Essays on the Performing Arts

Alastair Macaulay 10/27/24 Alastair Macaulay 10/27/24

The Royal Ballet’s “Encounters: Four Contemporary Ballets”

Alastair Macaulay 9/1/24 Alastair Macaulay 9/1/24

Justin Peck in 2016 interview about his own 2015 “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes”.

The male Nocturne quintet second movement of Justin Peck’s “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes”

Alastair Macaulay 8/24/24 Alastair Macaulay 8/24/24

Alternate Worlds Moving on Two Stages, Performing for One Audience

Alastair Macaulay 8/23/24 Alastair Macaulay 8/23/24

Showcasing New Ballets and Female Choreographers in Boston

Dancers from Boston Ballet in Helen Pickett's "Eventide," a dance for five male-female couples, set to music by Michael Nyman, Jan Garbarek and Philip Glass. Photographs by Michael Lutch.

Alastair Macaulay 8/23/24 Alastair Macaulay 8/23/24

What Audiences Haven’t Seen Before

Gennadi Nedvigin, Joan Boada and Jaime Garcia Castilla in Yuri Possokhov's "Fusion." Photograph: Erik Tomasson

Alastair Macaulay 8/16/24 Alastair Macaulay 8/16/24

The Heart Leaps Whenever They Do

Soledad Barrio with Noche Flamenca

Alastair Macaulay 8/4/24 Alastair Macaulay 8/4/24

Paris Flocks to a Cunningham Revival: Works That Remain Fresh

Merce Cunningham’s eyeSpace.

Alastair Macaulay 8/1/24 Alastair Macaulay 8/1/24

By Twos: From Privacy to Fusion in a Cunningham Duet

Julie Cunningham (no relation) and Daniel Madoff in the world premiere of Merce Cunningham’s “XOVER”. Photograph: Matthew Lutch.

Alastair Macaulay 8/1/24 Alastair Macaulay 8/1/24

A Slap Echoing Beyond the Stage

Peter Martins

Alastair Macaulay 7/28/24 Alastair Macaulay 7/28/24

This Cinderella Puts Her Own Spin on Kitchen Duty

Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes as Cinderella and Prince Charming in James Kudelka’s Cinderella. Photograph: Nan Melville.

Alastair Macaulay 7/28/24 Alastair Macaulay 7/28/24

Plenty of Flash. But Drama? And Poetry?

Herman Cornejo as Puck in Frederick Ashton’s “The Dream”, American Ballet Theatre. Photograph: Andrea Mohin.

Alastair Macaulay 7/26/24 Alastair Macaulay 7/26/24

Mark Morris Descends to the Underworld ...

Mark Morris’s Metropolitan Opera production of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. Photograph: Sara Krulwich.

Alastair Macaulay 7/26/24 Alastair Macaulay 7/26/24

Veteran’s ‘Giselle,’ Full of Spontaneity, and No Apologies

Nina Ananiashvili as Giselle in the State Ballet of Georgia production of Giselle. Photograph: Christopher Cappozziello.

Alastair Macaulay 7/26/24 Alastair Macaulay 7/26/24

From Realm of Pure Dance to Enchanted Fairyland

Herman Cornejo as Puck in The Dream. Photograph: Andrea Mohin.

Alastair Macaulay 7/24/24 Alastair Macaulay 7/24/24

Those Star-Crossed Lovers With Sun-Splashed Colors

Sterling Hyltin and Robert Fairchild in the title roles of Peter Martins’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Photograph: Paul Kolnik.

Alastair Macaulay 7/10/24 Alastair Macaulay 7/10/24

The inconsistencies of the dance critic Clement Crisp

Alastair Macaulay 6/8/24 Alastair Macaulay 6/8/24

Frederick Ashton, from Sarasota

Alastair Macaulay 4/23/24 Alastair Macaulay 4/23/24

The late Liam Scarlett’s Swan Lake and the Royal Ballet’s loss of direction

Alastair Macaulay 2/15/15 Alastair Macaulay 2/15/15

A World Premiere of Pure Dance to a Familiar Score

Amar Ramasar and Sara Mearns in the world premiere of Justin Peck’s “Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes”. Photograph: Andrea Mohin.

Alastair Macaulay 4/27/08 Alastair Macaulay 4/27/08

Robbins’s Legacy of Anguish and Exuberance