This time the dancer was Calvin Royal III, recently promoted to principal at American Ballet Theater. Because Mr. Royal was unavailable for rehearsals, Mr. Abraham choreographed the ballet with the help of Taylor Stanley, a City Ballet star with whom he has worked in the past. But Mr. Abraham used it to his advantage, seemingly inspired more by its flow than its compositional buildup. Mr. Royal began with his back to the audience, hands in his pockets. But from the start, Mr. Abraham created a breathtaking web of physical references, melding dance vocabulary with pedestrian elements — an urban walk, a shoulder brush.

Source: New York Times October 27, 2020 18:00 UTC