7 replies to this topic

[Mme. Hermine]

Jeffery Taylor reviews the Peter Schaufuss Ballet:

http://www.express.c...London-Coliseum

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Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, also an item off-stage and crackling with passion, reminded us all over again what a sensationally good idea the male/ female union really is. Ashton has crystallised the world’s most famous love story into a focused economy rather than a boisterous blockbuster.

This risky approach exposes the steps, the music and the performers with no flummery to paper over the cracks. In all honesty, there are very few cracks to be seen. What is startlingly obvious is the heartrending beauty of Sir Frederick’s choreography.

A review from Lyndsey Winship of The Guardian:

http://www.guardian....a-ivan-vasiliev

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The decor is minimal, which might be a tactful way of saying cheap – violet-hued lighting, projected photos of Italianate architecture – and with a small supporting cast it lacks the heft and presence of more lavish productions. You really feel it in the first act, and it's partly down to head count. If you were throwing this Capulet ball you'd be disappointed with the turnout. But what matters in this story is the intimacy and intensity between the central couple, and the closer we get to them, the more powerful it becomes. So why not strip away the window dressing?

Jenny Gilbert weighs in for The Independent:

http://www.independe...on-2314851.html

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London audiences have gone bananas over Osipova and Vasiliev during recent summer visits from the Bolshoi. His was the most macho, most passionate, most lionised Spartacus in years, her Kitri in Don Q the most fizzing, her Giselle the most sublime. Rarely are they cast together, though, her long willowy line making a natural match with taller partners. Now, for nine performances only, thanks to canny planning by Denmark's Peter Schaufuss Ballet, they have been able to share the same dressing room. It's a mismatch nonetheless: not the lovers with each other – they're so hot they all but simultaneously combust – but a mismatch of two fiery Russians and an Englishman's choreography, with all its fastidious detail and lyrical restraint.

[dirac]

A story on Miami City Ballet's reception in Paris by Jordan Levin in The Miami Herald.

http://www.miamihera...riumphs-in.html

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“I just ... I’m stunned, wonderfully stunned,” said Villella, reached backstage shortly before Wednesday’s show.

“It’s the biggest success the company has had in 25 years. We are the talk of Paris. People are clamoring for tickets. They stop me in buses and restaurants. They have grabbed me in the aisles and told me they’ve never seen dancing like this....

[dirac]

Sochi will hold a series of arts events in the period leading up to the 2014 Olympic Games.

http://english.ruvr....7/53337554.html

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A gala with the participation of ballet stars from St.Petersburg will be held in Sochi on July 21.

[dirac]

Peoria Ballet performs outdoors this month.

http://www.pjstar.co...erform-Saturday

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“It’s just something that we’re doing for the community — hopefully trying to provide an outlet, maybe for some families who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to afford taking the whole family to the ballet,” said Jennifer Reiter, the Peoria Ballet’s administration manager and an instructor. “We encourage people to bring lawn chairs, pack a snack or a late dinner and make an evening of it.”

The performance is the culmination of a five week professional division summer intensive. In order to participate, students had to participate in three weeks of the session.

[dirac]

A review of New York City Ballet by Jay Rogoff in The Saratogian.

http://saratogian.co...aa021984682.txt

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As Calliope, muse of epic poetry, Ana Sophia Scheller punctuates her festive leaps with agonized contractions. Tiler Peck’s Polyhymnia, muse of sacred music and mime, jumps swiftly, kicks high, and sweeps her arms lyrically.

But Sterling Hyltin’s Terpsichore triumphs with her light brilliance and playfulness. She paws the ground, a thoroughbred eyeing the track; later, posed finger-to-finger with Fairchild, she and Apollo animate each other like Michelangelo’s God and Adam.

[dirac]

An overview of the Saratoga season by Rogoff in The Saratogian.

http://saratogian.co...2e575115547.txt

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Almost 4,000 dance lovers Saturday night heard Saratoga Performing Arts Center President Marcia White ask Peter Martins, “Will you return to SPAC?” New York City Ballet’s ballet master in chief replied, “Of course we will.”

Then “Jewels” closed a thrilling Saratoga season with one of the greatest performances in memory.

[dirac]

A review of the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet in "Carmen Suite" by Alastair Macaulay in The New York Times.

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Mr. Shchedrin created his version of Bizet’s music, a striking combination of strings and percussion only, for the version choreographed by Alberto Alonso; Mr. Shchedrin also added dance numbers from two other Bizet dramatic scores, “L’Arlésienne” and “La Jolie Fille de Perth.” At its premiere the ballerina was Mr. Shchedrin’s wife, Maya Plisetskaya. Mr. Alonso, however, turned the dance impulse in Bizet’s music into something heavier and more clumsily expressionistic, reconceiving the story as happening in a bullring, with Carmen, José and the Torero flanked by a male Corregidor, and a female Fate figure clad in black like a particularly unhappy bull....

[dirac]

Tobi Tobias welcomes Deborah Jowitt to the ranks of ArtsJournal dance bloggers. In brief.

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As many readers who have followed Deborah's writing--some of us for decades--know, her love for our subject is warm, her knowledge deep, her penetration keen, and her writing style distinctive.