Mike Gunther
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Posts posted by Mike Gunther
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Sadly, because of costs, MMDG will not be appearing next year, and they're not on the Seattle Theatre Group dance series either.
fwiw, they are apparently still scheduled for George Mason U. (in Fairfax, Virginia) on Feb. 23 2007. At least according to last week's flyer from GMU.
Mike
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I went to the benefit on Fri. night. 11 dancers, 8 pdd, 2 solos. The program: (1) Flower Festival at Genzano pdd (Erin Mahoney-Du, Runqiao Du), (2) march miniature (Morgann Rose), (3) pdd from In the Musicals (Elizabeth Gaither, Chip Coleman), (4) Amadeus (Laura Urgelles, Jonathan Jordan), (5) Nocturne Monologue (Jason Hartley), (6) Narayama (Sona Kharatian, Luis Torres), (7) pdd from Swan Lake Act II (Elizabeth Gaither, Luis Torres), (8) Dialogue (Sona Kharatian, Boyko Dossev), (9) Excerpt from Sanctified Shells (Erin Mahoney-Du, Jason Hartley), (10) Grand pdd from Don Quixote (Laura Urgelles, Jonathan Jordan).
The benefit was quite a success. Guests on Friday included Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). All four performances sold out, and it was announced that $18,000 was raised for the dancers' fund. The dancers were looking good, and the audience was very enthusiastic (standing ovation at the end). All in all a very positive, high-energy evening.
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I thought De Luz was brilliant in Sunday's Ballo. That guy has it all -- power, eleganza, technique, a princely line, megawatt "presence" -- plus he's handsome as the devil...
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Great!! I wonder if they are still going to hold the benefit, now that the dispute has been resolved.
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And to add to the DC riches, Placido Domingo has agreed to stay on at the Washington Opera. (Washington Post, yesterday I think it was)
Here's a thought... just being silly... what if Washington Opera hired the out-of-work dancers from the Washington Ballet, then we'd have a Washington Opera Ballet
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Our latest bragging rights here in DC include last weekend's sold-out performances by Taylor II, the six-dancer (3m, 3f) touring company of Paul Taylor. These are seriously talented dancers! They bring Taylor's choreography to national and international venues that can't be covered by the full company, due to economic constraints, and they also provide a great talent pool on which Taylor can set new dances. It's the first time I've seen them, but it sure won't be the last. Their program in Black Rock (a new performing arts venue, in Germantown, MD, upcounty from DC) included a wide and varied selection: Aureole, 3 Epitaphs, Profiles, Company B, Roses (duet), Images, and Piazzola Caldera. I was most impressed, not only by the technical and artistic skill of the dancers, but also by their facial expressiveness (this is a controversial topic, I grant you, but when it works so well, as it did last weekend, it adds a whole new and very welcome dimension to the dance.)
I'm geographically situated halfway between Black Rock and Strathmore, new venues which, in conjunction with U of Maryland, Kennedy Center and GWU in DC, and GMU in near-by Virginia, are spearheading a really amazing arts explosion in the greater Washington, DC area. All right, I admit -- I just couldn't resist bragging!
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Local dancer/choreographers Laura Schandelmeier and Stephen Clapp presented their "Dragons Project" last night at DC's Dance Place, to a very enthusiastic audience. They showed excerpts in DC and NY earlier this year.
The piece is about courage, and how people can work together to overcome their fear of themselves, each other, and the unknown. Two dancers, wearing black leotards and chain tunics, interact closely with each other on a starkly minimalist set: a red table that one can hide behind and underneath, a smaller box that mirrors the psyche, a long bungee cord that delimits space, ties up, and connects the couple; an offsides console piano, played blindfolded by SC to a blindfolded movement sequence by LS; subtly effective lighting in shades of yellow/white by Catherine Eliot. Dialogue is included, a text by Christopher Graybill. Choreography is naturalistic, based on the normal actions of the human body.
If this description sounds more like a 60's "performance piece" than dance, trust me, it all comes together beautifully. Most unusual, to me, was its combination of formal structure and pure, almost childlike, feeling. An intimate piece, both intelligent and moving!
--Mike
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Amazing news -- thanks, Bart and AG. See you at the benefit!
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Back to the labor issue.
Jason Palmquist was quoted in mid-December as saying that Washington Ballet could not negotiate with the union because their attorney was not available! Are you kidding me? ...
This is just the latest in the series of actions reflecting the absolute inability of WB to deal with the union....
There is something very wrong at WB...
Right on, Paolo! Nobody's talking right now... that's the problem. Unbelievably, the WB just now sent a "tea event" letter to its patrons (including moi). Like, we're all going to drink Lipshang Sulong when we don't even know if we still have a company here in DC! Honest, they should make this into a movie. My sympathies are all with the dancers...
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There seemed to be a pretty good house on Sunday. I liked Springtime (RDB, 2005) quite a lot, in addition to Peches. Also, the professionalism and artistry of the Tokyo troupe seemed outstanding to me. The program notes make the Tokyo Training Program sound like a kind of graduate school. They accept eight dancers every two years, which is also the length of the training period. I, too, would like to see them here for a full program.
My only reservation about "Proteges" was that some of the dancers were (recent) graduates rather than students. (I wonder if perhaps the Tokyoites also come under the "graduates" category.) In any case, I hope the Festival happens again next year. It is an innovative, promising, and enjoyable bit of programming.
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WAMU (88.5) has a segment on the WB situation right now....
Webre laid out four points of (apparently continuing) contention:
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4. Can't remember. :-(
Koshka, thanks for this. After listening to the broadcast, point 4 is the union's demand for a three-year contract for current dancers. The industry standard, I believe, is annual reviews. A three-year contract is wanted, in this case, in order to protect the current dancers from retaliation for union activity.
As a long-time subscriber (from the Choo San Goh era!) I'm bummed-out about the current season, but I feel even more concerned about the long-time viability of the company. WB has reneged on its local (Nut), national (NY), and international commitments; the company's resulting loss of credibility with presenting organizations, audiences, and donors must be very serious, and will take many years to overcome, no matter what the outcome of current negotiations.
It's clear from published news stories that management and the union are both playing hardball. My personal sympathies are with our dancers, because I know how hard they work and how beautifully they expresss their art. They sincerely feel, and have repeatedly said in print, that they have been required to work outside their "safety zone" - physically, psychologically. This is the primary issue.
Having spent a long career in large corporations, I think that I am able to recognize a breakdown in trust when I see it. Artists need (and deserve, as human beings) a basic level of security and trust to perform their best. When that trust is broken, in my experience, it is almost always due to improper management, and in my considered opinion it is up to management at all levels (AD, ED, Board) to take on the duty and responsibility to make things right.
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I enjoyed the WB performance today (Sat. afternoon): Balanchine's Serenade, Septime's Carmen, Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs. It was a strong program to open the season, and got a good response from the audience.
My only reservation was Brianne Bland's Carmen. I would have thought she'd be perfect for the role (for one thing, she's a proven master of the batting eyelashes
); but this afternoon, for some reason, her Carmen turned brittle, more athlete than seductress. This Carmen really needs to release her Inner Vixen, imho.The season opener was Wed. night; the program continues through Sun. (two performances, at 1pm and 5pm).
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So did anybody see "Red Lantern?"
I really liked the "Trilogy" of modern dance companies from China (Sunday Oct. 9 performance) so will say a few words about them here (if this is not the right place, because they are really modern dance rather than ballet, please redirect me to the appropriate forum!).
The Three Companies are Beijing Modern Dance Company, Guangdong Modern Dance Company, and City (Hong Kong) Contemporary Dance Company. I enjoyed all, but thought the Guangdong company was the most impressive. Beijing and HK danced beautifully; their dances were mostly about "the search for expression," and somewhat retro. The folks from Guangdong, on the other hand, seemed to have already found their expression!
Guangdong danced excerpts from "Upon Calligraphy," which is based on various types of Chinese script. The choreography expresses emotions that are found in the different types of calligraphy: a martial-arts-inspired section for "the strength of regular script," a spinning and twirling dance for the freedom of cursive script, etc. I found it a great work of modern dance - kudos to choreographer Liu Qi.
Modern dance is in very good hands with companies like this!
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The opening was last night...
Random thoughts about the October 4 performance...
Giselle Act II, I loved Wang Qimin. Otherwise, I thought it was a routine (high international standard) performance. It's very hard, artistically, to do Act II without Act I, because all the character development goes on in Act I.
Second perf. was a modern pair dance, set to a French chanson (I wouldn't call it a pdd because it was so far from the classical, although I admit this is a matter of definition). To me, this was the most interesting dance of the evening, because its choreography and style was much more explicit than I would have expected from the usually much more conservative Beijingers.
Third perf. featured a pas du trois for couple + a sword (love hurts?); traditional music, compact dancing.
Yellow River, for me, tried too hard to please. Xian Xinghai's score is a not particularly successful hybrid of East/West, and the dance choreography is more athletic than artistic - with the very honorable exception of the pdd, that featured all the classical moves but done in an excellent modern (crisp) style!
Soloists of the company would, in my opinion, be very welcome anywhere in Europe or the US!
Due to schedule conflicts, I won't be able to see "Red Lantern" but hope others will review it here - it is the company's signature piece.
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Thanks for starting us off, Natalia, in such fine fashion! I attended last night's opener but this is the first chance I've had to sit down at the computer. Things started off a bit raggedly, I thought - the corps was unsynchronized in their opening number (not that it's easy, with all those grandes jambes en rond.) Even the seriously talented and gorgeous Viktoria Tereshkina had a minor slip in the background, as you mentioned - I think possibly due to stage clutter.
Things got better after that, although the dancing wasn't as stable as I would have liked... wobbly spins, dancers skipping off their balance-on-pointe, instead of holding it, at the end of their combinations... . Even the explosively bravura elements made me nervous rather than exalted - it felt like they were just too close to the edge, most of the time. Not that most other companies would even dare to attempt some of those combinations, much less bring them off successfully!
Yes, Leonid Sarafanov as Ali was surely the star of the evening. Everybody went "oooh" when he nailed The Lift, not to mention his spectacular evolutions. He is like the "Spider Man" of ballet, all tensile strength and extension! (By the way, can someone please tell me where that costume comes from - the turquoise pantaloons, feather, etc. - one sees it in so many ballets but I've never traced it back to its origin - there must be a FAQ somewhere).
Ilya Kuznetsov, as Conrad, was quite the contrast to Sarafanov. Muscled and charismatic onstage (someone near me mumbled, "Baryshnikov" when he came on), I wish he had more to do besides just striding around looking handsome, but dancers have to work with what the choreography gives them. Natalia has sufficiently praised Viktoria Tereshkina as Medora and Ekaterina Osmolkina as Gulnara, so I don't need to add anything there! Among the Odalisques, Tatyana Tkachenko was the one who cought my eye, no mean feat opposite the likes of Irina Golub and Daria Sukhorukova. In Tkachenko's first variation, I thought, "wow, this is a really great dancer." Her second variation, although competently executed, seemed to lack the panache of her first.
In a way the most interesting men's role is Lankedem, danced last night by Andrian Fadeyev. Lankedem is not given the "wow"-choreography of Ali or the "noblesse"-choreography of Conrad, but I feel that his role is actually what stitches the production together. Fadeyev did everything needed and more, developing a consistent and unusual character (a happy slave-trader!) while dancing with sensitivity and vigor.
Impressions of the physical production: (1) *great* scenic design for the pirate ship in the opening and closing vignettes, (2) alarmingly modernist scenic design in the other acts, (3) costumes seemed a bit worn, need spiffing up.
I have to admit that this isn't one of my favorite ballets. I am all in favor of vulgar excess if tastefully done <:smile>, but Le Corsaire is nothing but a bunch of dance cliches (the Corps! the Grand Pas! the Rose Garden!) strung together on the flimsiest possible excuse for a plot (girls get captured; girls get rescued; girls get recaptured; girls get re-rescued). It's like the Olympics without the Gold, "Abduction from the Seraglio" without Mozart. It lacks emotional connection and character development. And you hardly need a dictionary to understand the mime, when Seid Pasha makes the "hourglass figure" with his hands to express his appreciation for the ladies of his harem. No, if you're going to this one, it's just for spectacular technical dance.
The production was well-received by an enthusiastic audience, stopping just short of a standing ovation at the end. (An embarassing moment, when the ushers went onstage with bouquets but obviously had no idea about who to give them to!)
It was a typical Kennedy Center summer audience, consisting of young and old, tourists and subscribers, luminaries (Septime Webre, others) and first-timers, dancers, mavens and enthusiasts. I think the Kirov made new friends for dance last night, and I did (honest!) enjoy the performance!
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Friday evening, Cheryl Sladkin and Alexander Ritter took over the Pas De Deux Mauresque from Magnicaballi and Kish, and while Ritter was fine, it was a little inauspicious for Sladkin, whose dancing looked small-scale - except when she had his support...
Sladkin was *magical* in the Saturday matinee. What a difference a day makes! She's a corps member now, but there should be very good things in her future, if what I saw is any indication.
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Let's hear it for our fine Studio Company! A very nice mixed bill last night: Balanchine ("Who Cares?" + "Valse Fantaisie"), Webre (R&J, Nut excerpts), Petipa ("Jardin Anime" from Le Corsaire, solo from La Bayadere), others. Nifty dancing included Julia Cobble's sultry "Waiting for You," Katie Scherman's true Balanchine spirit in Who Cares?, and everybody else in that talented group.
WB member Brian Malek was the only male dancing that evening, so he got to partner I-can't-even-count-how-many ladies, the lucky guy!
A tip of the hat to all.
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The dances I found most interesting were These are the Days of our Lives: Michele Jimenez was, as usual, mesmerizing.
I was there Mothers' Day too... maybe we should wear nametags.
Elizabeth Gaither was the woman in Days of our Lives. Jimenez danced Ikon of Eros (and also Ritual IV, as you mentioned.) I enjoyed the music in Fractures (its nice to know that lyricism is still alive) as well as the dancing. Even though choreographically it's just the "classic triangle," when Sona Kharatian, Erin Mahoney, and Jared Nelson got a hold of it, that was something special.
I also want to mention "And they had hair as the hair of women and their teeth were as the teeth of lions" (yes, for those who weren't there, that's a title!) I thought both the choreography and the skill of the dancers was extraordinary, spooky and wonderful (dark stage & costumes, veiled dancers so you couldn't see their faces at all -- choreography an unusual combination of eerie mystery and big, almost violent, action -- wonder how Bland and Mahoney felt being flung around with such abandon by 2 guys each!)
For those in the area, the show plays through the 15th, according to my program. Well worth seeing if you like contemporary ballet.
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There were some truly fine dancers in the performance I saw of the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre, and I really did want to know who they were.
Me too, for example the Prince (either Alexey Petrov or Sergei davydov) was a magnificent leaper, and ditto kudos to all the other principals, whoever they were! This company really got me excited, and I want to see them again. Plus you're
right, Natalia, the WB could do this too... taking it to the next level, I wish!
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I saw their mixed bill in Virginia (George Mason U.) Sat. evening. They danced Chopiniana (chor. Fokine/Vaganova), Capriccio Italien (chor. Yuri Petukhov), and Scheherazade (chor. Petukhov). It was a spectacular performance, doing what the Russians do so well -- balance en pointe (Chopiniana), bravura leaps & turns (Capriccio, Scheherazade), lush & exotic Orientalism (Scheherazade). Petukhov, the company's artistic director, makes it seem like an athletic competition. I have never seen so many grands jetes, tours, pirouettes, etc. in a single evening.
I suppose it depends on your artistic values whether this seems like glorious virtuosity or vulgar excess, but there's no denying the achievement of the dancers. I wish that I could praise them individually by name, but the program listed several alternate castings with no announcement who was dancing that night (sigh).
They are doing Romeo & Juliet here on Sunday. I read about it in Recent Performances forum (maybe I should have posted there instead?) but won't be able to attend. Anybody local see it?
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I saw the Saturday matinee with Laura Urgelles as Juliet, and Alvaro Palau as Romeo. Palau grinned like a horse the whole first half, but other than that I thought they danced well and it was a great pairing that emphasized the physical and dramatic aspects of their roles. I didn't get much of a sense of vulnerability/innocence/girlishness in Urgelles' Juliet, but her ardour made up for it. And the Balcony Scene was so good, with those amazing lifts...
Runqiao Du danced Tybalt this performance, an unannounced replacement for Brian Corman (hmm...) Du was a truly scary Tybalt, an amazing performance. I had not seen this side of Du before. Usually he dances the noble / romantic characters. I loved it because he put so much dark passion into this role... excellent.
Did anybody see the other casts? How did Bland/Jordan (Fri, Sun) and Gaither (Sat. eve.) do?
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Who else saw the Fokine program? I enjoyed the Sat. afternoon performance. The program worked really well as a program - lots of variety and color. Julie Kent floated through Les Sylphides, and Stella Abrera delivered strong leaps in the Mazurka. (Not sure about the set though, it looked like a retread from Giselle Act II.)
Petrouchka was dramatic and poignant, with loads of emotion and character from Angel Corella. In Le Spectre de la Rose, Danny Tidwell channeled Nijinsky (:applause) and was beautifully complemented by Maria Riccetto as the Young Girl (it can't be easy to look so secure while dancing with eyes closed.) Polovtsian Dances also got a strong audience response, probably for the spectacle as much as anything.
Too bad I'll miss Swan Lake, being away next week, but I was happy overall with this week's two programs. As a fan of ABT, it's great to see them here in DC.
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Any reports on how ABT's Giselle is going?
I saw the Tues. nite opener, with Julie Kent and Jose Manuel Carreno. Other companies' productions of Giselle might tell the story in a more integrated way, but ABT really delivers those big set-pieces.
Besides the glorious Julie Kent and her enthusiastic partner, I was very impressed by Herman Cornejo in the Peasant pdd. Actually, I thought pretty much everybody was dancing well that night. A couple of the Wilis had a "bad veil" experience at the beginning of Act II, but other than that the performance seemed to go off like clockwork.
I'll also be seeing the Fokine program, on Saturday.
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I saw the Sat. matinee (Golub/Merkuriev), and was disappointed. I'm not at all opposed to high-concept modernism, but this was just a theatre piece, and *so* been-there-done-that, right down to the jungle-gym scaffolding.
Ratmansky's choreography was actually boring to me: a few predictable moves, endlessly repeated. I kept wondering when they were going to stop mugging and start dancing. Glad some of you liked it, but I'd go with (e.g.) Septime Webre's version any day!
Nothing against the dancers, though. I thought Golub quite fetching, and Merkuriev would probably have been brilliant if he hadn't been made to squeeze his grands jetes in between a couple dozen corps members and two center stage pillars.
PS - Anybody else think they really should have called this version "Cinderella's Stepmother?"
); but this afternoon, for some reason, her Carmen turned brittle, more athlete than seductress. This Carmen really needs to release her Inner Vixen, imho.
Eiko and Koma - Cambodian Stories
in Modern, Contemporary, and Other Dance
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I saw "Cambodian Stories" a couple months ago in DC... a very amateurish effort, eg:
(1st dancer faces audience) "My name is xxxxx, and I want to be an artist."
(2d dancer faces audience) "My name is yyyyy, and I want to be an artist."
... (repeat for every dancer on the program)
They were selling a bunch of kiddie art at intermission. It was basically just a charity thing for this Cambodian school. I was embarassed for everybody concerned.