Kings of the Dance at City Center
http://www.thirteen.org/sundayarts/blog/ballet/kings-dance-among-us/802/
Ballet can be a spectacle, but the big companies tend to sublimate this aspect in deference to emphasizing the classic stories, its rich history, the ever-present sublime beauty. So there’s something refreshing, if blunt, about the frank populist appeal of Kings of the Dance which took place at City Center last week. Produced by Ardani Artists, if the artists involved weren’t truly world-class, the title would be more humorous than serious. Fortunately, the cast boasted local stars Marcelo Gomes, Jose Manuel Carreno, David Hallberg (all ABT), Desmond Richardson (Complexions), and Joaquin de Luz (NYCB), plus Guillaume Cote (National Ballet of Canada), Denis Matvienko (Mariinsky), and Nikolay Tsiskaridze.
This year’s densely-packed 2.5 hour program was well put-together for such a star vehicle. It led off with Christopher Wheeldon’s gentle For 4 (2006), which opens with the four crisply silhouetted like a pantheon of, well, kings, with each man’s solo overlapping with the next to Franz Schubert’s music. I think the men were striving to look relaxed, but at times it bordered on feeling unrehearsed. Given the demands on these artists’ schedules, that would be understandable.
