The Times Are Racing presented by The Joffrey Ballet at Auditorium Theatre

Chicago Reader - Somewhat Recommended

"...The Times Are Racing, the title of the Joffrey Ballet’s winter mixed repertory program, captures a sense of the urgency we surely all feel. Yet few guiding principles—not even escapism—bring order to the presentation. The oldest pieces, Mono Lisa (2003) and The Sofa (1995) by Itzik Galili of Israel, account for two of the three Joffrey premieres—the third being the 2017 ballet by New York City Ballet resident choreographer Justin Peck that closes and titles this show. The other two works, British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s Commedia (2008) and Bliss! created on commission by Chicago’s Stephanie Martinez in 2019, offer a nod to modernism with Stravinsky scores. Though the company’s dancers looked in fine form, the program does not cohere into a discernible vision, nor is it truly a study in contrasts."

Stage and Cinema - Recommended

"...Enthralling and captivating with its jazzy, loose-limbed theatricality, flailing, swaying, leaping or gyrating in perfect tandem, this 2017 "sneaker ballet" is youth on edge and in synch. Particularly powerful are the effortlessly smooth duos between Edson Barbosa and Greig Matthews, flawlessly fancy free as they mirror each other marvelously."

Third Coast Review - Highly Recommended

"...Finally, the signature ballet of the evening, the company premiere for which the show is named, Justin Peck’s The Times Are Racing takes the stage. Set to the raucous rock montage by Dan Deacon, the work is a direct descendant of a cross between dance work classics of Arpino’s Billboard and Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room. The work begins with a clump of dancers wearing street clothes (lots of tee shirts with pithy political sentiments) and sneakers around a single popped-up head. This is a sprawling dance with big movements for a cast of 20 dancers that ends with everyone collapsed on the ground. The high-energy technique here is filled with complex footwork and Tharpian gestures, except the torso is still held in a classical weight-defying manner. The choreography is decentralized, then coalesces into an organized geometry that is satisfying and masterful. There is a great deal of humor as when the dancers come in and dance with floating coats. I hope that they remount this piece again soon: it’s gorgeous."

Picture This Post - Recommended

"...The range of emotion, type of movement, and music used within The Times Are Racing show the diversity and range of what it means to dance or choreograph ballet and exemplifies how the art form pushes forward as the times change."