Masters at Work: Balanchine & Robbins III

WILDLY CONTRASTING ATMOSPHERES PROVIDING A DELECTABLE DISPLAY OF DANCE

Two piquantly contrasted works by Balanchine are joined by a treasured Robbins classic. 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. Agon, one of Balanchine’s supreme collaborations with Stravinsky, was inspired by classic French dance steps, but reimagines and reinterprets them in the spare but powerful style of Balanchine’s historic Black & White leotard ballets. Robbins’ Fancy Free concludes the program on a note of jovial comedy with its depiction of sailors on shore leave looking for love – or just an evening of freewheeling fun.