The Times Are Racing

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The Times Are Racing
Choreographer Justin Peck
Music Dan Deacon
PremiereJanuary 26, 2017 (2017-01-26)
David H. Koch Theater
Original ballet company New York City Ballet
Genre contemporary ballet

The Times Are Racing is a one-act ballet by Justin Peck, to "USA I-IV" from Dan Deacon's album America , with costumes designed by Humberto Leon from the fashion label Opening Ceremony and lighting design by Brandon Stirling Baker. [1] It premiered on January 26, 2017 at the David H. Koch Theater, danced by the New York City Ballet. [2] [3]

Contents

Production

External video
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg New York City Ballet Presents Justin Peck's THE TIMES ARE RACING with music by Dan Deacon, YouTube video
Nuvola apps kaboodle.svg Gretchen Smith on THE TIMES ARE RACING: Anatomy of a Dance, YouTube video

The Times Are Racing is made by Justin Peck, the resident choreographer of the New York City Ballet. It was created during the 2016 presidential election, Peck said the ballet became "less optimistic piece than it could have been" after Donald Trump won the election. [1] The music is "USA I-IV" from Dan Deacon's album America , an electronic score, which Peck first listened few years prior. Though it was an unusual choice for ballet, and might be unpopular among some audiences, he went with it anyway as by then he was known for a "hypermodern direction". [2]

Peck opted the dancers to wear sneakers in the ballet, which had been used in a few ballets in NYCB's repertory and another ballet by Peck. The use of sneakers allowed him to incorporate elements of tap dance. He described the ballet as "rhythm tap and hoofing meets Fred Astaire soft-shoe, and Gene Kelly classical tap-film movements meets ballet". A tap number danced by Robert Fairchild and Peck himself was inspired by the video game Dance Dance Revolution , which the two played when they were roommates at the School of American Ballet, and Peck planned the sequence to look like the two dancers are "following along" the game's level track. [1] [2] Peck, who was still dancing at the time but rarely in his own work, [4] said the tap portion was one of the reasons why he cast himself in the ballet. [1]

Ashly Isaacs, a female soloist, was chosen to be an alternate of Fairchild's role, due to her tapping ability, and the role is believed to be the first gender-neutral principal role in NYCB's repertory. [1] [5]

Revivals

In later revivals, Taylor Stanley, a male principal dancer, was cast to dance the role originated by Tiler Peck (no relations to Justin Peck), and partnered Daniel Applebaum. Peck said the choice was made to allow his gay colleagues to perform "without any pretense" and the casting choice would continue the ballet's "exploration of gender-neutrality", though small changes were made to accommodate the dancers. [2] [6] [7]

The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago debuted The Times Are Racing in 2020. [8] Later that year, in response to the performances cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, NYCB streamed the tap number with Fairchild and Peck online, as part of its digital spring season. [9]

Original cast

The Times Are Racing is performed by 20 dancers. The lead roles were originated by: [10]

Critical reception

The Financial Times gave The Times Are Racing five stars, called it Peck's "darkest, saddest, but also loosest, freest and most grounded dance to date". [11] The New Yorker also gave it five stars, and wrote the most impressive part "was not the cool-cat factor. It was the opposite. The ballet seemed to show a softness that was new to Peck". [4] In a mixed review, the New York Times criticized the music and duets with Tiler Peck and Amar Ramasar but complimented other parts of the ballet. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Ballet</span> American ballet company

New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's first music director. City Ballet grew out of earlier troupes: the Producing Company of the School of American Ballet, 1934; the American Ballet, 1935, and Ballet Caravan, 1936, which merged into American Ballet Caravan, 1941; and directly from the Ballet Society, 1946.

Megan Fairchild is an American ballet dancer. She is currently a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.

Janie Taylor is an American ballet dancer, répétiteur and costume designer. She joined New York City Ballet in 1998, was promoted to principal dancer in 2005 and left in 2014. She then started designing costumes and staging works by Justin Peck and Benjamin Millepied, before performing again as a member of the L.A. Dance Project.

Amar Ramasar is an American ballet dancer and former principal dancer of the New York City Ballet (NYCB). Ramasar joined the NYCB as an apprentice in 2000 and joined the corps de ballet in 2001. As of 2010, Ramasar remained the only person of color who was a principal in NYCB.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiler Peck</span> American ballet dancer (born 1989)

Tiler Kalyn Peck is an American ballet dancer who is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. As well as ballet, she has performed in musical theatre shows and has made cameo appearances in films including Donnie Darko and television series including Tiny Pretty Things.

Gonzalo Garcia is a Spanish American ballet dancer. He joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1998, and was promoted to principal in 2002, at age 22. In 2007, he left the company and joined the New York City Ballet. He retired from performing in 2022 and remains in the company as a repertory director.

Craig Hall is an American ballet dancer. He danced with the New York City Ballet as a soloist until 2016 then became a repertory director, and was one of the company interim leaders between late 2017 and early 2019.

Taylor G. Stanley is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.

Peter Walker is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He joined the New York City Ballet (NYCB) in 2012 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2022. He choreographed Ten in Seven (2016) and Dance Odyssey (2018) for NYCB, as well as the 2020 film I'm Thinking of Ending Things.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Peck</span> American choreographer, director, and dancer

Justin Peck is an American choreographer, director, and dancer associated with New York City Ballet, of which he was appointed Resident Choreographer in July 2014, being the second person in the history of the institution to hold this title. In 2018 he won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for his work on the third Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. Peck also choreographed the 2021 Steven Spielberg film West Side Story, an adaptation of the musical.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unity Phelan</span> American ballet dancer

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kourlas, Gia (January 24, 2017). "At New York City Ballet, Lacing Up Their Sneakers to Unite". New York Times.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Weiss, Sasha (May 10, 2018). "Justin Peck Is Making Ballet That Speaks to Our Everyday Lives". New York Times Magazine.
  3. ↑ "The Times Are Racing". New York City Ballet. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  4. 1 2 Acocella, Joan (April 28, 2017). "Is Justin Peck trying to say something?". New Yorker.
  5. ↑ Macaulay, Alastair (May 10, 2017). "Sign of the Times: City Ballet's Ashly Isaacs Laces Up Her Sneakers". New York Times.
  6. ↑ Kourlas, Gia (October 10, 2017). "When Two Men Fall in Love on the Ballet Stage, and Why It Matters". New York Times.
  7. ↑ "Justin Peck on Instagram". Instagram. September 27, 2017. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021.
  8. ↑ Warnecke, Lauren (February 13, 2020). "Review: The Joffrey's new 'Times Are Racing' is great, except for the fluff piece 'Commedia'". Chicago Tribune.
  9. ↑ Guerreiro, Teresa (May 29, 2020). "NYCB 2020 Digital Spring Season update". Cultural Whisperer.
  10. ↑ Kourlas, Gia (January 18, 2017). "A Justin Peck Sneaker Ballet". New York Times.
  11. ↑ Scherr, Apollinaire (January 28, 2017). "Ballet that rocks: Justin Peck world premiere The Times Are Racing". Financial Times.
  12. ↑ Macaulay, Alastair (January 27, 2017). "New York City Ballet's Very 21st-Century Steps". New York Times.
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