Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique follows the artist-protagonist to a glittering ball, a march to the scaffold, and a demonic witches’ sabbath that dazzles with blazing orchestral colors and effects. Lidholm’s Poesis, a 20th-century classic, explores new worlds of sound with haunting solos and novel uses of instruments. Herbert Blomstedt conducts.
Herbert Blomstedt
A fusion of live music and dance, combining Salsa and Flamenco, DIME QUIÉN SOY is a passionate reflection of cultural identity by Nélida Tirado who stumbles upon flamenco accidentally upon her mother's desires to keep her connected to the roots of her native Puerto Rican dance traditions of Bomba and Plena. This embarks her on a triumphant and challenging journey between bomba, salsa, and flamenco "dancing between cultures" in celebration of her authentic self where music and dance transcends and blurs lines of politics, race, and identity. Featuring original music by Gonzalo Grau.
"Monarcas” is a collection of short stories that celebrates the contributions and sacrifices by Mexican immigrants to and for the USA. It is named after the most inspiring immigrant, the monarch butterfly, whose voyage across North America reminds us of a world without borders. Through folkloric dance, live music, and dance theater, this first version of “Monarcas” is comprised of two short stories. The first commemorates soldiers of the US armed forces who, in the mid 1900’s, served a country that both embraced and rejected them. The second short story celebrates the arduous dedication and hard work across generations of vineyard laborers who, led by their family matriarchs, become the owners of their vineyards and proud makers of California wine. Both stories, told entirely through dance and music, embrace immigrant dreams and their realization.
An American mother and daughter living in the shadow of a tragic accident find joy, memories, and undreamt-of opportunities while on vacation in 1950s Florence. Heralded as a new direction for musical theater when it opened on Broadway, The Light in the Piazza won six Tony Awards, including Best Original Score for Adam Guettel, who—following in the footsteps of his grandfather Richard Rodgers—brought surprising chromatic complexity to his lush, romantic songs, and took the adventurous step of including untranslated Italian lyrics and dialogue to better capture this cross-cultural love story. Director Chay Yew (Cambodian Rock Band) and Tony-winning actress Ruthie Ann Miles (The King & I, City Center’s Sunday in the Park with George) embark on a deeply personal exploration of the material, transmuting the musical’s drama of encounter across barriers of language, culture, and ability into something as essential as it is revelatory.
Constant repertory renewal has always been a tradition at New York City Ballet, as this program of new and recent works illustrates. Alysa Pires, a Canadian choreographer who has been called “a dancemaker to watch,” creates her first ballet for the Company. Christopher Wheeldon’s long history with the Company continues as he makes his 23rd ballet for a new generation of dancers. Rounding out the evening is The Times Are Racing, Justin Peck’s sneaker ballet, which features innovative gender-neutral choreography for several roles and is set to Dan Deacon’s propulsive electronic score, with music and dance combining to capture the exuberance of urban life.
Justin Peck’s fondness for putting sneakers on classical dancers returns with Partita, a dynamic ballet for eight dancers. The dance rests upon an unusual score, a Pulitzer Prize-winning a cappella composition by Caroline Shaw, as well as a vibrant but simple setting by Eva LeWitt, the daughter of acclaimed artist Sol LeWitt (one of whose works, in turn, inspired Shaw’s music). This program is rounded out by recent new works, fresh from their sold-out fall premieres, by choreographers Gianna Reisen, to a commissioned free jazz score by Solange Knowles, and Kyle Abraham, featuring an intoxicating series of electronic R&B songs by James Blake.
Dances set to music from 19th-century France comprise this program. Balanchine’s La Source, set to the music of Léo Delibes, has been hailed as the choreographer’s tribute to the charm and sophistication of French dancing. Originally composed as a pas de deux, it was later expanded with the addition of an ensemble. Alexei Ratmansky turned to the lesser-known Édouard Lalo for inspiration for his Namouna, A Grand Divertissement, a ballet that likewise draws on classical French steps and style as it depicts a romantic tale of thwarted love eventually rewarded, combining pure dance, hints of drama, and lively moments of wit.
Concerto Barocco, first presented in 1941, was among the three works danced at the first performance ever given by the newly established New York City Ballet in 1948. Its formal beauty and responsiveness to the score has made it an undisputed classic of the international repertory. Kammermusik No. 2 finds Balanchine meeting the challenges of the Hindemith score with lively choreography for two principal couples and, unusually, an all-male corps de ballet. Raymonda Variations features dances of “indescribable happiness” and “simple deftness,” as one critic wrote, and includes subtle nods to the choreography of the Marius Petipa story ballet of the title, although it is a plotless work.
After Arts, a community of diverse members who all share a passion for music, returns for its second annual Spring Showcase. The concert will feature ten chamber groups comprised of After Arts musicians. Opening remarks will be provided by nine-time Grammy award-winning artist, Wynton Marsalis.
Join us! The Annual Joe's Pub Gala is back and better than ever! Monday, March 6, 2023 6:00PM Cocktail Reception in The Library 7:00PM Dinner & Performance in Joe's Pub Gala Co-Chairs: Eric Ellenbogen & Dominic Ramos-Ruiz Benefit Committee: Kurt Chauviere & BJ Sullivan, Judy Collins, Bridget Everett, Taylor Mac, Kathleen Hanna, and Shaina Taub. Since 1998, Joe's Pub has been a home for artists at all levels of development—from early-career artists to those at a critical stage in their careers (like the members of the Joe's Pub Working Group) to international superstars like Alicia Keys and Adele. Join us to celebrate our beloved Joe's Pub on Monday, March 6 and enjoy performances from the next generation of Joe’s Pub artists throughout the evening. We are excited to also celebrate the life of Barbara Maier Gustern, this year’s posthumous Vanguard Honoree. Contact events@publictheater.org with any questions or to make an early reservation.
Miriam Elhajli will be presenting a performance of ballads and new compositions for Joe's Pub this winter featuring an ensemble of musicians from Brazil, Cuba, and the U.S. Based in New York City, Elhajli performs & works as a researcher at The Association for Cultural Equity founded by Alan Lomax. Moving at the intersection of the vibrant avant-garde and the folkloric communities of Brooklyn, she has worked with artists such as Bread & Puppet, Mali Obomsawin, Jen Shyu, Lau Noah, and Adam O'Farrill. Elhajli released her debut LP Observations in 2020 and her sophomore The Uncertainty of Signs (2022) on Numina Records, a label she founded to aid in the documentation of traditional women’s music in the Maghreb and beyond. Numina Records is set to release her upcoming record as well as Bnat El Houariyat's upcoming LP in the fall of this year. Header photo courtesy the artist Thumbnail photo credit: Alfred Coleman
The Precision Dance Collective was created out of an idea to fine-tune a dancer’s technique and attention to detail within their movement all the while building their confidence and expanding their skillset. The Cofounders, Katie Walker Henein and Sarah Hoge, elevate the dancer’s technical foundation by providing them with access to classes and choreography from elite industry professionals over the course of a week. Dancers are guided to feel empowered both in the studio, and on the stage while performing. The journey of a professional dancer includes countless hours spent working to develop their craft and find their unique voice within their movement. Whether dancers want to build their confidence for auditions or refine their technique and try a new style of dance, The Precision Dance Collective provides the guidance they need along every step of their journey! The one-hour performance brings together a week’s worth of hard work, training, and determination in the form of choreography from Katie and Sarah! The dancers have the opportunity to bring their own unique selves into the precision dance choreography and showcase themselves in a theater atmosphere with a live audience supporting them every step of the way. The performance is followed by a one-hour live panel and Q&A with industry professionals to discuss life and career opportunities within the performing arts industry!
One night only of Danielle Diniz’s original choreography focused on appealing to every theater-goer and melding styles in order to bring back classic musical theater in a big way. By revamping, refining and rediscovering the genre for a new generation, while honoring its historic brilliance and entertainment value, Diniz finds it imperative to highlight the power and quality of technical, athletic and energetic dance in this diverse program. * With Jenavieve Adams, Jamie Askey, Kai Atobe, Madison Burns, Mackenzie Burtt, Mariana Camarena, Emily Cardea, Monica Cioffi, Darian DalCortivo, Kylie Edwards, Hailey Fleming, Jill Gittleman, Samantha Grey, Mary Kate Hartung, Irene Hwang, Laura Kaufman, Bri Kim, Colby Lewis, Jacob Lill, Sam Lobel, Jonatan Lujan, Nick Nazzaro, Sophie Silnicki, Kristi Smith, Tyler Sparacio, Ai Toyoshima, Lauren Treat, Hannah Welsh, Matt Wiercinski, Kelli Youngman. Ms. Diniz is thrilled to have been selected for a CUNY Dance Initiative residency! She has been commissioned to create new works for Jacob’s Pillow, Performance Santa Fe, Avant Chamber Ballet, two ballets for Columbia Ballet Collaborative, Ballet Hartford, Woman in Motion and Central Utah Ballet. She was a featured choreographer for DanceBreak (musical theater’s leading platform for upcoming Broadway choreographers) and in the 22/23 season has commissions from Ballet Excel Ohio, the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning for their Making Moves Dance Festival and will present work at the Palm Desert Choreography Festival at the McCallum Theatre and Baryshnikov Arts Center via New York Theatre Barn’s Choreography Lab. She is a winner of the New York Dance Project Choreography Competition, a junior board member of Jazz Choreography Enterprises and her work has been shown in Stars of American Ballet rep, New York Choreographers’ Forum, the Steps Beyond Foundation performance lab, Jazz Choreography Enterprises, Nebula Dance Festival, and the Higher Ground Festival, among others. She also choreographed the AEA production of the Vaudevillian musical ‘On the Air,’ currently choreographs and assistant directs intermittent musical theater showcases at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy and has served as Associate Choreographer for Lorin Latarro. She made her Off-Broadway choreographic debut at the AMT Theatre with “An Unbalanced Mind,” is honored her dance-on-film work has been presented in film festivals domestically and abroad and was awarded a grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts/City Artist Corps to present a full evening of her choreography in 2021. Photo credit: Steven Vandervelden. Covid Policy: Masks are optional. If you are feeling any COVID-related or flu-like symptoms on the day of the show, please stay home or seek medical attention, and be safe.