Dance celebrates the music of Thomas Adès at New York City Center. “His music moves from here to there in a way that is at heart choreographic.” Music critic and historian James M. Keller wrote those words in a program note for “Thomas Adès: Concentric Paths—Movements in Music,” the Sadler's Wells London’s production of four dances set to Adès scores, an event in Lincoln Center’s White … [Read more...]
Images within Images within Images
Wayne McGregor's "Tree of Codes" turns the Park Avenue Armory into a 21st-century phantasmagoric playground. Why when I meditate on Tree of Codes, the dance-and-design spectacle on view at the Park Avenue Armory, do I flash back almost 150 years to the spectacle-extravaganza, The Black Crook? The two productions have in common little but their desire to astonish. The Black Crook opened in … [Read more...]
Help, I’m Breaking Up!
Wayne McGregor/Random Dance brings Atomos to Peak Performances at Montclair State's Alexander Kasser Theater. Wayne McGregor wants it both ways, and I don’t blame him. This virtuoso dancemaker— resident choreographer at Britain’s Royal Ballet, the director of Wayne McGregor/Random Dance, and a been-around whose works grace the repertories of numerous companies—wants us to look at his dances … [Read more...]
Good News from San Francisco
The San Francisco Ballet comes to Lincoln Center with two mixed bills of ballets by seven choreographers. The artistic director of a large ballet company must have headaches rather different from those of a Wall Street trader. His (and such directors tend to be male) “stocks” are highly volatile. Helgi Tomasson, who leads the San Francisco Ballet, can make predictions about how ballets by … [Read more...]