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New York City Ballet 2021 Spring Gala online review - Balanchine and Robbins shine in a dark theatre
Dancers return to the Lincoln Center in Sofia Coppola s quietly moving short film
by Jenny GilbertSaturday, 15 May 2021
Still dark: Anthony Huxley premieres Justin Peck s Solo to an empty house at the Lincoln Centerphoto: Philippe Le Sourd
Only connect: Yearning for the intimacy of a danced, onstage world
The New York City Ballet dancer Russell Janzen near his home in New York, April 28, 2021. Janzen misses the physical and emotional closeness forged onstage, which are lost on Zoom and in socially distanced dancing. Jingyu Lin/The New York Times.
by Russell Janzen
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- When the music begins, we start to dance. Its early April, and for the first time in 13 months Im rehearsing with a partner in the New York City Ballet studios. Ashley Bouder and I bump into each other as we dance side by side. After more than a year of dancing on our own were not used to this sort of closeness.
Last modified on Thu 6 May 2021 18.01 EDT
Itâs fair to say dance on screen is getting more ambitious when New York City Ballet go and hire Sofia Coppola to direct their latest film. But the heavyweight director isnât heavy-handed in this beautifully judged reimagining of a gala for the screen, telling the story of the companyâs return to the theatre, from first steps in the rehearsal room to on-stage finale.
The filmâs establishing shots capture the stillness of this time in limbo: huge stacks of unworn pointe shoes, tutus on their hangers, the deserted auditorium. Gonzalo Garcia walks tentatively through an empty studio, but soon the movement (from Jerome Robbinsâ Dances at a Gathering) takes over, like memory flooding through his limbs. The camera moves backstage, with Ashley Bouder and Russell Janzen dancing part of Balanchineâs Duo Concertant in front of a shuttered loading dock. Amid the controlled repetitions of movement, Bouderâs pleasure i