NYC Previews

Three Special Programs: DeMille, Movement at the Still Point, Live, and YAGP Returns to NYC

Jerry Hochman

Sorry for the late notice on these, and for the “press release” language, but many readers might be interested in the following upcoming New York City dance events, for the subject matter, the live performances, the ambiance, or all of the above.

I. Agnes de Mille and the Female Narrative at NYPL, April 3, 2023, from 6-7:30 p.m.

To honor Agnes de Mille on the 30th Anniversary of her passing, The De Mille Working Group will present a public program tomorrow, between 6 and 7:30 p.m. featuring live performances, panel discussion, and historical film footage. Moderated by Linda Murray, Curator for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, and Interim Executive Director of the Library for the Performing Arts, the panel will focus on de Mille’s multi-faceted female characters, exploring the meaning and intent behind the choreographer’s vision.

The program will feature a notable panel of experts including Virginia Johnson, Kathleen Moore, and Elena Zahlmann, all former interpreters of de Mille’s most iconic roles. Diana Byer, Artistic Director Emerita of New York Theatre Ballet and stager of de Mille works, and Diana Gonzalez-Duclert, former rehearsal assistant to de Mille, professor, and associate director and répétiteur of the De Mille Working Group, will round out the panel to discuss de Mille’s work and its enduring relevance.

Elena Zahlmann, with other New York Theatre Ballet dancers,
in Agnes de Mille’s Three Virgins and a Devil
Photo by Kevin Yatarola

Scheduled live performance excerpts (note, as is usually the case, that performers and performances are subject to change) include Emma Von Enck and Victor Abreu of New York City Ballet in a solo and pas de deux from de Mille’s choreography of the 1945 musical Carousel, and Elena Zahlmann, NYTB Associate Director, in de Mille’s solo from Debut at the Opera (1927). Performances will be accompanied by New York City Ballet pianist Michael Scales.

The program will also include film footage from many of de Mille’s historic works, some never seen publicly, including excerpts from the film Ballet Class (1929), “Civil War Ballet” from Bloomer Girl (1944, 1956 film), a televised version of Fall River Legend performed by Dance Theatre of Harlem (1989), and a filmed performance of The Informer performed by American Ballet Theatre (1988).

Admission is free to the public, but registration via NYPL’s website ( www.nypl.org ) is required.

The program will take place at the New York Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, Bruno Walter Auditorium. The entrance is on Amsterdam Avenue between 64th and 65th Street, not the Library entrance on the Lincoln Center Plaza.

Carmen de Lavallade,
from “Movement at the Still Point: An Ode to Dance”
Photos by Mark Mann

II. Movement at the Still Point: An Evening of Dance, at the Joyce Theater,   Monday, April 10, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

As those of you who follow certain dancers on Instagram, Facebook, or other social media platforms are already aware, celebrity portrait photographer Mark Mann has released (as of March 21) a new coffee table book “Movement at the Still Point: An Ode to Dance” that features Mann’s photographs of 142 well-known New York area dancers.

Sara Mearns,
from “Movement at the Still Point: An Ode to Dance”
Photos by Mark Mann

To celebrate the occasion, a one night only evening of dance is being presented at the Joyce Theater beginning at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 10, 2023. Titled “Movement at the Still Point: An Evening of Dance,” the program, intended to capture the dynamism and the energy of mediums of both dance and photography, will present an eclectic, multi-disciplinary and multi-generational program of ballet, modern, tap, hip hop, contemporary, tango, and musical theater, and is scheduled to include (although scheduling is subject to change) performances and appearances from New York City Ballet’s Sara Mearns, Megan LeCrone and Georgina Pazcoguin; Martha Graham Dance Company principals Lloyd Knight and Xin Ying and former principal and Artistic Director Terese Capucilli; Broadway’s Skye Mattox, Karla Garcia, David Guzman, Ricardo Zayas, Morgan Marcell, Ryan Vandenboom, and Curtis Holland; choreographer and Princess Grace Award recipient Rena Butler; vogue dancers Amadeo “Remy” Mangano and Ousmane “Omari” Wiles, Argentine Tango dancers Dardo Galletto and Alonso Guzman, tap artist Evan Ruggiero, Gibney Company’s Artistic Associate Jie-Hung Connie Shiau; dancer and actress Carmen de Lavallade; former Merce Cunningham dancer Gus Solomons Jr.; and more to be announced. Note that performances and scheduling are subject to change.

Roman Mejia,
from “Movement at the Still Point: An Ode to Dance”
Photos by Mark Mann

Performance tickets start at $75, and are available at the Joyce Theater or at the Joyce website: https://www.joyce.org/movement-still-point-evening-dance . VIP tickets, which include an autographed book by the evening’s performers, an off-site VIP cocktail reception, and a portrait session with Mark Mann, are also available. Interested readers should contact kimberly@theprsocial.com.

III. YAGP “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow” Gala Returns to New York City, Tuesday, April 11, 2023 at 7 p.m. at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center

The world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition – Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) – returns to Lincoln Center for the first time since before the Covid pandemic to host its 2023 “Stars of Today Meets the Stars of Tomorrow” Gala.

The Gala kicks off YAGP’s 25th Anniversary season, with a program that includes a veritable laundry list of current ballet icons, most of whom are YAGP alumnae, a performance by members of the YAGP International Contemporary Dance Ensemble (ICE) of work by Ohad Naharin and Sharon Eyal, and the World Premiere of Reflective Response #1, danced by Michaela Mabinty DePrince, choreographed by My’Kal Stromile, both from Boston Ballet. Accompanying the piece is 15-year-old prodigy singer Paloma Dineli Chesky and Grammy Award-nominated pianist David Chesky, performing live.

Scheduled featured dancers, the “Stars of Today,” include the following: Jacopo Tissi (in his first New York appearance since leaving the Bolshoi Ballet for La Scala Ballet), who will dance the U.S. Premiere of a solo excerpt from the ballet, The Ninth Wave, choreographed by Bryan Arias, as well as the Le Corsaire Act II pas de deux partnering Christine Shevchenko (American Ballet Theatre). Jun Masuda (Tulsa Ballet) and Shale Wagman (Bavarian State Ballet, in his New York professional debut), will dance the U.S. Premiere of Hungarian Dances, and Wagman will join Evelina Godunova (Berlin State Ballet, in her New York debut) for a pas de deux from Flames of Paris. Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia (both New York City Ballet) will dance a pas de deux from George Balanchine’s Tarantella, Constantine Allen (Dutch National Ballet) will perform 5 Tangos choreographed by Hans van Manen, and Chloe Misseldine (ABT) will perform William Tell. And Claudia Mota and Allen will perform the pas de deux from Le Parc by Angelin Prejlocaj.

Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia,
here in George Balanchine’s “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux”
Photo by Erin Baiano

Naharin and Eyal, will present rarely seen works (or excerpts therefrom), OCD Love and Decadance,  performed by 18 dancers from the YAGP International Contemporary Dance Ensemble (ICE), which is comprised of 35 dancers spanning 15 countries.

Sharing the stage with these ballet notables are YAGP’s 2023 competition winners (“Stars of Tomorrow”), ages 9-19, dancing contemporary and classical ballet favorites and vying for scholarships and job opportunities in front of top ballet school directors and company heads.

And as if all that weren’t enough, 18 year-old Yeva Hrytsak will dance the Lilac Fairy Variation from The Sleeping Beauty. Hrytsak is from Ukraine and now trains with ABT’s JKO School. When the war on Ukraine began, YAGP worked quickly to relocate dance students from Ukraine and place them in YAGP partner schools in Europe and the United States to safely continue their dance training. To date, YAGP’s Ukraine Relief campaign has put over 200 dancers on a path to a professional career in dance.  BULLETIN: I’ve been advised that Yeva has a small injury so she’s being replaced with Nikita Malaki, 16, from Kyiv, who is now dancing with Rock School for Dance Education through a YAGP/Buffet Foundation grant.

Proceeds from the Gala benefit YAGP’s Ukraine efforts as well as dance scholarships and education. Tickets start at $75 and can be purchased at:

https://www.lincolncenter.org/venue/alice-tully-hall/stars-of-today-meet-the-stars-of tomorrow