7 replies to this topic

[dirac]

An AFP story on Paloma Herrera.

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Argentina's consulate in New York provided a warm tribute this week, including a showing of the documentary "Paloma Herrera, Here and Now" before an audience that cheered her onstage prowess and relished an opportunity to speak with her.

"The truth is I'm not a great fan of competitions," she told the crowd, "but I have to say that they really helped me."

[dirac]

A review of Texas Ballet Theater in 'Don Quixote' by Mark Lowry in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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The full-length ballets that run well over two hours can be tough to sustain. The initial showboating that comes with the character introductions and story exposition is exciting for a time, and then too often bleeds into less-interesting sections with the occasional pop of brilliance.

That was the case with Ben Stevenson's Don Quixote on Friday at Bass Performance Hall, which closes the season this weekend for the Texas Ballet Theater. Revisiting the work based on Miguel Cervantes' story and with music by Leon Minkus, Stevenson's version starts off strong, with trademark touches.

[dirac]

Ballet Jorgen Canada announces its 2011-12 schedule.

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Ballet in the Studio is slated for Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Lilian Piercey Concert Hall, Halifax, and will feature works by Ballet Jorgen Canada’s artistic director Bengt Jorgen, Emil Sher, Malgorzata Nowacka, Dartmouth’s Ruth-Ellen Kroll Jackson and Robert Desrosiers. Costumes and set pieces will be presented for some works.

Solos and Duets is slated for Oct. 30 at 3:45 p.m. at Halifax Dance. This program gives local choreographers a chance to work with professional dancers at no cost, with the goal of creating short works (three to four minutes) using Ballet Jorgen Canada dancers. The product is completed after eight to 12 hours of rehearsal and receives a public studio performance.

[dirac]

A review of the School of American Ballet workshop performance by Michael Popkin for danceviewtimes.

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"Allegro Brilliant," staged by Suki Schorer, opened the program and showed the impeccable schooling one associates with Schorer's coaching.  Angelica Generosa and Harrison Ball, the principal couple, were SAB's award winners for outstanding promise this year.  (Peter Walker, who took the lead in "Who Cares" later in the show, also won one). Ball is of middle height, handsome and relaxed, and presents himself classically.  Generosa is very individual - a small-to-middle height young woman with an unconventional body but powerful technique and an unexpected gift for adagio dancing.

[dirac]

A review of Ballet Arizona by Helene Kaplan for danceviewtimes.

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"Movements for Orchestra" is another beast, with its short explosive movement from  nowhere against a small female corps.   It also takes rock solid technique, to be able to stop on a dime almost casually.  Ginger Smith has it and sangfroid and touch of wryness resembling Suzanne Farrell's in the role.  Russell Clarke was her able partner, substituting for Joseph Cavanaugh.

[dirac]

A review of American Ballet Theatre in 'The Lady of the Camellias' by Arlene Judith Klotzko for Concerto.Net.

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The two principal dancers, Diana Vishneva and Marcello Gomes, were simply superb. Ms. Vishneva, who will appear later this summer as Anna Karenina with the Mariinsky Ballet, presented by the Lincoln Center Festival, was lithe and graceful but also expressive and emotional. She conveyed the whole range of the interior life of Marguerite. The elegant arc of her arms, the way she seems to drift downward from being en point, her furious yet perfectly balanced turns were stunning. Vishneva has a body that can do virtually everything; indeed, she can even transmute that body into into one that seems to be gradually losing its strength.

[dirac]

Ballet Quad-Cities performs for free this weekend. Item in brief.

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Free to the public, the 8 p.m. ballet today and Sunday will feature two examples of pas de deux (French for “steps of two”), one from the storybook ballet “Cinderella” and the other called “Conveyance.”

[dirac]

A review of Pacific Northwest Ballet's 'Giselle' by Kristen Legg for Seattle Dances.

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In Boal’s staging of Act I, the corps seemed to have been given some leeway, allowing the different movement styles, heights, and appearances of peasants to make the village scene come to life. The well-matched pas de deux between Chalnessa Eames and Jonathan Porretta gave the audience a look at what Giselle imagined her life with Albrecht to be—a loving, equal (and peasant-like) partnership. The pas de deux included a well-executed pass in which Eames moved into an inward pirouette and is caught mid-rotation by Porretta, who continued to promenade his love around in a beautiful arabesque. At the end of this flawless adagio, there were a few forced rotations, but all was forgiven with Porretta’s beated jumps.