KENREX
Apr 27, 2026
BEACHES
Apr 29, 2026
Review by Celia Ipiotis
It was opening night of NYC Ballet’s spring season and the weather was downright chilly but the packed audience wrapped the company in a warm embrace. Three aesthetically different ballets filled the evening, from high, dramatic classical ballet to a neo classical ballet and a full blown story ballet.
Harking.back to the operatic classical ballet genre, the lush Symphony in C challenged the company. Divided into 4 movements, the soon to be retired Megan Fairchild led the first movement partnered by a sharply etched Joseph Gordon. Self assured and on top of each demanding movement, Fairchild slid through the complicated bounces on point, and sprang into balances that unspooled into top-like turns. Gordon sprang neatly into crisp jumps and leaps while remaining alert and attentive to Fairchild.
A favorite of many, the melancholic second movement featured the lithe Mira Nadon and her suitor David Gabriel. In a series of bourrees, Nadon arrived framed by women in long, white tutus. Guided by Preston Chamblee, Nadon remained tentative, resisting her hallmark, luxurious extensions marked by an intuitive musicality. Emma Von Enck jumped in for Ashley Hod partnered by an impressive David Gabriel. Rounding out the ballet, a hearty Olivia MacKinnon and Jules Mabie pulled the ballet into its breathtaking finale of dancers in a brilliant panoply of turns and toe pricking struts forward and back.
Agon, a neo – classical ballet, punched contrapuntal moves against the music by Igor Stravinsky. Dancers with hair pulled back in slick buns and clad in black leotards and pink tights, drew geometric angles, and lines. Due to the clarity of the movements, unendingly combined in nefariously difficult sequences, any misstep was evident. This is where a well seasoned dancer, like the soulful Taylor Stanley, demonstrated how a dance looks when you feel and understand it inside out.
Firebird, a banquet of visual images created by Chagall project kaleidoscopic hues on the scrims, costumes and masks. Truly a visual marvel, George Balanchine choreographed this ballet in 1949 featuring the majestic Maria Tallchief, the first Native American prima ballerina. The NYC Ballet revival from 1970 includes choreography by Jerome Robbins. On opening night, Isabella LaFreniere assumed the role of the magical Firebird. Electric currents rippled through her arms, and shot through her arrow-like arabesques. Discovered by the gracious Prince Ivan, (Gilbert Bolden III–back after a lengthy injury) the Firebird grants Ivan a red feather and a promise to help him slay any marauding monsters. When his kingdom is invaded by the evil sorcerer Kastchel and his hordes, LeFreniere holds true to her word and vanquishes them.
Between Igor Stravinsky’s exhilarating score and Marc Chagall’s luminous sets, scrims, masks and costumes, the audience was catapulted into the realm of sensory bliss.
EYE ON THE ARTS, NY — Celia Ipiotis
