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Reviews of Washington Ballet.

The New York Times Style Magazine

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The revelers who come and go “like moths among the whisperings” become a gorgeous en pointe Charleston. The kiss after which Jay Gatsby’s mind “would never romp again like the mind of God” is the basis for an ethereal pas de deux. Gatsby’s cultivated grace, Nick Carraway’s Midwestern decency, Jordan Baker’s athleticism: these are characters ballet can transmit. (Personality may indeed be an unbroken series of successful gestures.) And then there is the period: Is there a theatricalization of the Roaring ’20s that does not involve a dance number?

The Washington Post

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But if a faithful rendering or even a choice distillation of the novel is what you’re looking for, you may find the combined effect of the elements disjointed. It is an effort to reconcile wholly different expressions. It’s not the clash of spoken word and dance that is jarring; it’s the awkward fit of the dancers’ jolly, pell-mell careening with a poignant, deeply romantic story steeped in melancholy.

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Q&A with David Hallberg.

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Q.How did you make the decision to come here?

A.It was harrowing. It was. I mean it was really difficult, because I knew, or I envisioned kind of the responsibility of it and the sacrifice, and the wait, the pressure — all of the above. And it’s not that I questioned whether I really wanted it. It was more of a question, am I up for this?

Q.What did your closest friends tell you to do?

A.Some of them thought I was crazy. Some of them still think I’m crazy. Some of them don’t support it. They wanted me to stay. They have their own kind of vision on where someone should go, what someone should do.

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An AFP story on Hallberg'sdebut with the Bolshoi.

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Hallberg is to dance the role of Count Albert in the classical ballet "Giselle" alongside the formidably talented young Russian ballerina Natalia Osipova, the Bolshoi said.

His presence is a massive boost for the Bolshoi, which is hoping the reopening of its historic main theatre last week after a six-year renovation will consolidate its reputation as one of the world's great ballet troupes.

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A preview of Pacific Northwest Ballet's "Love Stories" program by Jackson Holtz in The Herald.

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In another PNB first, Jerome Robbin's interpretation of "Afternoon of a Faun," is a ballet set to music by Claude Debussy. The story loosely describes a faun encountering nymphs.

Next, Jean Christophe Maillot's "The Balcony" pas de deux from "Romeo et Juliette," is said to be cinematic. The lovers here are caught in the throes of youthful passion, passion that can have dire results.

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A reviewof two new books about ballet aimed at young adults by Hilary Levey Friedman for The Huffington Post.

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Both Bunheads and Audition emphasize the ways in which "every day is an audition" in the world of competitive ballet. There are many more similarities between the two works -- and to other fictional works about young people in ballet companies -- suggesting some common themes and stereotypes in the ballet world. If you have seen the movie Center Stage you will be familiar with the bad boy ballet dancer/choreographer who rides a motorcycle, like Kehoe's Remington. Or if you have read Toni Bentley's memoir Winter Season you will be familiar with the particular disdain dancers have for The Nutcracker and the horrible tasting fake snow they must dance with almost every night (Note that at times, Bunheads reads like an updated, fictionalized version of Bentley's young life in Balanchine's company of the early 1980s). All four works touch on eating disorders, homosexuality, and injuries. Most importantly they discuss the "ever-present fear of failure" that afflicts all teenagers, but which is heightened in the ultra-competitive, talent-and appearance-based world of dance.

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Dance Theatre of Harlem appears in Muskegon.

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Twelve ensemble performers will dance in a series of five varied ballets. On the program is “Six Piano Pieces … Harlem Style,” choreographed by David Fernandez; “Adagietto No. 5,” choreographed by Royston Muldoom; “Glinka Pas de Trois,” choreographed by George Balanchine; “Episode,” choreographed by Peter Pucci; and “Return,” Robert Garland, choreography.

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An interview with Karen Kain.

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One final question. Is there anything about her life or career that she regrets? The answer comes quickly.

“Yes. I regret that I didn’t enjoy it all more. I didn’t savour it until the end because I was so hard on myself. Life goes by so quickly. A dancer’s career goes by so quickly. You’ve got to enjoy those moments when you know you’ve done your best.”

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A feature on "West Side Story" on the occasion of the movie version's fiftieth anniversary by Kathy Adams in The Salt Lake Tribune.

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Utah’s Emmy Award-winning television and film choreographer Bonnie Story said the first time she saw “West Side Story,” it made her want to act as well as dance. “The thing I loved about it, and the thing I’ve tried to emulate in my work, is that it tells a story. There is a conversation in the choreography.”

Robbins’ impact was far-reaching. Trained in classical ballet, he joined American Ballet Theater and later became ballet master and choreographer for New York City Ballet. His strong technical background gave his choreography elegance and power, and the dance composition classes he took from Bessie Schonberg taught him to tell a story.

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A Nina Ananiashviliphoto gallery.

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An omnibusreview of local dance events by Marina Harss in The Faster Times.

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Speaking of musicality, there were two moments in the first three programs of Fall for Dance this year that for me stood out from all the others. Neither was one of the more flashy or “important” pieces on the programs. The first, was Trisha Brown’s “Rogues,” on the first program of the fall dance festival at City Center (where all the tickets go for $10). The second, Steven McRae’s “Something Different,” on the third. They were quite different, but shared a few aspects.

The first was their small scale. “Rogues” is a new duet by Brown for two dancers in her company (Neal Beasley and Lee Serle, a guest performer). “Something Different” is a solo created by Steven McRae, a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London. Both have a nonchalance about them, and a sense of ownership—of the body, of the music, of the stage. Both feel un-formulaic and relaxed, each in its own way.

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A review of Fall for Dance's Program 2 by Martha Sherman for danceviewtimes.

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Lang’s work “Among the Stars,” was a romantic duet based on the story of the Japanese Tanabata festival, in which two, literally star-crossed, lovers are separated by the Milky Way, meeting only once a year. Yuan Yuan Tan entered the stage trailing a long white silken train that transformed into the river of stars that both separated, and then linked Tan with her partner, Clifton Brown. Tan’s beautifully extended limbs guided the fabric in fluid motion; and the partners’ dance lifts were elegant and liquid, especially when the wafting fabric was in play. But Lang didn’t let this straightforward story rise above its silken surface.

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A preview of Alberta Ballet's 'Love Lies Bleeding' by Michael Crabb in The Toronto Star.

As he shaped the work, the Calgary-based dance company’s maverick artistic director Jean Grand-Maître aimed to tell a story without making it too specifically an Elton John bio-ballet. Although it’s rooted in the events of the British glam-rock superstar’s career, it casts a wider net.

“We’re portraying a broader picture of pop culture,” says the 48-year-old choreographer. “It’s about how superstardom can destroy a person, except in Elton John’s case, unlike several other stars you could name, he’s survived by conquering his demons.”

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An interview with Daniel Gaudiello of Queensland Ballet.

Such critical success, coupled with an earthy sense of humour, make this Stafford son a singular ambassador for Brisbane's ballet culture. It's a very necessary, if unofficial role; Gaudiello says a northern dance pedigree denotes dubious origins.

“I used to say 'I don't know' about our dance culture in Brisbane, but there are a lot of people who would beg to differ right now,” he says. “Between our exhibitions, the Art Gallery's expansion – I firmly believe Brisbane could be a hub for culture in the near future. It has the infrastructure and a strong culture of support....."

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A story on arts organizations experimenting with dynamic pricing by John Moore in The Denver Post.

One thing is for sure: The era of the fixed ticket price is ending. If you pay $50 for a play, it's very possible the person sitting to your right paid $60, while the person to your left paid $40 — depending on when you bought in. Proponents say dynamic pricing is an essential survival tool at a time when industry advocate Americans for the Arts is predicting as many as 10,000 arts nonprofits will not survive the ongoing economic downturn.

The companies that use dynamic pricing sing its praises. The Colorado Shakespeare Festival made an additional $7,000 for its popular 2010 staging of "The Taming of the Shrew ." Fort Collins' OpenStage made an extra $1,200 on its recent "33 Variations," in just a 99-seat basement theater. And Central City Opera's all-time biggest-seller, "Madama Butterfly," generated almost $8,000 in bonus revenue in 2010 — all thanks to a computer algorithm that automatically ticked up the ticket prices ever so slightly every time pre-sales reached predetermined trigger points.

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A review of the Royal Balletin "Manon" by Neil Norman in  The Daily Express.

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For much of this production, passion is strictly rationed. The combination of Sarah Lamb's ethereal Manon and Rupert Pennefather's upright, uptight Des Grieux is not a natural one to begin with. Both are technically superb, smooth even, but neither really lets rip in the series of pas de deux for which MacMillan is justly famous until the concluding scene.

Up to that moment, they are semi-detached when they should be fused together as one organism.