7 replies to this topic

[dirac]

The Plano Metropolitan Balletpresents "Cinderella."

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Formed in 1987, Plano Metropolitan Ballet has offered a professional place for young dancers to perform. Many such dancers have, thanks to PMB, gone on to perform with professional companies or attend major university dance programs. Over the years the company has grown in both size and caliber, Hanson said. Having had to add an additional performance this year to help accommodate demand, Hanson said this year's performance is sure to please.

[dirac]

Reviews of the English National Ballet in "Strictly Gershwin."

The Evening Standard

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The best numbers feel like ballet daydreaming that it might be something else. In Shall We Dance, Begoña Cao does a mercurial impression of a Ginger Rogers quickstep, despite performing much of it on point. Erina Takahashi - one of the most unaffectedly captivating dancers around - appears twice, in a haunting boy-meets-girl encounter with the whiplash Zdenek Konvalina during Someone to Watch Over Me, and then leading the chorus-line meets corps-de-ballet of Rhapsody in Blue.

The Independent

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Deane’s choreography is a mixed bag. There are some fluent duets, but his big crowd dances sag and bustle. An American in Paris is a jumble of onion-sellers, cancan girls and bicyclists, with the central romance overwhelmed by all the fuss. It was always thin, but worked better on an arena stage. Anaïs Chalendard and Estaban Berlanga do their best with Deane’s posing and rhubarbing.

[dirac]

A profile of Lauri Stallings by Andrew Alexander for Creative Loafing.

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Since that afternoon almost six years ago, the visiting choreographer, Lauri Stallings, has become a central catalyst for the Atlanta arts scene, continuing to pique Atlantans' curiosity and create work that draws in an ever-widening circle of participants, collaborators, and spectators. As choreographer-in-residence at the Atlanta Ballet from 2005-2008, Stallings created inspired contemporary works, perhaps most memorably big, an unprecedented collaboration between the ballet and Atlanta hip-hop artists, including OutKast's Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. In 2009, after her contract had come to an end, Stallings formed gloATL, a contemporary dance company whose performances typically leave the proscenium stage behind in order to reimagine the city's public spaces.............

[dirac]

"Billy Elliot" closes on Broadway this weekend.

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Look for about a dozen of those Broadway Billys, including at least two of the three originals, onstage at the last upbeat tutu-covered finale. It will have played 1,304 performances.

[dirac]

A story on problems at San Jose Ballet.

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The company’s defining feature in recent years has been its connection to Mr. Fry, the group’s major donor and most recent board chairman. Many have heralded Mr. Fry’s commitment to the arts, but Ms. Heiber, the union representative, said he had held too much sway over the ballet’s business affairs.

“The decision-making has been shifting. In the last two contract negotiations, we’ve been dealing directly with John Fry,” said Ms. Heiber. According to her, Mr. Fry’s much-needed support of the organization was used as leverage in demanding contract concessions from dancers. Two grievances, involving the hiring of a nonunion dancer and delayed notice of schedules, have been filed by the union as a result of last year’s rocky negotiations, which eventually led to a contract.....

[dirac]

A review of the English National Ballet in "Strictly Gershwin" by Patrick Marmion in The Daily Mail.

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Derek Deane’s production, which opened this week at the Coliseum, is certainly extravagant, but I found it pretty exhausting, too.

There’s plenty to praise, of course. George Gershwin’s New York theme tune Rhapsody In Blue, for instance. Or An American In Paris (celebrated here in a big number complete with garlic sellers and mime artists).

[dirac]

The Lafayette Ballet Company presents its Nutcracker.

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Director Sandra Peticolas steers the ship through the popular Tchaikovsky score. She creates the choreography and stitches up the costumes. Casting "The Nutcracker" is a calculated endeavor as each dancer's skill level and personality is considered. Most of the cast comes from Lafayette Ballet Company, but guest stars abound.

Polish native Kristopher Wojtera (Cavalier) performed for his country's National Theatre in Warsaw. After coming to America, he has graced stages in South Carolina, Texas and Kentucky.

[dirac]

A preview of Destiny Rising, the gala performance for the benefit of the NYC Dance Alliance Foundation’s College Scholarship Program.

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Among the many highlights of the evening will be the performance by NYCDA alumni New York City Ballet’sTiler Peck and Robert Fairchild. As well, Houston Ballet’s Melissa Hough & Garrett Smith are also slated to perform. M. Hough is an NYCDA alumnus who grew up in with NYCDA. Hough is a 3x NYCDA National Outstanding Dancer and has also danced for Boston Ballet. Fellow alumnus Garrett Smith is also a past 2x NYCDA National Outstanding Dancer.