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When hundreds of dancers converged onstage for a collective bow in honor of the opening night of City Ballet\u2019s 75th anniversary season, it might not have been choreographed with the care that, say, George Balanchine would have given it \u2014 the scene was a touch chaotic \u2014 but it was astonishing to see so many of the bodies that have paved the way for a new ballet, for an American ballet. The company\u2019s fall season was dominated by Balanchine classics. \u201cSymphony in C\u201d remains its own special life force. How could one choreographer produce so much radiance? (<\/em>Read our review of the fall season opening night<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n A choreographer who spends much of his time in Europe \u2014 he is the director of the Schauspielhaus Z\u00fcrich Dance Ensemble \u2014 Harrell returned to New York with \u201cThe K\u00f6ln Concert\u201d (2021). Performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, it paired Keith Jarrett\u2019s best-selling 1975 recorded performance with Joni Mitchell songs; here, Harrell\u2019s signature runway movement, lush and stark, had a new maturity, resulting in a dance that possessed the clarity of a jewel. (<\/em>Read our feature about Trajal Harrell.<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n The warm afterglow of the Ken Dance \u2014 unofficially known as the dream ballet in Greta Gerwig\u2019s \u201cBarbie\u201d\u2014 lives on. This all-male number, choreographed by Jennifer White, comes out of nowhere in the film, trading a pink beach for a shimmering bright soundstage. Led by Ryan Gosling\u2019s Ken, the number soars as dancers leap and glide into diamond formations. The crime is that there are no Oscars for best choreography. (<\/em>Read our Critic\u2019s Notebook about the dance in \u201cBarbie.\u201d<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n When the horde that is (La)Horde, the French collective formed in 2013 by Marine Brutti, Jonathan Debrouwer and Arthur Harel, made its New York City debut as part of Dance Reflections at NYU Skirball, it felt like a shot of adrenaline. With the Ballet National de Marseille, which it directs, (La)Horde presented two programs: the evening-length \u201cRoom With a View\u201d and a mixed bill of work. Both showed off the collective\u2019s view of experimental dance: abrasive and loud, soft and light, generous and healing in unassuming ways. (<\/em>Read our feature about (La)Horde.<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n At American Ballet Theater this was the year of the dancer. Or, really, one<\/em> dancer: Jake Roxander, whose astonishing virtuosity and sparkling stage presence give the repertory a much-needed jolt of electricity. Over the past year, Roxander \u2014 who comes from a ballet family \u2014 has triumphed as Mercutio in \u201cRomeo and Juliet,\u201d Puck in \u201cThe Dream\u201d and in basically any role he touches, small or large. (<\/em>Read our review of Roxander\u2019s Mercutio.<\/em><\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\nTrajal Harrell<\/span><\/h3>\n
The Ken Dance<\/span><\/h3>\n
(La)Horde<\/span><\/h3>\n
Jake Roxander<\/span><\/h3>\n
Ann Liv Young<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n