8/16/24 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Unite- The Future Faces of Ballet

By Walter Rutledge

Unite, the Joyce Ballet Festival’s opening night performance was an eye-opening reveal of the face (or faces) of the future of ballet. The six-day, festival offers eight performances from Tuesday August 13 through Sunday August 18. Unite is an enlightening example of the growing and long overdue multicultural diversity and inclusiveness the artform so rightfully deserves. Continue reading

8/9/24 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Calvin Royal III and João Menegussi Perform Touche at Unite- Joyce Ballet Festival

UNITE the Joyce Theater’s Ballet Festival, August 13 through August 18, is curated and co-produced by American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Calvin Royal III. One of the works to be presented, Touché, is a duet that explores the themes of male love.  Created by Chris Rudd the ballet features Royal III (Adam) and ABT Corps de ballet member João Menegussi (Steve). Continue reading

6/10/22 O&A NYC DANCE REVIEW: Calvin Royal III in Giselle

By Walter Rutledge

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) begins its summer New York season June 13 at the Metropolitan Opera House. Before we discuss the upcoming season, it would be remiss of me not to discuss one important event during the prior fall season. A season marked by many ABT firsts, making it truly a season of diversity.

On October 23, 2021, dance history was quietly made at the Saturday matinee of American Ballet Theater. Calvin Royal lll became the company’s first African American principal dancer to perform the lead role of Albrecht in Giselle. The production exuded with the extravagance befitting American Ballet Theatre, the grandeur of the David H Koch Theater, and Mr. Royal’s augural New York City performance. He was complemented by sumptuous sets, live music, focused staging and a stellar cast.

Cassandra Trenary in the title role of Giselle danced with a spirited conviction. We all were sitting in the front seats of her roller-coaster ride from exuberance to madness, death, and finally her transformation into a fearless and virtuous spirit. Patrick Frenette‘s Hilarion embodied the jealous spurled “let’s just be friends” suitor. And Susan Jones portrayed Berthe, Giselle’s mother, with both compassion and matriarchal protectiveness.

Giselle is my favorite romantic ballet. Although the story is set in the Rhineland in the 1500’s the ballet is a perfect example of 19th century French romanticism. Like many of its literary contemporaries such as Manon Lescaut, Madame Bovary, and les Demoiselles Camelias the heroine’s death absolved her of past transgressions. It also gave these heroines a virtue not obtained in their lifetimes- almost a deification.

In Giselle, a simple, lovestruck, peasant girl is courted by a nobleman pretending to be a peasant. The charming Count Albrecht of Sileca seduces the young girl. And when the ruse was exposed, the deception is more than frail Giselle can withstand and she dies.

Giselle is a true romantic story ballet. Here the mastery of “steps” is just the prerequisite to be considered for the role. This ballet is a theatrical production, a storytelling ballet that requires artists. Artists who can transcend the roles and make us believe we too are in an enchanted hinterland.

Someone of Albrecht’s entitled noble status believes he had the right to deceive these simple villagers to gain their trust. He  seduces and deflowers a young maiden for sport and moves on. The precision of his plan suggests this is not his first peasant mascarade, nor his first peasant maiden seduction.

When Royal entered from the autumnal forest, he exuded an innate and natural elan.’ His swagger, confidence, and charming yet overt flirtations betrayed his guise as a humble village newcomer to the omniscient balletomanes. Regardless, we all were enthralled, seduced, and eventually betrayed.

This is a quality I first observed years earlier. Royal, then a member of ABT ll, performed the role of Prince Siegfried in the Black Swan Pas de Deux at the Joyce Theater on a split bill with Ailey ll. Even then, Royal danced in pure light, a quality you can’t teach, a quality that delineates a great dancer from an important and gifted artiste’.

What really struck me not what he did, but what he didn’t have to do. In this pas de deux the male danseur, is supportive and therefore invisible. The danseur should become just the setting around a perfect jewel. That evening Royal was a platinum setting.

Flash. forward to November 2021. It was evident Royal’s radiant pure light has become a mature focus beam of pure artistry. Choreographer Marius Petipa designed an ingenious second act plot twist. The perfect example of role and class reversal; and female empowerment through deification.

A remorseful Albrecht visits Giselle’s grave. Deep in the forest, cloaked in the amenity of darkness. The Count encounters the Willis; undead women, who died untouched, and now seeks revenge on men. Giselle saves the now powerless Albrecht from their bloodlust and redeems her soul. In hindsight, I wonder if the Willis plight was their purgatory and Giselle’s forgiveness of Albrecht her penance.

Royal is convincingly transformed from patrician to prisoner. The powerless mortal pleas for mercy are denied by the Willis’ Queen, Marta (Stephanie Petersen); but it is Giselle who fearlessly intercedes. Her former earthly love for him and her stoic selflessness reprieves Albrecht. Royal masterfully completes Petipa’s plot twist as the curtain falls. In these final moments Royal expresses the sadness and angst of losing Giselle. Through his remorse we sadly realize that the player (Albrecht) has played himself. Bravo!

Although act two was also visually stunning I was not pleased with moments of the second act lighting. The upstage lighting at times seemed dark and muddy. And shades of deep blue do not always compliment darker skin tones. Thankfully the light defused spotlights with the soft edges avoided most of the problem. I’m sure this light plot was designed long before a Calvin Royal III was in contention for the role, fortunately this is a minor adjustment.

The other point of visual ambiguity was the lighting for the dawn scene. The light seemed to rise from the east, west, north, and south making it visually and geographically confusing. It was especially disappointing when the side lighting (north and south) spilled onto the Willis costumes.

Royal’s fifteen-year journey from scholarship student to ABT principal danseur has been a dancer’s dream come true. In the company’s eighty-three-year history Royal is only the second principal of African descent and the first one in over twenty-three years. In the summer New York City season (June 13th thru July 19th) Royal will perform the roles of Espada in Don Quixote, Chaereas in the New York premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s Of Love and Rage and in Alonzo King’s quintet Single Eye (also a world premiere) One of his most anticipated performances will be Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. A role he was scheduled to perform in the 2020 summer season opposite Misty Copeland (Odette/Odell), but that historic performance (two African Americans dancing both lead roles) was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Royal has truly broken one of ballets’ glass ceilings. During his two-year tenure as principal, Royal has become a role model; inspiring young classically trained male dancers of color to follow their dreams. We the public see his success as only the beginning, and expect the wheels of progress to move faster, giving more aspiring dancers of color a chance to live their dreams. 

 

5/22/20 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: A Conversation With Calvin Royal III- The Best Is Yet To Come

By Walter Rutledge

 

On an unseasonably cold Sunday April morning Calvin Royal III met my at the East Harlem storefront dance studio of Robin William’s Uptown Dance Academy. The interview was in conjunction with his first upcoming New York City season as a soloist with American Ballet Theater (ABT). This also marked the first time in over two decades a black man ascended to the rank of soloist with ABT. Continue reading

(REPOST) 9/1/24 O&A NYC DIVO ALERT: Calvin Royal III- Hallelujah 

Hallelujah choreographed and performed by American Ballet Theater principal Calvin Royal III, directed by Andrii Didyk. Continue reading

The 7/17/19 O&A NYC WHATS HAPPENING THIS WEEK: July 17 through July 23, 2019

Heatwave! New York City is getting ready to become steamy, hot, and sticky- yeah summer in NYC is the best! We have great events indoors and out. There is interactive art on Randall’s Island, Dance in Central Park and on Fire Island, and a jazz brunch in Harlem. Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps, guaranteed to keep you Out and About. Continue reading

7/16/19 O&A NYC DANCE: Calvin Royal III- Hallelujah 

Hallelujah choreographed and performed by American Ballet Theater soloist Calvin Royal III, directed by Andrii Didyk. Continue reading

10/25/18 O&A NYC WHAT’S HAPPENING- WEEKEND PICKS: OCTOBER 25 THROUGH OCTOBER 28, 2018

It’s beginning to feel a lot like fall in New York City. The chill in the air reminds us that culture and fall go together like NYC bagels and lox. This week there is art by older artists at MoMA, Jazz heating up the Village, scary movies for those pre-Halloween gitters, and dance all over NYC. Here are a few of the many events happening in the city that never sleeps, guaranteed to keep you Out and About.

Continue reading

1/13/16 O&A NYC REVIEW: Daniil Simkin’s Intensio

By Walter Rutledge

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Daniil Simkin’s Intensio had their inaugural New York City season January 5 through January 10 at the Joyce Theater. Simkin presented a stylistically diverse audience friendly program, featuring four works by four internationally recognized choreographers. The company of nine highly trained professionals performed with impressive technical prowess that was only surpassed by the high level of artistry.

The program opened with Jorma Elo’s trio Nocturne/Etude/Prelude featuring Danili Simkin, Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside; with live piano accompaniment by David Friend. Boylston danced with exceptional assuredness, combining quirky circular arm movements with impeccable line and a crystalline attack. The work faired better when the choreography broke from the classical/ballet conventions of arabesque, attitude and pirouette and allowed the performers to just dance. Elo captured the mood and temperament of each section and the clean bright lighting complimented the choreography and the performers.

Welcome A Stranger by Gregory Dolbashian set to a music collage (including mixes by Dolbashian) presented a quintet featuring Celine Cassone, Blaine Hoven, Alexandre Hammond, Calvin Royal III, and Cassandra Trenary. The dark and introspective contemporary ballet was the only work set off pointe, which gave the dancers an opportunity to work through a more grounded center of gravity. Designed in three sections, the work was an excellent vehicle for guest artist Celine Cassone; whose fiery red hair matched her onstage temperament.

Simkin and the City, an amusing short film by Alexander Ekman, had Simkin dancing through Manhattan en route to the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center. Dressed in princely attire consisting white tights, ballet slippers and a white jeweled tunic; the farce drew laughter from the audience as Simkin entertained passers-by and a barking dog (it’s amazing how much New Yorkers and their pets take for granted). He finally arrives at the Met only to find the front doors locked.

"Simkin and the Stage"  /Alexander Ekman / Daniil Simkin’s INTENSIO

The second part Simkin and the Stage featured home movie footage of a young Simkin (starting at age nine) receiving dance class from his mother in their apartment. The serious, almost stoic child with the page-boy haircut looked more duty-bound than joyous. The adult Simkin danced onstage to a combination of music and a recorded narrative of his own voice. Throughout the work Simkin’s narration directed his dancing autobiography ranging from comedic to poignant.

The final work Island Of Memories by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa began with Simkin lying on the stage while an ocean of whirling light slowly rolled across the stage like an ebbing high tide. Lighting designer Dmitrij Simkin (Daniil’s father) using infrared sensors to track the heat of the dancer’s footwork illuminating the performers’ path with every step. Set to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons the full ensemble work lived up to Daniil Simkin’s objective of marrying dance and technology.

The simple, but effective stage set consisting of rectangular mirrors suspended above the stage provided another visual perspective to the work; creating the illusion of viewing the dance from the orchestra and balcony simultaneously. The duel perspective revealed the choreographer’s visual intent and the pattern work/stagecraft from above. American Ballet Theatre dancer Hee Seo performed with notable abandon especially in the duet with fellow ABT member Calvin Royal III.

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Daniil Simkin’s Intensio bridges the artistic gap between traditional and contemporary ballet; and the company accomplishes this goal without sacrificing artistic integrity. The company made its first leap into the New York City dance arena offering good form and a lot of fun. Simkin embraces the idea that dance, especially ballet, can be innovative and entertaining. 

1) Isabella Boylston and Alexandre Hammoudi – Image by Paula Lobo

2) Daniil Simkin – Image by Yi-Chun Wu

3) Céline Cassone and Calvin Royal III – Image by Paula Lobo

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4/23/15 O&A Dance: Youth America Grand Prix – Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala

By Walter Rutledge

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The 2015 Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) held their culminating gala event on Thursday, April 16, at the Koch Theatre, Lincoln Center. The evening aptly dubbed Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow showcased the talent of aspiring youth and their professional counterparts. The night was an exciting mix of promise, perfection and professionalism. Continue reading