First off, not a freebie, but quite the bargain. Fall for Dance presents mixed bill performances at City Center (gorgeous theater with nice leg room in the mezzanine and balcony) with all seats priced at $15.00. You can buy tix in person at the box office or on line. As it turns out, tix went on sale at 11:00am on Sat., 9/10, and I was volunteering in Central Park on Sat., 9/10 from 6:00am(!) to 9:00am, so I decided to take a bus down Fifth Avenue and scope out the in-person situation. Well! When I got there at approximately 9:30am there was already a line. I figured that I was already there, so what they hey!
Unfortunately, it was a very hot morning. Fortunately, I had nice line mates who let me leave the line periodically to go across 55th Street to get out of the sun. One gal was there with her hubby (from South Africa) and one gal was a former dancer who lives in Manhattan with her Chinese husband. We talked food; we talked tourism; we talked (hello! we were there for more than two hours).
Anyhoo, I saw four dance troupes on the Sept. 29 bill (Richard Alston Dance Company, Aszure Barton & Artists, Wendy Whelan and Edward Watson, and Grupo Corpo). I enjoyed them all, but especially the Alston Company, as they danced Rejoice in the Lamb, performed to live accompaniment by Montclair State Vocal Accord, with Vincent Carr, organist. Rejoice in the Lamb, a setting of poetry by Christopher Smart, a mystical and most likely slightly crazy poet, was set to music by Benjamin Britten. But I really liked all four groups, and seeing powerhouses Wendy Whelan and Edward Watson was also pretty cool.
On Oct. 6, I saw four different troupes (Jessica Lang Dance, Royal Ballet Flanders, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and The Sarasota Ballet). It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think the nod goes to Royal Ballet, whose settings and scenery were the most interesting of the evening. The Ailey, Cry, a re-creation of a ballet from 1971, was certainly interesting, but to me more as a historic rendition. And the Sarasota's Marguerite and Armand was yet another retelling of Dumas' La Dame aux camélias, with the grand ballet tradition of having to suspend disbelief just a bit too much. The score, however, Franz Lizst's Piano Sonata in B Minor, played here by Matei Varga, was a big plus.
OK, I probably saved a few bucks by buying in person, and I was already out and about early that Saturday morning of Sept. 10. That said, if I go for Fall for Dance in the future, I just might bite the bullet and fight with online ordering. And pay more for the same cheap seats.
ConcertMeister
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