New York is so dance rich that it becomes a bit of a perverse sport to complain about the plethora. But in a twist, Lincoln Center's indoor summer festivals are ditching dance this year.
But first, we're on the eve of New York City Ballet's spring season, and two weeks hence, ABT's, which take us halfway through July. That's an insane amount of the finest repertory in the history of feet, danced by the finest feet in the history of dirt.
ABT ends in July, and Lincoln Center Festival begins. Right after that, in August, Mostly Mozart takes over Lincoln Center.
This year, however, looks like I've got many free summer nights after ABT since neither the LCF nor Mostly Mozart is presenting any dance.
LCF used to heavily feature dance. In 2006 alone, there was a mini-festival of Israeli dance with Batsheva, Yasmeen Godder, and Emanuel Gat, plus San Francisco Ballet with three programs including Mark Morris' Sylvia, STREB, Saburo Teshigawara, and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane. In 2010, the Mariinsky Ballet visited, and the festival hosted the clever Merce Fair.
Sure, LCF is further cultivating cross-genre performance, where the lines blur between music, theater, and everything else. One show, Murmurs, features the movement theater (or nouveau cirque) of Aurelie Thiérrée and Victoria Thiérrée Chaplin, but it is not dance. What happened?
Plus, Mark Morris has waved the baton in recent Mostly Mozart seasons, and usually brings one of his splendid full-length works, such as L'Allegro, or the sublime Mozart Dances, which premiered in that halcyon 2006 season. This year—nada.
Lincoln Center Out of Doors just announced the season's lineup. Huzzah—it includes the companies of Mark Dendy, Kyle Abraham, and John Heginbotham.
So, dance mavens, more nights watching baseball this year. Now I've really gotta roots for the Mets. Maybe the timing is providential, because they need my support.
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