ADVERTISEMENT
Thursday, June 12, 2025
SUBSCRIBE
The Ballet Herald®
  • BALLET MAGAZINE
    • Ballet, Contemporary, and Modern Dance Performance Reviews
    • Interviews with Ballet Professionals
    • The Latest Ballet News
    • Feature Ballet Stories
    • Ballet Schools & Training
    • On This Day in Ballet History
    • Opinions
    • Ballet Meets the Mainstream
  • BALLET COMPANIES
    • Ballet Companies in Asia
      • Hong Kong Ballet
      • National Ballet of China
      • National Ballet of Japan
      • Singapore Ballet
    • Ballet Companies in Europe
      • Bavarian State Ballet
      • Birmingham Royal Ballet
      • Compañía Nacional de Danza
      • Dutch National Ballet
      • English National Ballet
      • Finnish National Ballet
      • Hamburg Ballet
      • Hungarian National Ballet
      • La Scala Theatre Ballet
      • Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
      • London City Ballet
      • Mariinsky Ballet
      • Mikhailovsky Ballet
      • National Ballet of Ukraine
      • Northern Ballet
      • Norwegian National Ballet
      • Paris Opera Ballet
      • Polish National Ballet
      • Royal Ballet of Flanders
      • Royal Danish Ballet
      • Royal Swedish Ballet
      • Scottish Ballet
      • State Ballet of Georgia
      • The Royal Ballet
      • The Stuttgart Ballet
      • Varna International Ballet
      • Vienna State Ballet
    • Ballet Companies in North America
      • Alabama Ballet
      • Alberta Ballet
      • American Ballet Theatre
      • American Contemporary Ballet
      • American Repertory Ballet
      • Atlanta Ballet
      • Avant Chamber Ballet
      • BalletX
      • Ballet Arizona
      • Ballet Arkansas
      • Ballet Austin
      • Ballet Idaho
      • Ballet Memphis
      • Ballet North Texas
      • Ballet Tucson
      • Ballet West
      • BalletMet
      • Boston Ballet
      • Carolina Ballet
      • Charlotte Ballet
      • Cincinnati Ballet
      • City Ballet of San Diego
      • Cleveland Ballet
      • Colorado Ballet
      • Complexions Contemporary Ballet
      • Dance Theatre of Harlem
      • Eugene Ballet
      • Grand Rapids Ballet
      • Hollywood Ballet
      • Houston Ballet
      • Indianapolis Ballet
      • Joffrey Ballet
      • Kansas City Ballet
      • Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
      • Les Grands Ballets
      • Los Angeles Ballet
      • Madison Ballet
      • Miami City Ballet
      • Milwaukee Ballet
      • Nashville Ballet
      • New Jersey Ballet
      • New York City Ballet
      • Oklahoma City Ballet
      • Oregon Ballet Theatre
      • Orlando Ballet
      • Pacific Northwest Ballet
      • Philadelphia Ballet
      • Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
      • Richmond Ballet
      • Royal Winnipeg Ballet
      • Sacramento Ballet
      • Saint Louis Ballet
      • San Francisco Ballet
      • Sarasota Ballet
      • Smuin Contemporary Ballet
      • Texas Ballet Theater
      • The National Ballet of Canada
      • The Washington Ballet
      • Tulsa Ballet
    • Ballet Companies in Oceania
      • Queensland Ballet
      • Royal New Zealand Ballet
      • The Australian Ballet
  • BALLET PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
  • BALLET SHOWS IN…
    • Ballet Shows in Australia
    • Ballet Shows in Chicago
    • Ballet Shows in London
    • Ballet Shows in Los Angeles
    • Ballet Shows in New York City
    • Ballet Shows in Paris
    • Ballet Shows in Toronto
    • Ballet Shows in Washington, D.C.
  • FAMOUS BALLETS
    • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    • Cinderella
    • Coppélia
    • Don Quixote
    • Giselle
    • La Bayadère
    • La Sylphide
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • Swan Lake
    • The Nutcracker
    • The Sleeping Beauty
  • MORE
    • Dance Jobs
    • 2025 Ballet Summer Intensive Programs
  • BALLET MAGAZINE
    • Ballet, Contemporary, and Modern Dance Performance Reviews
    • Interviews with Ballet Professionals
    • The Latest Ballet News
    • Feature Ballet Stories
    • Ballet Schools & Training
    • On This Day in Ballet History
    • Opinions
    • Ballet Meets the Mainstream
  • BALLET COMPANIES
    • Ballet Companies in Asia
      • Hong Kong Ballet
      • National Ballet of China
      • National Ballet of Japan
      • Singapore Ballet
    • Ballet Companies in Europe
      • Bavarian State Ballet
      • Birmingham Royal Ballet
      • Compañía Nacional de Danza
      • Dutch National Ballet
      • English National Ballet
      • Finnish National Ballet
      • Hamburg Ballet
      • Hungarian National Ballet
      • La Scala Theatre Ballet
      • Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
      • London City Ballet
      • Mariinsky Ballet
      • Mikhailovsky Ballet
      • National Ballet of Ukraine
      • Northern Ballet
      • Norwegian National Ballet
      • Paris Opera Ballet
      • Polish National Ballet
      • Royal Ballet of Flanders
      • Royal Danish Ballet
      • Royal Swedish Ballet
      • Scottish Ballet
      • State Ballet of Georgia
      • The Royal Ballet
      • The Stuttgart Ballet
      • Varna International Ballet
      • Vienna State Ballet
    • Ballet Companies in North America
      • Alabama Ballet
      • Alberta Ballet
      • American Ballet Theatre
      • American Contemporary Ballet
      • American Repertory Ballet
      • Atlanta Ballet
      • Avant Chamber Ballet
      • BalletX
      • Ballet Arizona
      • Ballet Arkansas
      • Ballet Austin
      • Ballet Idaho
      • Ballet Memphis
      • Ballet North Texas
      • Ballet Tucson
      • Ballet West
      • BalletMet
      • Boston Ballet
      • Carolina Ballet
      • Charlotte Ballet
      • Cincinnati Ballet
      • City Ballet of San Diego
      • Cleveland Ballet
      • Colorado Ballet
      • Complexions Contemporary Ballet
      • Dance Theatre of Harlem
      • Eugene Ballet
      • Grand Rapids Ballet
      • Hollywood Ballet
      • Houston Ballet
      • Indianapolis Ballet
      • Joffrey Ballet
      • Kansas City Ballet
      • Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
      • Les Grands Ballets
      • Los Angeles Ballet
      • Madison Ballet
      • Miami City Ballet
      • Milwaukee Ballet
      • Nashville Ballet
      • New Jersey Ballet
      • New York City Ballet
      • Oklahoma City Ballet
      • Oregon Ballet Theatre
      • Orlando Ballet
      • Pacific Northwest Ballet
      • Philadelphia Ballet
      • Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre
      • Richmond Ballet
      • Royal Winnipeg Ballet
      • Sacramento Ballet
      • Saint Louis Ballet
      • San Francisco Ballet
      • Sarasota Ballet
      • Smuin Contemporary Ballet
      • Texas Ballet Theater
      • The National Ballet of Canada
      • The Washington Ballet
      • Tulsa Ballet
    • Ballet Companies in Oceania
      • Queensland Ballet
      • Royal New Zealand Ballet
      • The Australian Ballet
  • BALLET PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
  • BALLET SHOWS IN…
    • Ballet Shows in Australia
    • Ballet Shows in Chicago
    • Ballet Shows in London
    • Ballet Shows in Los Angeles
    • Ballet Shows in New York City
    • Ballet Shows in Paris
    • Ballet Shows in Toronto
    • Ballet Shows in Washington, D.C.
  • FAMOUS BALLETS
    • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    • Cinderella
    • Coppélia
    • Don Quixote
    • Giselle
    • La Bayadère
    • La Sylphide
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • Swan Lake
    • The Nutcracker
    • The Sleeping Beauty
  • MORE
    • Dance Jobs
    • 2025 Ballet Summer Intensive Programs
No Result
View All Result
The Ballet Herald®
Home Ballet Magazine Ballet, Contemporary, and Modern Dance Performance Reviews

American Ballet Theatre Mixed Repertory Review: A Showcase of Talent, A Shortcoming of Conclusion

Kasey BroekemabyKasey Broekema
November 4, 2022 - Updated on May 23, 2024
in Ballet, Contemporary, and Modern Dance Performance Reviews
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
American Ballet Theatre Mixed Repertory Review

American Ballet Theatre Mixed Repertory Review: A Showcase of Talent, A Shortcoming of Conclusion

American Ballet Theatre Mixed Repertory Review 
October 29, 2022 | David H. Koch Theater – New York, NY, USA

The American Ballet Theatre mixed repertory fall season performance was a surprising line-up for Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie’s final week directing the company on the Lincoln Center stage.

While New York City Ballet is better known for taking the bolder reaches in the contemporary ballet realm and ABT triumphs in masterfully re-staging classics, this line-up proved to fall flat of ABT’s contemporary movement potential. The performances offered little coloring and didn’t showcase the company’s talent to its fullest.

It’s my (potentially) controversial opinion that ABT’s company as a whole hosts stronger dancers than those of City Ballet. Since ABT regularly provides classic programming representing America’s touring ballet company, I believe the dancers are often eager to jump into an opportunity to perform a new, original, and contemporary role – and undertake the task with more tenacity than those at City Ballet, who may be more jaded at times facing their daily task.

In the past, I have attended ABT’s contemporary mixed-bill lineup with lower expectations only to be blown away by the energy of the entire company. However, all three pieces on the bill for the Saturday matinee performance fell short of showcasing the dancers’ talents in their strongest light.

Instead of wondering what could have been a more impressionable lineup and rather facing what the performance was, the most interesting facet for a critic’s eye was the risky and irregular casting choices.

ADVERTISEMENT

The bill opened with Jessica Lang’s "Children’s Songs Dance" making its Lincoln Center stage debut and featuring exclusively corps members of the company.

Overall, the ballet was melancholy yet playful. The dancers cleanly executed classical phrases of choreography with a tasteful neoclassical flair to a solo pianist playing short movements of Children’s Songs by Chick Corea.

It is rare for audiences to get to see the corps featured in soloist roles and it was interesting to get a different side of ABT’s powerful company. However, it was clear their movement had more academic rigor than professional ease. The phrases of advanced ballet steps were carried out cleanly, although the dancers’ focus was on the timing and technique rather than the actual performance of it. Nuanced moments of expression were lost.

However, ABT men corps dancers have never ceased to strike me with their abilities over the past five years or so: they dance well together and I have continued to be impressed with the pedagogy and training that’s reflected in their performances. The men didn’t disappoint here either.

The ladies shone in their own light but, overall, the performance lacked a certain sparkle for me that I’m sure will develop further into their careers.

Buy Tickets for American Ballet Theatre On Tour ⤞

Up next was the highly anticipated, first all-Black production at ABT, Lifted. The concept behind this production was long overdue and ABT’s Black artists bring an extraordinary amount of presence to the stage.

ABT’s Black dancers in the cast – Calvin Royal III, Erica Lall, Courtney Levine, Melvin Lawovi, and Jose Sebastian – in my opinion, have some of the most stunning limbs and radiance in the company. Especially with the rare casting combination of a principal and corps members, I was truly anticipating a unique experience with these talents. I was ready to be moved to either joy, tears, or both and witness those gorgeous limbs devour space on stage. However, I found myself disappointed and thought the choreography did little to showcase the dancers’ strengths.

ADVERTISEMENT

The score by Carlos Simon and conducted by Roderick Cox was sweepingly cinematic although the choreography by Christopher Rudd did little to reflect the drama of the full-orchestra sound.

 The movement phrases did not feel musical and, to me, felt as if someone choreographed counts of steps and then laid them over the score without the music informing the movement. And every time the movement began to build and transport me somewhere emotionally, the dancers would stop to stand in prolonged moments of stillness.

Rudd incorporated the use of a black backdrop and two large panels of mirrors on wheels that moved throughout the ballet. The mirrors created beautiful moments of stage light reflecting into the audience, but beyond that, did little to add to the piece.

In my opinion, the black backdrop and the mirrors sectioning off the stage into half or even smaller triangles limited the dancers’ potential for movement. I was waiting for a moment for the dancers to break free of this limited space and move freely about the massive David Koch stage, but that moment never arrived and the ballet ended rather abruptly.

While the concept of Lifted and the performers were delightful, if the idea was pursued in the future, I would wish for a more rounded and rehearsed production.

The program concluded with the strongest production, Sinfonietta by Jiří Kylián. However, it was not because of the choreography necessarily that made the ballet stand out.

It is a rare to treat to see all of ABT’s principal dancers onstage together, and it’s something I would love to see more often. ABT genuinely brags a powerhouse of principal performers.

ADVERTISEMENT

I was surprised McKenzie chose Sinfonietta of all Kylián ballets to close the bill. Kylián has choreographed several iconic ballets that I would die to see all of the principal dancers in together, and unlike his other complex, layered, and mesmerizing, works, Sinfonietta is rather dry and repetitive.

However, the principal dancer-studded cast still managed to give the duets and solos that broke free of the herds of Paul Taylor-esque leaps and neutral-colored costumes depth and individuality.

The next time ABT returns to Lincoln Center for their Met spring season, Susan Jaffe will be the female at the helm of the company. Following her work and programming decisions with the Pittsburg Ballet Theatre since 2020, I am looking forward to where she will begin to shape the company in her lead in ABT’s next New York City season.

Featured Photo for this American Ballet Theatre mixed repertory review of a scene from Sinfonietta. Photo: Rosalie O’Connor.

Tags: American Ballet TheatreChristopher RuddDavid H. Koch TheaterJessica LangJiří Kylián
Kasey Broekema

Kasey Broekema

Kasey Broekema is a reporter for The Sun US, as well as a freelance writer with work published from her fiction appearing in literary magazines, to getting the latest dance scoop, to neuroscience journals. She found her passion for dance twirling in a small studio in Kalamazoo, Michigan and her training included time with The School of Nashville Ballet, Vanderbilt University Dance Program, New Dialect, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. Broekema attended summer programs with Suzanne Farrell on Cedar Islands, with Brooke Desnoës and Violette Verdy at L’Académie de Danse de Paris, Joffrey Ballet NYC, Ellison Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. She obtained her BA in English from Columbia University, Class of 2021. She is also a freelance dancer based in New York City and loves supporting small local companies. You can often find her scheming up story plots in dimly lit coffee shop corners, goggling in awe at her favorite dancers at Lincoln Center, and geeking out over Ancient Egyptian art at The Met Museum. Photo by John DeAmara

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Receive a roundup of ballet news & performances direct to your inbox.

The most interesting ballet news and stories of the week.

You may also be interested in...

Dance Jobs

Dance Jobs

June 12, 2025
Misty Copeland Retires from ABT at 2025 Fall Gala

Misty Copeland Retires from ABT at 2025 Fall Gala

June 9, 2025
Birmingham Royal Ballet Review - Black Sabbath - The Ballet 2025

Birmingham Royal Ballet Black Sabbath – The Ballet Review: Birmingham’s Love Letter to Itself

June 5, 2025
Cassandra Trenary’s Embodied at The Privy Gallery

Cassandra Trenary’s Embodied Exhibit: Capturing the In-betweenness of Dance

June 4, 2025 - Updated on June 5, 2025
MorDance Trees Review - NYC 2025

MorDance Trees Review: Branching Out While Staying Connected

June 2, 2025
The Ballet Herald®

SECTIONS

  • Dance Performance Reviews
  • Interviews with Ballet Professionals
  • Feature Ballet Stories
  • The Latest Ballet News
  • Ballet Schools & Training
  • Opinions

FAMOUS BALLETS

  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
  • Cinderella
  • Coppélia
  • Don Quixote
  • Giselle
  • La Bayadère
  • La Sylphide
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • Swan Lake
  • The Nutcracker
  • The Sleeping Beauty

MORE

  • Ballet Performances
  • Ballet Companies
  • Ballet Summer Intensives
  • Dance Jobs

COMPANY

  • About
  • Contact
  • Support
  • Advertisement & Paid Content Opportunities

© 2025 The Ballet Herald™ by BalletNomad, LLC®

Receive a roundup of ballet news & performances direct to your inbox.

The most interesting ballet news and stories of the week.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home Page
  • Ballet Performance Calendar
  • Ballet Magazine
    • Ballet, Contemporary, and Modern Dance Performance Reviews
    • Interviews with Ballet Professionals
    • The Latest Ballet News
    • Feature Ballet Stories
    • Ballet Schools & Training
    • On This Day in Ballet History
    • Opinions
    • Ballet Meets the Mainstream
  • Ballet Shows In…
    • Ballet Shows in Australia
    • Ballet Shows in Chicago
    • Ballet Shows in London
    • Ballet Shows in Los Angeles
    • Ballet Shows in New York City
    • Ballet Shows in Paris
    • Ballet Shows in Toronto
    • Ballet Shows in Washington, D.C.
  • Famous Ballets
    • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    • Cinderella
    • Coppélia
    • Don Quixote
    • Giselle
    • La Bayadère
    • La Sylphide
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • The Nutcracker
    • Swan Lake
    • The Sleeping Beauty
  • List of Ballet Companies
  • 2025 Ballet Summer Intensives
  • Dance Jobs
  • ⊙ About
  • ⊙ Contact
  • ⊙ Advertisement & Paid Content Opportunities
  • ⊙ Privacy Policy
  • ☕ Buy us a coffee!

© 2025 The Ballet Herald™ by BalletNomad, LLC®

Receive a roundup of ballet news & performances direct to your inbox.

The most interesting ballet news and stories of the week.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home Page
  • Ballet Performance Calendar
  • Ballet Magazine
    • Ballet, Contemporary, and Modern Dance Performance Reviews
    • Interviews with Ballet Professionals
    • The Latest Ballet News
    • Feature Ballet Stories
    • Ballet Schools & Training
    • On This Day in Ballet History
    • Opinions
    • Ballet Meets the Mainstream
  • Ballet Shows In…
    • Ballet Shows in Australia
    • Ballet Shows in Chicago
    • Ballet Shows in London
    • Ballet Shows in Los Angeles
    • Ballet Shows in New York City
    • Ballet Shows in Paris
    • Ballet Shows in Toronto
    • Ballet Shows in Washington, D.C.
  • Famous Ballets
    • A Midsummer Night’s Dream
    • Cinderella
    • Coppélia
    • Don Quixote
    • Giselle
    • La Bayadère
    • La Sylphide
    • Romeo and Juliet
    • The Nutcracker
    • Swan Lake
    • The Sleeping Beauty
  • List of Ballet Companies
  • 2025 Ballet Summer Intensives
  • Dance Jobs
  • ⊙ About
  • ⊙ Contact
  • ⊙ Advertisement & Paid Content Opportunities
  • ⊙ Privacy Policy
  • ☕ Buy us a coffee!

© 2025 The Ballet Herald™ by BalletNomad, LLC®