10 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A review of New York City Ballet in 'Ocean's Kingdom' by Robert Greskovic in The Wall Street Journal.

http://online.wsj.co...0856963122.html

Quote

But the effectiveness of the theatrical proceedings evaporates once subsidiary characters, subsequent choreography and more pointedly dramatic musical passages enter the picture. As Prince Stone, a wide-eyed and eagerly ardent Robert Fairchild makes for a one-dimensional hero opposite Ms. Mearns's equally conventional portrayal of the heroine. Short-statured Christian Tworzyanski, who somewhat resembles Seth Meyers of "Saturday Night Live," could hardly look less regal as King Ocean. Dressed in Ms. McCartney's spare tunic, tights and booty-slippers, he might as well be the realm's mascot.

The "Terra" baddies, led by a blustery Amar Ramasar as their king, sport coxcomb hairstyles that repeat the sharp patterning on their body-coverings, which resemble tribal scarification or tattooing. Their sinister side mostly begins and ends there, as busy, repetitive athletic jumps and kicks (see any number of Mr. Martins's previous ballets) make them seem a roving band of cheerleaders.

[dirac]

A review of the Smuin Ballet by Mary Ellen Hunt in The San Francisco Chronicle.

http://www.sfgate.co.../DD041L92S2.DTL

Quote

You'd never mistake the choreography for Michael Smuin's own. Even under the cheerful red and white shirtwaist dresses and flouncy crinolines, Seiwert's signature style is clear in the turn-in, turn-out pattern of the legs and angular cut of the arms, in the cascades of interlocking partnering and the abstract kineticism. Yet, you can't help but feel that Smuin would have loved "Dear Miss Cline."

Seiwert mines some of Cline's best-known hits - like "Walkin' After Midnight" and "She's Got You" - and like Cline, she shies away from too gooey a view of love and loss or too showy a display, preferring to embrace genial self-effacing humor instead. It's territory that Seiwert has ventured into previously, but here she expands both in length and breadth of emotional range.

[dirac]

The Birmingham Royal Ballet promotes its hometown in a new publicity drive.

http://www.birmingha...97319-29491459/

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Featuring pictures of the company shot all over the city, the campaign is aiming to champion a positive view of Birmingham, just weeks after its streets exploded in riots.

The company’s principal dancers, director David Bintley and chief executive Christopher Barron were all asked to choose their favourite location. And, working with photographer Richard Battye of River Studios in Birmingham’s Custard Factory, they were then snapped in those places.

[dirac]

The Imperial Russian Ballet Company visits Australia. Item in brief, with photo.

http://www.theaustra...x-1226147718843

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IRBC director Gediminas Taranda starts with an old favourite, Don Quixote, which he has pruned with a vigour approaching vandalism, squashing four acts into about 70 minutes to form the first part of a triple bill.

[dirac]

The National Ballet of China's "The Red Detachment of Women" at the Kennedy Center attracts some complaint.

http://english.ntdtv...hington-dc.html

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The play is a Cultural Revolution-era ballet. It depicts female soldiers striking down so-called ‘class-enemies.’ The performance has drawn widespread protest from both Chinese and Westerners in the United States.

Democracy activist Wei Jingsheng—a former Red Guard and key player in the 1989 Tiananmen protests—commented on the play.

[dirac]

An item in brief on artist's Karen Kilimnik's designs for Alexei Ratmansky's “Psyché," with photo.

http://tmagazine.blo...ge-for-romance/

Quote

She then augmented these with rhinestones, glitter and, for good measure, a host of two-dimensional objects like the five-foot snail that enters and exits the stage at various points during the performance. Being able to work on this scale was a dream in itself. “It was wonderful,” she said.

[dirac]

Verb Ballets reschedules a performance canceled because of technical problems.

http://www.clevescen...et-show-goes-on

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“Due to the diligence of the Breen and Verb staff, we were able to come up with a detailed plan to reschedule our American Lore show, and inform patrons of their options. While not an ideal situation, Verb and the Breen are forging ahead with Verb’s world premiere Billy the Kid and two revivals, one of which is the work of Martha Graham. We are excited to present this show and the lovely music that accompanies these dances, the works of Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein,” says Dr. Margaret Carlson, Director of Verb Ballets.

[dirac]

Patric Palkens of Orlando Ballet departs for Cincinnati.

http://www.orlandose...story?track=rss

Quote

Orlando Ballet dancers are paid for each week they are under contract to the company. The standard season, though, is just 28 weeks, leaving a lengthy income gap unless dancers find other work. "We all have to scrape by," Palkens said. "It can be pretty difficult."

That economic model puts smaller dance companies at a disadvantage in hanging on to the talent they have nurtured, said Robert Hill, the Orlando Ballet's artistic director.

[dirac]

The University of Utah's ballet program is placed in receivership.

http://www.sltrib.co...rogram.html.csp

Quote

U. senior vice president David Pershing has asked law professor Linda F. Smith to run the program after ballet faculty were unable to agree on who to hire to fill the vacant department chair, despite a year-long search. And the program is short three tenure-track faculty because there is no chair to hire them.

Officials emphasize that undergraduates will experience no disruption and public performances will continue as usual, beginning Oct. 6.

[dirac]

More reviews of "Ocean's Kingdom."

The New York Observer:

http://www.observer....-ocean-kingdom/

Quote

You have to feel sorry for City Ballet: every one of its recent gimmicks—the drab new version of The Seven Deadly Sins, featuring the miscast and floundering Patti Lupone; the multiballet collaboration with the celebrated architect Santiago Calatrava, whose neophyte stage work mostly undercut rather than enhanced the poor choreographers he was supposedly working for; the empty, vulgar double-bill from Broadway choreographer Susan Stroman—has been an artistic mess. The telling thing about all these expensive fiascoes is not that they failed, but that Mr. Martins has dragged in ballet outsiders to score publicity coups and stimulate sales. But, hardly surprising, these naïve and exploited amateurs haven’t known what they were doing. And the audience catches on. There may have been an ovation at the Martins-McCartney gala premiere, but at the other performances to date, the applause has been polite and pro forma; it was Balanchine’s amazing Union Jack that got people excited.

The Boston Phoenix:

http://thephoenix.co...-gets-a-ballet/

Quote

Before the ballet, the orchestra rose impressively from the pit on an elevator, the most spectacular feat of the evening, and conductor Fayçal Karoui led a little lecture-demonstration explicating the score. McCartney has been writing classical music for a while now, but it's strange to behold one of popular music's great innovators engaging in an old-fashioned sound and story. (McCartney also wrote the libretto.)

Foregoing the elaborate staging suggested by the plot and the music, Martins made a stodgy, formal work, neither a throwback nor a pop-art collage. There are no peasants or courtiers standing around the edges, no magic props or convertible set pieces. The costumes (by McCartney's daughter, fashion designer Stella McCartney) are coded according to dancing units. Charles Stanley's lighting and S. Katy Tucker's video and projections create all the scenic effects and illusions.

[carbro]

Jewish Week profiles choreographer Avi Scher and previews his new work for the Guggenheim's Works & Process, Oct. 2 and 3.


http://www.thejewish...path=node/19744

Note:  I've repaired the link.  Thanks, friend , for alerting me to the problem.