Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Dance roundup: CITY BALLET mostly beguiles in its contemporary choreography bill and PARSONS DANCE returns to The Joyce

• By drediman
• May 20, 2025
• No Comments

Last week, I had the chance to attend a pair of dance performances that together indicated a spring dance season in full swing. As always, read on for my thoughts.

NEW YORK CITY BALLET
David H. Koch Theater
Spring season concludes on June 1

Over at the David H. Koch Theater, I was able to catch New York City Ballet’s enticing “Contemporary Choreography” program (RECOMMENDED), which was comprised of a trio of recently choreographed works — each of which I was able to assess on second viewings — by Caili Quan, Alexei Ratmansky, and Justin Peck. The evening opened with Quan’s Beneath the Tides, a beautifully realized piece set to a cello-driven score by Saint-Saëns. Superbly led by Indiana Woodward and Unity Phelan, two principals currently at the peak of their powers, the piece made a stronger impression than it did the first time around, particularly its flowing structure and distinctive aesthetic (gorgeously emphasized by Gilles Mendel’s elegant costumes). Then came Ratmansky’s devastating Mahler-set Solitude, the choreographer’s monument to the immense human toll caused by the ongoing conflict in war-torn Ukraine. After seeing the work for the second time, I’m even more convinced of its status as a masterpiece, registering both as soulful human drama and expressionistic dance (a balance maintained by most Ratmanky pieces). Standouts included Mira Nadon and Joseph Gordon, both of whom were featured in the first run cast. Ever the stylish and musical dancer, Nadon delivered a stunning performance, nailing Ratmansky’s angular and demanding steps with ease and panache. In the central role, Gordon was more confident this time around, which he imbued with stoic dignity and a mournful sense of loss. Perhaps the least impressive on second viewings was Justin Peck’s large-scale ballet Mystic Familiar. Re-uniting the team that conjured the inpired City Ballet keeper The Times Are Racing, their encore effort is unfortunately a muddled and derivative stew (e.g., Dan Deacon’s score and the finale choereography uncomfortably channel Sufjan Stevens’s Everywhere We Go score and Twyla Tharp’s iconic In the Upper Room, respectively) that simply fizzles out.

PARSONS DANCE
The Joyce Theater
Through May 24

Currently, you’ll find Parsons Dance in the midst of its annual two-week run at The Joyce Theater in Chelsea (RECOMMENDED). For its 2025 spring season, the company is presenting a well-curated combination of David Parsons classics, in addition to world premieres by the likes of Parsons (of course) and Rena Butler (who was recently represented at The Joyce by a piece danced by A.I.M by Kyle Abraham). The program opened with Wolfgang — Parsons’ 2005 choreographic homage to Mozart’s genius — a grounded, robust work that calls to mind the dance aesthetic of Paul Taylor. Then came Her Gifts, a world premiere solo set to the music of Roberta Flack and danced with soul and magnetic presence by Zoey Anderson, who was cast substantially in the press opening performance I attended (I’m not complaining; the dancer is stunning). Closing out the first act was Robert Battle’s The Hunt, which is set to a visceral percussive recording by Les Tambours du Bronx. Although typically performed by male dancers, the audience was treated to a performance danced by a fierce quartet of women (the thrilling grouping of Anderson, Téa Pérez, Megan Garcia Ziminski, and Justine Delius). The second act brought about the second world premiere, Rena Bulter’s Sheep’s Gothic, a dark, brooding mid-scale work set to the music of Darryl J. Hoffman. No real Parsons Dance program would be complete without a performance of Parsons’ crowd-pleasing, strobe light soaked Caught, which once again featured the inimitable Anderson in the brief but physically demanding solo. Closing out the bill fittingly was another oft-performed Parsons work — In the End, an ebullient 2005 piece for the entire company danced to the songs of the Dave Matthews Band. It’s staple of the company’s, and their exuberant performance of it proved why, sending the audience out on a high.