Looking back at 2008:
Best Performances Cognizant of World Events
Maguy Marin’s Umwelt, Joyce Theater (excerpts here)
Jane Comfort’s An American Rendition, Duke Theater
Best William Forsythe Alumnus Showing
Richard Siegal, As If Stranger, Danspace Project and New 45 at Fall for Dance
Best Show You Probably Didn’t See
Batsheva (Ohad Naharin)’s Kamuyot, in performances for kids at Jewish Community Center (Read the New York Times review)
Best Show You May Have Seen 24 Years Ago But Should See Again
Martha Clarke’s Garden of Earthly Delights, Minetta Lane Theater
Most Satisfying Work In Spite (or Because) of Its Somewhat Complicated Concept
Jonah Bokaer’s Stacks, including Anne Carson, at Skirball Center (Read the New York Times review)
Best News for New York’s Balletomanes
The resurgence of New York City Ballet’s dancers (especially Tyler Angle, Sara Mearns, Robert Fairchild, Tiler Peck), Morphoses (Christopher Wheeldon)’s well-curated second season at City Center, the impressive Joyce season of Benjamin Millepied’s Danses Concertantes using mostly ABT dancers, ABT’s Marcelo Gomes and David Hallberg, ABT’s signing Alexei Ratmansky as choreographer in residence, major season by the Kirov Ballet at City Center.
Please Return to Our Shores Soon
Michael Clark Company, Rose Theater
Proof That Painting Will Never Be Dead
Giorgio Morandi at the Met Museum
Evidence That New York is Indeed Attached to the Rest of the Country
Opening of the Sports Museum of America and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Annex
Best Reason to Doubt Faith
The New York Mets suspiciously regular fadeouts in September
Best Reason to Never Lose Faith
New York Giants, Superbowl Champs
Looking forward to in 2009:
Paul Taylor Dance Company’s Feb/Mar City Center season, including the new Beloved Renegade, and remountings of Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rehearsal), Last Look, Scudorama, and more
Ratmansky’s debut work for ABT
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s new work for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet at the Joyce
Take Note:
DTW: Ivy Baldwin; Christopher Williams, Pam Tanowitz
Danspace Project: Yvonne Meier, Julian Barnett, Keely Garfield
Joyce: Evidence, Doug Varone, NDT II, Joe Goode, Lines, Stephen Petronio
Photo: The cast of Jane Comfort’s American Rendition. Photo by Arthur Elgort.
