Wednesday, March 9

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Pix from the School of American Ballet's Winter Ball.

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After the audience applauded the tiny and teenage dancers; it was their turn on the floor. Together, they had been a part of the night’s $1 million fundraising efforts and they had some celebrating to do. Without the SAB, ballet companies around the globe would have a harder time filling their stages. To support the SAB is the ultimate way to be a patron of the ballet. Even better if you get to do so at the Winter Ball.

 

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Dancers from the Kyiv City Ballet are stranded in Paris.

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Only a part of the company was travelling around France performing a shortened version of The Nutcracker for young audiences — most of the dancers in Paris are in their early 20s. Many of the ballet’s star dancers stayed behind, waiting to join their friends after they reached Paris.

 

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A review of the National Ballet of Canada by Denise Sum for danceviewtimes.

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The National Ballet of Canada is back with full capacity performances at last. The pandemic delayed many retirements and planned farewell performances for dancers around the world. Thankfully, principal dancer Sonia Rodriguez was able to hold out and close a remarkable 32 years in the company with a run as Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire." It is the kind of meaty dramatic role that highlights a mature dancer's range. John Neumeier's production is a flawed one, but Rodriguez and the large supporting cast gave a committed and emotional performance. 

 

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A review of Sara Mearns in "Piece of Work" by Brian Seibert in The New York Times.

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Of those colleagues, the most important is probably Jodi Melnick, a veteran of postmodern dance with a supersubtle style, an exemplar of the less-is-more magic that Mearns seems to be after. It was a collaboration with Melnick a few years ago that sent Mearns down the path to “Piece of Work,” which opens with “Opulence,” a duet that Melnick has made for the two of them.

 

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Choreographer Heath Gill talks about his new piece for Orlando Ballet.

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Also on the program: Jessica Lang’s “Lyric Pieces,” accompanied by a pianist playing 10 Edvard Grieg selections, and Val Caniparoli’s “Lambarena” which fuses cultures through African dance and classical ballet technique married to music by Bach and traditional African rhythms.

For Gill, “Confronting Genius” is a way to share his philosophy of dance with Orlando audiences.