Another List

Below is a chronological listing of dance performances Andrew and I attended over the past year.

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Mariinsky Ballet
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
London

Swan Lake [Peter Illich Tchaikovsky/Marius Petipa-Konstantin Sergeyev]

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Mariinsky Ballet
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
London

La Bayadere [Ludwig Minkus/Marius Petipa-Vakhtang Chabukiani-Vladimir Ponomarev]

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Scottish Ballet
Orpheum Theatre
Minneapolis

Kings 2 Ends [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart-Steve Reich/Jorma Elo]
Song Of The Earth [Gustav Mahler/Kenneth MacMillan]

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Merce Cunningham Dance Company
McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center
Minneapolis

Antic Meet [John Cage/Merce Cunningham]
RainForest [David Tudor/Merce Cunningham]
Pond Way [Brian Eno/Merce Cunningham]

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Houston Ballet
Orpheum Theatre
Minneapolis

ONE/end/ONE [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/Jorma Elo]
In The Night [Frederic Chopin/Jerome Robbins]
Rush [Bohuslav Martinu/Christopher Wheeldon]

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Ballet Preljocaj
Orpheum Theatre
Minneapolis

Snow White [Gustav Mahler/Angelin Preljocaj]

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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Orpheum Theatre
Minneapolis

Arden Court [William Boyce/Paul Taylor]
Minus 16 [Popular Music/Ohad Naharin]
Revelations [Spirituals/Alvin Ailey]

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Kansas City Ballet
Kauffman Center For The Performing Arts
Kansas City

Serenade [Peter Illich Tchaikovsky/George Balanchine]
Afternoon Of A Faun [Claude Debussy/Jerome Robbins]
Les Gentilhommes [George Frideric Handel/Peter Martins]
Souvenirs [Samuel Barber/Todd Bolender]

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Our rate of dance-going did not decline last season, even though Minneapolis lacks a full-time, large-scale ballet company. Andrew and I attended roughly the same number of dance performances last season as we had the previous three seasons, when we had enjoyed easy access to Boston Ballet and New York City Ballet.

Last season was the first time since I met Andrew that we did not attend a performance of New York City Ballet. To make amends, we SHALL see New York City Ballet next season, because NYCB will visit Minneapolis—and will even bring its own orchestra.

There are two full-time, small-scale ballet/modern dance companies based in the Twin Cities, James Sewell Ballet and Minnesota Dance Theatre, but we never attend any of their performances. Perhaps we are foolish for ignoring them.

Next season, four different organizations in the Twin Cities will present visiting dance troupes.

The Northrop Dance Series, under the auspices of The University Of Minnesota, remains the big-budget sponsor of visiting dance companies. Northrop is the sponsor of NYCB’s upcoming visit to Minneapolis as well as next season’s visits by the Joffrey and Béjart companies, among many others.

The new Cowles Center For The Performing Arts in downtown Minneapolis—which we have not yet visited—will offer a full array of modern-dance events next season.

The Ordway Center in Saint Paul, too, presents a modern-dance series.

The McGuire Theater at The Walker Art Center is also home to numerous modern-dance presentations.

Over the last few decades, Minneapolis has become a center of sorts for modern dance, perhaps the most important after New York. There is a sizable and dedicated audience for modern dance here—but I have a limited appetite for modern dance, and remain indifferent to the proliferation of modern-dance activity around town.

Next season, we will make a point of catching NYCB, the Joffrey and the Béjart—but I doubt whether we will attend many of the other events.

I last updated this list on July 8, 2011.