Cultural digest, Q1 2026
What I read, saw, thought about.
The sky is darkening but the temperature is a balmy 68 degrees as I sit in the office of my full-time job, logged off for the most part and waiting until I can make my way to the Joyce Theater to review Hubbard Street Dance’s second program. This has been a year of disorienting timing, rushing and lingering and never proceeding at the expected pace. I hate to say that I can’t believe it’s already April because I can believe what’s in front of me. Maybe it’s more accurate to simply say that it doesn’t feel like it.
I’ve made attempts through the ages to keep up with a monthly log of books read, but I’ve found the task—on top of my regular weekly-ish sends, freelance dance reviews, and aforementioned job—difficult to maintain. Instead, for your pleasure or apathy, I present a casual documentation of the arts I experienced in the first quarter of the year.
Dance
I saw 14 dance performances in Q1—six of which were by New York City Ballet and three of which were American Ballet Theatre.
The full list: Baye & Asa and Sun Kim Dance at Works & Process at the Guggenheim (review here), Daniil Simkin’s Sons of Echo at the Joyce (review here), New York City Ballet’s Balachine + Ratmansky (Serenade, Prodigal Son), Art of the Pas de Deux presentation (review here), Masters at Work (Kammermusik No. 2, Le Tombeau de Couperin, Antique Epigraphs, Raymonda Variations), New Combinations (Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Flower Festival in Genzano, The Wind-Up, Opus 19/The Dreamer), Contemporary Choreography (Dig the Say, This Bitter Earth, The Naked King, Everywhere We Go), and The Sleeping Beauty, L.A. Dance Project’s Romeo & Juliet Suite (review here), American Ballet Theatre’s Othello (review here), Mozartiana, Nuages, Firebird, and Raymonda, New Jersey Ballet’s Icons of American Ballet (Serenade, In the Night, Nine Sinatra Suite), and Hubbard Street Dance’s Program 1 (Gnawa, Sweet Gwen Suite, and Blue Soup).
Here are the highlights:
Serenade is always a delight to watch, and I got to see it with two standout ballerinas. Sara Mearns at New York City Ballet is pretty much made for this dreamy, waltzing role, and I was very taken by Denise Parungao at New Jersey Ballet, who was a standout across the whole program. You can watch a great version of the ballet from the 90s with Darci Kistler, Kyra Nichols, and Maria Calegari here (thank you John Clifford; you are forgiven for your at times manic persona on Instagram).
I found Justin Peck’s new ballet The Wind-Up to be entertaining, but not his most artful work. I much prefer his Sufjan Stevens-scored Everywhere We Go, even though dance critic Alistair Macaulay panned it when it went to London last year.
I didn’t really love Romeo & Juliet Suite, though it was nice to finally see my first show at the Park Ave Armory. I’m very excited to see Céleste Boursier-Mougenot’s installation clinamen in the space over the summer.
ABT’s Firebird was so much wackier than I anticipated, but it was a fun one. I was surprised that I preferred Catherine Hurlin’s performance to Chloe Misseldine’s this time around (though Chloe’s Swan Lake over the summer is not to be missed; tickets go on sale Monday). I’ll be seeing Dance Theatre of Harlem’s version in a few weeks—that’s another must. City Ballet is putting on their version in the spring, too; you can expect a more mid-century version from them, with sets and costumes by Marc Chagall (the ad campaign for it last year was so good).
Hubbard Street was a joy to watch. You can still catch their remaining shows at the Joyce this weekend. Do it, if only to see Aszure Barton’s magnificent Blue Soup (2002).
Books
I read eight books: Sakina’s Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag*, A Domestic Animal by Francis King*, Flesh by David Szalay, The King of a Rainy Country by Brigid Brophy*, A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk, The Propagandist by Cécile Desprairies, The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide, and The Stranger by Albert Camus.
*I read these books for McNally Jackson’s McNally Editions book club, which I run. Perhaps you’d like to join us in April? We are reading David Foster Wallace’s Something to Do With Paying Attention. Sign up here!
And now, some micro reviews:
Sakina’s Kiss by Vivek Shanbhag: What seems to be a crime novel unfolds into something much more complex (and more satisfying). While set in contemporary India (and published originally in Kannada), the political and gender dynamics in this novel are widely applicable. Narratively, this felt fresh—something with a bit of snap.
A Domestic Animal by Francis King: A frigid Englishman falls in love (or lust) with an Italian philosopher-slash-footballer. What could go wrong? Funny in parts, sad in others, and surprisingly embodied. If you like tales of obsession, this one’s for you.
Flesh by David Szalay: Read for my work book club (of which I am also in charge). Spent the first two-thirds wondering where it was going, and at the end, appreciated it on a thematic level, but found little to really enjoy in the prose. Thought I would enjoy it more, but I can respect it conceptually.
The King of a Rainy Country by Brigid Brophy: A real mid-century treat, featuring a frustrating situationship, a sapphic schoolgirl crush, American tourists, and a bittersweet end. Especially decadent on a prose level with actually funny dialogue.
A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk: Being in your thirties is about reading books on motherhood and stressing out. An honest work, with enough levity to prevent it from being fatalistic.
The Propagandist by Cécile Desprairies: Few things I love more than literature set during WWII in Europe, and this novel—which is so heavily inspired by the author’s Nazi collaborator relatives that they sued her for libel (she won)—delivers.
The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide: Something simple and sweet read while in deep—and continuing—grief over my cat. It gave me what I needed: a bit of validation of the impact an animal companion can make.
The Stranger by Albert Camus: A classic I never read, but now devoured. Now, I’m halfway through The Meursault Investigation—the perfect companion piece. I didn’t even realize there is a new film adaptation out.
Art
I saw the Renoir drawings exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum, on one of its After Hours events. It was a pleasant exhibit, though Renoir generally isn’t my favorite (my feelings aren’t as strong as those held by the person who runs this Instagram). I especially liked this cat painting. I do want to see the current Mozart exhibit; I did just visit the Mozart residence in Salzburg in November.
Music
I went to one performances of the New York City Philharmonic, though I had ambitions to attend more. The program I saw featured Chen Yi’s “Landscape Impression,” Schumann’s “Piano Concerto” (played by Yefim Bronfman), and Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 2.” Xian Zhang conducted. The Schumann was the highlight, though you know I love Tchaikovsky. I regret missing “the wealth of nations” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel!
I also saw Fort Greene Symphony and Vladimir Rumyantsev perform Tchaikovksy’s first piano concerto (my all-time favorite) and Romeo & Juliet Overture. Both conducted by Daniel Zinn. I’ve seen Vladimir perform a few times (including with his fiancée, ABT principal Skylar Brandt—my review here), and he’s an expressive, exciting performer. I still think about his version of the “Rose Adagio” from The Sleeping Beauty after I saw him perform it over the summer.
That’s all for now. Back to our regular programming in a few days! ▲