7 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A review of Peter Schaufuss' Tchaikovsky Trilogy by Louise Levene in The Telegraph.

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On an ordinary-to-dreadful night by the lake, the oral sex scene in the Black Swan pas de deux would have run away with the wooden spoon for world’s worst Swan Lake, but add the miserable staging (a cast of 16 and one rather grubby piece of perspex scenery), the taped music and often fifth-rate dancing, and the production is up there with the all-time turkeys.


No-one was expecting much (Schaufuss has form after all: remember his Diana ballet? His Rolling Stones homage?) but it’s hard to believe that a dancer with his pedigree could perpetrate such dismal dancemaking, routines so startlingly unmusical that I began to think someone had leaned on the recording’s ‘shuffle’ button.

[dirac]

The new Boise Dance Cooperative debuts this weekend.

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Hartley, a former Trey McIntyre Project dancer, co-founded the Co-op with Ballet Idaho ballerina Phyllis Rothwell Affrunti to bring dancers together during the offseason, when there is no professional dance occurring.

"I just couldn't believe that there was no dance in Boise all summer long," Hartley says. "There are too many companies here to not take advantage of the situation. Dancers can get a side job to survive, but then they're not staying in shape."

[dirac]

A review of the Royal New Zealand Ballet in "Cinderella" by Jack Yan for Lucire.

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Choreographer Christopher Hampson gave the ballet a magical quality, making it relevant for both traditionalists and modern audiences.

To accomplish this, there was a mixing of times: the costumes were not from any one era, but brought together some of the more timeless aspects of recent history. The ball scene, in the second act, had eight ballerinas in dresses that brought to mind, among one nearby audience member, Travilla’s pink satin gowns in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; Cinderella herself contrasted the pink with a white bodice and tutu, sparkling more thanks to the Swarovski crystals in the design. (Of course, they were on the famed shoe as well.)

[dirac]

Complexions Contemporary Ballet honors the memory of Patrick Swayze.

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His dancing prowess was evident in the 1987 film “Dirty Dancing,” but a contemporary ballet troupe, remembering him as not only a performer, but a board member of their collective, is dedicating one of the pieces in their upcoming performance at the Prospect Park band shell — a two-part choreography titled “Mercy” — to the late actor.

[dirac]

A story on the dearth of American boys in balletby Vandana Sebastian in The Arizona Republic.

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"We have to recruit dancers from abroad because there aren't enough male dancers in the U.S.," said Katrina Olson, public-relations executive at Ballet Arizona.

The trend is evident in ballet companies across the country. Out of the four male principal dancers in New York's American Ballet Theatre, none is U.S.-born. Italian Alberto Liberatoscioli, company dancer for Ballet Nebraska, says that three out of the four male dancers in his company are international, while all the women are American.

[dirac]

A review of the Royal Winnipeg Balletby Janine Parker in The Boston Globe.

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Up-and-coming choreographer Peter Quanz’s 2009 “In Tandem” opens the Royal’s show. To composer Steve Reich’s “Double Sextet,” six dancers — among the strongest in the troupe — move sleekly in the cool vernacular of many of today’s dancemakers who are the metaphoric grandchildren of George Balanchine, the stepchildren of William Forsythe: a flexed hand here, a spiked pointe shoe into the floor there amid thrust pelvises and jutting elbows. Occasionally torsos melt and curve sensually; this softening offers a plaintive contrast to all the supermodel-like posturing. Many moments are pleasant to look at, but there is often a lack of connective tissue, a resonance that might transcend Quanz’s earnest attempts at narrative.

[dirac]

Ballet Theatre of Maryland celebrates its thirty-fifth anniversary.

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The mainstage season kicks off with a world premiere, The Dancing Princesses (October 19-21, 2012). Based on the Grimm’s fairy tale, this all-new ballet follows the young hero, Darien, as he solves the mystery of where the princesses dance each night, helps them break an enchantment and defeat the Goblin Queen before she takes over the kingdom.

[dirac]

A look at the tenure of Monica Mason at the Royal in Judith Flanders' blog.

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Leaving aside the question of whether it was not her job to nurture talent, not simply present it, one must ask, are there no contemporary women artists for the National Gallery to choose for this evening? Were Cornelia Parker, Rachel Whiteread, Gillian Wearing, Chantal Joffe, Marlene Dumas, Jenny Holzer all too busy? Were there no women composers? Conductors? Or did the question not even occur to those involved?

I fear it is the latter. I fear it is not deliberate that black dancers are not welcome; it is not deliberate that women creatives go unhired. If it were deliberate, it would be easier to eradicate. But what is happening appears more insidious. It is a matter of people hiring those with whom they are comfortable, finding people who look and sound more (to use Mason’s word) “suitable”.