In Dance, Francis Patrelle Review
March 27, 2026 | Manhattan Movement & Arts Center – New York, NY, USA
“Gesture to the King and Queen in the first box, and to the King’s mistress in the second. I’m serious,” once said Francis Patrelle, a master of dance dramaturgy who moved from Pennsylvania to train at Juilliard with Antony Tudor.
Patrelle devoted his life to telling stories through ballet, but sadly passed away last December at the age of 78, leaving behind no children, no spouse – only his 38-year-old ballet family, Dances Patrelle.
The troupe honored him at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center with a triple bill: his Double Martini, an affair with a bitter ending; Magali Johnston-Viens’ Three Paces Down, a world premiere set in 1920’s Paris; and his Gilbert and Sullivan, The Ballet! Pinafore, a saga of nautical love.
Though clearly assembled with affection, the program raises a curatorial question: why include an unrelated premiere instead of offering a true homage filled with Patrelle’s own repertory?
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In Dance, Francis Patrelle Review
Nevertheless, Double Martini opens the evening as its undeniable highlight. Premiered in 2010 at Symphony Space, the piece features a quartet that illustrate Patrelle’s choreographic taste, style and depth. Live music and sophisticated vocalists enhance the dancing, the story: a philandering producer who banishes his jealous wife for a wide-eyed girl who came to audition for his next play.
Tara Clark dances the role of the wife and is intoxicatingly serene. Her feet work cleanly through her pointe shoes like a true Upper East Side ballerina, holding a martini glass, wearing a shimmering white satin gown, wrapped in fur, looking like she just stepped out of George Balanchine’s Vienna Waltzes – she immediately won me over.
Escorted by her wellborn but unfaithful husband (Tanner Schwartz), the unhappy couple dances their tense pas de deux as if on the brink of a painful divorce.
A girl (Lana Hankinson), known as “The Prospect”, echoes the woman from J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It!” poster from the 1940’s, signaling a different class from the bougie wife by Charleston-ing and Lindy Hopping on pointe instead of bourre-ing or waltzing. Her feet wing like a tapper, knees turned in, and petite physique more dropped than aplomb.
A jovial Ethan Schweitzer-Gaslin in a cheerful minty shirt (screaming “country”, too), dances alongside “the other woman” portraying a “choreographer” companion. He temp levés, grand jetés, and rond de jambes off-axis, pushing air away, merging with the rest of the cast to salute in a dramatic diagonal line.
The four characters dance intertwined through each other, illustrating a web of messiness from love, desire, jealousy and real life.
At one point, the quartet drifts into a heartbreaking stillness. Clark throws her white fur at Hankinson and storms off. It ends simply:
“My dear, it will last forever.” said the producer to his new woman as the lights went dark.
The jarring aftertaste appropriately reflects its title, making one want more.
The French-Canadian choreographer Magali Johnston-Viens demonstrates a clear artistic predilection for queer poetry in Three Paces Down. The name, borrowed from the opening line in Djuna Barnes’ poem “Serenade”, suits the trio on stage as they performed a divergent ménage à trois sur la pointe.
Set in a literary salon culture of the 1920s, the dancers explore how to partner with one another, returning frequently to the floor to end in an embrace or sustaining their forte arabesques in unison. Johnston-Viens subtly weaves lesbian literature into her choreography, even including two girls as “Les Petit Pierrots”, and the music of Geraine Tailleferre and Ian Wagman is a tasteful match.
Although the work is compelling in isolation, the problem is its lingering disconnect from Patrelle’s tribute. The choreographic theme felt incohesive from the central purpose of the evening, and I wish I experienced the dance in a different setting.
Edging forward, Gilbert and Sullivan, The Ballet! Pinafore concluded the night, and it is an all-hands-on-deck spectacle! Some of the ballet masters also dance in this theatrical extravaganza, steering the show’s momentum back to its loving memoriam.
Rita B.Watson, Patrelle’s resident costume designer who also recently passed away, knew how to bring his choreographic visions to life through her featured vibrant outfits, a very thoughtful double tribute through this fifteen-year-old work.
The curtain opens revealing a ship known as HMS Pinafore. The cast consists of four outstanding vocalists serenading in costumes that remind me of first class passengers on the Titanic. The dancers move through a lively mix of tour jetés, coupé emboîtés, whimsical pas de deux, and can-can–style kicks.
You can tell the performers are having a ball, rummaging through a treasure chest, trying on hats and waving Union Jack flags. At one point, a cartoonish struggle between two men in which one holds the other’s head as he runs in place, leans into some choreographed comic relief.
And at another, the ensemble forms a “London Bridge,” only to have it knocked down by Sir Joseph Porter (Jonathan Mendez)’s oversized bicorne hat. Captain Corcoran (Schweitzer-Gaslin) in a uniform with shoulder tassels shouts “Damn!” and abruptly breaks apart a couple (Ethan Arrington and Juliet Press Mazzola), triggering dancers to chassé around in concentric circles.
In addition to comedy, the ballet also demonstrates Patrelle’s respect for musical theatre.
Transitions, like shuffling into an X formation, underscore the showbiz flair, and some ensemble work evoke the battement precision of The Rockettes.
A pas de six highlights balancés and drag turns before splitting into pas de deux, reflecting Patrelle’s mastery in choreographing the complexities of human relationships. The noticeable Arrington, dancing as Ralph Rackstraw, stood out for his New York City Ballet-like presence as he lovingly partnered the dazzling Press Mazzola in her fancy beige dress and refined hat.
The bumboat woman (Holly Roberts) clad in a mustard ensemble and sunhat, appeared tense during a press lift, though her look of innocence made it forgivable.
Some performers struggled to fully act well; a few of the dancers’ gasps seemed forced rather than dramatically convincing. But all in all, Pinafore aimed to entertain and I enjoyed it.
Not leaving anything out, the playbill also prompted the audience to catch Patrelle’s beloved The Yorkville Nutcracker in December at The Kaye Playhouse. He once said,
“On my tombstone it will say: ‘Move Forward’.
And on the back: ‘Spread Out’”.
Holding onto his wise words, the troupe must now figure out how to move forward without their captain, honoring his visions and staying the course.
Featured Photo of Dances Patrelle in Francis Patrelle’s Gilbert and Sullivan, The Ballet! Pinafore, featuring Ethan Arrington, Juliet Press Mazzola, Ethan Schweitzer-Gaslin, and Holly Roberts. Photo by Eduardo Patino.
