Dances At A Gathering

Tomorrow afternoon, Andrew and I will head to New York for the weekend.

The primary enticement in New York for us: three interesting programs at New York City Ballet.

I am not certain I can say I am a partisan of ballet—but I can state that I am definitely a partisan of the work of George Balanchine. Balanchine was unquestionably a genius, although I am confident I possess only a superficial understanding of the breadth and depth of his genius.

We shall see four Balanchine ballets I have already seen (although not all were danced by New York City Ballet). We shall see another three Balanchine ballets I have not yet seen (one of which will be new to Andrew, too).

We shall also see an Alexei Ratmansky ballet that I have already seen, and a Jerome Robbins ballet that will be new to me.

To end the weekend, we will catch Brian Bedford’s production of Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance Of Being Earnest”. The current Broadway production is based upon Bedford’s 2009 staging for The Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Bedford himself portrays Lady Bracknell, one of the great gorgon roles of the British stage.

It should be a fun weekend.