Above: MinSeon Kim and Cara McManus in Lydia Johnson’s ODE; photo by Christopher Duggan
~ Author: Oberon
Saturday June 20th, 2026 matinee – Lydia Johnson presenting her company of distinctive dancers in a program of four works – two premieres and two revivals – at New York Live Arts. At this afternoon’s performance, I had the enormous pleasure of sitting next to Deborah Wingert Arkin, high priestess of all things Balanchine…and a fascinating person in her own right.
The afternoon opened with one of the new works: EVENING. In four movements, the piece meshed music by three living composers – Lera Auerbach. Nico Muhly, and Ludovico Einaudi – with that of Paul Von Westhoff, which dates from 1694. As the lights come up, the ten dancers are standing in a circle; they begin to walk about, pausing from time to time to embrace; but the embraces are chaste: a feeling of decorum pervades the ballet. The sound of a siren fades away. Principal dancers Laura Di Orio and Oscar Antonio Rodriguez move to the Baroque enchantment of the Van Westhoff score; they are joined by fellow principals Cara McManus and Michael Miles. These four dancers follow thru with persuasive partnering to the Muhly score, though a simmering passion continues to be held under restraint. The Einaudi music brings an octet of women – Laura DiOrio and Cara McManus joined by principal MinSeon Kim and Catherine Gurr, Emily Sarkissian, Maia Culbreath, Emma Conrad, and Gracie Zytynski. Their movements are stylized, with sisterly gestures; a feeling of forlorn lyricism abounds. Ms. Di Orio and Mr. Rodriguez re-appear – later joined by the McManus/Miles duo – for some expert partnering. EVENING has a lovely ending, though an air of unspoken desires lingers. Throughout this atmospheric ballet – and indeed all evening – the lighting designs of Renée Molina were a key element to the visual appeal of the dancing.
LEGACY, which premiered in 2024, is a ballet about community – or, more specifically – about family. Bringing a quartet of children – Uma Thomas Asnani, Elise Boikess, Fiona Hartman, and Esme Hughes – into the narrative was a lovely touch, especially as these girls were thoroughly at ease and self-assured onstage. The adults – Mlles. Di Orio, McManus, Kim, Culbreath, Conrad, and Zytynski joined by Natalia Nikitin, and Mssrs. Miles and Rodriguez – worked wonders while dancing to Terry Riley’s wide-ranging, rhythmic score. LEGACY felt different today than it had when I saw it at the old Graham/Westbeth studio; it seemed darker – at times even a bit ominous – and the ending less potent.
Following the interval, Lydia Johnson unveiled one of her most powerful works to date: ODE. Set to Aleksandra Vrebalov’s imaginative – and strangely appealing – Sea Ranch Songs, as recorded by the inimitable Kronos Quartet, this ballet – like LEGACY – is about a community of like-minded young citizens; it feels like a paean to freedom and peace. From some of the earliest rehearsals of the work – which I was able to watch – the choreography and the music developed an organic sense of the age we are living in.
In the ballet’s third movement, one of Lydia’s trademark male/male duets was beautifully danced by Michael Miles and Jamie Robinson, whilst MinSeon Kim and Cara McManus treated us to their expressive brand of lyricism.
The performance ended with Lydia’s joy-filled “red ballet”, UNDERCURRENT. The folkish rhythms of Henryk Górecki’s score literally scream: “Let’s dance!!” and that is exactly what the Company did. Joined by students from Lydia’s school – Lily Fitzgerald, Charlotte Grey, Fiona Hartman, Margot Heid, Juliette Malki. Leila Nobles, and Clara Wade – and by members of the LJD Student Company – Camilla Abbate, Camila Ayala, Moya Connolly, Pilar Diaz, Mia Frankenberg, and Marisa Nobles – and with the main company welcoming Bella Marlborough, Victoria Hollingsworth, Gabriel Sharp, and Gion Treichler – the stage was full of lively movement and unbridled joy.
Somehow, in this sea of swirling red skirts, it was Oscar Antonio Rodriguez who held the epicenter of the piece. Always an impressive figure when dancing for Cherylyn Lavagnino and Amanda Selwyn, Oscar has drawn upon his experience in musical theatre to develop a stage presence that is part poet and part leader of the pack. Watching him in UNDERCURRENT moving deftly and with purpose about the stage made me think of the famous chant of soccer fans in TED LASSO: “He’s here…he’s there…he’s every f__king where!”. Dancing for Lydia, Oscar has honed his partnering skills to perfection; watching him this afternoon was an exhilarating experience.
In the ballet’s central Andante cantabile, three duets and a solo put some of the Company’s most beautiful movers and shapers in high relief: principal Laura Di Orio was her usual luminous self, partnered by the tall and charismatic Gabriel Sharp. LJD principals MinSeon Kim and Michael Miles, a perfect pairing, brought forth a shared sense of caring that is a Lydia Johnson trademark. A match-up of long-limbed dancers – Catherine Gurr and Gion Treichler – brought poetic grace to their partnership. In a solo, Maia Culbreath was beauty personified.
Lydia’s “red ballet” moves on to its grand finale as some two-dozen dancers sped about the space in various groupings to Maestro Górecki’s fascinating rhythms. The performance ended brilliantly, with Laura DiOrio poised aloft by her cavaliers. The packed house, which had been pin-drop silent throughout the dancing, erupted in a vigorous ovation.
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 