At City Ballet, Casting, Coaching and Dances Worth Watching

New York Times

05-06-2025

Looks can be deceiving, even in ballet. On paper, the spring season of New York City Ballet looked safe and dutiful, with no premieres, except the stage performance of a pandemic-era dance film and more recent contemporary works, some welcome (by Alexei Ratmansky), others not so much (everything else).
But the season had a surprising sense of purpose, which came from casting, coaching and commendable repertoire. Suzanne Farrell, the former City Ballet star, worked with the dancers on four ballets. The 50th anniversary of the Ravel Festival made for a memorable trip back to 1975. And debuts were plentiful; more than that, they were meaningful choices, the kinds of roles that challenge dancers at the right time and give them the space to grow.
Ratmansky didn't need to present a premiere. Two sides of his artistry were already on display. There was the buoyant, technical 'Paquita,' his spirited look at classicism in the 21st century; and 'Solitude,' a remarkable ballet illustrating the inner turmoil and outer tragedy of the war in Ukraine, with dancing shaped by and seeped in sorrow. It is even stronger now — quietly devastating with an icy spareness and, from the dancers, deep, grounded conviction.
Its placement on a program between Caili Quan's 'Beneath the Tides' and Justin Peck's 'Mystic Familiar' seemed clueless, as if all of contemporary ballet is on an equal playing field. It's not. Other programs were dragged down by ballets that felt like needless filler — Peck's blandly lush 'Belles-Lettres' and Christopher Wheeldon's drippy 'After the Rain' pas de deux. The pas de deux made what should have been a strong program of ballets by Jerome Robbins and Ratmansky interminable.
Ballet is an art, but its athletic demands can be cruel: Gilbert Bolden III, a new, much-valued principal dancer, tore his Achilles during a performance of 'Scotch Symphony.' His recovery will take months. But that show went on — Jules Mabie filled in for him — and the season, which included a farewell to the longtime principal Andrew Veyette, ended on a cheerful note with Balanchine's enchanting 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' made even more so by the debut of Mira Nadon, dancing with Peter Walker, in the second act divertissement. She moves like silk.
Here are a few other standout ballets and performances.
Kyle Abraham
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