When New York City Ballet went on a three-week tour to Paris last summer, we wished we could tag along. The company presented 20 ballets at the historic Théâtre du Châtelet, including 14 by Balanchine. Thanks to PBS and their Great Performances series, you can now get a taste of what it was like to […]
Admit it: You’ve considered the various ways you could sneak your favorite costume home with you. We don’t blame you. Whether it’s a jaw-dropping tutu or the world’s most comfortable slip, costumes are made to make dancers look and feel beautiful. Here, we’ve rounded up some of our favorites, that just happen to be street-style […]
This story originally appeared in the December 2015/January 2016 issue of Pointe. Troy Schumacher has been very busy. The final days of September saw the New York City Ballet corps member rehearsing for a full slate of performances while simultaneously preparing the premiere of Common Ground, his second ballet for the company. Schumacher’s first work […]
It’s the American dream, ballet-style: A small-town girl works hard, turns heads in the big city and wins her way to the top of a world-class company. Teresa Reichlen is one such story: Before joining New York City Ballet, she studied at The Russell School of Ballet in Chantilly, VA. “It’s nice to be a […]
Whenever San Francisco Ballet soloist Elana Altman sees her name on the cast list for Giselle’s Myrta, she knows it’s time to start preparing for the role’s high-flying grand allégro and stamina-testing jeté sequence. Does that mean she does extra petit allégro in pointe class? No. Altman, like many women ballet dancers who want to […]
People say that the real star of Balanchine’s ballets is the corps, and I think that’s right—they’re always dancing, and they never get a break, like in so many classical ballets. Last night, Western Symphony definitely proved that point for me, as I found myself watching the corps more than the soloists. The patterns they […]
You can always count on Youth America Grand Prix to bring in ballet’s biggest names—and last night’s YAGP gala in NYC was no exception. Teresa Reichlen? Viengsay Valdés? Dorothée Gilbert? Marcelo Gomes? Maria Kochetkova? Check, check, check, check and check. (And that’s the short list.) There was even the impossibly youthful Nina Ananiashvili dancing “Dying […]
Last night I went to see New York City Ballet, which is coming to the end of “Balanchine Black and White Week”, celebrating the choreographer’s black and white leotard ballets. On the program was Episodes, Le Tombeau de Couperin, and Symphony in Three Movements. Awesome lineup. I didn’t know how awesome, though, until I […]