7 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A review of a recorded performance of the Paris Opera Ballet in "La Bayadère" by Robert Johnson in  The Star-Ledger.

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Natalia Makarova’s version of “La Bayadère” for American Ballet Theatre is both more complete and more streamlined, restoring the apocalyptic ending that the Soviets had censored. Yet Nureyev, working with set designer Ezio Frigerio and costume designer Franca Squarciapino, knew how to dazzle.

In addition to eye-catching combinations of green, purple and gold, the ballet comes accessorized with glowing jalousies; an enormous stained-glass portal in the hero’s bedroom; and an elephant on wheels. Oh, and don’t forget the parrots, stuffed but probably still dizzy when the female corps takes them waltzing in Act II.

[dirac]

Boston Ballet announces a new series of performances, lectures, and events, bb@home.

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The program includes Christopher Wheeldon’s “Polyphonia,” Jorma Elo’s “Plan to B,” Helen Pickett’s “Tsukiyo,” and William Forsythe’s “The Second Detail.”

“I put together a very edgy, avant-garde, artistic dance. We have the most serious commitment to contemporary dance, but the mix of three different kinds of repertoire makes [our performances] inclusive instead of exclusive,” Nissinen says.

[dirac]

Colin Peasleyretires from the Australian Ballet at age 77.

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Peasley is proud of the changes in the Australian dance scene, where male artists were once looked at askance to children now as young as 10 devoting a life to the artform.

"In my day nobody started that young to do dance, no males, little girls did, they did their little tap in the local hall," Peasley told AAP on Tuesday.

[dirac]

A review of the English National Ballet by Clement Crisp in The Financial Times.

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But the potent reason for watching the performance was Zdenek Konvalina’s impersonation of the hapless Siegfried. I have commented with enthusiasm on his artistry in recent times. In his dancing, in his interpretations, you see the true nature of a premier danseur classique, that hero demanded, and too rarely found, by the old classical repertory and also in the later – even latest – incarnations of this figure in today’s ballet-making, from Balanchine’s Apollo to MacMillan’s Des Grieux – roles in which Konvalina has also shone.

[dirac]

Today'sballet dancers prize technique over artistry, opines Risa Gary Kaplowitz in The Huffington Post.

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Ms. Gregory's portrayal clearly shows Aurora's growth in both comfort and joy as she gains confidence dancing with her suitors. Ms. Gregory's pitch perfect technique is in perfect harmony with the story and the music. Her nuanced gestures grow larger as Aurora's confidence does. And, at the end, there is that arabesque extension -- slow, controlled and deliberate. An enraptured ending to a demure beginning.

It is interesting to compare Ms. Gregory's performance with that of the well-regarded Alina Cojocaru, a current principal with The Royal Ballet. Here, in a video of the Rose Adagio filmed relatively recently, one sees the very capable Cojocaru with her beautiful extensions and high retirés in her pirouettes, which is popular today (and something that I do love). Yet there is very little attention to showing the audience who she is and from where she came.

[dirac]

Richard Cragun is dead at the age of 67.

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In 1962 he made the most import­ant decision of his career and joined the Stut­tgart Bal­let, and in 1965 he was pro­moted to prin­cipal dan­cer. It was here that his 36-year part­ner­ship with Mar­cia Hay­dée star­ted, though he also partnered Fon­teyn and most other lead­ing baller­inas of the day. Cra­gun was a hand­some man on-stage and off , and when he cre­ated Petruchio for Cranko in 1969 in Tam­ing of the Shrew the role fit­ted him like a glove.

Cra­gun had been ill for some time after hav­ing a stroke in 2005, and com­plic­a­tions with the drug cock­tail which allowed him to live with AIDS. He was work­ing until a short time before his death, mount­ing the bal­let Tam­ing of the Shrew.

[dirac]

A review of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet at Jacob's Pillow by Martha Sherman for danceviewtimes.

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Although energy was high, there was little heft to Wainrot’s movement.  Despite the rumbling, powerful choruses, there were only a few combinations that matched the strength of the score. The “In Taberna” episode, where Amanda Green and Dmitri Dovgoselets were jealous and teasing lovers, offered drama in surging  moves from the floor to high, still lifts. At its peak, Dovgoselets lifted Green, and the pair was, in turn, held aloft by several other dancers, the layering of the lifts matching the tight layering of the choral voices and instruments.

[dirac]

Nigel Charnock has died at age 52.  Obituary by Lloyd Newson in The Guardian.

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The only word from that review that he might have taken offence at was "dance". Nigel had a love-hate relationship with a lot of things, but dance as a form was up there near the top of the list. He was critical of the lack of content in dance and of most contemporary choreographers, whom he believed hid behind a cloak of abstraction.

For many years, he tried to stop dance audiences from coming to see his work, particularly dance critics. "They don't get it at all, for a start they don't think it's dance," he said. "The best audiences for me, if I can get them, are ordinary people, the people who don't go to theatre."