dirac
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Posts posted by dirac
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Ozawa appearing on "What's My Line?"
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Ballet Arkansas presents "Swan Lake."
QuoteIt’s the 45th anniversary season for Ballet Arkansas, and if Sunday’s showing is any indicator of how the rest of the spring is going to go, I have a pretty good feeling. “Swan Lake,” the famous ballet scored by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, hadn’t been performed at the Robinson Center for 20 years, and Ballet Arkansas attracted nearly 4,000 people to see the show over the weekend. People old and young came out, and Sunday’s crowd was excited to applaud the dancers, particularly during an impressive number of turns or an extended period on pointe.
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A review of Carlos Acosta in "On Before" by Kathy Elgin for Bachtrack.
QuoteAlthough some of the short works were made specially for this programme, most (from established names like Kim Brandstrup and Russell Maliphant) were originally created on other dancers. This ought to have led to some variation but curiously (and in the absence of programme details) it was quite hard to distinguish one from another. This may be a minor critic’s gripe though, as the actual performances, were what people had come to see.
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A review of New York City Ballet by Leigh Witchel for dancelog.nyc.
QuoteThe corps strutted in, a march that recalled Mercurial. Peck gave Von Enck a speed demon solo-ette that morphed into a duet with Bradley. The music paused and the atmosphere darkened (shades of DSCH’s slow section) and the women drifted behind Mejia (shades of Opus 19/The Dreamer).
It’s not a knock on Peck to note where she seemed to be getting her influences, and Peck has acknowledged them. It’s something we should be interested in regarding every emerging choreographer. Imitation is the necessary first step to developing a voice. Synthesis comes after.
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A review of the Washington Ballet by Roger Catlin for Broadway World.
QuoteThat changes in the current Washington Ballet showcase at the Kennedy Center, “Jazz Icons: A Fine Romance.” In it, two young choreographers, Jessica Lang and Dwight Rhoden, unveil world premiere works that are accompanied by a concert's worth of jazz songs, performed live by three different ensembles, under the musical direction of Marty Ashby of Pittsburgh’s venerable MCG Jazz.
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Thank you for posting your reports on the program. Sorry to miss this, even if it's not top-of-the-line Tharp.
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A story on Utah's special connection to "The Nutcracker."
Quote“It is the first full-length ‘Nutcracker’ created here in the United States by our founder, Willam Christensen, for San Francisco Ballet in 1944,” Scolamiero said.
Willam Christensen, a Utah native, founded the San Francisco Ballet. His version of “The Nutcracker” became an annual Utah tradition in 1955.
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A preview of Alonzo King's "Deep River" by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times.
QuoteThat can seem like a lot to put into a dance. But “Deep River” is driven by more than choreographic invention. When he was speaking to the composer Jason Moran about the score for “Deep River,” King told him that it needed to be deeply soulful and heartbreaking. “I want it to get past intellect and touch people’s hearts,” King said. “To wake them up.”
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The Indianapolis Ballet presents a Valentine's Day-themed program.
QuoteWRTV hosted the Indianapolis Ballet to talk about "Love Springs Eternal," happening Feb. 16-18 at the Tobias Theater in Newfields.
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A review of New York City Ballet by Mary Cargill in danceviewtimes.com.
QuoteIt was an unfortunate scheduling coincidence that the opening ballet, Jerome Robbins’ “Opus 19/The Dreamer”, also featured a man alone (Taylor Stanley) dreaming, this time about a woman (Unity Phelan). Robbins set his work to Sergei Prokofiev’s “Violin Concerto No. 1 (presumably the work is Robbins’ 19th ballet), a moody, piercing work, admirably played by Kurt Nikkanen. Stanley had several long, moody, piercing solos, full of reaching arms, flowing shapes, and extended arabesques, and Phelan alternated angular, commanding shapes with some elegant floating. Both danced very well, but the work does go on in one lugubrious moan, and they gave it more than it gave them.
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An article in Teen Vogue about the labor unrest at American Ballet Theatre.
QuoteAccording to AGMA, only about 30% of artists at American Ballet Theatre earn a sufficient income from their salary to sustain themselves. Structural changes within ballet, in which systemic inequities across class, race, gender, and accessibility persist, continue to be called for. The strike authorization vote underscores that dancers are artists, but they’re also workers; their labor contributes value to a company — and they are standing together to ensure that compensation and workplace well-being better reflect that.
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Australian Ballet presents "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland."
QuoteSeven years on, fully recovered and now a principal artist with the Australian Ballet, [Benedicte] Bemet stars as Alice in the company’s blockbuster production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which opens in Sydney on February 20.
“It’s such an epic ballet,” Bemet says, pointing to its extravagant sets, costumes, props, and scene changes. “It’s almost like a theme park turned into a ballet.”
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A review of the Bolshoi Ballet by Ilona Landgraf in "Landgraf on Dance."
QuoteThere’s no need to discuss how Fokine’s choreography was performed. The Bolshoi is a guarantor of sublime performances. Indeed, the unity of the corps was nothing less than staggering; every step was measured yet effortless like an outpouring of natural decency. Perfect proportions soothed the eye. As the leading sylphs, Anastasia Stashkevich, Elizaveta Kruteleva, and Anastasia Denisova paid great attention to detail, adding the right tinge of buoyancy, melancholy, or playfulness to their solos. Vyacheslav Lopatin’s poet combined sensitivity and decisiveness. His clean and – at times mighty – jumps earned applause. Alyona Pikalova’s set design – an arch of gnarled treetops opening onto a sunny water meadow – invited the mind to dream.
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Svetlana Zakharova will visit Seoul.
QuoteThe acclaimed dancer will premiere "Modanse," a unique blend of "mode," meaning fashion in French, and danse, or dance, at the Seoul Arts Center from April 17 to 21, except for April 18.
The double bill has garnered attention for its collaboration between ballet and haute couture since its debut at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre in 2019.
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Atlanta Ballet presents "Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon."
QuoteAtlanta Ballet dancers, their youthful bodies sculpted to perfection, showed impressive technical skill in both performances. Mikaela Santos, who debuted Friday as Chanel, moved from lover to lover with gracious breadth and a freshness, although at times she held back emotionally. Santos paired well with Fuki Takahashi as Shadow-Chanel. Both commanded the stage with sleek long lines, fearless arabesques and a sense of Chanel’s ruthless drive to succeed. Emily Carrico and Brooke Gilliam, who danced the respective lead roles Saturday afternoon, brought an intriguingly darker edge to their characters.
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Yuan Yuan Tan bows out at San Francisco Ballet.
QuoteIndeed, the Wednesday, Feb. 14, performance of the “British Icons” program sold out almost instantly upon the announcement last month that Tan, the company’s longest-ever serving dancer and a role model instantly recognizable to ballet lovers around the world, would retire from the company after a performance of the evening’s second ballet, “Marguerite and Armand.” But this arrangement was not enough for Reviglio and her petition’s many signees.
“It’s an insult,” Reviglio said of Artistic Director Tamara Rojo’s unwillingness to give Tan a full-evening farewell.
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A story on the new documentary "Ten Times Better," which tells the story of former New York City Ballet dancer George Lee.
QuoteMaking history: Lee achieved a breakthrough in his career after legendary choreographer and New York City Ballet co-founder George Balanchine picked him to play an Asian dancer doing the “Tea” divertissement in his 1951 New York City Ballet production of “The Nutcracker,” a stage production that garnered backlash in recent years for its use of “yellowface.”
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St. Louis Ballet presents "St. Louis Blues."
Quote“It’s a landmark song of the city,” says Gen Horiuchi, executive and artistic director of St. Louis Ballet. “We are hoping just to make this piece a signature piece of the St. Louis Ballet.”
The only issue? The song is just six minutes long and not a ballet. To fix this, Horiuchi partnered with friend and composer Atsushi Tokuya, who goes by Toya, to work on a composition that would transform the song into a ballet.
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Q&A with Mikko Nissinen about Boston Ballet's production of "Raymonda."
QuoteQ. I know you’ve been thinking about “Raymonda” for more than a decade. How are you adapting to deal with the insulting stereotypes?
A. The [original] story is not appropriate for today, with its caricatures, the abduction of a woman. One character tries to impress Raymonda so he orders his slaves to dance for her. But I made the story very simple. It’s a coming of age of this young girl. In the first scene, she is celebrating her name day and excited to be with her fiancé. He’s called to the Crusades and leaves her a scarf. She has a dream, he returns, and they get married. Minimal changes, but the way it’s reimagined is very different. And there is an almost overwhelming amount of classical dancing, like this endless, incredible pearl necklace, with one more beautiful variation after another.
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Madison Ballet presents "Love."
QuoteA show of six tales, Madison Ballet introduces its winter repertory “Love” — a performance brought together by four artists, each showcasing their own experience of love under the organization of Madison Ballet Artistic and Executive Director Ja’ Malik.
“Love” explores themes of love as experienced by individual artists and their experiences, including grief, the act of saying goodbye and same-sex love.
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A review of San Francisco Ballet by Charles Lewis III for 48hills.
QuoteIt still isn’t clear what artistic vision defines Tamara Rojo’s first year as SF Ballet artistic director. If anything, her early tenure with the company has been marked by major shake-ups, including Rojo herself replacing her three-decade predecessor, as well as the departure of key dancers like Sarah van Patten. This new show marks the departure of another beloved dancer, this time stellar principal Yuan Yuan Tan.
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Two nonbinary dancers appear together in Justin Peck's "The Times Are Racing."
QuoteAshton and Stanley were so focused on each other, so fully present, that they seemed to tune out the audience. Their performance felt private, like a secret. Part of that has to do with this ballet. With its darkened stage and pulsating electronic score by Dan Deacon, the dance is a communal experience for its cast, who start and end in a huddle, like characters escaping from and returning to a genie’s bottle.
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A review of New York City Ballet by Carla Escoda for Bachtrack.
QuoteThe central pas de deux in Hallelujah Junction, starring Alexa Maxwell and Joseph Gordon, registers as a striking sequel to In a Landscape, full of melting lines and tricky but seamless partnering transitions, like one long exhale – until they exit in a spectacular series of flying turns. There is a sense of drama here, driven partly by the pianos’ ominous placement, floating high above the dancers – the clatter of the pianos, sometimes insistent, sometimes calm, like instructions from air traffic control. The silvery vertical panels edging the wings reinforce a sense of airspace. Four dynamite couples charge boldly, if somewhat untidily, across the stage in terse strings of turns, jumps, kicks and flicks at tempi and rapidly changing rhythms that make Ballo look like a stroll. KJ Takahashi in black appears to be on a mission to nudge the lead couple into the ensemble, his arsenal of classical bravura moves delivered with urgency, notably grands pirouettes that practically achieve lift-off.
Mary Cargill reviews the company for danceviewtimes.com.
QuoteThe nineteenth century roués of the Parisian Jockey Club were after excitement too, and insisted seeing a ballet in the middle of an opera so they could enjoy watching women’s legs after dinner; this rather disreputable practice has given us some of the most luscious, danceable tunes around. Balanchine used Verdi’s ballet music from “Don Carlos” not to show off his dancers’ legs but to show off one dancer's sparking feet—it is a salute to Merrill Ashley’s diamond sharp technique. The original ballet told the story of a peasant looking for a pearl and some of the underwater feel remains, as the all-female corps occasionally makes little swimming gestures with their arms, but there is no real story, just a feast of joyful, bouncy dancing. Megan Fairchild and Anthony Huxley were danced the lead couple. Fairchild is smaller and less commanding than Ashley, but she has a vivid and pristine technique, and the glorious hops on point and quick changes of direction were secure and sparkling; she radiated fun. Huxley flew through the elegant petit batterie, flowing through his jumps and turns, and made the tricky partnering look easy.
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Texas Ballet Theater announces its 2024-25 season.
QuoteTexas Ballet Theater will present a mixed repertoire performance choreographed exclusively by women for the first time in its more than 60-year history. “International Woman” is one of four productions just announced for the 2024-2025 season.
Wednesday, February 21
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Guillaume Côté announces his retirement from the National Ballet of Canada.