January 17, 2017
“Review: For Bite-Size Balanchine, Frisson Is in the Details”
by Alastair Macaulay
“Nobody in ballet told better stories than the choreographer George Balanchine…On Tuesday night, when New York City Ballet opened its six-week season with these three in a program called ‘Balanchine Short Stories,’ these stories gripped anew. Dancers throughout were revitalizing them.
Tiny narrative details stood out. When Amar Ramasar (the Baron) laid hands on the upper arms of Sara Mearns (the Coquette) in “La Sonnambula,” she responded with a keen frisson that spoke volumes about their relationship…
Ms. Mearns, in the ballet’s second half, was visibly convulsed by one emotion after another: jealous shock as she saw the Poet plant a kiss on the Sleepwalker’s lips; vengeful malice as she poured her venomous report into the Baron’s ear; shame and grief as she sees the Poet stabbed to death by the Baron.”