March 29, 2012
Lesley Leslie-Sprinks
The Joyce Theater Foundation, New York’s preeminent dance hub, will host its annual black-tie spring gala on April 4, featuring a rare stateside performance from Sylvie Guillem. Guillem, who began her career as the youngest-ever étoile (principal dancer) at the Paris Opera Ballet, is now widely regarded as one of the greatest ballerinas of her generation. She will perform the American première of 6000 Miles, a program of contemporary works by renowned dance makers Mats Ek and William Forsythe. Though Guillem became a star dancing classical ballets, it is in contemporary choreography that her blend of sensuality, near-flawless technique and quirkiness is best appreciated—and while the Forsythe portion of the evening is a pas de deux (with Massimo Murru from Teatro alla Scalla Ballet), the Mats Ek piece, created purely for her, is a solo. 6000 Miles will run April 4, 5 and 7; gala tickets, from $1,000; joyce.org.
May 03, 2012
Nick Bentgen
The New York City Ballet Spring Gala at Lincoln Center—one of the most highly anticipated fetes of the year—celebrates the company’s storied history and evolution, with dinner, dancing and a performance featuring two new ballets on May 10. Natalie Portman, who won an Academy Award for her role in 2010’s ballet thriller Black Swan, chairs the event, but the centerpiece of the evening is the world debut of a new work choreographed by principal dancer Benjamin Millepied (Portman’s husband) to a newly commissioned score by Nico Muhly. Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, who designed the costumes for Black Swan, did the same honors for this piece.
The company will also debut a work by Peter Martins, and revive George Balanchine’s iconic Symphony in C, which French composer Georges Bizet created when he was a 17-year-old student at the Paris Conservatory. The Balanchine number will feature all-new costumes laden with Swarovski crystals. A cocktail reception and a black-tie supper ball—complete with dinner and dancing on the promenade—will bookend the ballets. Single tickets start at $5,000; tables start at $25,000; May 10; 212-870-5585; nycballet.com.
September 22, 2011
Paul McCartney in action. Courtesy of New York City Ballet.
If anyone deserves to be called a living legend, it's Paul McCartney. The Beatles veteran has accomplished more in a single lifetime than any other living musician, and is even listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for his unprecedented success as a composer and musician. Now, at age 69, McCartney steps onto a new stage. Tonight, Thursday, September 22, his first original orchestral score for dance, Ocean's Kingdom, will debut at the annual gala for the New York City Ballet. Choreographed by Peter Martins and featuring 48 dancers, this sweeping underwater ballet follows King Ocean's daughter, Princess Honorata, as she takes on a terrestrial love triangle. McCartney's own daughter, Stella, designed the costumes for the ballet. Additional performances are slated for September, and the run picks up again post-Nutcracker in January. For those who simply can't wait, the score will also be released on disk October 3.
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