New York Stages

Since moving from New York to Minnesota in 1993, James Sewell Ballet has performed at three New York City venues: The Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College (Mar. 15-18, 2001), Whitman Theater at Brooklyn College (Apr. 13-14, 2003), and The Joyce Theater (Jan. 20-25, 2004; Apr. 4-9, 2006; Oct. 16-21, 2007).


        "This Minneapolis-based troupe has been around nearly two decades,
        but it's only in its past few visits that Sewell's distinctively imaginative
        way with the classical idiom has become fully apparent."
        - The Village Voice, 9/5-11/07

       "Sewell is daring and original, with a broad grounding in classical ballet
       and modern dance....[willing] to unearth genuine emotions and grapple
       seriously with how ballet relates to more organic styles of movement."
       - Jennifer Homans, The New Republic, 9/11/06

        "At the end of a weekend full of Wheeldon and Sewell, Sewell shows me
        more sculpture, more play, more movement, and cooler men."
        – Anna McDonald,   
        annamcdonald.typepad.com/seeking_system/2007/10/a-few-things-to.html

        "Humor, surprise, variety, an analytical response to music, dance shaped
        as architecture in time and space: these are qualities to be admired in most
        of the foremost choreographers, dead and alive. Since they are also present
        in the three works James Sewell is showing at the Joyce Theater, I wish I
        could enjoy his perfectly competent work more than I do. Each piece has
        brief passages where accomplishment turns into mastery, and others that
        turn into something less than accomplishment."
        – Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times

        "One of the Twin Cities' cultural gems like the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre and
        the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.…This is a company well worth catching.
        It wears its charms with a difference."
        – Clive Barnes, New York Post

        "Sewell is…a relaxed humanist who seems to enjoy making the most of
        the quietly vivid presence of his skillful dancers."
        – Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times

        "It was fascinating to find a classical choreographer venturing into
        indeterminacy, which is usually associated with modern and postmodern
        dancers."
        – Jack Anderson, New York Theatre Wire

        "Sewell demonstrated exactly how classical ballet can be a mutable
        art form receptive to invention.… This is a company definitely worth
        catching, whose reputation can only continue to rise."
        – Cecly Placenti, www.ballet-dance.com

        "James Sewell Ballet has secured a strong following, developed
        an attractive company and distinctive point of view."
        – Eye on Dance, New York

        “A polished gem of a chamber dance troupe from Minnesota.…
        Mr. Sewell is…one of American ballet’s most inventive
        choreographers.…Different and unpredictable, this is the company to see.”
        – Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times

        “Innovative choreography blithely combines ballet and postmodernism.”
        - Sylviane Gold, Newsday New York City

        “An evening spent with…James Sewell Ballet is an evening of
        intelligent choreography and heartfelt dancing.…So much attractive
        choreography…is very much worth watching.”
        - Pia Catton, The New York Sun

        “A small company of dancers can take the world by storm. All it
        takes is a fine maker of ballets like Balanchine who was a good
        dancer and knew music. James Sewell is a superb dancer who
        studied the violin.”
        – Francis Mason, WQXR 96.3FM The Classical Station, New York NY

        “A contemporary style aligned with the classical tradition. Legibility
        of design is a major component of [Sewell’s] choreography.”
        - Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice

        “Not your grandma’s ballet company… A fresh way of putting the
        standard vocabulary together into sparkling dances that pique your
        emotions as much as they delight your eye.”
        - Gus Solomons, Jr., Gay City News, NY

        “Not ordinary performers…each company member is an excellent
        dancer…with a strong sense of line, a committed intelligence,
        and an extraordinary understanding of Sewell’s personal vision.…
        Sewell…has developed into a fiercely inventive, truly gifted artist.”
        - Phyllis Goldman, Backstage

        "Mr. Sewell is one of American ballet’s best choreographers,
        albeit one who composes sonnets rather than epics. This lack
        of pretension can make his work look deceptively gentle, but it
        is not modest. Grounded in a neoclassical style that is exploited
        in different ways, his choreography brims with surprises in
        movement invention."
        - Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times

        "James Sewell’s enormously inventive ballet repertoire is a
        fusion of classic and contemporary that captures sculpture
        and geometry in dance. A certain quirkiness and humor is
        connected to strong technical skill."
        - Lucy Komisar, The American Reporter

        "James Sewell's choreography is anything but tired. At its best
        it is rich in surprises, filled with stunningly inventive movement
        and a brilliant strangeness. "
        - Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times, New York NY

        "Sewell's work is different from everyone else's: it's energetic,
        direct and full of musical zest; its movement vocabulary is ballet
        as it could be performed on the playing fields."
        - Francis Mason, WQXR 96.3FM The Classical Station, New York NY

        "Ideas that start in the heart and soul"
        - Marian Horosko, Dancer

        "A fresh, pleasing sensibility"
        - Alicia Mosier, The Village Voice

        "An accomplished group in both contemporary and classic dance."
        - Jennie Schulman, Backstage