9 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A preview of Houston Ballet's Nutcracker.

http://www.yourhoust...1cc4c03286.html

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The role of the Sugar Plum Fairy will be danced by principals Amy Fote, Melody Mennite, Danielle Rowe, and Sara Webb; first soloist Kelly Myernick; soloists Karina Gonzalez, Nao Kusuzaki and Katharine Precourt; demi soloist Lauren Strongin; and corps de ballet member Hitomi Takeda. Ms. Rowe's Sugar Plum Fairy will be her first time to dance the role in Houston. Ms. Gonzalez, Ms. Hough, Ms. Kusuzaki, Ms. Myernick, Ms. Precourt, and Ms. Rowe will also dance the Snow Queen role in addition to soloist Jessica Collado and corps de ballet members Nozomi Iijima and Allison Miller. The Prince will be danced by principals Simon Ball, Ian Casady, Jun Shuang Huang, and Connor Walsh; soloists Christopher Coomer, Oliver Halkowich, Linnar Looris, and Joseph Walsh; demi soloists Peter Franc and Luke Ingham; and corps de ballet member Charles Louis Yoshiyama. Mr. Ingham will be debuting as the Prince.

[dirac]

A review of Vienna Festival Ballet's Nutcracker by David Bellan for The Oxford Times.

http://www.oxfordtim...allet__Banbury/

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Once again they show that a small company, with a lot of doubling-up, even trebling, can put on a production that fills the stage with colour and movement. This is a traditional Nutcracker, with the guests arriving for a Christmas party, including a wonderfully tipsy granny, where an almost boyish Drosselmeyer (Joseph Mackie-Graves) presents young Clara with the eponymous doll. And young she is — this was Jodie McKnight’s debut in the role. She only left the Central School of Ballet last year, but already has a strong technique and a likeable personality, and is a charming Clara in an interpretation that will develop further as she gains experience.

[dirac]

A review of the Birmingham Royal Ballet by Judith Mackrell in The Guardian.

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

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Honours go to BRB for their staunch revivals of these works, which also come with some of the repertory's most stunning decors: the elegantly balanced, scintillating palette of E McKnight Kauffer; the limpid visionary abstraction of Sophie Fedorovitch and the wickedly droll, cartooning energy of Osbert Lancaster. Yet, while it's evident these ballets form a precious part of British heritage, the performances don't always share that conviction. Samara Downs, who should, literally, be the femme fatale of Checkmate, lacks the necessary vampy allure and the predatory, steeliness of line. The dancers in Symphonic are adept, but Tzu-Chao Chou is the only one close to mastering the bright, maverick detail, the three-dimensional largesse of Ashton's style.

[dirac]

What's coming up for Queensland Ballet:

http://www.brisbanet...1019-1m7x0.html

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Another highlight includes an end-of-year collaboration with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra; Fairy Tales: Stories of Hans Christian Andersen, a brand-new work from Klaus encompassing The Red Shoes, The Princess and the Pea, The Little Match Girl, The Snow Queen and The Ugly Duckling.

One of two QSO joint productions, this ballet will see the company work with guest conductor Andrew Mogreliais, former music director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra.

[dirac]

Lexington Ballet presents "The Firebird."

http://www.kentucky....-lexington.html

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And what is the statement the company is making? "Beauty," Dominguez says. "The dance connects everything a man or a woman can be. It makes you sublime."

He quotes his mentor, Geoffrey Holder, the legendary choreographer for Dance Theatre of Harlem: "You must dance as if you are going to save someone's life. You will never meet that person, but the dance must be that important to you."

[dirac]

Video clip of Oklahoma City Ballet.

http://newsok.com/ok...o/1229143474001

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It’s been 40 years since the ballet began in Oklahoma City. Now with several new dancers, the Oklahoma City Ballet begins its 40th season with the ballet Coppélia.

[dirac]

Reviews of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet.

The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.c...eview.html?_r=1

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Then there is the issue of whether any of the dancers in the company are quite up to the high standards of their roles. I’m often irked by the innumerable and largely mystical meanings that ballet aficionados love to project onto the word “ballerina.” Nonetheless Ms. Farrell herself onstage came to exemplify, hauntingly, all those loftier and sublime implications, whereas the company she has brought to the New York lacks them.

Its two leading ladies, Elisabeth Holowchuk and Violeta Angelova, best as soloists, are stretched to the limit by their present roles: on Wednesday Ms. Holowchuk danced three leads, Ms. Angelova two. In the “Diamonds” pas de deux Ms. Angelova had three minor mishaps: a tiara insecurely fastened, an off-balance pirouette that misfired, and a slight error of footwork, but these registered all the more sharply because of the stage’s proximity.

The Faster Times:

http://www.thefaster...d-other-things/

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Unlike Miami City Ballet’s excellent début in New York a couple of years ago, on opening night (Oct. 19), Farrell’s dancers just didn’t seem quite ready for the big time. It’s no small thing to dance Balanchine on the turf of New York City Ballet, with its wonderful wide stage, exceptional dancers, and full orchestra. One day, New Yorkers see Sara Mearns or Wendy Whelan dancing “Diamonds” as if technique were simply not an issue; the next day we see Violeta Angelova struggling with balances, behind the beat of a too-fast recording, and losing her nerve. It’s not really a fair comparison. And yet, even in this, the most problematic performance of the evening, there were little revelations which will stay with me.

[dirac]

A story on Ballet Maribor's "Radio and Juliet."

http://www.greenbayp...ead-Shakespeare

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As artistic director of Slovenia’s Ballet Maribor, Edward Clug has been using Thom Yorke’s avant-garde British outfit as an atmospheric backdrop for his “Radio and Juliet” stage hybrid. Clug’s self-described “twisted version” of the world’s greatest love story picks up at the point of Juliet’s awakening. With Romeo’s body next to her, Juliet’s singular perspective allows Clug to posit the question: In a moment of unfulfilled love, what would have happened if Shakespeare’s star-crossed heroine didn't take her own life?

[dirac]

A CBC review of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 'Svengali' by Robert Enright.

http://www.cbc.ca/ma...vengali-review/

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Godden also uses music brilliantly and it is a varied playlist; from Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra (probably better known as the theme for 2001, A Space Odyssey), to a number of Rachmaninoff pieces; and from Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, to the hypnotic rhythm of the 1st Movement of Philip Glass's Symphony No. 8. The way he uses the Liszt and the Glass as inducements to a kind of calliope madness, is startling. It runs counter to what we expect, and is all the more effective for that reversal.

Svengali is beautiful, challenging and a visual turn-on. The ballet is, simply, a triumph, danced with explosive discipline by this talented company.

[dirac]

Nicholas Fonseca leaves Orlando Ballet.

http://articles.orla...et-young-dancer

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The Orlando Ballet, which rotates parts among dancers during a show's run, will pay tribute to Fonseca in Saturday's performance of "Vampire's Ball," when he'll dance a leading role.

Fonseca isn't leaving Central Florida; he has taken a full-time, year-round job in information technology for a nationwide medical-records company. Orlando Ballet dancers are only paid during their 28-week season each year. "It was an opportunity I couldn't miss," Fonseca said of the job offer, which came as a surprise to him. "It just kicked in a little sooner than I planned."