The Shimmering Asphalt

New York City Ballet

“Thursday night at New York City Ballet brought two world premieres, entirely unalike, each to new music, each distinctly reflecting the world we inhabit today: “The Shimmering Asphalt,” choreographed by Pontus Lidberg to a commissioned score by David Lang, and “The Times Are Racing,” by Justin Peck (the company’s resident choreographer since 2014) to recorded music by Dan Deacon. Warm ovations greeted both. Deservedly. Both are distinct, skilled, arresting. Yet they’re hard to grasp on a single viewing: more immediately striking as authoritative exercises in style than as absorbing worlds to inhabit. Each is sophisticated; there’s plenty of detail and structural complexity here to reward later visits.”

Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

ORIGINAL MUSIC David Lang

COSTUME DESIGN Rachel Quarmby-Spadaccini

LIGHT DESIGN Mark Stanley

TEASER PRODUCED BY Ellen Bar, Rebekka Björnsdóttir

WITH Pontus Lidberg, Rebecca Krohn, Russell Janzen

ANIMATIONS Jason Carpenter

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Sam Wootton

EDITING Jacob Halpren