BEAUTY IN STEP: GRACE, MELODIES,
AND ACB’S ELEGANT NEW WORKS
Few phrases in the world of classical music fill me with as much excitement and dread as “world premiere.” This applies even with companies I like. However, I am happy to say that American Contemporary Ballet’s new work, The Euterpides, with music by Alma Deutscher, is wonderful. It is paired with George Balanchine’s 1934 Serenade and runs through June 28 at Television City.
The Euterpides: Madeline Houk, Mate Szentes
Euterpe is the ancient Greek Muse of music. For The Euterpides, ACB director and choreographer Lincoln Jones created her daughters (-ides means “descendants”), whom she sent to Earth for the mortal she loved. The daughters each dance a solo. The man falls in love with one of them, undisturbed by the frolicking other beauties that, in a typical story, would cause trouble. The ballet is feather-light and near plotless. Deutscher provides heart-tugging, nostalgic music, focusing on a beautiful melody that she revives and reworks throughout the piece. It’s very short, about 30 minutes spread over nine segments, and there’s no conflict. They fall in love and it’s over, way before I was ready. Still, the loveliness of the music and simple storytelling was refreshingly easy to enjoy, especially in contrast to, say, the LA Phil’s last Green Umbrella concert. I’ll take it.
The ACB dancers in Serenade
The first half of the program concluded with Deutscher’s overture from her 2015 opera, Cinderella. For this, the unamplified orchestra, normally positioned behind the audience, set up on stage. The overture is a delightful, swirling, sparkling little thing filled with waltzes and humor.
Annette Cherkasov in Serenade
Whereas The Euterpides is an intimate affair of six, Serenade is a sprawling ballet with a large 17-member cast, all dressed identically. It has no real plot, but there are little scenes that hint at something larger. Sometimes they all dance in unison. Other times, they split off into smaller bouquets. One dancer seems to break free from the corps and finds love with a man, who then goes for lots of women. There are bits of sly comedy, as when one dancer barely hops over the easiest hurdles in the world. All this is performed to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C, Op. 48. Striking arrangements and imagery abound, and I was consistently absorbed.
Kristin Steckmann in Serenade
Martha Carter’s simple, tasteful lighting consisted of large washes of color and a few smooth fades. Jones and Emma Beeman’s light and monochrome costumes for The Euterpides complemented Barbara Karinska’s 1952 designs for Serenade. Deutscher capably conducted her works. Morgan Jones conducted Serenade and will take over all conducting for the remaining performances. The 17-member orchestra was in fine form for Serenade, but a few of the string players were not sufficiently warmed up for much of The Euterpides, which was a shame since the music was otherwise so pleasurable.
The ACB dancers in Serenade
The audience, too, enjoyed the ballets. The simplicity demanded our concentration, and everyone gladly went along. I didn’t see a single cell phone light up throughout the entire performance.
photos by Anastasia Petukhova
The Euterpides & Serenade
American Contemporary Ballet
Television City, 200 N Fairfax Ave, Stage 33
90 minutes with intermission
ends on June 28, 2025
for tickets ($65–$140), visit ACB
remaining performances:
June 13, 14, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28 at 8pm
