{"id":376675,"date":"2026-10-19T08:18:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:18:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376675\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T08:18:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T08:18:09","slug":"new-york-city-ballet-modern-masters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376675\/","title":{"rendered":"New York City Ballet: Modern Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"

David H. Koch Theater, New York City
October 10, 2026<\/p>\n

Tiler Peck is known for her incredible speed and energy, including super-fast footwork. George Balanchine\u2019s La Source may call for that to be toned down a little, but she surely glowed, filling the stage with her presence, in the opening work of New York City Ballet\u2019s Fall Modern Masters programme.<\/p>\n

Set to excerpts from L\u00e9o Delibes\u2019 ballets La Source and Sylvia, Balanchine\u2019s 24-minute ballet is a plotless affair that pays tribute to 19th-century French classical style. It\u2019s a frothy souffl\u00e9 of a work, untaxing but a joy for eye and ear.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Tiler Peck in George Balanchine\u2019s La Source
Photo Erin Baiano<\/p>\n

Unusually, it begins with a smooth, unhurried pas de deux. Peck and her partner Roman Mejia looked totally at ease. So good, so unobtrusive was Mejia\u2019s partnering, that at times it almost felt like he wasn\u2019t there. In his solo, it wasn\u2019t so much the height on his jumps, or the way he sped around the stage, but that it was all done so quietly. Another solo full of tricky turning footwork was equally well performed, as was Peck\u2019s later variation, this one more attuned to her wonderful technique when it comes to fast footwork and turns.<\/p>\n

Along with Paul Hindemith\u2019s score, Balanchine\u2019s The Four Temperaments explores the contrasting moods of the Ancient Greek temperaments at length. In fact, almost twice the length than the Balanchine actually asked for when commissioning the score. Following the Theme, each of the variation corresponds to one temperament, characterised through time, rhythm and tempo, although the link is often somewhat fractured.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ruby Lister, centre, with from left, Meaghan Dutton-O\u2019Hara, Mary Thomas MacKinnon, Mira Nadon and Ava Sautter in The Four Temperaments
Photo Erin Baiano<\/p>\n

It was superbly danced. Jules Mabie in the Melancholic variation didn\u2019t emote but his whole body reflected a pensive spirit. Mira Nadon and Owen Flacke were terrific in the Sanguinic. Nadon danced with flair; tearing into the choreography, living dangerously and right on the edge. When she flicked her legs, it was like a scorpion preparing to sting. You felt a little for Flacke, but he was always there and supported her beautifully. Despite some quite visible trembling limbs at the beginning of the Phlegmatic, Kennard Henson went on to deliver a classy performance especially once the four women appeared. Finally, and best of all, Ruby Henson sparkled in the Choleric, the finale of which was taken at a thrilling tempo, as indeed Balanchine usually is at City Ballet. British companies take note.<\/p>\n

For something completely different, Modern Masters closed with Jerome Robbins\u2019 The Concert. It\u2019s a period piece; choreographed humour of its time and, if we are being honest, rather dated. It still has the capacity to raise a smile, though, the less in-your-face observational humour working better than the slapstick. The laugh out loud moments are certainly fewer these days. Maybe I\u2019ve just seen it too much.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Alexa Maxwell in Jerome Robbins\u2019 The Concert
Photo Erin Baiano<\/p>\n

Take nothing away from the cast, however. As the daffy women and even dafter men come and go, the comic timing was as sharp as can be. Best of a very good cast was Alexa Maxwell, committed completely to being beautiful and ridiculous as she almost hugged the piano. Elsewhere, Peter Walker as the lead man was wonderfully silly. And a special mention to pianist Elaine Chelton. Even if she has seen it a million times before, how does she remain so deadpan?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David H. Koch Theater, New York CityOctober 10, 2026 Tiler Peck is known for her incredible speed and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376676,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,56],"class_list":["post-376675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}