11 replies to this topic

[dirac]

BBC News obituary for Alexander Grant.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-15164234

One his most notable roles was the one he created for himself in Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardee. He played Alain, a rich farmer's son whose deliberately "clumsy" dancing portrayed a naive and childlike character.

Ms Mason said the Royal Ballet had "welcomed him back regularly as the custodian of La Fille Mal Gardee" over the years. The company plan to revive the ballet next year and dedicate the show to his memory, she added.

[dirac]

A review of Ballet Austin in 'The Mozart Project.'

http://austinist.com...live_review.php

The three performances were scored by a small orchestra ensemble of four or five musicians, accompanied by a stage show featuring the members of Ballet Austin dancing to choreographed pieces by Stephen Mills. The range between pieces was surprising, and our favorite turned out to be an avant-garde act that combined an emotional delivery with a sustained and careful mood.

The first piece “Wolftanzt” featured the piano playing of Dr. Michelle Schumann, joined here by a quartet of two violins, a viola, and a cello. Wearing outfits that both emphasized movement (lithe gowns for the ladies, sashes of pink on the necks of the men) and constraint (it's a wonder any oxygen was circulating to their legs), the dancers spun and accompanied one another to the skippy pulse of the “Piano Concerto #12,” a composition that pretty well exemplifies more what the imagination might formulate if trying to conjure up ballet at its most prancing and colorful...

[dirac]

Q&A with Arlen Bartsch, director of development at Canada's National Ballet School.

http://www.theglobea...article2189025/

What’s the best part of your job?

I get to spend my day helping other people make transformational gifts to charitable organizations. They’re at the point in their life where they want to do something meaningful and I get to hear their stories, I get to develop a rapport with them and I get to assist them in steering that gift into a meaningful end.

I enjoy coming to work. I work at a place where I get to see students from Gr. 6 through 12, who are emerging artists, kinesthetically gifted, pursue their dreams.

[dirac]

"Billy Elliot" will close on Broadway owing to high costs.

http://www.nypost.co...uDPTJsWzNg8FY0N

Fellner’s right -- no expense was spared to bring “Billy Elliot,” which opened in London in 2005, to Broadway. A giant hole was dug in the stage of the Imperial Theatre to accommodate a two-tiered set with a spiral staircase. Because of the demands of the title role -- a performer must be a classically trained dancer, as well as a strong singer and actor -- three boys were hired to play Billy Elliot at different performances. A school was even set up in the North of England to groom future Billys (back to the coal mines, boys). Two actors were hired as Billy’s sidekicks. The cast also featured a dozen or so little ballerinas, as well as several adult supporting performers.

[dirac]

An obituary for Alexander Grant in The Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph...nder-Grant.html

Above all Grant’s distinction as a classical dancer, combined with his mastery of character, enabled Ashton to develop what were usually subsidiary supporting roles – the bravura trick soloists – into key players in the main drama, often introducing a provocative sexual charge.

As a young man Grant was lusted after by both sexes, as well as by Ashton himself. As the Pirate Chief in Daphnis and Chloe (1951), the dancer described his orders: “I used to have to rush on stage, pick Margot up with one hand and run off with her, and then ... swing her round and round, throw her on the floor and proceed to jump all over her.” The swooning fans who gathered at the stage door to catch a glimpse of him were astonished to find how short he was.

Judith Cruickshank's obit in The Guardian.

http://www.guardian....alexander-grant

While Margot Fonteyn is generally thought to be the inspiration behind some of Frederick Ashton's most successful ballets, the same could be said of Alexander Grant, who has died aged 86. Grant possessed an unusual combination of pure classical virtuosity and an unequalled sense of characterisation and drama. In his most famous role, Alain the simpleton suitor in Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardée (1960), he combined wild foolishness with childlike innocence and pathos. When it becomes clear that his marriage to the heroine has been cancelled, he looks around for a girl, any girl, to whom he can give his lovely, sparkling betrothal ring. No dancer has managed that brief, heart-wrenching moment more effectively.

[dirac]

David Mitchell, who designed sets for Balanchine and Robbins, has died at age 79. Obit by William Grimes in The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.c...dies-at-79.html

The cause was complications of cancer, his former wife, Emily Mitchell, said.

Mr. Mitchell started out designing sets for touring productions at the New York Shakespeare Festival and quickly became one of the most sought-after designers on Broadway, known for his clever solutions to difficult problems and a rare ability to make visual magic on the stage.

[dirac]

A review of a Guggenheim Museum Works and Progress Series performance, "The Music of Elliott Carter Interpreted," by Brian Seibert in The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.c....html?ref=dance

Mr. Scher’s dance for eight, hewing to the music much more closely, was more ponderous. With all of its leaping and landing, it even sounded heavier. The step-for-note matching resulted in less continuity and sometimes had the effect of comic-book captions: the dancers suddenly looking at one another (“plunk!”), a woman’s foot hitting a man’s chest (“thwack!”). One gestural motif was to make a spyglass out of a hand. This, Mr. Scher explained during the Q. and A. that preceded his dance, indicated “examining what’s around you.”

Self-incrimination is a pitfall when artists share their process. (Key words from Ms. LeCrone: “clear,” “abstract.”) But the most remarkable moment of the evening was the brief speech by the 102-year-old Mr. Carter. In Paris in 1933, he explained, he was fascinated by the way George Balanchine brought on the cast for the next section before the first one was over. From this, the young Mr. Carter learned to switch without pause from one kind of music to another — an effect the old Mr. Carter pointed out in the individual works on Sunday’s program.

[dirac]

A Jacob's Pillow post-season wrapup.

http://dance.broadwa...o-2012-20111004

During its 79th Festival season, Jacob's Pillow hosted more than 89,100 free and ticketed visitor experiences, the highest number in the organization's history. Providing access to dance and expanding audiences is a vital part of the Pillow's mission, and more than half of the 2011 Festival offerings were free, including the exclusive Annie Leibovitz: DANCE photography exhibit; a PillowTalk with Ms. Leibovitz and choreographer Mark Morris; 9 events presented as part of Lift Ev'ry Voice: Celebrating African-American Culture and Heritage in the Berkshires; and free Inside/Out dance performances seen by 16,500 audience members.

[dirac]

A story on marketing strategies and future plans for Miami City Ballet by Hannah Sampson in The Miami Herald.

http://www.miamihera...ake-ballet.html

Miller said fundraising continues to be a challenge but not a crisis. Supporters Harriet and Henry Pownall provided hundreds of thousands in funding for the world premiere in March of Symphonic Dances, by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky.

With the recently announced decision of founder and director Edward Villella to leave at the end of the 2012-13 season, the new challenge will become keeping up support after the star name has left, said board chairman emeritus Mike Eidson.

[dirac]

A preview of Northern Ballet Theatre's 'Cleopatra.'

http://www.edp24.co....lenge_1_1079079

David and Claude-Michel first came up with the idea of penning a ballet about Cleopatra while working together on the 2008 hit Wuthering Heights, which won critical acclaim throughout its UK tour.

David says the aim was to get inside her character and present a woman of great depth. “I want them to understand her as a human as much as someone going to lead a country. She possessed a quality that could engage men and hold them, and I want to create that kind of charisma while at the same time let the audience know this was a woman who had children and was trying to protect them,” he explains.

[dirac]

Another review of the Guggenheim performance by Mary Cargill for danceviewtimes.

http://www.danceview...rter-x-two.html

Leigh Witchel, the moderator, mentioned the influence of "Agon" in LeCrone's work, and there were echoes, especially in the opening pas de trois (danced by DaVon Doane, Russell Janzen, and Megan LeCrone), but LeCrone's work has its own individuality. Her choreography had an underlying tension that was gripping. In her opening interview, she spoke about the music, and the variety she found in the five different pieces, and talked about the process of using this variety while at the same time keeping the work unified. The most interesting, for me, piece was the penultimate piece, a pas de trois danced by DaVone Doane, Gabreille Lamb, and Megan LeCrone. The women's movements were crisp and sharp, while Doane seemed to let the notes ripple through his body; his arms were particularly fluid.

[Helene]

Thanks to a heads up from Jayne:

Marcie Sillman reviews Pacific Northwest Ballet in "All Wheeldon" for her blog in artdish.

If you’re a ballet fan, chances are you made it to McCaw Hall for Pacific Northwest Ballet’s opening program. And not only because it was the opening program. For All Wheeldon, PNB Artistic Director Peter Boal focussed the spotlight on one of the ballet world’s rising stars, choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. The British-born artist was trained at London’s Royal Ballet. He migrated to the U.S. to dance with New York City Ballet, and wound up serving as that company’s choreographer-in-residence before he was 30 years old. Many balletomanes consider Wheeldon to be one of the heirs-apparent to George Balanchine, one of the great 20th century dance innovators. Balanchine’s death almost 30 years ago left a gaping hole in the ballet firmament, a hole dance lovers hope Wheeldon will fill. The four dances performed by PNB in All Wheeldon displayed the dancemaker’s story-ballet training in London, as well as his exposure to Balanchine and Jerome Robbins in New York.