Wednesday, March 2

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A "Critic's Notebook" look at New York City Ballet's winter season by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times.

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But Garcia, whose final performance was Sunday, isn’t going far. This month, he’ll join the artistic staff as a repertory director, where, judging by his jovial and generous spirit, he’ll be in high demand. On Sunday, after an excerpt from “Rotunda,” Justin Peck, the ballet’s choreographer, carried Garcia off the stage himself, sideways, like a rolled-up carpet. Garcia, cradled in his arms and flicking his wrist with a flourish, howled with laughter. Farewell performances can be sad, and while were a smattering of sobbing dancers during the final bows, Garcia’s event mostly felt happy — like a thank you from both sides of the stage.

 

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A review of the Royal Ballet in "Swan Lake" by Graham Watts for Bachtrack.

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Muntagirov is also a selfless partner, always sensitive and attentive to the primary job of making his ballerina appear at her best. Yasmine Naghdi was an outstanding replacement for Núñez although despite her previous experiences of dancing with Muntagirov, I struggled to relate to the necessary chemistry that is needed to make the narrative soar. They were both technically superb in the Black Swan pas de deux, although it does seem odd that Siegfried is turned towards the window when the vision of Odette is pleading with him not to dishonour her by falling for Odile’s deception. It seemed impossible that he cannot see her although perhaps it indicates that he was so captivated by Odile that he really only had eyes for her.

Other reviews:

The Times

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In 2020 the Royal Ballet planned a long run of Swan Lake, but barely had it begun when the pandemic shut it down. So here it is again for two dozen performances, although the virus had its way on opening night when Marianela Nuñez, the scheduled Odette/Odile, was struck down with Covid and had to be replaced on short notice.

The Independent

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The Royal Ballet’s Swan Lake makes a confident return to the stage despite the disruptions of Covid-19. On opening night, Yasmine Naghdi steps in for a recovering Marianela Nuñez, giving a sensitive performance as the Swan Queen.

 

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The Russian Ballet Theatre's "Swan Lake" will go on in Abilene, Texas as scheduled.

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Below it was a statement from the company: "We were born and raised in different countries. Ballet is our passion and profession. It brings us together on one stage."

Touring ballet performances elsewhere, such as in the United Kingdom, have been canceled after Russia's attack of Ukraine beginning last week.

 

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Ballet San Antonio presents "Don Quixote."

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Adapted and staged by Sofiane Sylve and Rafael Ferreras, the performance will feature choreography by Patrick Armand.
 

 

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Colorado Ballet announces its 2022-23 season.

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Back by popular demand, the drama, based on Bram Stoker’s classic story, features choreography by Michael Pink and an original score performed live by the Colorado Ballet Orchestra.

Beloved Colorado holiday favorite The Nutcracker also returns this holiday season. This will be the second year audiences will see new sets and costumes created for the Colorado Ballet.

 

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Boston Ballet presents five new works, all choreographed by women.

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For audiences as well as the dancers, Martin’s new work steps purposefully out of the box of your typical ballet program, and that’s the point. Featuring five world premieres by five stylistically diverse creators from across disciplines, “ChoreograpHER” is the culmination of a multiyear initiative to amplify female artistic voices by developing choreographic skills and investing in new innovative works.

 

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Clement Crisp has died at age 90 95.

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Friends are reporting the death this morning of the veteran Financial Times ballet critic Clement Crisp.

He was 90, and inimitable.

A collection of quotes, from a 2021 article.

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“At every moment we believe and suffer with [Mikhail Baryshnikov]. And, on purely technical terms, we can but salute a phenomenally accomplished dancer. We knew something of this already, albeit we were not perhaps prepared for the maturity of style . . . He takes off on flights that suggest a new breed of male classical dancer.”

 

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An appreciation by Alastair Macaulay in The Financial Times.

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Crisp was one of an exceptional generation of Oxford postwar undergraduates devoted to the theatre arts — the theatre producer Michael Codron and the critic Andrew Porter became his life-long friends, the latter when Porter was playing continuo for an undergraduate production of Mozart’s Idomeneo; Crisp was turning the pages. Several of Crisp’s other contemporaries also became critics: among them Clive Barnes and John Percival. Porter, who with Derek Granger founded and developed this paper’s arts section, introduced Crisp to its pages in the 1950s: his first review for the FT was in 1956.