amitava

HB's Marie opened this week, and has shows until next weekend. It travels to New Orleans after the next rep. Molly Glentzer's (review link provided below) impressions, are in sych with my experience of the production. Some additional images than those provided in the review can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance Enjoy Amitava Pre production articles: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/22/...-Antoinette.php http://www.playbillarts.com/features/article/7853.html http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/ar...er/6261056.html One review http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/ar...er/6285113.html (and additional images) I was told that DI, NY Times, Dance Europe, and the Wall Street Journal will be reviewing as well

Sorry about that Bart. Link fixed.

Trey McIntyre Project graces the cover of this month's issue of Pointe Magazine. Some moments from their official premier at Jacob's Pillow can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance A glimpse of the ambiance at the Pillow can be seen here. In the following weeks, other performance from the final week at the Pillow will be posted. Enjoy

Houston Ballet presents one show of "Jubilee of Dance" - with an feast of 14 items, this Friday (Dec 5th) - Some moments from the past two Galas and the reps represented in the upcoming performance can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance Enjoy

Images from Episodes in Austin with Ballet Austin cane be viewed at : http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance Enjoy

Photos from the performance are at ... http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance Enjoy

Ms. Farrell set the piece for dancers from both companies (11 of BA's dancers) - http://www.balletaustin.org/press/document...eleaseFINAL.pdf . The group performed at the Kennedy Center (there is a thread on the rep in the SF Ballet set) and once more in Austin. I will post a few images soon from the BA show in Austin. I have really tried hard to appreciate Ms. Tharp's work, but keep missing the appeal. I assume I have not matured enough to experience her choreographic talents. A

Recovering from Ike, Houston Ballet opens its second rep with works by Robbins, Balanchine, Van Manen, and Welch. Images from the production can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. Videos are at http://www.youtube.com/houstonballet. Enjoy

While TBT's future remains uncertain, they will peform one Gala show this week at the Majestic in Dallas. Images from the last season's Jazz Royalty can be viewed at at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. Enjoy

Houston Ballet opens its season with Cranko's Onegin. Photos from the performance can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. A review and clip (from the last time HB presented Onegin), can be found at http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/ar...er/5985891.html Enjoy

Houston Ballet closes its season with a bang, a contrasting rep with La Sylphide and A Doll's House (by Welch). They also perform at the Kennedy Center this week. Photos from the performance can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. For video clips of the First Cast, visit http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1...annel=825565897

Erin Patak of the Houston Ballet is of mixed heritage (American-Indian). She is leaving the company to join another in Germany. Some of the reasons for a lack of South Asian dancers could be as follows: 1) Islam does not encourage dance, and thus dancing (especially of females) is not encouraged in Pakistan 2) Within India, the local dance forms flourish. Western dance performance are extremely rare (far less than Indian performances in the USA for example). So one can images how few ballet schools (probably one can count them on your finger tips) there are. China and Japan embraced and incorporated the Western classical arts a lot more in their culture than India/Pakistan. 3) Even in countries outside of India, first generation children are encouraged to learn Indian dance forms before western ones. I suspect that most of the dancers named in this thread did not spend their formative dance years in the sub-continent, but were groomed elsewhere. 4) While the performing arts are given a high status on the cultural scale, it is principally lip service within the Indian Community. The Performing Arts are encouraged as a "hobby"/passion, but not really a profession in most cases. One's career is expected to be in the sciences, medical, or financial/business fields. Amitava

Houston Ballet its exciting mixed rep on Thursday - Falling by Stanton Welch, Hans Van Manen's popular 5 Tangos, and James Kudelka's World Premier of Little Dancer, set specifically for the company. Images from the performance and rehearsals can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. Dance Europe reviewed the Dance Salad Festival in its latest issue. Photos from the pieces are in the gallery as well. Enjoy

HB completes a three performance stint in Stanton Wlech's Madam Butterfly, in Montreal, tomorrow (last show). The Miller Outdoor Theater (Houston) and the Houston Ballet, present two free performances of Butterfly next weekend. Photos from a studio rehearsal and performance can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. Enjoy

The Milwaukee Ballet opened its 2007-2008 season with Hamlet by Stephen Mills. Dominic Walsh Dance Theater performed in Florida (Sarasota Ballet) and the Joyce this Spring. The rep included the Choo-San Goh Award winning Amadeus. Dance Salad Festival ended a couple of weekends ago. A review can be viewed at http://blogs.chron.com/artsinhouston/2008/..._program_2.html. Dance Magazine, and Dance Europe will be published impressions as well. A few images can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. More images from Dance Salad will be doled out over the next year. Enjoy.

Milwaukee Ballet, opened its 2008-2009 season with the stylish production of Stephen Mills (Artistic Director/Choreographer of Ballet Austin's Hamlet). Images from the performance can be viewed here. Enjoy.

The Dance Salad Festival is next weekend (March 20th-22nd). The line up this year is mostly of European and other international companies - as usual, with work by Kylian, Wheeldon, Li Han-zhong, Ma Bo, and others. Photos from the 2004, 2005, and 2006 festivals are online, featuring works by Kylian, Béjart , Nacho Duato, Alonzo King, Ronald Brown, and numerous other choreographers. Enjoy

The USA premier of Stanton Welch's Cinderella opens this weekend. Photos from dress rehearsal, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater's contemporary take of Sleeping Beauty, and Texas Ballet Theater's Gala can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. Enjoy. Amitava Houston Chronicle Review of Cinderella: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/5602556.html Videos : http://www.chron.com/entertainment/ (Spanish Dance, Ball, and final PDD)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7159744.stm Among his well known works was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Impressions of his dynamic choreography, from Zilker Theater's production in 2006, can be viewed here.

Some recent updates to the photo galleries include Texas Ballet Theater's Alice in Wonderland (y Ben Stevenson) and a mixed rep by Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre (Houston)'s season opening. Enjoy

Reviews and media impressions can be found at http://blogs.chron.com/aboutlastnight/2007...ry_widow_1.html , http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/ar...ce/5096989.html . A brief detail on the costumes... http://houstonballet.wordpress.com/2007/08...dye-fit-repeat/

I have been a bit tardy in posting gallery updates, and realized I should let folks know before I cleared old photo galleries. insightphotography.smugmug.com/Dance. Performances of companies based in Texas include Ballet Austin (Red Line of Gina Patterson coming up soon) Texas Ballet Theater (Alice in Wonderland images coming up soon) Dominic Walsh Dance Theater American Repertory Ensemble Alamo Arts Ballet Theatre (San Antonio) There are several galleries of modern dance based groups as well. Enjoy

The Merry Widow, Welsh's Cinderella, and La Sylphide...as well as a large number of mixed rep items. www.houstonballet.org/Ticketing_Schedule/20072008_Season_Calendar/

Thank you Helene. Blue Lapis Light specializes in setting works in non-stage settings. Their Lighting Designer, Jason Amato, contributed a great deal to the look of this piece. This particular piece was not that interesting (choreography wise) without the lighting, primarily because the setup/space/building did not allow for much variation in movement. One of their most ambitious projects was in a 4 storey building that will be demolished soon, in a piece appropriately titled "Requiem". Images from that show can be viewed at http://insightphotography.smugmug.com/dance. It has more variety of lighting and space use. As to the proximity to the dancers in the Love of China. The background was not aesthetic (it was in a hotel Ballroom). So it worked out well to be close to the dancers. The better dancers were placed in the front, which made for better photos.

Date/Time: Between 2 p.m. and 10.30 p.m., December 31st, 2006. Where: Downtown, Austin Texas. What: First Night Austin 2007, The event is celebrated internationally, by several cities across the world, each, with their own flavor. Click HERE to view the photos of the Dances (Chines, Bollywood, and two site specific works), People, Architecture, Fireworks, Parade, etc. at the festival. Happy New Year.