on. India Bradley, making her debut as Dewdrop in “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” exited the stage after her first entrance and knew that something had to shift. The spotlight was brighter than she had imagined. She couldn’t see a thing. “I was like, get it together,” Bradley, 25, said in an interview […]

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Best Dance Performances of 2023

When hundreds of dancers converged onstage for a collective bow in honor of the opening night of City Ballet’s 75th anniversary season, it might not have been choreographed with the care that, say, George Balanchine would have given it — the scene was a touch chaotic — but it was astonishing to see so many […]

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Tales of the ‘Nutcracker’ Kids

Siblings, a Soldier from Ukraine and a New Prince: Children are the heart of this New York City Ballet classic. We hung out with four in this year’s production. School was over, but the day was not. There was the walk to her Queens apartment, the greeting and tossing into the air of Pati, the […]

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At Ballet Theater, a Thrilling Puck and a Moment to Take Stock

Mendelssohn’s music for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is full of sweet thunder and other wonderful noises. A cartoon sound effect for jumping isn’t among them. Yet when American Ballet Theater performed Frederick Ashton’s ballet “The Dream” last Saturday, every time Jake Roxander’s Puck took to the air, I could swear I heard one: “boing!” Roxander […]

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At City Ballet, Barbie Basics at the Gala, and a Glittering Revival

This year’s New York City Ballet fall gala was an outlier. In recent years, fashion has taken center stage, with designers and choreographers collaborating to make new work. But on Thursday, this annual event at Lincoln Center took a different path. As the actress Sarah Jessica Parker, a vice chair of the company’s board of […]

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3 New York City Ballet Dancers Who Were There From the Start

She was a sickly child. At 9, she contracted scarlet fever. “After that, the doctor said, ‘You know what?’” she recalled. “‘We’ve tried everything. Let her dance.’” She was short, her turnout was nonexistent and her feet needed a lot of work. She is firm about one thing: If her young self were to audition […]

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Balanchine’s Lasting Influence on New York City Ballet

While celebrating its 75th anniversary this fall, New York City Ballet is performing 18 ballets by its founding choreographer, George Balanchine. But to get a sense of the global standing of Balanchine, 40 years after his death, other numbers might be more telling. Last year, for instance, around 50 other ballet companies across the world […]

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