Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Stellar dancers and some tweaks elevate the encore engagement of TURN IT OUT WITH TILER PECK & FRIENDS

• By drediman
• October 21, 2025
• No Comments

Last weekend, Turn It Out With Tiler Peck & Friends returned to New York City Center for an encore engagement. Originally curated in 2022 by New York City Ballet principal Tiler Peck for the inaugural Artists at the Center Residency at City Center, the crowd-pleasing program featured four eclectic works that collectively showcased the superstar dancer’s ability to express her unique aesthetic and abilities in various light — as a dancer, as a choreographer, and as collaborator. As a dancer, Peck continues to be a singular talent; her astonishing musicality and uncanny sense of her body moving through time and space were unparalleled in William Forsythe’s The Barre Project, Blake Works II (which the choreographer created for her during the pandemic) and Alonzo King’s Swift Arrow (a robust duet with her husband Roman Mejia), invariably thrilling the audience.

Since the original City Center run of Turn It Out, Peck has established herself to be a true choreographer of note (her first piece for City Ballet, Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, premiered in 2024 to wide acclaim). As such, it was fascinating to revisit the earlier works assembled for the 2022 residence, namely Thousandth Orange and Time Spell, the latter being a collaboration with tap dance master Michelle Dorrance and Jillian Meyers. Set to a marvelously calming composition by composer Caroline Shaw, Thousandth Orange showed a different, more tranquil side of Peck’s musicality, particularly her ability to thoughtfully dissect music into articulate movement. Time Spell, on the other hand, is a rousing creation that gave us a glimpse into Peck’s ability to lose herself in play and the collaborative spirit.

If anything, the program seemed stronger than it did three years ago, thanks largely to some key changes to the performance. This go around, Peck has mostly employed the services of her fellow City Ballet dancers — e.g., Chun Wai Chain, Mira Nadon, Ryan Tomash, India Bradley, Roman Mejia (superb technicians, all) — each of whom have developed tremendously as artists in their own right over the past few years. Indeed, there was a level of comfort amongst them that let the choreography sing. Another standout was Jeffrey Cirio (formerly of ABT and English National Ballet, now at Boston Ballet), whose dancing was bright and dazzling throughout. Another helpful change was the ordering of the bill, which now opened with The Barre Project and concluded with the roof-raising, collective effort that is Time Spell.

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TURN IT OUT WITH TILER PECK & FRIENDS
Dance
New York City Center
1 hour, 50 minutes (with two intermissions)
Closed