2 replies to this topic

[mom2]

For those of you in Canada, I"m wondering if anyone saw Brian Mc Donald's Requiem, which I believe was last night (and again tonight) at the National Arts Centre.  There was a review this morning in the Globe and Mail, and a piece on CBC earlier in the week...so I'm curious to hear what others thought of it.

(I don't live near Ottawa, so am unable to attend)

[Paquita]

I wasn't able to see it either but would be interested in hearing people's reactions.

[Alexandra]

Ari found links to two reviews; posted on Links on Saturday and copied here.

The reviews are coming in for Requiem 9/11, Canada's artistic response to the events of last Sept. 11.  The ballet, choreographed by Brian MacDonald, had its premiere Thursday at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

• :

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  Macdonald is a man well into his seventies, and Requiem 9/11 is imbued with an anguish and a hope that comes from a senior artist whose cultural aesthetic harks back to more innocent times. A cutting-edge choreographer would not have treated the material with such stately, even courtly, formality. Yet, it is because the work embraces the seemingly old-fashioned virtues of structured, lyrical dance that Requiem 9/11 is able to walk the pathway of universal accessibility. As well, the piece radiates integrity, and one knows that the wellspring of Requiem 9/11 is Macdonald's very personal and heartfelt cry for peace.
  
  
  
• The Calgary Herald:

  Quote

  The daring new ballet Requiem 9/11 is a grim, at times terrifying, 80-minute history of the world, complete with death, destruction and redemption, portrayed in the multimedia magic of light, music, song and dance.  
  
  It can also be seen as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancing on the graves of the thousands killed last Sept. 11 in the terrorist attacks on the U.S.