9 replies to this topic

[dirac]

An Associated Press story on David Hallberg'smove to the Bolshoi.

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“I said to him, David, you are very young,” says Han. “There is no wrong decision here. Try it. Just think, you’ll be learning the classics from where they began!”

After a few months of searching talks with his parents in Phoenix and with ABT artistic director Kevin McKenzie, who gave his blessing (Hallberg will split his time between the companies), Hallberg accepted. He starts with “Giselle” on Friday, alongside Natalia Osipova, the young Bolshoi phenom with whom he’s forged a thrilling artistic partnership

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[dirac]

New York City Ballet's Nutcrackerwill be broadcast live in movie theaters.

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The City Ballet transmission will be made through the NCM Fathom theater network and will be produced by Live From Lincoln Center. It comes as the first project under Elizabeth Scott, Lincoln Center’s new chief media and digital officer, who was previously the vice president of programming and business affairs for Major League Baseball Productions. Ms. Scott said in an interview that she would explore the distribution of other Lincoln Center performances in movie theaters and through digital means. She said the “Nutcracker’s” popularity made it the “perfect first choice” to serve as a test of Lincoln Center transmissions.

[dirac]

BalletMet Columbus presents "Carmen."

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Italian choreographer Amedeo Amodio, whose adaptation of Carmen will be used by BalletMet, is one of several choreographers who have translated the opera into dance. The production will be the third version of Carmen that the company has performed and the first in 14 years.

[dirac]

A National Public Radio story on the Degasexhibition in Washington, D.C.

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The last gallery even includes two mirrors and a real ballet barre, mounted at hip height along one mirror. When a dancer from the Washington Ballet reached the end of the exhibit, she couldn't resist stretching one leg on the barre.

"You can't just walk past it," says Morgann Rose, a principal dancer with the Washington Ballet. "I see a ballet barre, and I have to do something — [it's] kind of an addiction," she laughs.

[dirac]

Washington Ballet presents "The Great Gatsby."

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To translate “Gatsby” into choreography, Webre looked to the music of the era, which he notes is “eminently danceable.” Boston-based jazz artist Billy Novick penned the production’s original songs, which complement standards by Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.

Short monologues keep the narrative moving and allow the characters to develop. But the personas really emerge through their respective dance styles. “Gatsby is introspective and robust, Daisy is this effervescent socialite.” Webre explains. “These characters suggest movement and sculptural shapes with their bodies. The images we have of the era are very ‘dancy’ images. I wanted to show that.”

[dirac]

A review of Pacific Northwest Ballet's all-Wheeldon program by Helene Kaplan for danceviewtimes.

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.....Often mixed programs featuring one choreographer show that choreographer's limitations, and Wheeldon has received criticism for the inconsistency of his output -- I've seen some outside PNB that warrants it -- as well as for not being the next Balanchine. PNB's "All Wheeldon" program, comprised of the four ballets by Christopher Wheeldon in the Company's rep, showed the choreographer's richness of invention and belied easy categorization of these works, and, as a result, each work made an even stronger impression. Whatever the logic and intention behind granting permission to and acquiring these specific works for the Company, it worked like a charm.

[dirac]

A preview of Alberta Ballet's 'Love Lies Bleeding' by Victoria Ahearne for The Canadian Press.

If that's not enough, the dancers also do choreography on spinning turntables and fly on cables at certain points — something they learned from experts at Cirque du Soleil.

"We've got lots of battle scars from this production," Hattori, 31, said in a recent interview. "There's a lot of room for error in this show," added McKinlay, 28.

[dirac]

Northwest Ballet holds a fundraiser to earn enough money for live music for its Nutcracker.

Bishop says Sharyn Peterson, who has guided many a young musician in Mount Baker Youth Symphony, has agreed to conduct the Starry Night Chamber Orchestra. The fundraiser will feature live and silent auctions, and excerpts from "The Nutcracker" performed by members of the company, with music by the Starry Night Orchestra, plus visits from the Sugar Plum Fairy, Nutcracker Price, Herr Drosselmeyer and the Mouse King.

[dirac]

The nuptialsof Jock Soto and Luis Fuentes make the "Vows" section of The New York Times.

Throughout his life, Mr. Soto, the son of a Puerto Rican father and a Navajo mother, had also demonstrated that he had an ample supply of pliability and perseverance. He grew up in trailers and motor homes all over the Southwest, and for a time lived on a reservation in Arizona. It was his mother who taught him the Navajo hoop dance when he was 3 and took him to ballet classes. At 14, he moved to New York to study at the School of American Ballet, where he now teaches.

[dirac]

A review of Fall for Dance by Deborah Jowitt in her blog, DanceBeat.

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It occurs to me, however, that one reason crotches stand out in Woven Dreams has to do with the cast’s performing. The Joffrey company has always been known for its spirit and onstage energy. I suppose it could have been first-night nerves that made the technically gifted dancers look so uninvested in what they were doing. Throughout Liang’s ballet, they performed as though they were still in the rehearsal studio, working to get every move correct. The men handled the women the way they might handle large, irregularly shaped packages; the women looked helpfully dependent. All 18 dancers followed the music, without revealing that it had any impact on their feelings.