Sunday, May 1

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A review of the Australian Ballet by Jansson J. Antmann for Limelight.

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There are nights at the theatre when the stars align to deliver an experience that exceeds all expectations. Friday night’s premiere of Kunstkamer by The Australian Ballet was one of them. To say it was perfect is to do it an injustice. The ability to encapsulate the entire history and DNA of an artform in one performance requires genius – not only of its creators, but those executing their vision as well. The Australian Ballet and the musicians of the Opera Australia Orchestra under the baton of Nicolette Fraillon had it in spades.

 

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A review of San Francisco Ballet by Terez Rose for Bachtrack.

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And it did not disappoint. From the opening scene that allows first-timers to quickly discern backstory, a brief prologue where Von Rothbart (played with sinister finesse by Daniel Deivison Oliveira), preys on a carefree younger Odette, casting his spell and transforming her into a swan, we are swept away in this elegant, engaging production. Tchaikovsky’s score, composed for the original 1877 Bolshoi production, gives us glorious music that far surpasses anything else composed for the ballet prior (and possibly after). Music director Martin West, conducting Friday night, and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra were superb, as was violinist Cordula Merks whose solo violin elicited pure sweetness and purity.

 

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A review of New York City Ballet by Ivy Lin for Bachtrack.

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On the one hand, one hopes for a speedy recovery for all the ailing NYCB dancers. On the other hand, it was a rather threadbare program – less than one and a half hours including a 20-minute intermission. It’s a habit/preference of Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan (who is mainly responsible for programming) that new, contemporary works are always bundled into one program, and Balanchine/Robbins classics in another. This doesn’t always work – one tends to get burnout from non-stop 21st-century contemporary ballets all in one program. One wonders if NYCB could/should have thrown in a short crowd-pleaser like Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux.

 

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A review of the Royal Ballet by Sarah Crompton in The Guardian.

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Scènes de Ballet, made in 1948, is in many ways Ashton’s most modernist ballet, its jagged angles and sharp juxtapositions perfectly matching the energy and shape of Stravinsky’s score. Like André Beaurepaire’s surrealist backcloth, it exudes a strange sense of otherness, of a story not quite told. The cast I saw was led by Vadim Muntagirov, finding height and finesse in jumps that rise from standing, but also channelling moments of still grace. As his ballerina, Sarah Lamb gleamed in lemon and black, her shoulders sloping in perfect epaulement.

 

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A review of Oakland Ballet by Rachel Howard in The San Francisco Chronicle.

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On offer were three ballets by Guidi, who created more than 40 for the company, three excerpts from the Ballets Russes gems he brought back to the stage, and four new or nearly new works by female choreographers, whom Lustig has championed since his days leading American Repertory Ballet. The best of the newer works and the ballet that most effectively channeled the strengths of today’s Oakland Ballet was Juilliard School Creative Associate Caili Quan’s “Layer Upon Layer,” which premiered in March at a program of all-Asian American choreographers. On Saturday, “Layer Upon Layer” again drew a smooth, slinky, full-immersed physicality from San Francisco Ballet School alum Jazmine Quezada and Ashley Thopiah, who trains in both ballet and Bharatanatyam, and especially from Youth America Grand Pro veteran Lawrence Chen, the troupe’s muscled-yet-pliant standout.