Ballet West: West Side Story

When Ballet West first announced its 2025-2026 season, I was most excited to see West Side Story: Broadway and Beyond, a repertory program showcasing the choreography of Jerome Robbins and Christopher Wheeldon. Robbins is credited with elevating the role of dance in American musical theater, making it as vital as dialogue and lyrics to convey the plot. Wheeldon, following in Robbins’ footsteps, has become a prominent choreographer for both classical ballet and musical theater. This program intrigued me for its opportunity to see the fusion of traditional ballet and more contemporary styles. I attended Friday night’s performance and found highlights from the selected works to be very evocative.

The program is comprised of four shorter works.

• Antique Epigraphs – choreographed by Jerome Robbins / music by Claude Debussy
  Robbins choreographed this for an ensemble of eight statuesque women who alternately perform together and in smaller groupings and solos. The piece evokes Greek antiquity and a pastoral world that is both natural and mystical. It is quiet and meditative. Its soft, elegant movements and flowing lines invited a quiet focus.
  
• Carousel (A Dance) – choregraphed by Christopher Wheeldon / music by Richard Rogers
  In 2002, New York City Ballet celebrated Richard Rogers’ centennial with a special opening night performance. For this event, Christopher Wheeldon created a commemorative piece that he set to arrangements of “The Carousel Waltz” and “If I Loved You” from the composer’s 1945 musical, Carousel. The ballet captures the essence of the musical’s main romance and recalls the “dream ballets” popular in musicals of that era. Ballet West’s ensemble effortlessly conveyed the work’s exuberance, creating an atmosphere of uncomplicated delight. Everything about the piece felt bright and sunny, embodying the shape and experience of being on a carousel.
  
  The ensemble gradually receded, opening the way for a lyrical and dynamic pas de deux. Amy Potter and Jordan Veit beautifully portrayed the tension of a tentative new romance and its evolution, expressed through expansive, circular movement. Their connection embodied an upward-yet-anchored flow, both intimately grounded and ascending with graceful extension.
  
• After the Rain (Pas de Deux) – choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon / music by Arvo Pärt 
  Wheeldon choreographed After the Rain for the New York City Ballet as a farewell piece for Jock Soto. Ballet West’s artistic director, Adam Sklute, echoed this sentiment, programming it this season to honor Emily Adams’ 20th anniversary. On Friday night, Hadriel Diniz partnered with Adams to perform this minimalist piece. Performed off-pointe in pared-down clothing, this pas de deux emphasizes the organic architecture of human movement. It is a masterpiece of melding classical and contemporary shapes, allowing for flexed feet and angular positioning. The unhurried, methodical pacing, reflected in the piano and cello accompaniment, allows each movement to take its time before transitioning into the next. The audience breathed a collective breath in sync with the dancers. Adams and Diniz executed all of these elements flawlessly, keeping the audience transfixed throughout. This piece was a highlight of the evening for me!
  
• West Side Story Suite – choreographed by Jerome Robbins / music by Leonard Bernstein
  The evening ended with the high-energy West Side Story Suite, which encapsulates the tension between the Jets and the Sharks in 1950s New York. Ballet West’s set design quickly transports the audience to the city streets, focusing attention on the dancers’ movements that narrate the conflict. Corps dancers’ speed and precision elevated Robbins’ jazz-ballet blend and rendered the fight scenes thrilling to watch! While the main narrative culminates in the tragic outcome of the rumble, the suite imagines a more hopeful ending set to “Somewhere” (There’s a Place for Us). The lighting, staging, and fluid movement offered an inspiring vision of peace and reconciliation. This tender finale afforded the audience meaningful space for reflection.
  

West Side Story: Broadway and Beyond has three remaining performances — one on Thursday, April 16 and two on Saturday, April 18, 2026. Click here for information and tickets.