8 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A preview of Huntsville Ballet Company'sNutcracker.

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"It's something people can count on and pass down through the generations," said Phillip Otto, artistic director of the Huntsville Ballet Company.

For Otto, the ballet that is set to music of Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, has been an integral part of his life since he danced the role of the Nutcracker Prince with the New York City Ballet at the age of 7. The famed choreographer George Balanchine taught Otto the role, which he performed on the stage at Lincoln Center. It is Balanchine's choreography, in fact, on which Otto has based the Huntsville Ballet's production.

[dirac]

A review of Boston Ballet'sNutcracker by Ed Siegel for WBUR radio.

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So there was a certain amount of dread associated with returning to the ballet – sans wife. That dread was dispelled almost immediately. Artistic director Mikko Nissinen’s newly choreographed version (at the Opera House, through Dec. 30) manages to be everything a classic ballet should be while never feeling like a museum piece. It would be going too far to say that the production made me see “The Nutcracker” with new eyes – that would be pretty much impossible at this point – but it certainly revitalized the story of Clara’s journey from privileged young girl into a life of unbridled imagination.

[dirac]

An interview with Kathryn Morgan, with a link to a photo gallery.

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Morgan said her work with Mobile Ballet has been a bit of a respite from the demands of the New York City Ballet scene. Next March, she will will play the title role in Mobile Ballet's March "Snow White."

"There's a sense of ease here. The audiences are so receptive," she said. "You don't have so many (people that) sit down with their notepads and write down everything that you do wrong."

[dirac]

Christopher Stowell resigns from Oregon Ballet Theatre.

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OBT's fiscal crisis stemmed from several years when it operated under budget deficits, putting the company in a dangerous spot when the economy soured. Facing financial collapse, OBT staged a fund-raising rally and a one-night benefit that featured artists from the New York City Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, the Houston Ballet and Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet. The efforts raised more than $900,000, keeping OBT from shuttering. Since then the company has been on firmer financial ground. In an audit of its 2011 fiscal year, the company saw increased revenue, lower debt, and more than a $134,000 surplus against a budget of $5.48 million.

[dirac]

A story on Stowell'sdeparture by Bob Hicks for Oregon ArtsWatch.

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Stowell said that plans for the remainder of the current season are well-set, and staff members are fully capable of carrying them out. He’ll remain available for consultation. In the meantime, Oregon Ballet Theatre now must find a new leader, quickly, and is in the uncomfortable position of no longer knowing who or what it is. This company has become to a remarkable extent a reflection of its artistic director. And in a month, Stowell will be gone. He was hired, he said, to carry out a specific vision. With that vision likely changing – and quite possibly necessarily – he added, “I’m just not the right person to lead that.” What the board now needs, he said, is someone who can look at the new realities with a fresh eye, and create something new based on that new, so far unformed, vision. Stay tuned.

[dirac]

Ma Congof Tulsa Ballet wins one of three Choreographers of Color Awards presented by the Joffrey Academy of Dance.

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Cong will receive a $2,500 stipend and will create a new work to be performed by students of the Joffrey Academy at a special performance on March 4, 2013.

[dirac]

Birmingham Ballet presents a "Mutt-cracker."

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The performance on Dec. 7 will benefit the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, a nonprofit organization that cares for homeless and unwanted pets by providing shelter, health care and promoting adoptions. For each ticket, $1 will be donated to GBHS.

Only a few of the dogs in “Mutt-cracker” are from the shelter; the rest landed roles through auditions.

[dirac]

An obituary for Lois Bewley by Bruce Weber in The New York Times.

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By the early 1960s Ms. Bewley and three other City Ballet dancers had founded a company, the First Chamber Dance Quartet, which focused on dances created by its own members, Ms. Bewley perhaps foremost among them. One of her earliest works, a parody of George Balanchine’s choreographic mannerisms, became a signature. The dancers, Allen Hughes wrote in The Times, “went through a nonstop succession of braiding, climbing, slithering, sliding and crawling movements that could scarcely be believed even when seen.”

[dirac]

A renovation is planned for Avery Fisher Hall.

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Rather than proceed with a previous redesign plan, which has been stalled for years, officials said they would solicit new architectural proposals to overhaul the building, which remained conspicuously untouched while the rest of Lincoln Center was transformed over the last decade. The renovations are intended to improve the hall’s lackluster acoustics, replace outdated patron amenities and reconfigure the auditorium. Construction is not expected to start before 2017.