6 replies to this topic

[dirac]

A profile of Gemma Bond by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times.

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But for all her naturalness onstage, when Ms. Bond first joined the Royal Ballet she said she felt awkward. A transformative experience came while watching the principal dancer Tamara Rojo perform “Romeo and Juliet.” Ms. Rojo didn’t hold back. “If you put everything in it, then you’ve got nothing to lose,” Ms. Bond said.

Before the Innovation Initiative, Ms. Bond was part of a group at American Ballet Theater that focused on developing female choreographers. Sessions focused on all aspects of creating a dance, from securing music rights to arranging bodies in space. The instructor Stephen Pier guided the dancers through choreographic tasks.

[dirac]

An appraisal of Steven McRae via video clips by Judith Mackrell in The Guardian.

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Yet just as the brio of McRae's tap dancing is steeped in the classicism of his training, by a reverse osmosis, you can see the rhythmic sass of his tap persona showing through his ballet performances.

[dirac]

A review of Boston Ballet by Angelique Nehmzow for MIT's campus paper, The Tech.

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In the first, Wings of Wax, a huge, bare tree hung suspended upside-down on stage, like the skeleton of an abandoned bouquet. I was reminded of Aronofsky’s film The Fountain, in which a tree floats in space towards a dying star. Throughout the performance, a single spotlight orbited unhurriedly around the tree, planet-like, subtly changing the lighting on stage. The rest of the stage was lit in a dark and dramatic manner, and the music was a hypnotic combination of pieces by John Cage, Philip Glass, and J.S. Bach.

[dirac]

A preview of Sarasota Ballet in "La Fille Mal Gardée" by Carrie Seidman in the Herald-Tribune.

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Webb's first appearance as Colas marked the beginning of a growing relationship with Ashton, who had previously worked many times with Barbieri, a Royal principal."Sir Fred took the curtain call with us and that really kindled our relationship," Webb recalled.

The ballet presents considerable challenges, Webb said, both for the dancers and the technical staff's organizational skills. It calls for a multitude of props, including (to name just a few) a butter churn, a May pole and a live pony. The latter necessitates the casting of two dancers in special costumes who walk behind the pony cart, known in Webb's days as "the s- shovelers."

[dirac]

Tips for first-time balletgoers.

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“Don’t sleep, and remember to clap. Don’t sit too close to the stage because you get a much better picture of the whole production from further back in the audience.”
— Alexander Daev, Russian National Ballet Theatre ballet master

[dirac]

Sergei Filin says he plans to return to work.

The Daily Mail

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Meanwhile doctors at Aachen University Clinic said one of Mr Filin's badly damaged eyes has already shown some improvement.

Dressed head to toe in black and wearing large dark glasses, Mr Filin sat quietly as doctors discussed his treatment, before addressing the audience. He said he was in daily telephone contact with his deputy at the theater and had no fear about going back to work. ‘As soon as I can see, I will go back and do the same work. I am not afraid.’

CBC News

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His eye surgeon Martin Hermel said Filin’s left eye had shown some improvement but he did not yet have a prognosis for the more badly damaged right eye.

"We can say that we hope that Mr. Filin will recover to a useable vision that will allow him to go back to his normal life and his professional life," Hermel told the media conference, which was aired live in Russia.

[dirac]

An interview with Devon Carney, associate artistic director of Cincinnati Ballet.

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The one thing he doesn’t get to do is be the boss. That’s Victoria Morgan’s job.


When Carney became ballet master here in 2003, he knew the job would be demanding. He’d had the same job back at the Boston Ballet. What he didn’t know was that he would be choreographing for the company.