12 replies to this topic

[dirac]

Kate and father-in-law Charles are spotted attending Royal Opera Houseproductions together.

Quote

The duchess - who married Charles' son Prince William in April - and her father-in-law have attended the Royal Opera House several times to see a variety of different productions.

It is believed the visits are part of Charles - who has a lifelong love of ballet and opera - wanting to encourage Catherine's interests in the arts with a proposed plan of her supporting the prestigious London venue in an official capacity.

[dirac]

A review of the State Ballet of Georgiaby Apollinaire Scherr in The Financial Times.

Quote

The fans screamed so piercingly after the 48-year-old did "The Dying Swan" that she did it again – better. The first time, the cobwebs clung to this century-old icon. The second time, her bourréeing feet moved in counterpoint to the longer rhythmic arc of her arms so you felt both the swan's mortal struggle and its sorrowful resignation.

There were, however, reasons to be there besides Nina – such as the three Alexei Ratmansky chamber works in the State Ballet of Georgia's sole possession that Ananiashvili and nine soloists beautifully realised. Ratmansky choreographed two of these ballets in the 1990s, when Ananiashvili was prescient in her enthusiasm for the then-unknown choreographer.

Related article.

Quote

Ananaishvili brings an elite group of principal dancers and musicians from the State Ballet of Georgia. Four of them will dance the "Charms of Mannerism," a work she calls a "simmering sight," while three couples dance the miniature ballet based on the "Chromatic Variations" piece by Georges Bizet. Ananaishvili has decided to perform "a little surprise piece" for her fans immediately following the Bizet. "Dreams about Japan," which was awarded the Japanese prize for Best Ballet of the Year and the Golden Mask Award, the highest theatrical prize in Russia, closes the presentation.

The group will be accompanied by their ballet orchestra lead by Italian conductor, Gian Luca Marciano.

[dirac]

A Kansas City Youth Ballet photo gallery.

[dirac]

A review of Ballet Irelandin "Sheherazade."

Quote

Although the storytelling isn’t always 100% clear through the choreography (read the programme before you sit down) the company are delightful and compelling. The micro-version of Aladdin owes a considerable debt to Disney (despite the Rimsky-Korsakov, you’ll want to sing ‘A Whole New World’ when the magic carpet comes out). There’s no Robin Williams style genie here, but an intriguing two-man-connected-by-one-lycra-arm arrangement. Watch out for the devilishly villainous evil magician in the divine shape of Keiran Stoneley, who totally steals his scenes.

[dirac]

A story on Alberta Ballet's 'Love Lies Bleeding' by Melissa Leong in The National Post.

Quote

However, it was not physical feats — not the dancing on a spinning table or the frenzied costume changes — that first threw the dancers off. It was the cheers. “Being on stage halfway through the ballet, hearing people screaming … I’m like, ‘Where the hell are we?’ ” McKinlay, 28, says.

“What? I don’t have to do 10 turns to impress people?” Hattori, 31, adds. “It was shocking. You kind of disconnected for a second from what you were doing,” McKinlay says.

[dirac]

A feature on Marvin Askew of the Buffalo City Ballet Company.

Quote

As executive director of the ballet school, Askew’s ties to the company go back to its earliest days, when it was founded in 1972 by dancer Karl Singletary as the Buffalo Inner City Ballet. Since taking over the reins in 1989, Askew, one of the school’s first students, has maintained a commitment to the mission of the school, which is to bring the discipline of classical dance to inner-city youngsters.

“I started here, and when the school initially started in 1972, I was among 14 boys who started with the group,” Askew recalled recently, before leading a group of preteen and teenage girls through their exercises at the barre inside the studio he rents in the Tri-Main Center.

[dirac]

The Royal Winnipeg Balletbrings "Svengali" to Saskatoon.

Quote

"Mark is wonderful in the sense that he can pluck from both sides of the fence if you will, from the contemporary side and from the classical side," said Lewis.

Svengali was initially conceived as a ballet/movie, in collaboration with Winnipeg filmmaker Guy Maddin. Godden and Maddin had previously worked together on the film version of the company's Dracula. The two plan to join forces again on Svengali, but scheduling conflicts mean the film has yet to materialize. The movie is still in the planning stage, said Lewis.

[dirac]

The School of Minnesota Balletholds a Sugar Plum Fair. Video.

Quote

An afternoon of ballet presentations, delectable desserts and a silent auction was held at the Board of Trade Building.
The Sugar Plum Fair raised money for financial aid for students of the School of Minnesota Ballet. It also marked the kick-off of the ballet's Nutcracker season.

[dirac]

The Arts Desk holds a conference on the future of dance in the UK.

Quote

During an 80-minute discussion - the second Arts Desk debate - there was unanimous consensus that dance's value was massively understated, and that dance had to make a better case to get this across to public and politicians. Major points were that schools should not cut dance from their curriculum, that dance would have to unite its different strands or it risked being left behind by other more coherent artforms, and that to win attention might even entail a march on Westminster. It was also revealed that MPs are hunting around for dance teachers to help them survive charity events without humiliation.

You can watch here the video of the debate, which was held in the Riflemaker Gallery in Soho, or read the edited transcript of it below, with corresponding time checks in the tape marked for each new question. Seated from left to right are Val Bourne, Craig Hassall, Rosie Kay, Tamara Rojo, Ismene Brown (chair), Arlene Phillips, Alistair Spalding, Robert Noble and Caroline Miller

.

[dirac]

Lisa Macuja-Elizalde dancers her last full length "Swan Lake."

Quote

She said farewell to the twin roles of Odette and Odile in three recent performances. They were the first in the “Swan Song” series where the ballerina bids adieu to full performances of her popular dance roles—Odette/Odile; Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet”; “Giselle”; Kitri in “Don Quixote”; and the Sugarplum Fairy in “The Nutcracker”—in a three-year period. By the time she’s completed the series, she will have turned 50.

The key word here is “full-length.” No, she is not retiring from dancing: She is only retiring from full-length productions of ballets.
In the future, when the need arises, she promises to still dance either the White Swan or Black Swan from “Swan Lake.”

[dirac]

An interview with Andrew Killian.

Quote

Suffice it to say, Killian didn’t need to seduce The Australian Ballet’s Artistic Director David McAllister for his promotion to principal artist earlier this year. At the opening night of British Liaisons in May, McAllister took to the stage in front of a packed Sydney Opera House and announced that Killian, along with Amber Scott and Leanne Stojmenov, had been promoted to the most senior rank. Killian was completely oblivious both to the impending announcement, and that his family and friends were sitting the audience, having been flown up from Melbourne by the company.

“It was an incredible night,” Killian tells. “It’s great to share those big moments in your career with your family, especially because I’m away from them so much and they don’t often get to see all the hard work I have to do that takes me away from them – missing birthdays and weddings and gatherings because I have to work. It was lovely for them to see that recognition.”

[dirac]

A review of Fall for Danceby Jocelyn Noveck for the Associated Press.

On the less showy side of things, the four visiting dancers of the Australian Ballet – especially Lana Jones – showed their virtuosity with the fiendishly demanding "Gemini" by Glen Tetley. There will be more from them, luckily, in 2012 when the company returns to New York.

The Royal Ballet of Flanders danced a compelling rendition of the Ulysses story, with a lovely turn by the red-haired Eva Dewaele. A lively exposition of traditional Cuban dance came from Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba.

[dirac]

An item on pointe shoes as technology by Suzanne Fischer in The Atlantic Monthly.  Thanks to kfw for sending in the link!

Ballet pointe shoes are not typically thought of as technological artifacts, but they certainly are. But, as Whitney Laemmli of the University of Pennsylvania argued at the Society for the History of Technology conference in Cleveland over the weekend, ballet's technology doesn't end there: The bodies of dancers reshaped by pointe shoes are also technological. Laemmli's paper, "A Case in Pointe: Making Streamlined Bodies and Interchangeable Ballerinas at the New York City Ballet," looks at the way George Balanchine used pointe shoes to remake the bodies of his dancers into interchangeable machines.