Balanchine's New York City Ballet: "Pretentious and silly," "stiff and neoclassical," "gymnastic and stylistically infelicitous." His dancers: "A memorial should be erected to all the gallant Americans who fell at Covent Garden."
Such was the skewering George Balanchine & Co. received during their first two trips to London in 1950 and 1952. In the years since, the troupe somehow always managed to bypass England during its repeated tours of Europe. Last week, winding up an eleven-week swing across Europe, the New York City Ballet was back in London. If any memorial was...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
