Anna Kisselgoff's NY Times "preview"

[Farrell Fan]

From the article: "'Passage for Two,' originally and memorably danced by Wilma Curley and John Jones, was a duet of exploration. Mr. Verso agreed that Robbins was 'making a statement' by casting an interracial couple. He noted that the duet has also been danced by white couples."

One might expect that the next sentence would be about who's dancing it in the NYCB revival. No such thing. In fact, Kisselgoff mentions not a single cast member, although Seth Orza and Sean Suozzi are identified in photograph captions.

[Dale]

That's very interesting, Farrell Fan. Thanks for pulling this portion out. Hall is on the cast list for the ballet.

Here's the link to the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/arts/dance/28robb.html?

[carbro]

Robbins, who died in 1998, had said that City Ballet was too classical for the street style of "Opus Jazz." "I can't see that ballet in this company," he said.

But Mr. Frohlich said that in the interim, "the dancers have changed." Robbins was surprised by how well company dancers took to another vernacular piece, "West Side Story Suite," an anthology of the musical's dance numbers that he created for City Ballet in 1995.

If we use WSSS as a gauge by which to forecast NYCB's success with Op. Jazz, it will be a terrific addition to the rep. I notice the cast includes dancers (Krohn, Suozzi) who have been particularly outstanding in WSSS.