Son of City Ballet - The Wheeldon Company at City Center

MORPHOSES - THE WHEELDON COMPANY
New York City Center
New York, NY
October 19 and 20, 2007

by Michael Popkin
copyright 2007 by Michael Popkin

When Christopher Wheeldon appeared in front of the curtain before his new company's Friday evening and Saturday afternoon shows and thanked the artistic directors who had lent him his dancers, most prominent among the tributes he provided was that for Peter Martins, whom he properly credited not only for allowing stars like Wendy Whelan, Teresa Reichlen, Sterling Hyltin and Maria Kowroski to appear, but also for "supporting and fostering his career" as a dancer and a choreographer at City Ballet.  What then followed on the stage, though, showed that the debt owed to Martins was, if anything, even greater than the one acknowledged - because it was a stylistic debt in addition to everything else.  To the viewer familiar with Peter Martins' choreography and with Wheeldon's work over the years at NYCB, the roots of his new company's style were unmistakable.