“Namouna, A Grand Divertissement”

New York City Ballet in “Namouna, A Grand Divertissement”, choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, music by Édouard Lalo.

In “Namouna, A Grand Divertissement”, Ratmansky used the complete score of Lalo’s “Namouna”, but discarded the original scenario (which accounts for NYCB’s augmentation of the ballet’s original title, NYCB not wishing to confuse or mislead dance aficionados).

Over Columbus Day Weekend, visiting New York, we saw “Namouna, A Grand Divertissement” at the Saturday matinee of October 12.

We were floored. The work is a first-tier masterpiece, the equal of any George Balanchine divertissement ballet.

In Ratmansky, I believe Balanchine—at long last—has a successor.

It has been a long wait.