4 replies to this topic

[Mme. Hermine]

Luke Jennings reviews the Royal Ballet in Jewels:

http://www.guardian....w?newsfeed=true

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Farrell turned Balanchine down, and in 1969 married another dancer and moved to Europe. But Diamonds remains, an icy monument to love and to the great St Petersburg ballet theatres of Balanchine's youth. In the ballerina role, partnered with elegant reserve by Rupert Pennefather, Alina Cojocaru is blue-white perfection, but there are moments when her dancing takes on a sad, secretive edge. It's as if she's reading Balanchine's foreknowledge of his loss in the ineluctable flow of his choreography. As if she's dreaming Farrell's dream of leaving.

A related review from Jenny Gilbert for the Independent:

http://www.independe...on-2360369.html

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In the same building, the Royal Ballet launched its new season with an evening of Balanchine. Jewels – purportedly inspired by a visit to a Fifth Avenue jewellery shop, though more likely the result of a canny Mad Men-style publicity stunt (it was 1967) – is really three distinct ballets linked by a slender theme.

[Mme. Hermine]

An Associated Press review of "Ocean's Kingdom."

http://thechronicleh...fe/1264992.html

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Each season, City Ballet puts on a gala fundraiser, and the aim is always to create a little buzz — with a new work, or an interesting honoree. This year’s gala, featuring McCartney’s Ocean’s Kingdom, surely had more buzz than all past galas combined.

Adding to the usual mix of New York power couples and plain old dance fans (you could tell by the attire who was staying for the gala dinner) were actresses Naomi Watts, Liv Tyler and City Ballet regular Sarah Jessica Parker. And a face not usually seen at the ballet: Steve Van Zandt, guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band.

[dirac]

A review of Houston Ballet in 'Giselle' by Theodore Bale for CultureMap Houston.

http://houston.cultu...giselle-review/

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Rowe is a consummate actor and a bit of a paradox. Tall and incredibly slender, she appears vulnerable at first, until she moves like a warrior. I was taken with her amazingly soft landings in every jump, exacting turns, long series of hops on point, and her precise body direction. She took her time arriving in the deepest arabesque penchée, a striking pose in which her lifted leg was nearly 180 degrees from her standing leg. It was breathtaking the first time, bewildering the second.  Rowe’s actions are distinct, but with an overall continuity that suggests a deep understanding of phrasing. There is something extra, perhaps a kind of “sweep” in her dancing, which makes her the perfect interpreter of the French romantic style.

[dirac]

A review of "Ocean's Kingdom" by Deborah Jowitt in her blog, "DanceBeat." (Thanks to rg for the link!)

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Indeed the music is very attractive. Beginning in the 1990s, the former Beatle and master songwriter became interested in classical composition, and the score he wrote for Ocean’s Kingdom (arranged by John Wilson and the composer and orchestrated by Andrew Cottee) has the lushly atmospheric, melodic quality of late 19th-century ballet music, although development is not one of its strong points.

A lack of development in terms of character and drama is also the ballet’s major flaw. McCartney wrote the scenario, but he isn’t entirely to blame for this. Peter Martins, bred in Denmark’s Bournonville tradition, should know how to tell a story; his mentor, George Balanchine, certainly did, although he rarely wanted to. To carry my fairytale metaphor further: Something happened to that supposed grail on the journey home through the forest. The knights needed a dramaturge to ride with them.

[dirac]

A review of Pacific Northwest Ballet's all-Wheeldon program by Alice Kaderlan for Crosscut. (Thanks to sandik for the link!)

http://crosscut.com/...tm_medium=email

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Christopher Wheeldon’s “After the Rain” pas de deux might just be the most beautiful duet in the modern ballet canon. Just six weeks after seeing New York City Ballet stars dazzle in it at the Vail International Dance Festival, I was equally moved on Friday night by Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Maria Chapman and Karel Cruz.

This was not the first time PNB has performed the work, which had its PNB premiere in 2008. But as the pas de deux, set to Arvo Pärt’s aching “Spiegel Im Spiegel,” and the rest of this all-Wheeldon show demonstrated, the company has settled into Wheeldon’s dynamic, demanding style, thanks to more time working directly with wunderkind Wheeldon and the continuing maturation of the company under Peter Boal’s direction.