Performer: American Ballet Theatre

A mixed evening at the Koch Theater, with ABT shining in Ratmansky and a new Twyla Tharp creation, but struggling in Balanchine. 

If the audience response was not very enthusiastic, it's because Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty four years after its premiere still comes across as more of a museum piece than a living, breathing ballet. This is a Beauty that never really wakes up.

Kevin McKenzie's production of Swan Lake at ABT usually has little to commend it, but Christine Shevchenko's Odette/Odile is the real deal. 

Perhaps ABT's disclaimer in the program notes should have simply said: "When you watch Le Corsaire, prepare to be both offended and entertained. We hope you'll be more entertained than offended."

If you love Jane Eyre, stick to the novel. There's more female empowerment in those pages than in Cathy Marston's choreography.