Tango can save the world.
 
At least a small bit of it by creating a utopian space where race, gender, age, sexual orientation and citizenship status lose their power to divide. You can’t despise a person with whom you are dancing cheek-to-cheek.
 
That is the message and the aim of Social Tango Project, a charming ensemble from Buenos Aires that invites the world to unite in the language of the dance. And it’s first appearance at Jacob’s Pillow on Wednesday night in the Ted Shawn Theatre demonstrated not just its generosity, by sharing the stage with the amateur dancers of the Albany Tango Society, but also its firm belief that everyone can tango.
 
Over the years, I’ve seen many tango shows. Often they are staged in a hot and smokey nightclub with equally hot and smokey dancers who show off their hot and smokey moves. This was different. Here, 10 dancers portrayed the average person – one who by day goes about his business and by night seeks respite in a tango class and milango.
 
Opening to a film backdrop of a cityscape, likely the city where tango was born, a musical quartet strikes the opening rhythmic chords. A woman (Lucia Aspiroz Larrosa), unsuccessfully hailing a cab or bus, sees a happy couple and then a group joyfully headed in the same direction. She follows and finds a milango – a tango dance party where the music and dance are enticing.
 
Of course, the story progresses to her shy attempts to partner up, her first formal lessons, an infatuation with her partner and finally freedom to dance without limitations – an acceptance of all in this haven brought about by tolerant tango.
 
While Social Tango Project clearly sought to appeal to nondancers with its message, the artists of Social Tango were of the highest caliber. The musicians were top notch with Fulvio Giraudo at piano, Horacio Romo on the bandoneon, Humberto Ridolfi on violin and Cristian Basto on bass. Their musical interludes, that showed the skills of a keen percussionist, were as fascinating as tango’s flash.
 
It is a captivating dance – a mix of slow steps and slides with sudden quick twists of the hips and thrust of the legs that flick back and forth. But with Social Tango Project, the dance’s old reputation as stand-up sex slips away. Rather, it takes on a new meaning, a balm to keep the peace, to unite an increasingly divided world, an antidote to hate.
 
After seeing Social Tango Project, I’m a true believer. If everyone tangoed, it would be a better world.

Mira Nadon and Peter Walker took center stage in George Balanchine’s "Stars and Stripes." (Photo by Erin Baiano)

New York City Ballet staged its final program offering on Friday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center – one that was meant to be a full-on dazzler and indeed it was.
 
The all-Balanchine program pulled out some of the choreographer’s iconic spectacles – his one-act version of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” his salute to American patriotism in “Stars and Stripes,” as well as his charming “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” and an excerpt from the third act of “Coppelia” with 24 adorable girls framing four soloists.
 
There was much to love in this family-friendly program. But let’s start with “Swan Lake.” Long-time principal Andrew Veyette debuted in the role of Prince Siegfried with fellow debutante Isabella LaFreniere. I’m surprised it took so long for Veyette, who has been a principal since 2007, to capture that role as he appeared made for it. His sincere passion for the bewitched swan Odette held sway as he pursued her in the sky and on the ground – seeking a brush of her face or arm or an embrace of her delicate frame.
 
LaFreniere was lovely, an ideal blend of vulnerable exquisiteness, as she fluttered through her struggle to come to terms with unfulfilled love. And when the two had to part, a few tears were likely shed at their tragic loss.
 
All this is set in a glacial backdrop, designed by Alain Vaes, that reflects Odette’s captor’s icy persona.
 
That was followed by another sad love story, with music from Bizet’s “Jeux d’Enfants,” between the kissing doll and tin soldier. Erica Pereira and Daniel Ulbricht danced the roles of the innocent toys who discover romance under the Christmas tree. Ulbricht is convincing as the stiff-legged soldier who hands his heart to the little pink doll who spinning easily makes her dizzy. Thus, their sweet love ends as she stumbles into the blazing fireplace.
 
The Festival of Bells in Act III of “Coppelia,” to music by Delibes. While the amazing scenery by Rouben Ter-Arutunian was no where to be seen, which was a disappointment, the waltzing children were a delight.
 
Of course, “Stars and Stripes,” to orchestrated Sousa marches, was, as always, a crowning finale that aroused the audience to claps and cheers even before that last note was played. The entire cast was impressive. Particular note should be given to Mira Nadon as Liberty Bell and KJ Takahashi leading the third regiment of men in “Thunder and Gladiator.”
 
Nadon, with Peter Walker as El Captain, was unstoppable – flirting with her decorated beau and the audience with her confident petit allegro and split jumps. And those en pointe marches  -- a move that united all of the dancers -- were spot on to the mood.
 
Takahashi, for his part, was a bouncing and spinning tower of energy that also kept the audience cheering in a dynamic patriotic parade.
 
Of course, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, under the baton of Andrew Sills and direction of Andrew Litton, continues to amaze with its range and abilities. Bravo to all.
 
Today is the company’s last performance. Catch it now because it will be a long wait until next summer when New York City Ballet should returns.

Emilie Gerrity and Davide Riccardo performed in Ulysses Dove's dramatic "Red Angels" on Thursday night. (Photo by Erin Baiano)

Since Jonathan Safford and Wendy Whelan took leadership of New York City Ballet, they have made a conscious effort to expand the company’s rather narrow range and vision by expanding its choreographers’ tent.
 
Bravo to that.
 
But it can be unsettling to place new works from dancemakers outside the fold into the mix with pieces by geniuses like George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, as well as that of dance-making stars like Christopher Wheeldon and Justin Peck – whose works dazzle dance audience around the globe.
 
Case in point was Thursday evening at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. Peck’s 2017 “The Times Are Racing” and Ulysses Dove’s “Red Angels” from 1994 were balms at the all-contemporary program, mainly because the two new works, both SPAC premieres, did little to engender confidence in the company’s choreographic choices.
 
Amy Garner Hall’s “Underneath, There is Light,” with music by Jonathan Dove, Michael Zev Gordon, Ottorino Respighi, Aldemaro Romero and William Grant Still, started off grand. It had an urban feel – like Robbins’ “Glass Pieces” ‑‑ but on steroids. The group of men, including the elegant Principal Chun Wai Chan, held the audience’s breath as they ran across the stage and soared en masse through tours en l’air. It was invigorating.
 
Yet, the tone changed when the lights brightened and the women appeared in sparkling yellow gowns as if they were the sun. The men, now only in leotards, lifted the women to the heavens as if they all landed in Nirvana. While this half was pleasant, there was no transition and thus confusing. It left an impression that Hall’s dance was adrift. It was promising, but not quite there.
 
Pam Tanowitz’s “Gustave Le Gray No. 1,” to piano music by Caroline Shaw, was more confusing and tedious. Pianist Stephen Gosling performed on stage while four women, in intriguing red costumes by Red Bartelme and Harriet Jung, milled about. Clearly, the dancers were connected to each other, glancing and watching each other,  and frequently touching each other to move in unison.
 
There was a humorous moment too when the dancers moved the piano to the other side of the stage as Gosling continued to play. But the interesting costumes and music could not make this “le gray” dance anything more than a failed experiment in the company’s outreach efforts.
 
Back in the 1990s, the company did try to draw in new choreographers through the Diamonds Project. Many of those ballets never saw light after their premieres. However, “Red Angels” from that time period survived and rightly so.
 
Danced on Thursday by Dominika Afanasenkov, Emilie Gerrity, Joseph Gordon and Davide Riccardo, the piece to Richard Einhorn’s electric violin score, “Maxwell’s Demon,” packed as much punch as it did at its premiere. Cast in red lighting, this is a bold work in which the dancers, placed under spotlights, looked to be shooting lightning through their stabbing arms and legs before they flew away into a vat of fire.
 
Also wonderful was Peck’s “The Times Are Racing.” This sneaker ballet is not just a heart-stopper as it is a race, it’s also deep. It reminds us that we share a DNA sequence (the dancers make one with their bodies) and thus no matter how separate we feel or how high we rise above the crowd, we are one. Harrison Coll and Peter Walker are fantastic as the two men who aggressively square off and India Bradley and Taylor Stanley, who are equally dynamic, as the two who unite in a touching duet.
 
There is so much to see in “The Times Are Racing,” that despite sitting through other works that are less than stellar, I would highly recommend it for Saturday night, the ballet’s last show this summer at SPAC.

Joseph Gordon and Unity Phelan danced "Diamonds" in George Balanchine's "Jewels" on Wednesday night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. (Photo by Erin Baiano)

​Why is it that New York City Ballet sparkles more at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center than it does in New York City?
 
Is it the open air, the acoustic, the audience? While that will remain a debate for the decades, it is true – and none more true than on Wednesday night. The opening performance of the ballet and orchestra’s short summer stay glowed and we have George Balanchine’s “Jewels” to thank.
 
I must admit “Jewels” has never been one of my favorites – yet that triptych achieved all that it was meant to achieve — embodiment of a precious stone and all the romance, flash and elegance that it engenders.
 
The ballet, which premiered in 1967, is in three acts, “Emeralds,” to the music of Gabriel Faure, “Rubies,” to the music of Igor Stravinsky and “Diamonds,” to the music of Peter Ilytich Tchaikovsky. And each brings to it a reflection of a particular country’s style – “Emeralds,” France; “Rubies,” America; and “Diamonds,” Russia. And while “Emeralds” is a slow simmering wooing the viewer with a lovely stroll through a forest glade. But in the end, it leaves the viewer with just a savory scent, a whiff of wonderment.
 
Yet “Rubies” leggy sass and “Diamonds” surging energy of palatial portions clings to the mind’s eye – perhaps because these are the styles that most represent Balanchine. At the core, he was trained in the classical Russian style that he shared and then adapted to pioneer the faster, jazzier American style.
 
Of course, New York City Ballet dancers are at the apex of that style. And Emma Von Enck and Anthony Huxley in the pas de deux and Mira Nadon as the soloist with the male quartet were exceptional on Wednesday. Von Enck and Huxley are sharp as they kick up their legs, trot and shimmy. Yet they are also soft, melting from their explosion of energy in a playful expression of feigned exhaustion.
 
Miller was also daring as the commanding figure who appears with four men who arranged her like a mannequin or sculpture. Though more than 50 years old, the ballet remains fresh.
 
Balanchine outdid himself in “Diamonds,” which is stunningly gorgeous in its architectural display of dancers and in the courtship between the two lead dancers – Unity Phelan and Joseph Gordon. The ballet begins with a brief opening for the female corps de ballet and then slips into the encounter between the couple who tentatively circle each other before gently touching hands.
 
Here the woman is revered and the man, a means to help her express her virtues. Phelan is understated as she swoons in backbends and gains strength from her guiding partner. Gordon, for his part, symbolically flexes his muscles and drew cheers in his solo of grand jetes in a circle. Throughout, he stayed cool and composed, not a hair out of place.
 
The “Diamonds” finale is impressive with the couple and 34 dancers endlessly moving to the crashing of Tchaikovsky’s last notes until the last moment when Gordon slips on bended knee for his princess.
 
This same cast repeats this performance on Thursday afternoon. I would recommend, dear reader, you go.

In all of its years, nearly a century, the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival has struggled to accommodate the world’s largest, most important ballet companies. But this week, in an amazing effort of timing and funding, The Royal Ballet has settled into the Berkshires for a week of shows both in the Ted Shawn Theatre and the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage. And the appearance is a triumph – not so much artistically, spiritually. It gives devotees of ballet hope that the many obstacles to staging ballets can be overcome and that the art, which is in transition as its losing audiences and facing issues of gender and race, will survive.
 
The Royal Ballet assured the audience of that with a powerful world premiere in the Shawn by the recently knighted Wayne McGregor, “Figures in a Landscape” that was itself inspired by the Pillow’s expansive hills and forests. Yet before that, the program offered a primer in classical ballet with pas de deux from Marius Petipa and George Balanchine and then a nod to Royal Ballet’s history with works by founding father, Frederick Ashton and his successor Kenneth MacMillan.
 
But among the most successful of works shown, as it was modern and beautifully crafted, was from another Royal Ballet dancer turned choreographer – Christopher Wheeldon — whose “For Four” to music by Franz Schubert enthralled. And if that wasn’t enough, the company opened with an excerpt from Pam Tanowitz’s “Secret Things” from 2023. Even though the stage was too small for one of the Royal Ballet’s evening-length extravaganzas – it was an embarrassment of riches.
 
Because of that, the program ran a bit long. Yet, for those like myself who do not travel to the United Kingdom regularly, every dance and every dancer – including international star Natalia Osipova – was savored. These dancers are not only excellent technicians, but fine actors who languageless emotive skills are hailed. And rightly so as they carried us along in tidbits from old standards from “Giselle” and “Diana and Actaeon” as well as “Manon” and “Carousel.”
 
There is no room in this review to offer the praises of each piece, but take my word for it, balletomanes will be pleased.
 
However, the newer pieces from McGregor and Tanowitz show us where the Royal Ballet is headed and it’s obvious they are in fine hands.
 
McGregor, whose “Woolf Works” just finished a triumphant run at American Ballet Theatre, is a marvelous architect of things seen and unseen. His “Figures in a Landscape,” with music by Nicholas Becker, John Cage, Ben Frost and Abraham Marder, was designed for five who appear as bird and deer-like creatures who move and interact with each other through a shadowy, but expansive space. The atmosphere was amplified by the opening of the great barn doors at the back of the Shawn stage – offering the dancers a backdrop of glowing trees, fireflies and moths. At times, lights would blaze out at the audience, noting the strong sunrise on a summer day. I can’t imagine “Figures in a Landscape” being as effective in any other setting.
 
Lastly, Tanowitz’s “Secret Things” to string quartet music by Anna Clyne, beautifully played live, was a glimpse through a mysterious world where the dancers appeared one-dimensional marionettes. But left to their own devises, they break loosen their strings and restrictions. It was a modern “Petrushka” with a happier, but elusive ending.