8 replies to this topic

[dirac]

Alexander Grant has died at age 86.

The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.c...at-86.html?_r=1

Alexander Grant, whose portrayal of childlike suitors, muddled husbands, English eccentrics, pirate chiefs and Shakespearean rustics made him one of British ballet’s most beloved stars, died on Friday in London. He was 86.

His death was confirmed by Jean-Pierre Gasquet, his longtime companion. Mr. Grant had been ill for eight months after a hip operation left him hospitalized with infections and pneumonia.

CBC News:

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...grant-obit.html

As artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1976 to 1983, he introduced Ashton’s La Fille Mal Gardée, The Dream, Two Pigeons, Monotones and Les Patineurs to the company.

Canadian Press:

http://www.theglobea...article2188919/

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Grant joined the Royal Ballet in 1946 and remained with the company for 30 years in roles including soloist and director of the touring company.

After leaving Canada's National Ballet, he worked with English National Ballet as a coach and character dancer and went on to stage works by Sir Frederick Ashton at companies all over the world.

[dirac]

Sophie Flack will publish a novel for young adults called "Bunheads." Wall Street Journal article, full text subscriber-only.

http://online.wsj.co...0061482452.html

On Oct. 10, one of those unsung performers will step forward with a fictionalized insider's account of that underdog experience.

"Bunheads," a young-adult novel written by former corps dancer Sophie Flack, depicts a world where the characters' most intimate friends are also their greatest obstacles to success. The dancers are ravaged by eating disorders and riven with questions over what must be sacrificed ...

[dirac]

A review of the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 'Beauty and the Beast' by Laura Thompson in The Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph...let-review.html

I recently watched a BBC interview with Peter Martins, director of New York City Ballet, in which it was suggested to him that ballet was elitist and dead. The charges were elegantly rebutted, but it was clear that this is now the default modern view. Ballet is “elitist” because it is about people excelling at extremely difficult things. It is “dead”, because its best stuff was produced years ago (not like novels and paintings, then).

I thought of this as I watched Beauty and the Beast, with an audience diverse enough to satisfy any BBC criteria, and united in delight at the shining complexities on stage. True, when ballet becomes a tired technical procession of Swan Lakes then it is a played-out form. But when – as with a company like Birmingham Royal Ballet – it is constantly reinfused with meaning and vitality, it can move and astound to a degree worthy of that other dead elitist, William Shakespeare.

[dirac]

Reviews of Scottish Ballet.

The Herald Scotland:

http://www.heraldsco...asgow-1.1127137

Scottish Ballet is heading States-side, taking the double bill they premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival to California and Minnesota.

Last week, part of that bill, Jorma Elo’s specially commissioned Kings 2 Ends, paired up with Ashley Page’s Pennies From Heaven, delivering a programme that highlighted how technically adept and artistically sussed these dancers are, and how fresh, distinctive and sparky the repertoire has become.

The Stage:

http://www.thestage....t-autumn-season

In the few months since August the company has not just settled into Elo’s somewhat outlandish choreography but mastered it with easy grace. Eve Mutso’s opening solo sequence, danced in silence with the piece’s seven male dancers motionless in the gloom behind her, sets out the quirky vocabulary that will spring into life to Steve Reich’s Double Sextet then be developed with fluid grace in Mozart’s first violin concerto.

[dirac]

A review of Mark Morris' 'Renard' by Nancy Dalva in The Brooklyn Rail.

http://www.brooklynr...takes-a-holiday

I really don’t know how anyone—except I seem to be the only one—could see Renard right after seeing Alexei Ratmansky’s Little Humpbacked Horse, performed here by the Mariinsky Ballet just a few blocks uptown at the Met, and not read the Morris as a wicked response to Ratmansky’s grand Russianisms—not necessarily in this ballet, but generally. I have been told, and hence understand, what makes Ratmansky something other than a 19th century artist (something about the fleetness with which he moves things along, and I guess a lack of fussiness, and some sex), but to me, he is a really retrograde taste. If he were a dish, he’d be something like baked alaska. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s bizarre that the future of American ballet, as he’s been hailed, is a Russian steeped in the traditions of the Bolshoi. (Even as the Bolshoi has nabbed American paragon David Hallberg as a principal. Maybe Russia is the future of ballet now, and New York is the past.)

[dirac]

Elena Glurdjidze performs 'The Dying Swan' for the edification of attendees at the Conservative Party conference. Photos.

http://www.dailymail...o=feeds-newsxml

Her performance came on the second day of the Tory conference in Manchester, the last of the three major party conferences.

Other entertainment for those attending the conference came in the form of Prime Minister David Cameron, who was spotted apparently falling asleep during George Osborne's speech.

[dirac]

Damian Woetzel will present a dance series at Studio 5 City Center.

http://broadwayworld...-Clark-20111003

The three-part dance series, curated and hosted by Woetzel, begins on October 11 when Woetzel is joined by American Ballet Theatre dancers who will demonstrate and discuss highlights of the company's upcoming City Center season, followed on January 9 featuring choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and his brilliant work. One additional event will be announced shortly.

[dirac]

Louisiana Delta Ballet's season lineup.

http://www.thenewsst...YLE05/111003028

Ballet Goes Broadway: This unique performance is a collaboration of Louisiana Delta Ballet dancers, local vocalists and actors of Strauss Theater. LDB will showcase innovative and original choreography as famous Broadway Musical scenes are brought to life on Monroe's Jack Howard Theatre's stage.

[dirac]

A review of Ballet Austin in 'The Mozart Project' by in The American-Statesman.

http://www.statesman...rt-1893749.html

There's no denying Ballet Austin's artistic director, Stephen Mills, is a fan of Mozart. His newest creation, a three-piece series collectively titled "The Mozart Project," was the company's season opener, which premiered at the Long Center over the weekend. This work comes after Ballet Austin's prior season's closer, "The Magic Flute" another Mozart-inspired ballet. But this time, Mills has taken Mozart to a new level: This is Mozart gone weird.