July 13 2024 7:30 evening
Boosted by the music of Jonathan Dove, Michael Zev Gordon, Ottorino Respighi, Aldemaro Romeo, and William Grant, Amy Hall Garner’s Underneath, there is Light is a thrilling ballet. The well-designed costumes of Marc Happel—the women in airy dresses, the men in sleek pants or shorts, allow all to showcase their grounded balances and light ballon.
New York City Ballet Soloist Miriam Miller in Amy Hall Garner’s Underneath, There Is Light/Photo credit: Erin Baiano
Chun Wai Chan moves smoothly, even in the highest of jumps or in attitude turns or bourrée.
In duets, solos, and trios, couples group to perform high jumps with enviable reach. Dancers Miriam Miller and Emma von Enck, bouncy and sprye, push through the moves. Splashes of yellow costume enter the scene. The movement feels fresh, as the dancers beckon to each other. Overhead lifts dot the stage as the strings play. Kudos to violin soloist Nicolas Danielson.
Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels, with music by Richard Einhorn, is welcome on any program. The piece is as crisp today as it was at its premiere 20 years ago. The four dancers teem with energy—sometimes in a quiet simmer, and other times, looking as if to hardly contain themselves.
Dancers Dominika Afanasenkov, Emilie Gerrity, Joseph Gordon, and Davide Riccardo did not disappoint.
Emilie Gerrity and Davide Riccardo in Ulysses Dove’s Red Angels/Photo credit: Erin Baiano
The piece begins with a luscious solo in silence, after which the dancers perform sensual moves to Einhorn’s pulsing music. Ballerinas slide in wide second positions across the stage; the dancers play with the music, accenting their moves. Daring lifts create tension, releasing it as dancers drop into each other’s arms.
The husky, edgy music of Mary Rowell’s electric violin directs the dancers. In one section, each dancer dances in overhead spotlights, slithering out of it with pelvic shifts, followed by lengthy kicks and long balances in arabesque.
Joseph Gordon and Dominika Afansenkov in Ulysses Dove’sRed Angels/Photo credit: Erin Baiano
Gerrity whips out her pirouettes. Gordon dances as if unhinged. With eager arms, he teases the movement, dancing ever so slightly behind the music. Riccardo is all skeleton, all muscles on stretch. The piece ends with the dancers walking upstage, with just a glance back towards the audience.
I’ve reviewed Pam Tanowitz’s Gustave Le Gray No. 1 in NYCB’s fall program. This time star dancers Naomi Corti, Ruby Lister, Emily Kikta, and Mira Nadon took the stage, making a stunning splash in the wildly billowing red costumes of Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung.
Naomi Corti, Ruby Lister in Tanowitz’s Gustave le Gray No.1/
Photo credit: Erin Baiano
Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing closed the program. In street clothes designed by Humberto Leon, some opaquely bulky, the dancers burst onto the stage. India Bradley and Taylor Stanley dance an exceptionally soft, rich duet. Thomas MacKinnon, Alexa Maxwell, and Kristen Segin dance as in a sisterhood, joined by Victor Abreu. The movement has little unity but shows much effort, especially in upper-body gestures, as in the duet of Harrison Coll and Peter Walker.
The matinee performance is reviewed here.