Ratmansky | Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition (2014)
Limón | Bach – Chaconne (1942)
Robbins | Glass – Glass Pieces (1983)
The spring sees the duality of dance take center stage—raucous and robust, raw and wild to solemn and soulful, strict and structured—in two company premieres and a Jerome Robbins classic.
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Robbins energizes the season’s bill with a postmodern and classical mashup. Glass Pieces drives ever forward in the electrifying rhythm of metropolitan life while navigating the shifting patterns of the intoxicating Philip Glass score. The enduring legacy of José Limón and his native Mexico are never seen in all their glory more so than in Chaconne, the remarkable solo originally danced by its creator. Set to an emotion-laden J.S. Bach work for violin, Limón captures the power of control and the freedom of expression in equal measure. The company premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition completes the triple bill, with 10 dancers exploring the full range of motion and emotion. Danced to Modest Mussorgsky’s famed eponymous score in front of Wassily Kandinksky’s Color Study Squares with Concentric Circles by artists adorned in designer duds byAdeline Andre, this abstract ballet is the essence of a feast for the senses.