14 replies to this topic

[dirac]

The English National Ballet will take up residency at Tate Britain in conjunction with a Picasso exhibition.

http://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-15477850

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The residency celebrates the legacy of the Ballets Russes alongside the company's own Beyond Ballets Russes season, which will be performed at the London Coliseum next spring.

Picasso worked closely with the Ballets Russes from 1916 and designed several ballets including Parade and Pulcinella.

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

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As an example, Stephens played an audio clip from 1949 of a ranting Sir Alfred Munnings, the horse-painting president of the Royal Academy, addressing the academy's annual banquet – a dinner deemed so important it was broadcast live on the BBC.

In a possibly drink-lubricated address, Munnings talked of a "foolish interruption" to art "helped by foolish men writing on the press, encouraging all this damned nonsense". He invoked the support of Winston Churchill, sitting beside him, who once asked him: "Alfred, if you met Picasso coming down the street would you join me in kicking his ... something, something?" "And I said 'Yes, sir! Yes I would!' "

[dirac]

An Australian TV news story on the restoration of the Bolshoi Theater. Video and transcript.

http://www.abc.net.a...11/s3350030.htm

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MAYA KRYLOVA, BALLET CRITIC (voiceover translation): This scandal did affect the troupe, but it will soon be forgotten. I would like to stress that he was not accused of being gay, he was not accused of anything. The scandal was just that his personal photos were placed in the internet.

NORMAN HERMONT: The Bolshoi never seems far from scandal. Take celebrity ballerina Anastasia Volochkova for example. Ditched from the troupe for reportedly being too heavy, she rebounded as a member of the Vladimir Putin-backed United Russia Party, but that link ended after a beach photo shoot sparked objections. She remains one of Russia's best-known dancers, much to the dismay of serious art critics.

[dirac]

A story on Miami City Ballet's national television debut by Jordan Levin in The Miami Herald.

http://www.miamihera...s-national.html

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“We all know the impact TV has in this country,” says artistic director Edward Villella. “You live and die by it. This gives us a national canvas, a national voice, and that, of course, is a terrifically valuable commodity.”

Airing at 9 p.m. Friday on WPBT-PBS 2, Great Performances: Miami City Ballet Dances Balanchine and Tharp features the company in George Balanchine’s Square Dance and Western Symphony and Twyla Tharp’s The Golden Section. It was filmed last fall at WPBT’s North Miami studios by the production team responsible for such prestigious PBS shows as Live from Lincoln Center.

[dirac]

Previews of Matthew Bourne's new Sleeping Beauty.

http://artsbeat.blog...matthew-bourne/

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Shocking die-hard ballet fans, he declared, “I don’t really buy the idea of love at first sight,” and talked about some of his ideas for the ballet. “Nothing much happens from a plot point of view after Aurora goes to sleep,” he said. “I think I’ve fixed that.” Pointing out that in most productions of “Sleeping Beauty,” the 100-year gap is barely noticeable from a costume point of view, he plans to set the opening scene of Aurora’s christening in 1890 (the year of the work’s premiere at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg).

http://www.telegraph...othic-kiss.html

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“And for me, it felt there was not much conflict after Act I. Once she goes to sleep, not much happens. Being a storyteller, I wanted a beginning, a middle and an end, and some conflict.

“It is a very famous ballet but I looked at it from the point of view of what’s missing.”

http://www.independe...ck-2376468.html

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The 51-year-old choreographer's latest project, announced yesterday, will be Tchaikovsky's 1889 ballet, debuting in a fresh guise at London's Sadler's Wells next December.

The story will jump from the 19th century to the present day, with the narrative's dashing lead portrayed as a vampire-like being with the ability to stay alive for the duration of his loved one's 100-year sleep.

[dirac]

Ballet Tucson opens its season this weekend.

http://azstarnet.com...968870e0f7.html

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"Ascending" and "Firebird" (as in the mythical phoenix) are two pieces in this weekend's performances that imply evolving feelings. Christmas always brings the familiar transformations of Clara and the Prince in "The Nutcracker." Later in the season at Dance & Dessert comes a revival presentation of the dynamic revelations in "Masquerade," and in May a full-length production of the ultimate transformation, "Cinderella."

http://www.tucsonwee...ent?oid=3171679

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It was "transcendent" to dance with the famous dancer, says McKerrow. A former American Ballet Theatre star, McKerrow this weekend debuts an abbreviated Don Quixote Suite that she and her husband, John Gardner, choreographed for Ballet Tucson's season opener.

In rehearsals, Baryshnikov "didn't like a lot of discussion," McKerrow says. "He was more physical—actions speak louder than words. It was important to be consistent. It was nerve-wracking. I was a little more edgy dancing with him. But it was totally worth it."

[dirac]

A review of Morphoses by Leigh Witchel in The New York Post.

http://www.nypost.co...oqCe627M6wUkebK

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It takes work to make one of the grisliest Greek myths completely bloodless. But on Tuesday night, Luca Veggetti did just that to “Bacchae.”

The show is the product of Morphoses, a troupe with a drama all its own. It was founded four years ago by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, darling of New York City Ballet, with Lourdes Lopez, a former principal dancer. But Wheeldon continued moonlighting with freelance work, and left the group last year because of scheduling conflicts. Lopez decided to soldier on without him, reinventing the company as a laboratory with a rotating artistic leadership.

[dirac]

Nashville Ballet opens its season with "Cinderella."

http://www.nashville...ent?oid=2661330

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"I'm freely interpreting the music," Vasterling says, "based on my reading of various versions of the Cinderella story, including from Asia and Europe."

That means that Vasterling's Cinderella isn't quite the passive doormat we've come to expect. "She's more of an assertive character in the original story," he says. "In the Disney version she's perceived as a victim of circumstances. We've returned to that original persona. Our Cinderella is more of a participant in her fate."

[dirac]

A group of boldface names in the arts will visit China, including Damian Woetzel.

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

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Mr. Ma will play with Chinese musicians on ancient Chinese instruments, accompany the Memphis street dancer Charles Riley, a k a Lil’ Buck, and collaborate with Ms. Streep during her reading. The performances will be produced by Mr. Woetzel.

Other participants will hold public discussions on food, photography, film and directing. Tickets will be made available to government officials and educational institutions (and possibly members of the public); the exchanges will be streamed live at umiwi.com, a video Web site.

[dirac]

Casting for American Ballet Theatre's 'Giselle' in Chicago is announced. Item in brief.

http://www.chicagotr...0,3559666.story

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The lead roles are scheduled to be filled by Julie Kent and Marcelo Gomes, two of the troupe's biggest stars, March 22; beautiful Xiomara Reyes and fast, high-leaping Herman Cornejo March 23; fiery Paloma Herrera and stately Cory Stearns at the March 24 matinee; Natalia Osipova (formerly with the Bolshoi Ballet) and David Hallberg...

[dirac]

Alberta Ballet may expand its explorations of pop music territory.

http://www.brandonsu...6068.html?thx=y

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The Alberta Ballet says it's in talks to create stage shows based on the lives of Leonard Cohen and k.d. lang.

The Calgary-based dance company has already staged hit ballet tributes to the music of Joni Mitchell, Sarah McLachlan and Elton John.

[dirac]

Harrison James of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet is promoted to first soloist.

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Artistic director André Lewis announced at Sunday's final Winnipeg performance of Svengali that James, who is only 20 years old, was getting a boost from second soloist to first, which is the rank just below principal. Promotions usually happen between seasons.

"Harrison has already moved up to perform as a lead," Lewis said in a news release. "With his latest role, he has achieved a level of excellence that warrants a promotion now."

[dirac]

A review of Beijing Dance Theaterby George Jackson for danceviewtimes.

In the post-performance discussion between the choreographer and members of the audience, moderator Suzanne Carbonneau pointed out that Wang Yuanyuan had gone from working with the National Ballet of China, a traditional ballet company, to founding BDT, a contemporary group. In the West, Carbonneau mentioned, it is usually the other way round and choreographers end up with big ballet companies which have more money.  If my memory serves, Yuanyuan made "Raise the Red Lantern" while at NBC. It was dramatically powerful and choreographically less simplistic than "Haze".

[dirac]

Another in Luke Jennings' "MoveTube" series of articles. Video.

The clip is taken from a performance of Chroma, choreographed for the Royal by Wayne McGregor in 2006. At first sight, Lamb and Bonelli appear to be performing a duet (in ballet-speak, a pas de deux). We look, instinctively, for clues to their relationship. We find that for all the exquisitely tuned physical rapport, their eyes never meet. He looks at her in order to lift and place her, but it's an emotionally neutral kind of looking. Her detached gaze suggests she may be in another dimension altogether. What this adds up to is for you, the spectator, to decide. As McGregor constantly emphasises, there's no fixed meaning to his work.

[dirac]

A review of Lines Ballet, performing in Temecula.

The music blended the percussion vitality of the Hindustani music of North India and the jazz-inspired feel of the contemporary. Also compelling were Caroline Rocher and David Harvey in “Rasa,” who delivered a breathtaking, wildly hypnotic duet that found the two locked in a melodic battle between intense passion and vulnerability.

Friday’s show was dedicated to recently passed former Theater Manager Bruce A. Beers, whose love for and commitment to the dance genre was well-known among friends and theater patrons.

[dirac]

A review of Ballet Theatre of Maryland in 'Aladdin' by Adrienne Westlake in The Capital.

When speaking with the audience at Friday's premiere, Cuatto said she read the original fairy tale and watched a number of different film adaptations including "A Thousand and One Nights," "Prince of Persia" and, of course, Disney's "Aladdin." Selecting components from each, Cuatto has constructed a new hybrid of the story that casts Aladdin as a pure-hearted street urchin caught in a supernatural battle between Jamal, a power-hungry wizard, and Morgianna, a sorceress who has fallen in love with the genie of the lamp, Mordecai.