Wednesday, June 15

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A review of Scottish Ballet by Laura Cappelle in The Financial Times.

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Narrative tension, an elusive grail for story ballets, never lets up over the course of this economical two-act ballet, which had its London debut at Sadler’s Wells this week. Pickett wisely opts to tell the events of The Crucible chronologically, bringing to life episodes that are only hinted at in retrospect in the play. John Proctor’s heady affair with his servant Abigail opens the ballet, setting the stage for Abigail’s dismissal and her witch-hunt against Proctor’s wife Elizabeth when mass hysteria overtakes the community.

 

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The Cape Cod Ballet Theatre returns to live performance after a two year hiatus.

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Students at the ballet theater’s school range in age from three-and-a-half to 18 years. The dancers’ athleticism and enthusiasm were both evident at their Saturday rehearsal in the school’s space, which is nestled behind the books in the back building at the Harwich Port Library.

 

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The Trocks tour the U.K.

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The tour programme includes Le Lac des Cygnes (Swan Lake Act II); Vivaldi Suite; and Raymonda's Wedding, the traditionally confusing divertissements from the final act of 'Raymonda' which has baffled audiences since its premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1898. The Trocks ignore all the plot intrigues and go straight for the happy ending.
 

 

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A review of American Ballet Theatre by Ivy Lin for Bachtrack.

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In contrast, ABT’s Don Quixote comes across as sweet but slight. Its effects are in shades of pastel. The performance I attended had excellent dancing, but the overall impression was like a Broadway show that’s been running for so long that the original magic is gone. Skylar Brandt (Kitri) was charming. She has a great stage face with the large eyes and a bright smile. Technically there wasn’t much she couldn’t do, although her jumps are on the small side. Her fouettés were excellent – very centered, with multiple pirouettes thrown in. The weakness was a certain lack of musicality. In Kitri's fan variation, I noticed that Brandt waved her fan and timed her échappés with little relation to the music.

Gia Kourlas' review of ABT in The New York Times.

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The production’s young lovers, Kitri and Basilio, as well as the street dancer Mercedes and the bullfighter Espada, were danced by different couples in each act. (There were three conductors, too, one for each act.) Ballet Theater has experimented with multiple casts before in “Don Quixote”; never has it seemed so erratic, so incidental, so last minute.

 

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A review of Scottish Ballet in "The Crucible" by Marian Kennedy for London Theatre 1.

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Abigail, his dalliance, is danced by Constance Devernay, in a role of extreme demands that she meets perfectly. The 22-strong company of dancers performing this ballet are precise in their steps, something Scottish Ballet excels at. Special mention should go to Thomas Edwards, Bruno Micchiardi, Jerome Anthony Barnes and Jamie Reid, menacingly portraying the Reverends and Judges who exert authority in Salem.

 

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A review of State Ballet Berlin by Ilona Landgraf in her blog, "Landgraf on Dance."

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“Oh Captain" is a physical elegy for the lost future, still existing in the past, but held tight in the present. In this moment, the three tenses are cemented as one, freely coexisting off the linear track (…),” explains choreographer Johnny McMillan in the program. I couldn’t follow his inscrutable line of thinking, but instead can only share some facts:

“Oh Captain” employs only men – ten in total. Nine of them huddle closely together on the orchestra pit, which slowly lifts them to stage level – all motionless except for Ross Martinson, who spins circles with his torso as if caught in trance......

 

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Xander Parish will return to the stage in Georgia.

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Xander Parish, 36, who's originally from North Ferriby in East Yorkshire, quit his role in a production of Giselle at the historic dance company, and left for Estonia with his new Russian wife in tow in March - and hasn't stepped on stage for three months.

 

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Daniil Simkin stops off in Australia to perform "Harlequinade" with the Australian Ballet.

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The character even had a particular way of walking that Simkin adopted: “like prancing”, he says. And he was asked to lower his centre of gravity: the Petipa classical style meant his legs had to be “lowered and not as extreme and not as athletic ... more restrained”.

 

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The board of Ballet Philippines dispute with the company's founder over copyrights.

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Ms. Reyes, who was named a Gawad Yamang Isip Awardee by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) on June 6, has been helping dance artists protect their work. Her crusade picked up steam after one of her pieces became the subject of a cease-and-desist letter sent by BP.

“Filipino artists just want respect,” said Ms. Reyes, in a conversation with BusinessWorld. “Royalties would be nice but, really, we just want respect.”