Two Beloved Stories Retold Through Dance

As part of the fall dance season, two new adaptations of beloved stories are debuting in New York City this week. 

Ashley Shaw and Sam Archer in "The Red Shoes," adapted and choreographed by Matthew Bourne.

(Johan Persson /New York City Center)

"The Red Shoes," adapted and choreographed by Matthew Bourne with Liam Mower as "Ivan Boleslawsky" and Ashley Shaw as "Victoria Page."

(Johan Persson /New York City Center)

The first is "The Red Shoes," a Matthew Bourne adaptation of the classic Powell and Pressburger film. Set to a new score, the show will feature in certain performances two revered New York dancers: Sara Mearns of New York City Ballet and Marcelo Gomes of the American Ballet Theater.

"It's about a dancer who has to choose between art and love," WNYC's dance critic Marina Harss told Richard Hake, "it's a precursor to Black Swan, in a more innocent age." 

"Layla and Majnun" adapted and choreographed by Mark Morris, part of Lincoln Center's White Light Festival.

(Susana Millman, Mark Morris Dance Group/Lincoln Center)

In the second performance, Mark Morris retells the classic Persian and Arabic folktale "Layla and Majnun," with musicians and dancers featured on a tiered stage. 

"Essentially, it's a love story," said Harss. "The way we feel about 'Romeo and Juliet' is a little bit the way people who grew up with 'Layla and Majnun' feel about that story."

[To hear the full interview, click on "Listen" above.]

"Layla and Majnun," part of Lincoln Center's White Light Festival.

Rose Theater at Lincoln Center, Broadway at West 60th, New York 

Oct. 26 through 29, 2017 

"The Red Shoes"

New York City Center, 131 West 55th, New York

Oct. 26 through Nov. 5, 2017