Highlights of New York’s popular Fall for Dance event come from as far away as Ukraine and as close as a few blocks away

NEW YORK – The eclectic annual Fall for Dance festival is a beloved tradition among dance fans; It’s still a big deal in New York, at least with $30 tickets — even though they started at $10 two decades ago.

But still, the best part is the diversity it brings to the stage this year, with 15 shows from world-class artists over 11 days. This year’s highlights came from the Kyiv Opera House in Ukraine and a few blocks away.

You could call it a real United Nations dance; That’s exactly how Michael Rosenberg, president of New York City Center, described it this week when he introduced the third of five programs. He did not explicitly mention the UN General Assembly, which was taking place a little further east, causing the usual traffic chaos.

There was happier chaos on stage, a mix of wildly different dance styles. As always, the audience seemed to love everything; especially the more out-there elements, such as the dancers who tramped around the stage in the first program, courtesy of choreographer Andrea Miller and her Brooklyn-based Gallim company.

Falling in Dance has always attracted a mix of known names – some trying something new – with names unknown to most in the crowd. Familiar faces so far this year have included beloved ballet stars Tiler Peck of New York City Ballet and Herman Cornejo of American Ballet Theatre; both take on the choreography this time (along with the Cornejo dance).

But the most emotional event was the two-night performance of the Ukrainian National Ballet, which managed to operate in Kiev despite great difficulties. In its first New York performance in decades, the group opened the festival with “Wartime Requiem”, an evocative work by Alexei Ratmansky, one of the world’s leading choreographers.

Ratmansky, currently an artist in residence at New York City Ballet, has a deep connection to the material. As the child of a Russian mother and a Ukrainian father, he came to St. He was born in St. Petersburg and grew up in Kiev. When she premiered “Wartime Requiem” at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle in 2022, she unfurled a Ukrainian flag and held it aloft during curtain calls. In the Fall for Dance program notes, he joins the dancers in honoring their fallen colleagues in the war.

The piece, featuring four male and four female dancers, both began and ended in somber tones. However, suddenly men dressed in black and folk costumes appeared. Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s moody (and gorgeous) piano and string score morphed into lively melodies and the men jumped into folk-style dancing with abandon.

The audience laughed along too. But soon the dancers’ bodies appeared to collapse, as the choreography again reflected pain, not joy. The curtain closed with an arabesque woman; He had his legs up behind him, as if saying that the troupe, like him, was not going anywhere.

Peck, who has begun to build an impressive choreographic resume while continuing her lead as one of NYCB’s top ballerinas, presented one of three pieces commissioned by the festival: “Piano Songs,” a stirring solo by ABT dancer Aaron Bell. Music by Meredith Monk. The 81-year-old composer took the stage and delighted the crowd.

Another program highlight was “The Ghost of the Rose” by Argentinian dancer Cornejo, who recently celebrated her 25th anniversary at ABT. It was a reimagining of the short Fokine ballet, which told the story of a young girl who returns from the ball in her dress and dreams of the spirit of the rose who emerges to dance with her. Here, it’s streamlined, with Cornejo bare-breasted and in jeans and her partner, pixie-like ABT ballerina Skylar Brandt, in tiny denim shorts.

The dancing was everything you would expect from two classical dancers at the top of their game; Cornejo showed that even in jeans, the years have not diminished his high jumps and spins.

The festival continues until Sunday.