Alexandra

New dance by Morris, reviewed in the Chronicle: Morris' 'All Fours' brings Bartok to life

Mary Ellen Hunt in the Contra Costa Times: Music, movement, Morris

She's Bolshoi trained and still maintain ties with her company. (She guests with other companies as well.) And perhaps most importantly, she still dances like a Bolshoi ballerina, she dances in that company's style.

Did anyone go?

There are two reviews of the Mark Morris Dance Group on DanceViewWest today: Paul Parish reviews l'Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato: Majestic Harmony from a Different Time And Rachel Howards reviews the mixed rep program, including Morris's new dance, All Fours: A Dark Look at a Dark World

This press release just in from ABT: AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE AT THE GUGGENHEIM PRESENTS ANTONY TUDOR AND AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE, SUNDAY AND MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 & 29 AT 8 P.M. ABT Dancers to Perform Excerpts of Tudor’s Seminal Works American Ballet Theatre, in conjunction with the Guggenheim’s Works & Process series, will present Antony Tudor and American Ballet Theatre on Sunday and Monday, September 28 and 29 at 8 P.M. in the Peter B. Lewis Theater at the Guggenheim Museum. Former ABT Principal Dancer Susan Jaffe will lead a discussion exploring Antony Tudor’s influence on the early development of American Ballet Theatre. Ms. Jaffe will be joined by Donald Mahler and former ABT Principal Dancer Michael Owen. Performances of Tudor’s Continuo by the ABT Studio Company and the adagio from The Leaves are Fading by ABT Principal Dancer Amanda McKerrow and former ABT Soloist John Gardner will highlight the evening. Additionally, Mr. Mahler will rehearse ABT dancers in a scene from Tudor’s masterwork Pillar of Fire, to be revived by the Company for its 2003 City Center season. The Works & Process series, produced by Mary Sharp Cronson for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, features extraordinary contemporary music, dance, opera, and theater. Each event presents excerpts of productions accompanied by discussion among the artistic collaborators, offering insight into the creative process. The Guggenheim Museum is located at Fifth Avenue at 89th Street in New York City. Tickets are $15 for general admission, or $10 for members of the Guggenheim Museum, ABT’s Dancer’s Circle or Golden Circle and for students and senior citizens. Tickets may be purchased at the Museum admissions desk, through the box office by calling 212-423-3587 or by email at boxoffice@guggenheim.org. The box office is open from 1 to 5 P.M., Monday through Friday. For more information about ABT, please visit http://www.abt.org/

I know Kobborg now dances with the Royal Ballet, but this interview is mostly about a new project, with Danish choreographers, and has comments about the company, so I thought I'd post it here (it's also on Links). Dane roamin'

There have been a lot of articles in the U.S. and Britisih press about this too, Susanne (and some discussion on the Kirov thread that we had to close because it did get too gossipy -- discussing articles in the press is fine, though. I saw Volochkova four months ago, and did not think her at all "fat." She's tall for a dancer. The consensus seems to be that she can be difficult to work with, and that's the more likely reason for her current problems with the Bolshoi. (The "ice cream" comment is rather nasty, to my taste, and comes from the fact that on her web site it says she likes ice cream. ) Volochkova is certainly controversial. She did a season with a group of dancers a few years ago in London and was ripped apart in the press for it -- vanity company, cheap repertory, etc. -- and she gets into the gossip columns for off-stage behavior with some regularity. One newspaper article about this current flap called her "the most loved and loathed ballerina," and I think that's accurate. I've only seen her in the past year -- on three separate visits with the Bolshoi -- and was prepared to be one of the "loathers" -- I'm not usually partial to dancers who wear glitter dust. In the "Don Q" pas de deux, I did find her performance too flamboyant, although it was at a gala, and so perhaps throwing her fan up in the air and catching it -- on the beat -- as it came down could be forgiven. But I liked her Swan Lake and Bayadere (Nikiya) very much. She's a "cold" dancer (odd, to be both flamboyant and cold), and in Swan Lake and Bayadere, technically chaste -- no extremes; perfect classical line, very thoughtful performances.

Yes, it sounds like an interesting company. As for the Scottish Ballet reviews, I hope this will start a trend! It's a great outlet for dancer-writers, and for readers, it's fascinating (to me, at least) to read dancers on dancing. There are also reviews of Cullberg Ballet and the San Francisco Ballet's Wheeldon program, and, whether you agree with them or not, they're very well done. It's very rare that one gets to read young dancers on what they're dancing, or might want to dance -- or not!

Scottish Ballet is putting up reviews (quite long, thoughtful reviews) by its dancers on work they've seen. This one is subtitled "A personal view by Scottish Ballet Soloist Emma Sandall." San Francisco Ballet

Scottish Ballet has a novel idea -- they're posting long reviews by their dancers of programs they've seen. Here's one to a review by Glauco de Lietto of Bordeaux Opera Ballet at Edinburgh.

It is a good question -- I don't know if they did in India, but if memory serves (and it may not; this is going back to 9th grade) Roman ones were.

This is the program for the European Triple Bill: Vers un Pays Sage Koreografi: Jean-Christophe Maillot Musik: John Adams Scenografi: Jean-Christophe Maillot og Dominique Drillot Kostumer: Jean-Christophe Maillot og Jean-Michel Lainé Iscenesættelse: Givanni Lorenzoni, ass. Petrusjka Broholm Digital Secrets Koreografi, scenografi, lys og kostumer: Jacopo Godani Musik: Diego Dall’Osto Iscenesættelse: Andrea Tallis, ass. Lis Jeppesen In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated Koreografi og scenografi: William Forsythe Musik: Thom Willems Isvenesættelse: Glen Tuggle, ass. Christina Nilsson There's a link to video on the RDB page: http://www.kgl-teater.dk/dkt2002/ballet03/frame.htm As well as some press clips, to articles in Danish.

Thanks, rg. I especially love the snake one -- the dress, the stance, the hair (and the snake!)

I'd like to hear too -- Effy, Kay, Maria? Did any of you see this? Nikolaidenmark, unfortunately, we don't have many Danish posters here, although there are some others -- Jorgen and vila -- who often go to performances in Copenhagen. Just saying that so that if there aren't many responses, it's not for lack of interest -- others on the board who don't live near enough to go still want to read about what we can't see! Did you go? You're welcome to post comments too!

Hi, Nikolaidenmark! Welcome to Ballet Alert! Your profile says you're a dancer in Denmark - are you with the RDB? Thanks for the information about the tour!

I've noticed the decrease in dance reviews, and I think it's been happening over the past 6 or 7 years. They still cover more dance than most other papers -- although the Miami Herald seems to be an exception to this; the Boston papers, too, cover a lot -- but they don't cover every performance. I miss the alternate cast reviews, too, but I wonder if part of the fault for this lies with the companies as much with the editors. When the Times did cover cast changes, there weren't 7 to 10 casts of everything. First it was two or three, then four, MAYBE five -- and now there are so many it would be very difficult to cover them. I don't know what the Times's situation is, but when the Washington Post began to cut back on arts coverage after the crash in '88 ('87?), it was directly related to loss of advertising. The Style section lost four pages -- something had to go, and it was the Performing Arts section. (To be fair, they also cut back on music, especially serious music. There are dozens of small concerts, mostly of new music or young musicians, that don't get covered now.)

Thanks, Jorgen (and for the comment on the RDB as well). I hope you'll keep us posted on what you're seeing this season. Brief comments are just as welcome as longer ones -- it's wonderful to have so many different views.

Thanks for intervening, Leigh. I deleted one of the posts (the second hand "character assessments," as you so delicately put it

Thank you, Pamela -- looking forward to reading it!

Reinhard, welcome to Ballet Alert! As you may already know, Tewsley missed much of the New York season last year because of injuries, so it's quite possible.

A very compelling thought -- thank you, Mel. I was struck, reading Cyril W. Beaumont's account of this, by the way he viewed the Acrobats -- as pathetic creatures, groping each other but without lust or love; another "absence." I wonder if that was the first unitard pas de deux?

kfw, I agree -- I think there are signs of a return to beauty. I've read that there's a group of young architects who are interested in neoclassical architecture, as an example. Although I'm fond of the pendulum theory -- not that the pendulum ever swings back, really, at least, not back in a straight line; it swings in another direction, back-ish -- more and more I think that all elements exist in all times. There are always people with romantic sensibilities, classical sensibilities, always rebels, always rule-followers, always people who build and those who tear down (I don't mean in a destructive sense), and always people who make their best work when they're totally free and those who need to be told "I need a painting that's 3 x 5 using only blue" or "I want a four-and-a-half minute variation for a Blue Bird that follows this story." I think (and this is a big "I think") what happens is that during each era one of these sensibilities becomes dominant -- there's one artist who captures the spirit of the age -- but the others are still there, lurking along the sidelines, and creating art in the image of the Dominant one, but in his/her own way. In ballet, you definitely see the tension between technique and expression, or form and expression, form and content. I think it's especially visible in British ballet -- the fight between neo-expressionists and neo-classicism that is exemplified in the post-War era -- "Adam Zero" vs. "Symphonic Variations" There were always Adam Zero people and always Symphonic V people, and one or the other dominates at different times.

Thanks for the update, Marc. I'm not surprised about Vishneva, but I am surprised, too, about Makhalina -- I didn't think she danced enough these days to have fans!

That's an interesting question, diane -- I've often wondered about it. I believe in the Importance of the One, that a single artist is what sets the pendulum going in another direction. One example in dance is Taglioni. From the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th was an age of virtuosity. Then she appeared, out of nowhere (as it would have seemed to her audience) and danced in what looked, to the new audience, in what was a totally different style. But older people in the audience said, "Ah! She is like Bigatoni!" (Not saying that Bigatoni was a Romantic, but that she was, apparently, a chaste and quiet dancer.) So what we need is not someone coming out saying, "Stop the Shock!" but someone making something utterly unshocking and utterly brilliant, and then everyone will start imitating him/her. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it