New York City Ballet's Fashion Gala: Three Premieres On One Night

New York City Ballet's fashion gala delivered three premieres in a single evening, including Jennifer Archibald's "Shared Rain." The new work puts seven dancers onstage: Eli Raphael Gruska, Lauren Collett, KJ Takahashi, Maya Milic, Ruby Lister, Victor Abreu and Jules Mabie, the last partially hidden in the piece's opening formation.

The gala program pairs new choreography with fashion, the formula New York City Ballet has built its spring fundraising evening around. "Shared Rain" is one of three premieres on the bill, making the night one of the company's most substantial unveilings of new repertoire this season.

Archibald, choreographing for the company's dancers, works here with an ensemble cast rather than a single lead pairing. The named lineup spans the company's ranks, from Lauren Collett and KJ Takahashi to Victor Abreu and Jules Mabie, with Ruby Lister, Maya Milic and Eli Raphael Gruska completing the group.

A production image from "Shared Rain" shows the seven dancers in staggered formation, costumed for the fashion-gala context in which the premiere was staged. Mabie appears partially concealed behind his fellow performers, a detail of the staging visible in the released photograph from the work.

The gala format carries risk as well as promise — an evening built around fashion, celebrity resonance and three company premieres in one sitting asks a lot of both choreographers and dancers. The title of the evening's framing invites exactly that question, and the premieres are the answer the company has offered.

For Archibald, the premiere marks a visible platform at one of America's largest ballet companies, with her work staged alongside two other new pieces on the same program. For the seven dancers listed in the cast, "Shared Rain" represents new repertoire entering the company's active repertory this season.

How "Shared Rain" and its companion premieres settle into the repertoire beyond the gala night — whether they return in regular programming — will be the measure of the evening's three commissions.