sandik

Big fun, both videos!

I got this as well, along with the sad news that Dance International is going to give up their print publication. They'll still publish online, but it's a frustrating transition nonetheless.

I didn't see the stage version, but the combination of terrible reviews and the chance to see Les Twins was too much to resist. Honestly, I'm not sure why people are complaining about the basic premise of the work (it's a talent contest to see which cat gets to die/be reincarnated into another life) -- it was the same thing when it was first premiered, and there didn't seem to be much complaining then. And during the intervening years, we've seen an amazing amount of talent contest programming on television (The Voice, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, etc). I liked what dancing I could see -- like many contemporary dance/music videos, it's hyper-edited so that the camera jumps around every phrase. But as others have commented -- Fairchild and Hayward get the most opportunities, and make what they can of them. Macrae's tap number was excellent, and I must have blinked at just the right times because I did get a sense of Les Twins beautiful ease. And I'm a sucker for a Busby Berkley number, even if they're dancing rats and cockroaches!

My apologies for the length here -- I started out, and just kept going. As a critic, I’m in the middle of shifting from working regularly for a couple of different outlets to pitching my work to new places, so I’ve been trying to see as much work in as many styles as possible. Seattle is lucky in its local flamenco community, so we get to see upcoming artists pretty regularly, and this year Melinda Hedgecorth really stood out. She’s based in the mid-west, but studied for several years with Christina Hoyos, and brings some of that intensity with her. She’s very clear and articulate – you can really see the step and gesture sequences develop, instead of a passionate flurry of action. And like many skilled artists, she doesn’t back away from being simple. Her performance earlier this year at the Royal Room was much like a Bach invention – she follows an idea through to its logical conclusion, but at the end, you realize how virtuosic that process was. It’s been a good year for percussive dance altogether, and this autumn I saw a pair of wonderful tap performances just a couple of weeks apart. I first saw Caleb Teicher’s work online, in a lighthearted jazz dance for the DRA fundraiser, and was impressed with his musicality and clarity, but then I found he was also a skilled tap dancer and I was obsessed with seeing/hearing him – lucky for me he toured with his company to Portland this autumn, and I headed down there to see the program. He works in a variety of styles (swing and concert jazz as well as tap), and seems to bring skills from all those worlds to everything he does. It’s all rhythmic, shaped, witty, and full of personal relationships. Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” are a huge temptation for a choreographer but they are an incredible challenge – we’ve all seen people try to set them, and come away with limited success. Teicher really nailed the rhythmic complexity and grace that are at the heart of the work, and brought a generous personal approach to his staging, giving the spotlight to other members of his small ensemble in some lovingly polished solos and duets. And then he closed the evening with a beautiful set of swing dances – he and his partner just flew. Almost before I came down from that show, Savion Glover came to town, playing at a supper club rather than a conventional theater. Backed by a small ensemble , he danced in a space maybe twice the size of a door, and had room to spare – the audience was almost on top of him, and we were all thrilled to be there. Glover has always been a powerful tapper – the floor is sometimes more of an opponent than a partner, but his ability to gradate the sound he makes has kept him from being a jackhammer. This time around there was more stillness in the work, and more delicacy in his footwork. I’m not sure if it was a result of the venue or just something he’s working on, but it was such a treat to see him in that context. Ballet is in a transitional place in my town – we have examples of all kinds of work, much of it performed by Pacific Northwest Ballet, but sometimes it’s hard to see what it has in common. We’ve been talking about “contemporary ballet” for years, and trying to identify the fundamental elements that unite something like “Coppelia” and “In the Middle”. It’s one thing when a ballet company performs work from the modern dance canon, or works that are based in jazz or other dance forms, but what we used to call “crossover” or “hybrid” work (dances made by choreographers who come from one tradition to make work using the skills that ballet dancers bring to rehearsal) spread beyond ballet companies to groups that don’t really have ballet skills at the heart of their training. This last season I’ve seen a number of works that were labeled “contemporary ballet” that really didn’t seem to reflect anything from that part of the dance world, either in its skill set, its aesthetic, or its content. Some of it was wonderful work, but I’m wondering if I’m getting fussy in giving the term “ballet” a specific meaning. Natasha Greenwalt, of Coriolis Dance, made a feminist take on “Swan Lake,” that explored the dynamics of the ensemble (the “swanniness” of the group), placing the men firmly outside that cohort. Rather than grounding the work in the Romantic yearnings of the male protagonist, the focus was on the Odette character looking for her tribe. There were some glitchy spots in the dance, and I felt it could have dealt with the Siegfried character more thoughtfully (he was cast as the aggressor in their relationship, so there was a Me Too aspect to the work). But overall it made significant use of ballet vocabulary, and offered a viable alternative viewpoint on a foundational work – I’m hoping to see Greenwalt dig further into this topic. Meredith Pellon is the choreographer that I find the most quizzical when it comes to contemporary ballet – she exhibits a sophisticated use of some fundamental elements of ballet (control and articulation) without seeming to use the specific vocabulary or deal with the structural elements that often come with the traditional territory. She’s especially gifted in the use of sustainment and incremental changes – her work has been staged in several different contexts, and each time I thought it was the most powerful part of the evening. I want to see more in 2020, in part so I can get a better sense of how she sees her own work fitting into the bigger dance world. Nonetheless, I saw some great performances and spectacular choreography. PNB brought out their production of “Sleeping Beauty” (for the last time, alas) and I wallowed in Petipa’s world. And it was a wonderful moment to see Jonathan Porretta return to performing as Puck in the Balanchine “Midsummer.” He had been off in recuperation mode for so long I was afraid he would just retire in frustration – seeing him jet across the stage with a giant grin on his face was one of the most gleeful moment I’ve ever had in the theater. Retire he did, at the end of the season, but after a fantastic return. The company opened their season with “Agon” and Kent Stowell’s “Carmina Burana.” Leslie Rausch gave one of the best performances I’ve seen from her in the “Agon” pas de deux – she’s able to illuminate the structure of the work simply by dancing it fully at every moment. “Carmina” doesn’t have the same intellectual rigor, but Stowell’s roiling movement matched the verve of the Orff score, and the chorus, which stands in a special loft upstage and above the dancers, just blasted that music out to the audience. Like many communities, Cunningham’s contribution to the art form kept surfacing during his anniversary year. “When the Dancer Dances” is a great film about a very tricky task – passing that choreographic legacy on to other dancers and other dance audiences – it was a pleasure to seen it. And Spectrum Dance Theater, which mostly performs the work of director Donald Byrd, danced Cunningham’s “Crises” in their spring season, which gave us a chance to see performers who usually dance high-tension, dramatically evocative work in a more cool environment. But really, the most wonderful work I saw this was Mark Haim’s solo for himself, “Parts to a Sum.” Haim is a modern choreographer of the Judson School – he frequently makes work by first making a set of rules or a score that he then realizes through a wide variety of movement styles. He also made a setting of the Goldbergs several years ago, which was full of charming non-sequiteur moments as well as serious invention. But for “Parts,” Haim turned to his address book, asking more than 400 friends and colleagues to make him a 5-10 second phrase. Around 370 people responded, and Haim took the better part of a year to learn this amazing collection of movement, performing it from oldest to youngest. What might have felt like a fascinating gimmick resulted in an exceptionally touching and human performance – a kind of tribute to all the people in Haim’s life. It was an astonishing evening in the theater, and really, the best thing I saw all year. (not sure why the type size is hopping around -- more apologies!)

I can imagine that they would appreciate a more modern set-up backstage -- it can get tricky working in older houses.

As much as I don't want to believe it, this does sound like he's moving into a new field, not just changing locations.

I miss him too. Hope all is well.

I remember reading his Rise and Fall and Rise of Modern Dance back when I was first trying to orient myself in the field.

Saw Morris' Hard Nut this weekend, and am enjoying the contrast with his "Arabian" variation -- very tongue-in-cheek (big tunics and sunglasses), but also musically very adept.

And I saw Cecelia Illiescu on opening weekend, who did a fantastic job with it as well

Could be -- it's the same director. There was no release date that I could find about the film.

If you're in Seattle this Friday, there is a screening of a new documentary about Tallchief at Town Hall. Apparently DVDs are available -- I'll post more when I learn more.

I'd be very curious to see her in that repertory.

You can't get to Northwest Film Forum on the 8th?

Rummaging around online and found this -- Chelsea Adomaitis has joined the Monte Carlo company!

Between the two of them, Leslie Getz and Don McDonagh had one of the most extensive private dance libraries in the US. Getz, who had been collecting since the middle of the 20th c, was also the author/publisher of Attitudes and Arabesques, a long running catalog of dance publications (books, journals, etc). Before the internet made it simple to search for texts, and for dance publishers to advertise their wares, A and A was the way most of us learned of new publications. Getz died recently, and McDonagh is unable to continue the work alone -- they did not make arrangements to donate or sell their collection, and so it is being auctioned. Take a few minutes to browse the online catalog -- it is full of wonders.

Thanks for the clarification -- I'm still trying to figure out Passport. Brooks has a special resonance for many folks, especially after her memoir in the early 80s

Always glad to hear that Nut is doing well -- it's the cornerstone of many earned income budgets. Despite that, though, I've noticed some companies wait until mid-year to announce promotions and new hires. Sometimes is just availability, sometimes it's casting (opening season with works that require smaller casts, and then there's Nut, which is all-hands-on-deck), sometimes it's money.

Pacific Northwest Ballet has made mid-season promotion announcements in the past. I think the strategy has as much to do with budgets as it does with casting decisions, but belts are being worn tighter in many places these days.

I hope your day has been full of tasty things and wonderful friends.

It looks like you can watch it on the PBS website, at least for now. (I am still trying to figure out what their Passport category does...)

Ditto from me as well!

That is just lovely -- thank you so much for posting.

I'll report back.

I saw some of those Oakland reconstructions, but don't have dates in my notes that I can find. As far as a timeline is concerned, the International Encyclopedia article says that Ashton jump-started the Nijinska revival in 1964, when he asked her to stage work for the Royal Ballet.