6 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A review of the Smuin Ballet's "The Christmas Ballet" by Geri Jeter in the California Literary Review.

Quote

In “The Classical Christmas,” the big standout for me this year was the simplest. There is something timeless and charming about the minimalist line dance by the company women to “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.” It reminds us that dance does not always need to be tricky and complicated to be wonderful. Oh, there were masses of tricky solos and partner work, to be sure, but the sheer loveliness of this dance will linger in memory far longer than fancy footwork.

For speed, power, and jaw-dropping lifts and catches, Amy Seiwert’s “Carol of the Bells,” ably led by Jared Hunt and Jane Rehm, offered all the speed and precision anyone could require. And Smuin’s choreography for “Jauchzet Frohlocket,” set to a section of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, filled the stage with its clever entrances and exits, making the seventeen-member company seem twice its size.

[dirac]

A preview of the new season at Jacob's Pillow by Jeffrey Gantz in The Boston Globe.

Quote

So for its 80th anniversary, the Pillow has created its own version of “From the Horse’s Mouth,’’ a work that has appeared all over the world. In “From the Horse’s Mouth: The Men Dancers,’’ Baff explains, “The most extraordinary male dancers and choreographers of today will both perform and tell very very short stories about their lives in dance. The stories are no more than a minute or two.’’ The Pillow’s rotating lineup will include Trent Kowalik from ‘‘Billy Elliot: The Musical,’’ Dance Theatre of Harlem founder Arthur Mitchell, choreographer Lar Lubovitch, and former New York City Ballet principal Jock Soto.

[dirac]

A Miami City BalletNutcracker slide show.

Quote

Tonight is Miami City Ballet's closing performance of The Nutcracker at the Arsht Center before it moves to Broward later this week. After news of standing ovations for Miami City Ballet's recent stint in Paris, Miami has been buzzing with renewed love for the local company. The performance also comes after news that founder, artistic director, and patriarch, Edward Villella will retire in 2013, making this year's The Nutcracker one of his last with MBC.

[dirac]

A review of Northern Ballet's ' Beauty and the Beast' by Laura Thompson in The Telegraph.

Quote

These are hard times for Northern Ballet, whose future funding has been cut by a gut-wrenching 25 per cent, but you would never know it from this production. Boldly, admirably, the company’s artistic director, David Nixon, has staged his new Beauty and the Beast with an opulence to make you feel that the good times are still here. He is Busby Berkeley in Thirties America, doing his darnedest to face down depression with sheer artistic chutzpah. It is really rather wonderful.

[dirac]

A reprint of the AP story on a dance troupe of Polish pensioners called Barborka. Photo.

Quote

The audience bursts into applause demanding an encore, and these dancers are happy to oblige despite their fatigue.

The seniors' dance fever all started three years ago. For a laugh, the women decided to don their tutus for the first time to perform a version of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" at a party marking the December 4 feast of Saint Barbara -- a special day in the heart of this coal mining community.

[dirac]

A review of the Lyon Opera Balletby Laura Cappelle in The Financial Times.

Quote

This New York City Ballet classic was the prelude to a programme designed as a homecoming for French choreographer Benjamin Millepied, who trained in Lyon before joining Balanchine’s company as a dancer. The PR for him is solid gold: choreographer of the hit film Black Swan (as the poster for the run obligingly points out), potential heir to Balanchine and Jerome Robbins in New York, photogenic face of several advertising campaigns. His ballets come wrapped in the hype, and in the case of Sarabande and This Part in Darkness, don’t quite have what it takes to stand on their own.

[dirac]

The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities sustain more cuts under current budget plan proposals.

The NEA and NEH spread the wealth to the provinces, so to speak. Meanwhile, the arts agencies that Washingtonians (such as members of Congress) are best positioned to enjoy won't be absorbing cuts under the proposal.

The Smithsonian Institution's operating budget would rise a smidgen, from $636.1 million to $636.5 million, and its budget for capital improvements would rise from $125 million to $175 million, partly to accommodate the 2012 start of construction on the National Museum of African American History and Culture.