11/29/17 O&A NYC DANCE: Rudolf Nureyev and Zizi Jeanmaire: Le Jeune Homme et La Mort by Roland Petit (1966)

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Le Jeune Homme et La Mort was choreographed by Roland Petit  choreographed in 1946 to Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582, with a one-act libretto by Jean Cocteau. It tells the story of a Young Man driven to suicide by his faithless lover. Sets were by George Wakhevitch and costumes variously reported as being by Karinska or Cocteau. Continue reading

(Repost) 4/1/14 O&A NYC DANCE: Martha Graham – Appalachian Spring and Rite of Spring

By Walter Rutledge

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The recent all too-short season of the Martha Graham Dance Company at New York City Center was a resounding artistic success. The company performed two programs of Graham classics and stunning new works by Nacho Duato and Andonis Foniadakis. The Saturday March 22 evening program included two Graham classics Appalachian Spring (1944) and Rite of Spring (1984).  Both works reinforced the fact that Graham was not only as a master craftsman, but also as an artist with a strong sense of classic form, structure and design. Continue reading

(REPOST) O&A NYC DANCE: Three Black Kings- An Ailey Classic

By Walter Rutledge

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Three Black Kings was the last dance and music collaboration between choreographer Alvin Ailey and composer/musician Duke Ellington.  Continue reading

Ailey II 2014 NYC Season begins Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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Ailey II, the youthful and gifted second company of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, returns to its home, the Ailey Citigroup Theater,  405 West 55th Street at 9th Avenue, for their annual two week/ fourteen performance season Wednesday, April 2 through April 13, 2014. Continue reading

Martha Graham Dance Company Opening Night – New York Season

by Walter Rutledge

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The Martha Graham Dance Company opening night gala performance need only be described with one word…ART. The company began their four-performance season at New York City Center, Wednesday, March 19 with an abbreviated program that left the audience hungry for more. Continue reading

Dallas Black Dance Theatre at the Ailey Citigroup Theater

By Walter Rutledge

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The Dallas Black Dance Theatre returned to New York for a three-day four-performance season at the Ailey Citigroup Theater. This is the third consecutive year that the company has performed in New York and the eleven-member ensemble, under the direction of founder and artistic director Ann M. Williams, presented six works by new and emerging choreographers. Continue reading

Paul Taylor’s Marathon Cadenzas

By Walter Rutledge 

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Paul Taylor’s Marathon Cadenzas, his 141st work, premiered on Friday, March 14 at the David Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. The ensemble work for twelve dancers was inspired by the 1969 Sidney Pollack film They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, which depicts a depression era dance marathon. Continue reading

Martha Graham Dance Company New York Season- March 19- 22, 2014

By Walter Rutledge

Graham 2014

The Martha Graham Dance Company will present their annual New York season, Wednesday, March 19 through Saturday March 22 at New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street. The season will celebrate two company milestones, the seventieth anniversary of the modern dance classic Appalachian Spring and the thirtieth anniversary of Graham’s The Rite of Spring. The season will also present two additional Graham masterworks Maple Leaf Rag and a new one-act production of Clytemnestra.   Continue reading