Program
Classic NYCB II
MAY 8, 9, 11 eve, 18 mat, 26
TRAVERSE NYCB’S EXPANSIVE REPERTORY THROUGH AN ARRAY OF MUSICAL OFFERINGS
A pair of dances that illustrate two distinctive aspects of Jerome Robbins’ artistry highlight this diverse program. Interplay, first seen in 1945, features music by Morton Gould, and was described by one critic as “the foundation of an American mid-forties classic style.” Other Dances features just two dancers in a display of sweeping, occasionally folk-inflected ballet technique. The Robbins pieces are joined by newer works: Pam Tanowitz’s Gustave le Gray No. 1 is performed to a score for solo piano by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw, its title a tribute to the 19th-century French artist known for his innovations in the nascent medium of photography. And Justin Peck’s Year of the Rabbit, his second dance for the Company, marked Peck’s first collaboration with the singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens.
Ballets on this Program
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Interplay
Interplay’s young dancers take part in lighthearted competition as they revel in the exuberant yet cool melodies of the ballet’s jazz-infused score.
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Other Dances
Other Dances pays homage to Chopin’s romanticism and the purity of classical ballet technique, featuring two dramatic dancers in a series of short, folk-infused dances.
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Gustave le Gray No. 1
Gustave le Gray No. 1 was originally created in 2019 for “Ballet Across America” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For the NYCB premiere, which is set to music by Caroline Shaw performed by an onstage pianist, the work will be performed by two dancers from NYCB and two guest dancers from the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
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Year of the Rabbit
Set to an orchestration of Sufjan Stevens’ 2001 electronica album Enjoy Your Rabbit, Justin Peck’s acclaimed Year of the Rabbit presents an ever-changing kaleidoscope of visually arresting shapes, weaving six featured dances into the corps de ballet.
