Peter Martins

IT WAS ONLY A GLASS OF VODKA THAT HE LIFTED BEFORE A hushed audience at Lincoln Center last year. But for Peter Martins, artistic director and top boss of the New York City Ballet, the shot glass he grasped on stage that evening might as well have been the Holy Grail. The curtain was about to rise on his ambitious restaging of the classic "Sleeping Beauty."

NEW YORK -- Fashion and ballet shared the spotlight at New York City Ballet's French-themed spring gala Thursday evening. The program featured two world premieres; the more substantial of them, and the evening's centerpiece, was Benjamin Millepied's “Two Hearts,” set to a commissioned score by the increasingly busy and prolific Nico Muhly. It was the fourth collaboration between the two, who will next join forces for the September debut of L.A. Dance Project at the Music Center.

An acclaimed international ballet star who evolved into a controversial choreographer and then the powerful artistic/administrative head of New York City Ballet, 54-year-old Peter Martins has a revealing story to tell--only part of which is shared tonight in the lightweight, hourlong biography of him on the "Bravo Profiles" series. What's missing is the complexity and depth of the major issues.

An acclaimed international ballet star who evolved into a controversial choreographer and then the powerful artistic/administrative head of New York City Ballet, 54-year-old Peter Martins has a revealing story to tell--only part of which is shared tonight in the lightweight, hourlong biography of him on the "Bravo Profiles" series. What's missing is the complexity and depth of the major issues.

The upcoming "new" year for New York City Ballet, which begins with its one-week season on Tuesday, Sept. 25, at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, marks the first year that Peter Martins is officially, single-handedly in charge of the company that George Balanchine left. In 1983, a few months before Balanchine died, City Ballet formally announced that the artistic directorship had transferred jointly to Martins and Jerome Robbins.

T he upcoming "new" year for New York City Ballet, which begins with its one-week season on Tuesday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, marks the first year that Peter Martins is officially, single-handedly in charge of the company that George Balanchine left. In 1983, a few months before Balanchine died, City Ballet formally announced that the artistic directorship had transferred jointly to Martins and Jerome Robbins.

Charge Dropped: A misdemeanor assault charge against New York City Ballet head Peter Martins was dropped Wednesday in Sarasota Springs, N.Y., under an agreement between authorities and his wife, ballerina Darci Kistler, who had Martins arrested Sunday after a marital row. The couple arrived at the courthouse together and left arm-in-arm after a brief appearance before a judge. They said nothing to reporters. The charge was withdrawn "without prejudice," which means it could be refiled.

Dance of Love: Peter Martins, director of the New York City Ballet, and principal dancer Darci Kistler were married secretly last week in Martins' native Denmark. News of their marriage came as a surprise even to members of the company. The two have been secretly living together since October. Kistler, a native of Riverside, joined the company in 1980. Martins joined the company in 1970 and became co-director with Jerome Robbins 13 years later. Martins became the company's sole director in

It sounds disarmingly modest: Peter Martins of New York City Ballet defining his career as dancer and choreographer solely in terms of presenting the ballerina. Yet so many of the world's great ballets have been star vehicles that you watch the five-part, hour-long "Ballerinas: Dances by Peter Martins" tonight on PBS (9 p.m. on KOCE Channel 50) wondering what else he can do. Can he present the composer, for instance? Not often.

"Peter Martins: A Dancer." Kultur. $39.95. The princely Dane of New York City Ballet is shown at the zenith of his dancing powers and at the start of his choreographic career in this 1978 film. Director Jorgen Leth alternates lightweight interview segments with random backstage footage (spiced with glimpses of George Balanchine). More significant: the revealing coaching sessions with teacher Stanley Williams and an engrossing "Afternoon of a Faun" rehearsal with choreographer Jerome Robbins.

Dance is a paradoxical art: eloquent yet wordless, immediate yet timeless, impelling yet surpassingly graceful, reliant on equal measures of bodily prowess and spiritual transcendence. It is also an art that needs a stage, given how poorly it translates into other forms. Films fail to record the fervency of live performance. Books are even more disadvantaged; generally, descriptions of dancing serve to affirm dance's founding truth that no power is greater than the power of silence.

Whenever the consumer can deal directly with the maker of a product, a bargain often results. Such is the case with Peter Martin, an artisan whose designs in wrought-iron furniture and accessories are sold by retailers across the country. Samples and custom pieces are sold at close to wholesale prices at Martin's studio and showroom in North Hollywood. Martin Iron Designs is a full line of wrought-iron pieces, ranging from the classical to the whimsical.

Once upon a time, dear children, in the dark and distant age when people weren't in a constant rush, there was a wondrous, slow-moving Russian ballet called "The Sleeping Beauty." Marius Petipa devised choreography that ennobled every lofty quiver and quaver in Tchaikovsky's lush score. This coming-of-age fairy tale on point entailed three acts plus a prologue.

IT WAS ONLY A GLASS OF VODKA THAT HE LIFTED BEFORE A hushed audience at Lincoln Center last year. But for Peter Martins, artistic director and top boss of the New York City Ballet, the shot glass he grasped on stage that evening might as well have been the Holy Grail. The curtain was about to rise on his ambitious restaging of the classic "Sleeping Beauty."

Charge Dropped: A misdemeanor assault charge against New York City Ballet head Peter Martins was dropped Wednesday in Sarasota Springs, N.Y., under an agreement between authorities and his wife, ballerina Darci Kistler, who had Martins arrested Sunday after a marital row. The couple arrived at the courthouse together and left arm-in-arm after a brief appearance before a judge. They said nothing to reporters. The charge was withdrawn "without prejudice," which means it could be refiled.

Dance of Love: Peter Martins, director of the New York City Ballet, and principal dancer Darci Kistler were married secretly last week in Martins' native Denmark. News of their marriage came as a surprise even to members of the company. The two have been secretly living together since October. Kistler, a native of Riverside, joined the company in 1980. Martins joined the company in 1970 and became co-director with Jerome Robbins 13 years later. Martins became the company's sole director in

To a fervent gospel recording by the Rev. James Cleveland and the Charles Fold Singers, a black, bare-chested male in pleated white culottes kicks high, reaches wide, rolls his hips, walks on his knees, flings his voluminous garment up over one shoulder like a toga and reels back from passages of flailing intensity into poses of soulful pride. No, the Alvin Ailey company isn't back in town. This is "Touch Me," the 1977 solo that Gerald Arpino created for Christian Holder and revived this Joffrey Ballet season for Edward Morgan.

It sounds disarmingly modest: Peter Martins of New York City Ballet defining his career as dancer and choreographer solely in terms of presenting the ballerina. Yet so many of the world's great ballets have been star vehicles that you watch the five-part, hour-long "Ballerinas: Dances by Peter Martins" tonight on PBS (9 p.m. on KOCE Channel 50) wondering what else he can do. Can he present the composer, for instance? Not often.