The New York City Ballet celebrated its spring gala last week with an evening performance of its ongoing “Stravinsky Festival,” which highlights the dynamism of late composer and Russian expat Igor Stravinsky and his groundbreaking work with the company’s choreographers.
For its spring Stravinsky Festival — which runs through Sunday — the company has staged 15 ballets spanning as far back as the 1940s, all paying homage to the 50th anniversary of City Ballet’s famous 1972 Stravinsky Festival.
It also highlighted the shape-shifting, modern contributions made to ballet by Russian expats like Stravinsky and company cofounder George Balanchine, amid a wider conundrum of how to appreciate Russian culture despite the ongoing war and brutalities being waged in the Ukraine.
The company’s spring gala — which was attended by the likes of Zac Posen, Michael Bloomberg, Sen. Chuck Schumer and New York Mayor Eric Adams — also served as the premiere for former company dancer Silas Farley’s choreographic work “Architects of Time,” set to a score by David K. Israel that paid homage to Stravinky’s long and fruitful friendship with Balanchine.
The evening in many ways capped a full performance year back on the stage following a historic 18-month absence due to the pandemic. Where some dancers may have felt sluggish or unsure of themselves when returning to work nine months ago, they have since discovered a renewed sense of purpose in their careers and appreciation from audiences.
Here, WWD speaks to three New York City Ballet dancers about their experience looking back on a full year of performances after the pandemic.
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Ashley Laracey, soloist — delivered twins in November 2019, bringing her total stage absence to two full years.
“I think a lot of us dancers [who have children] come back from maternity leave dancing better. I honestly think it has to do with how I’m pulled in all different directions, so my life is not [entirely] focused on ballet. I’m trying to stay balanced and very focused and present in rehearsals. Performances are my time and as soon as the curtain goes down, I’m a mom again and showering and getting home as quickly as I can to spend time [with my daughters].
In my whole career, I’ve never had a show week like I did last week [At the last minute, Laracey filled in to dance the lead principal role in multiple Balanchine/Stravinsky ballets and received rave reviews.] I always have to fight and really advocate for myself that I can do this.
This is my 20th season in the company — I’m not young anymore. I would say, to be honest, I think no matter what I do on that stage, [company leadership’s] priorities are not toward [promoting] me [to principal dancer]. Even though ballet legends email me all the time asking, ‘when is this going to happen for you?’ and I would love for it to happen, I’ve put it aside because it does get emotionally draining.
Secretly I’m hoping, ‘wouldn’t it be so crazy if it happened after this week?’ It would be such a great message to send to the dancers and people who work in the company that if you work hard, it pays off — even if you are older.”
Olivia Boisson, Corps de Ballet — Returned to the stage this fall after a three-year combined absence due to injury and the pandemic.
“I had a big ankle injury in 2018 when I had fallen in rehearsal and it took a really long time to heal — it had me out almost three years.
I think everyone is just really grateful to come back to our jobs; with the pandemic it just felt like our jobs didn’t exist at all and dancing in our living rooms was highly unsatisfying. I am just hoping we never have to go back there again and can continue dancing the way we normally do.
Being able to come back to the theater and perform and be together has been great. During the pandemic, the company spent a lot of time trying to think of ways to make the company better and tried to implement a better environment.
I really appreciate the fact that they decided that in all Balanchine ballets we can dance wearing flesh-tone tights. The company was a little behind other companies with that and it felt good. We get our pointe shoes from the company Freed which has come out with two darker shades of satin but has yet to come out with lighter colors for the lighter ladies, so I’m hoping they might do that. Right now we have to spray our shoes [to match our skin tone], it’s not as comfortable as satin — they get harder and crustier and it’s not as comfortable to dance in.
The tights was a big step, but as far as representation — they are open to it, but I haven’t seen that much of a step in choosing a person of color for a bigger role or cultivating someone who might step into a bigger role.
Overall I just have a bigger appreciation for what I do every day. Before I step on the stage now, I’m reflecting where we were last year versus now. To be able to step on stage with an audience out there instead of dancing in front of a camera is just really surreal.”
Jovani Furlan, Principal — Spent the pandemic in Joinville, Brazil, and was unclear if he would be allowed back into the U.S. in time for the company’s reopening.
“Honestly since the day I came back, I’m looking back and cannot believe I made it. Today the reason I’m busy and running errands is for my green card. It feels even crazier to think how nine months ago I wasn’t sure if I could come back [to the U.S.] and dance and now we have three weeks left of our season.
I was in Brazil for 14 months, I was with my family — my parents still live there and my sister and grandma.
I haven’t lived with them for almost 11 years [when I left to go to the Miami City Ballet School] and it was a gift to be with them. I hadn’t spent six months with them in 10 years and hadn’t spent my birthday or anyone’s birthday in 10 years. It was just a gift — everything was out of my control so I just decided to be there and be present.
That time reassured me that this is what I want to be doing with my life. I’ve done a lot [since getting back], it’s been a great year filled with surprises — which is another lesson, that nothing is under our control. Things change all the time in your career and sometimes people get injured or test positive for COVID[-19] and your whole season changes really fast. I am just hoping to finish the season healthy. I’m on-edge with cases going up, I am just feeling that by summer, I’ll be able to breathe better again.
I just feel like I don’t take it for granted. I’m more aware of it, like this is a very special job for so many reasons but you know it was taken away for reasons out of our control. The length of our careers and so many things can happen that I’m just taking in the moment and doing my best.”