11 replies to this topic

[dirac]

Appalachian Ballet celebrates its fortieth anniversary.

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The ballet's board recently approved a step to help secure the nonprofit's future by approving the establishment of an endowment fund. The fund already has its first deposit. "I think with our economic times it's sort of a safety net, knowing that if we really need it, we would have help there," Morton says. Potentially, endowment money could fund dancer scholarships or help produce a ballet that would be otherwise outside the company's budget.

The Appalachian Ballet was chartered in 1972 by dance instructor and Founding Artistic Director Cheryl Van Metre. It was first called the Maryville Alcoa Civic Ballet Company but later changed its name for a more regional feel.

[dirac]

A review of Louisville Ballet by Elizabeth Kramer in The Courier-Journal.

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The Louisville Ballet staged a strong and often touchingly romantic production of “The Three Musketeers” on Friday, six years after it last performed the ballet with choreography by André Prokovsky.

Only at the beginning of the first and second acts did the pace drag a bit as the choreography worked to establish characters. But once that was taken care of, the dancers came to life and wholeheartedly took on their characters.

[dirac]

A story on the National Ballet of Canada's anniversary tour by Kevin Griffin in The Vancouver Sun.

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Kain said the reason is money. Bringing props and costumes along with musicians is simply too costly. "We usually tour with the orchestra," she said in a phone interview from Toronto before setting off on the company's western tour.

"In the world we've living in, it's prohibitively expensive to do that. We've fashioned a tour to show a different side of the company. Usually, we go out on the road with a title that's easier to sell. This time we're coming with a program that's probably going to show off the depth of talent in the company more than the big 19th-century ballets do."

[dirac]

An appreciation of the late David Y.H. Lui.

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Once known as the Boy Impresario, he will always be associated with bringing high-quality dance and performing arts to Vancouver.

"No matter what success or setbacks he faced, he never stopped working for dance," said Mirna Zagar, executive director of the Scotiabank Dance Centre, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.

[dirac]

Preview of a Los Angeles Times feature story on Judith O'Dea Morr of he Segerstrom Center.

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Ballet often can wallow and even list in its storied past, in danger, to the casual eye, of seeming like a never-ending stream of sameness. So finding a contemporary choreographer who works in the form but reinvents it as he goes is a prized find.

Rooting out this kind of talent is one of the primary pleasures of the job for Judith O'Dea Morr, who programs dance at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa. Morr has handled more than 50 companies performing 789 programs in the past 25 years.

[dirac]

A review of Carolina Ballet by Roy C. Dicks in The News & Observer.

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Carolina Ballet artistic director Robert Weiss did not like the film "Black Swan" for its obsessive, fragmented depiction of "Swan Lake." He's featuring some original choreography from the Tchaikovsky work on his season opener, "Black and White Swan" hoping to entice the film's fans to explore ballet further. With two stunning additional works on the program, there should be converts.

Two "Swan Lake" pas de deux begin the program, the first for Prince Siegfried and his newfound love Odette, a white swan who takes human form at night. Lev Ivanov's 1895 choreography is exacting in its delicacy, and Thursday's pair, Margaret Severin-Hansen and Gabor Kapin, proved up to the task. Out of context without nighttime décor, however, the piece lacked some of its usual hushed shimmer.

[dirac]

Notes on West Australian Ballet's 'The Taming of the Shrew' by Rita Clarke in The Australian.

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Our Prime Minister seems a shoo-in for the intractable Kate, and you just have to link the bullying Petruchio to our Opposition Leader, hot in pursuit of any valuable dowry. Linking all this to these inherent political shenanigans made up for the disappointment in some of the comedic elements of John Cranko's choreography, which haven't stood the test of time.

[dirac]

The Birmingham Royal Ballet objects to the opening of a strip club nearby.

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The Birmingham Royal Ballet is leading objections to an application to open Scarlets Gentlemen’s Club at Horsefair, near their side entrance to the Hippodrome Theatre.

The ballet fears that young dancers, as well as children who take part in workshops, will be exposed to undesirables by having what is officially known as a sexual entertainment venue, or SEV, on their doorstep.

[dirac]

Q&A with David Packard, who underwrites and co-produces Ballet San Jose's new 'Idomeneo.'

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The total is edging toward $4 million, pushing the production toward San Francisco Opera-style spending levels. And why is this happening? Because Packard is a lifelong Mozart nut, whose Harvard doctoral thesis concerned Linear A, a writing system in ancient Crete -- which is where "Idomeneo" is set. So Packard cherry-picked Mozart expert George Cleve as conductor and brought in the ballet's Dennis Nahat as choreographer. He even translated the supertitles from the Italian, and wrote new software to synchronize them with the musical score -- all this at the California Theatre, whose $75 million restoration was guided a few years back by Packard.

[dirac]

A preview of the dance offerings in South Florida by Jordan Levin in The Miami Herald.

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Miami City Ballet has reached overseas for its first commissioned piece in three years, a still-untitled ballet by Liam Scarlett, a 25-year-old choreographer and dancer from London’s Royal Ballet who is being hailed as one of the brightest new talents in classical dance. The work premieres Jan 6-8 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts for MCB’s Program II.

[dirac]

A story on Rachel Coats and Logan Pachciarz of Kansas City Ballet by in The Kansas City Star.

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Logan moved to Kansas City in 2001 to dance with the Kansas City Ballet, and Rachel followed in 2002. She also dances for the company.

In 2004, they were on a morning hike in Colorado, one of their favorite places. As the sun rose over the mountains, Logan proposed to Rachel. They were married by the ocean in the Florida Keys, another favorite place, on May 21, 2005.

[dirac]

A review of New York City Ballet by Michael Popkin for danceviewtimes.

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In the midst of six performances of Peter Martins' "Swan Lake" New York City Ballet went back to its source Friday night.  A welcome program of Balanchine's black and white ballets included a number of important debuts.  Robert Fairchild's first New York performance of "Apollo" was a highlight; the ballet continued to be danced as brilliantly as in the spring.  "Episodes" and "The Four Temperaments" got more uneven performances, with some sections better than others.  No matter - serious art was back in the house and ballets that are legitimate masterworks were performed with all or at least a fair degree of their natural power.  The evening elevated human experience instead of depressing it and what more can you ask of a night at the theater?