Lovely…

Dances at a Gathering has earned the reputation of being one of the greatest ballets of the second half of the twentieth century. When Miami City Ballet first did it in 2006, the audience response was not especially positive. It is a beautiful work but it has neither the enormous size nor a score that knocks people out. The choreography is proudly and honestly subtle and the score is simply a series of Chopin piano works so that alone explains that one had better not be looking for something the size of a Tchaikovsky or even Stravinsky. Dances at a Gathering might then seem like a sort of ‘thinking man’s’ ballet, but it is not; it is simply a large collection of relatively small pieces. When the company did it a couple of seasons later the response was better and with this revival, it seems as if the work is now a company benchmark…read more