Telluride in New York: American Ballet Theatre

When Telluride Inside… and Out steps out of our box canyon, it is often to take a large bite out of The Big Apple. This trip was no exception: a house concert, part of the Michael Palm Concert series in support of Classical Action; visits to museums and galleries, including a stop at AFP Gallery to check out Anthony Hobrooke’s latest show, “Stone Land”; and an evening of ballet at American Ballet Theatre’s Opening Night Gala, Avery Fisher Hall, Wednesday, October 7.

ABT was in great form, particularly the men, strutting their stuff through three powerful new ballets by choreographers Aszure Barton, Benjamin Millepied, and Alexei Ratmansky. Playful couplings, whiplash changes of direction, split second footwork, gravity-defying leaps, dynamic corps work, feline grace and strength, especially the pyrotechnics of Daniil Simkin, and the wonderful music of Domenico Scarlatti, Maurice Ravel and David Lang, made for an unforgettable evening of dance for dance’s sake. (Production values were kept to a bare minimum: no sets, just costumes and lighting.)

What’s the Telluride hook? American Ballet Theatre’s physical therapist, the man in wings when things go wrong, is Telluride local Peter Marshall, who was also, at one point in his career, Mikhail Baryshnikov’s personal PT. Peter is married to the beloved founder/artistic director of the Telluride Dance Academy, former ABT dancer and prima ballerina with The Joffrey Ballet, Valerie Madonia. Val is currently training a group of 30 regional kids to perform in the State Street Ballet’s upcoming production of “Cinderella,” October 18, 3 p.m.