New Yorkers usually go to Lincoln Center to see ballet and Broadway to watch musical theater style dancing. But this spring, expect a lot of crossover between the two as ballet dancers and choreographers make their way to the theater district in upcoming shows.
In the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1945 musical "Carousel," New York City Ballet's Justin Peck has been tapped as the show's choreographer. (The original musical's choreographer was ballet and Broadway great Agnes de Mille.) The cast will also include two NYCB dancers — Amar Ramasar and Brittany Pollack (plus the famed opera singer, Renée Fleming).
Ballet is also making an appearance on the big screen in the film “Red Sparrow” starring Jennifer Lawrence, who plays a Russian ballerina recruited to be a spy. Since Lawrence isn't a dancer, the film will feature Isabella Boylston from American Ballet Theatre as Lawrence's body double.
But for something quite the opposite, this weekend at the Skirball Center, the French choreographer Jérôme Bel will stage the New York premiere of "Gala" which relies on non-professional dancers as the performers. The show, which opens on March 1, features a small group of New Yorkers from a wide range of ages, backgrounds and abilities that Bel hand picks and then asks to individually perform the same dance move with their own interpretation and imagination.
[To hear the full interview with WNYC's dance critic Marina Harss, click on "Listen" above.]
"Carousel"
Imperial Theatre, 249 W. 45th St.
Opening April 12, 2018
Theaters nationwide
Opens March 2, 2018
NYU Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Pl.
March 1 through 3, 2018