Speak: four icons of dance in fleet-footed exchange at 92nd St Y

Dormeshia, Rachna Nivas, Rukhmani Mehta and Michelle Dorrance in Speak

Rachna Nivas and Rukhmani Mehta in Speak

Dormeshia and Michelle Dorrance in Speak

Dormeshia and Rachna Nivas in Speak

Rukhmani Mehta, Dormeshia, Rachna Nivas and Michelle Dorrance in Speak

By Carla Escoda, 27 February 2026

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“Her arms unfurled like wings, soaring and swooping, her serene gaze seemingly fixed on distant lands”

Reviewed at The 92nd Street Y: Kaufmann Concert Hall, New York City on 21 February 2026

Speak (Festival begins at 11:00)

Rachna Nivas, Dancer

Rukhmani Mehta, Dancer

Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Dancer

Michelle Dorrance, Dancer

The Great Gatsby at Kansas City Ballet

Hilary Stroh, 8th May

Septime Webre’s dazzling, maximalist Great Gatsby for the Kansas City Ballet is instantly engaging.

*****

A Streetcar Named Desire: a gripping retelling at Ballett am Rhein

Vikki Jane Vile, 8th May

Ballet isn’t always pretty, there are plenty of examples in repertoires across the world. John Neumeier’s Streetcar Named Desire (Endstation Sehnsucht) is to reach another level of grim but gripping brutality told through dance.

****1

Royal Danish Ballet’s Lady Macbeth: Akram Khan works his magic again

Graham Watts, 7th May

An excellent extension to Akram Khan’s growing repertoire of contemporary ballet, Lady Macbeth, his first creation for Royal Danish Ballet, brought out powerful performances from the entire cast.

****1

The Trocks at Sadler’s Wells: uproariously entertaining

Graham Watts, 5th May

A very welcome and hilarious return to the UK from Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, this time at Sadler’s Wells, they offer familiar and new works.

****1

Parsons Dance brings the fun to modern at the Joyce Theater

Ivy Lin, 1st May

Six works, including two world premieres, made up the latest program from Parsons Dance. Thoroughly joyful, the audience were sent home buzzing.

*****

Contemporary escapism at New York City Ballet

Carla Escoda, 1st May

A longtime NYCB fan favorite, Concerto DSCH by Alexei Ratmansky, meets the New York premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's Continuum. But the evening belonged to corps dancer Ruby Lister in Edwaard Liang’s Distant Cries.

****1

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Carla Escoda

Born in the Philippines, Carla trained as a ballet and modern dancer with the Alice Reyes Dance Company in Manila. She has lived and worked in Asia and the U.S. and has written about the arts for Bachtrack, KQED (the northern California public media broadcaster), Dance International, dance journal/hk, the Huffington Post, Dance Europe and ballettothepeople.

Speak: four icons of dance in fleet-footed exchange at New York's 92nd St Y