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sdj3

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  • Connection to/interest in ballet** (Please describe. Examples: fan, teacher, dancer, writer, avid balletgoer)
    former dancer
  • City**
    texas
  1. Ballet Austin has finally begun to update the company roster on the website. Inga Loujerenko is gone, and Beth Terwilliger has been promoted from Ballet Austin II. They've hired a new male dancer, Orlando Canova, but so far there is no information on him. I'm not sure who he's replacing.
  2. Her name is no longer listed on dancers roster on the NYCB website.
  3. OMG, thanks so much for posting, amitava! Can't wait for New American Talent, it should be exciting. Also, thank you for your beautiful photographs. I can't tell you how grateful I (and many others like me I'm sure) am for your work. Thanks for sharing!
  4. purely ballet, did you get to see Ady/Ochoa? If so, how did they compare to Julie and Zach? I am curious, and now kicking myself for not making time to see all three casts!!!
  5. I was in town apartment hunting (what a nightmare) and I saw the Friday evening performance, with Ochoa and Ady in the leads. They made a beautiful couple, such youthful faces! Ochoa endeared us to her playful, smart Juliet. You could really feel her grow and mature through the performance. Ady felt like a real Romeo, young and feverish, but robust. The supporting cast shined, particularly Mercutio (I can't remember who danced this role!) and Meredith Rainey as Tybalt. His death scene was powerful, and when Lady Capulet (Tara Keating) straddled his dead body, you could feel the audience gasp in horror. I was very impressed with the caliber of the dancing and the tightness of the production. Even though the music felt slow at times, the action never did. Go PAB! I can't wait 'til next fall!
  6. Ballet Austin is selling an entire performance of The Nutcracker: See the auction here.
  7. No problem, I had to pass this gem on to other dance fans!
  8. A 72-photo gallery of Light in performance. You can get a good sense of the production from these photos.
  9. I just discovered this photographer's gallery - it's fantastic!! InSight Photography's Dance Gallery
  10. Thanks for the heads up! I love it when companies put performance photos up on their sites, it's such a treat.
  11. I just returned from my second viewing of Mr. Mills' new ballet, "Light/ The Holocaust & Humanity Project" I walked into the theater Friday night with trepidation. A ballet about the Holocaust? It seemed to me like a mine field of a subject, humanly impossible to get through without falling victim to cliched or offensive traps. It could so easily have been slightly off, so easily have been so wrong. Instead, Light has left me breathless. My dear Ballet Austin, for once, did everything right. You literally could feel the tender loving care injected into every single minute detail. Everyone was so fully committed to the process of making the ballet, that the product speaks for itself. The support and credibility of the Warren Foundation and other major players only serves to strengthen and contextualize it, for Light stands firmly on its own merits. The ballet is made up of five distinct sections, born from the common threads of survivors' individual experiences. Each section has different music (existing music by Steve Reich, Evelyn Glennie, Michael Gordon, Arvo Part, and Philip Glass,) but the tone works harmoniously. The minimalist design (Christopher McCollum) mirrored the metaphorical approach. The twenty dancers danced nearly all of the entire 75-minute show (no intermission.) Looking stronger and leaner than ever before, they were just about flawless. They have been tested physically and emotionally, and it's obvious they've emerged from this process enriched as artists. Mills has apparently grown, too. His choreography was completely appropriate at all times, and most of it looked vastly different from anything of his I've seen before. One section was based on an earlier ballet, Ashes. However, he made major changes, and it fit seamlessly with the rest. I cannot describe in words this ballet's beauty. Mills managed to effectively convey enormous concepts through powerful imagery. But, it was subtle, not snobbishly weird or overpowering. It's as if he suggested a metaphor, one that was accessable to the entire audience (which included, I believe, a large number of first-timers to the ballet.) I am confident Light , Stephen Mills, and Ballet Austin will receive great exposure. The ballet is, I think, universally significant. I've always thought dance to be the most communicative of the arts. Now, I am sure of it. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but dance, this ballet in particular, is worth a billion.
  12. I'm very likely moving to Philly this fall. I'm very excited to see PA Ballet perform these works. I trained at the Rock when I was younger, and several of my classmates are now in the company. It'll be awesome to see them "all grown up."
  13. None of Aisling Hill Connor. Rats!
  14. Has anyone seen the new Nutcracker production? I attended last weekend, and I was generally impressed with the production. Stephen Mills has a great sense of the theatrical possibilities latent in the holiday favorite. The party scene is adorable and engaging, and the action is very clearly presented. Clara, Fritz, and the rest of the children were appropriately mannered and polished. Drosselmeyer was played as a young-ish playboy who has his eyes on the maid. In a Freudian twist, the authority figures all reappeared in Clara's dream: Dross and the Maid come back as Snow King and Queen, and Frau and Herr Silberhaus return as Sugarplum and Cavalier. The party scene segued nicely into the battle, but the action slowed there. Sweet baby mice elicited "awwws" from the audience, but the older rats lacked menace. At times, the music seemed to overpower the business on stage. The swift, bright snowflakes were a welcome development, and in fact, the highlight of the whole production. Mr. Mills is a lauded contemporary choreographer, but I suspect there may be an incredibly gifted classicist lurking within. His corps sections were some of the best I've ever seen. :secret: Sugarplum's spare kingdom is a United Nations of sorts, with representatives from Spain, Arabia, China, Russia, and France, plus a celebrity (I saw a reality tv star) Mother Ginger of uncertain nationality and a local flower brigade. Nearly all of the divertissements have a small corps behind them, providing more opportunities for student performers. Only the Arabians are on their own, writhing along through their private, sultry adagio. The sinuous couple finished to hoots and hollers from the otherwise tame audience. Spanish, Chinese, and Russian were standard fare, though the latter two suffered from a few shaky landings. All of the pieces moved along swiftly, culminating in the Waltz of the Flowers. The six member red rose corps filled the stage surprisingly well, punctuated by a crystalline lead, who shimmered briskly through very difficult combinations. The joyous waltz set the stage for the Sugarplum pas de duex. Although somewhat interesting, the duet and the female variation was awkward to watch, and no doubt awkward to dance. I've seen the dancers many times, so I could sense the struggle behind the plastered smiles. At times, the choreography seemed almost different just for the sake of being different, and out of place in this classical production. However, both the Sugarplum and her Cavalier danced admirably throughout. I look forward to seeing Ballet Austin's Nutcracker again and again. They seem to tweak it a bit each year, leaving it fresh for repeat audience members.
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