8 replies to this topic

[dirac]

Cincinnati Balletscores a hit with "ALICE (in wonderland).”

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The thoroughly modern-thinking Lewis Carroll adaptation drew an audience of 10,568, the second highest attendance for a regular season show (everything but “Nutcracker”) in Ballet history. “Cinderella,” in 2010, sold 117 more tickets and is current attendance title holder. “ALICE” is the runaway champ at the box office, bringing in $351,510.50.

[dirac]

Cecile Tuzii of Richmond Ballet will retire at the end of this season.

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And though it’s tough for her to give up something she loves, Cecile keeps it posi. “I’ve been very, very, very lucky to have a long career, but the new generation is amazing, and it’s time to move on,” she says. “So far this is my life, and yes, I will miss it, and I am still going to be connected to ballet anyway.”

Somehow, she manages to fit teaching adult dancers and experimenting with costume design into the famously grueling schedule of a dancer. But…”I love [teaching], and I would love to keep doing that and making costumes. That would keep me in ballet!”

[dirac]

The Royal New Zealand Ballet prepares a new "Giselle," which will be the subject of a feature film.

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Giselle was last performed by the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2006. Stiefel and Kobborg bring their gently reworked production to Wellington with Gillian Murphy, the ballet company's principal guest artist and star of American Ballet Theatre, dancing the title role for the first time.

[dirac]

The Diaghilev.PS arts and ballet festival opens in St. Petersburg.

This time, Neumeier brought his Hamburg Ballet and his other ballet troupe, Youth Ballet, which performs at schools, homes for elderly people and prisons.

[dirac]

Spellbound Contemporary Ballet visits Cleveland.

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But the troupe got off the ground, as Spellbound Dance Company, which was renamed Spellbound Contemporary Ballet last year.

"We've had the feeling in the past five years that 'contemporary' could express a much more mature meaning of our work, because when we started out I had many neo-classical productions," said Astolfi, who believes the mix of contemporary dance and ballet achieves great results.

[dirac]

A review of Lines Ballet by Toba Singer for the California Literary Review.

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When displeased by a choreographer’s steps, there are New York-based critics who instead of saying “I didn’t like these steps,” pose the question, “This may be movement and theater, but is it dancing?” The works of Jorma Elo and Alonzo King are frequent targets for this brand of query. In this reviewer’s opinion, Ashley Jackson is the best dancer of King’s work and Melissa Hough the best dancer of Elo’s work to put this idle worry to rest. Both dancers ignite like rockets, hitting their stride with spot-on precision.

[dirac]

Metropolitan Balletopens its new season.

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“Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse,” with sparkling choreography by Jennifer Sommers, is based on the book by award-winning children’s author Kevin Henkes and the fairytale classic “Peter Pan” is a breathtaking original production by noted New York City choreographer Kanji Segawa that was created for MBC in 2007.

Also on the program will be Robert Rodham’s “Snow Scene and Snow Pas de Deux” from “The Nutcracker,” once a part of Pennsylvania Ballet’s original Nutcracker production. These magical story ballets, brought to life with exuberant dancing, will delight children of all ages.

[dirac]

A review of the Royal Ballet by Samantha Tse for ARTINFO.

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Wayne McGregor’s “Infra” was something of a mystery. Max Richter’s haunting score was a great backdrop for the dancers to explore their relationships with each other, either in pas de deux or as a soloist in relation to the group. McGregor’s work is always so enchanting, challenging both dancers and viewers with a new lexicon of movement. But Julian Opie’s video banner of people walking across the screen was a bit confusing. It looked like a bunch of slow-walking tourists in LED lights and was actually distracting away from the long, lean lines of the dancers and McGergor’s unique aesthetic, which is always beautiful to witness.

[dirac]

A review of Satellite Ballet by Brian Seibert in The New York Times.

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“Warehouse Under the Hudson”had a story or at least characters: Kim, her Boyfriend (David Prottas) and the Thief (Taylor Stanley, godlike in red tights and a bare chest). Lauren King, Lydia Wellington, Ashley Laracey and Emily Gerrity all played Kim — confusing casting that cannily took advantage of a physical similarity among the company’s women.

Kim is a young person in the city and unhappy. She puts her hands to her head and arches back as if suffering from a bad hangover. She clasps at her boyfriend and pushes him away. Nobody understands her. The Thief tempts her with some escape, maybe a return to innocence, but she ultimately rejects his offer.