Tuesday, June 21

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Francesca Hayward describes the stresses of dancing "Swan Lake."

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In an earlier post, she added: 'I’ve dreamt of dancing Odette and Odile since I was three years old. The reality of doing it was a whole lot harder than I ever imagined. 

'This ballet is like a marathon to get through and I’m honestly very proud of myself for doing just that. ...."

 

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A review of American Ballet Theatre by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times.

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But on Monday it was as if the spell had been lifted when this ballet, ambitious and bold with luscious, full-bodied dancing, had its New York premiere with American Ballet Theater. In doing so, it woke the company up, too. Last week — Ballet Theater’s first performances in residence at the Metropolitan Opera House since 2019 — the dancers were stuck in a musty production of “Don Quixote.” With “Of Love and Rage,” they were transformed with a renewed sense of purpose and promise.

A review of ABT in "Don Quixote" by Leigh Witchel for dancelog.nyc.

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Basilio defines Cornejo; it’s in his bones. How he does it is overlaps closely with how he wants to dance. He sailed through his trio with the flower girls, pitched himself into poses like a baroque scroll, swirled and swiveled in turns. Then he came out for another entry with four double saut de basques in a row. “Don Quixote” relies on energy and force, not pristine classical line.

 

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A new play tells the life story of Lauren Anderson.

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The play will be at Stages. On Tuesday night, the theater hosted a community conversation with Anderson and the playwright, Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton. Houston's first black poet laureate and Houston Ballet's first black principal dancer collaborated to tell a story they said everyone could connect with.
 

 

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Kansas City Ballet plans to renovate one of its campuses.

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The southern campus is an offshoot of Kansas City Ballet’s main school and headquarters, the Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, next to Union Station.

 

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

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Kain brings a much needed and long overdue female perspective to “Swan Lake”. She highlights the humanity of the swans, leaving no doubt that despite their daytime bird-like appearance, they are still women to the core (indeed, in the program, there are “leading women” and “young women” instead of “big swans” and “little swans”). In the prologue, Odette and three of her friends are free spirited maidens dancing in the moonlight. There is a sense of adventurousness, even rebelliousness in them, making Rothbart’s curse that much more dramatic. It serves as a potent reminder that before the swans were uniform and identical, they were individuals with their own personalities, idiosyncrasies and aspirations. When Odette learns of Siegfried’s betrayal in Act IV, her loyal friends are immediately at her side comforting her. They shun Siegfried with sharp movements and flexed wrists, reminiscent of the wilis in “Giselle”. As it happens, the bond Odette shares with her friends endures beyond her relationship with Siegfried. Of course, “Swan Lake” is a story of romantic love, but this version is also about sisterhood and feels more modern as a result. 

 

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Tiler Peck and dancers from Boston Ballet perform in Sun Valley.

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Peck was introduced to ballet at an early age by her mother, who owned a dance studio in Bakersfield, Calif., that encompassed various styles of dance.

“I grew up doing them all,” said Peck. “Ballet was my least favorite in the beginning, but my mom made sure I always stuck with it because she said: You have to have the ballet technique as a foundation no matter what style of dance you end up pursuing. After a few years, she wanted to just be my mom and not my teacher and so she found the best ballet teacher in California at the time—the Bolshoi Ballet’s principal dancer Alla Khaniashvili.

 

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A review of the Australian Ballet in "Harlequinade" by Isabelle Oderberg for ArtsHub.

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Some of the ensemble pieces felt like perhaps they fell victim to opening night jitters, with minor but noticeable synchronisation issues and other small teething problems. All in all however, the production was of an extremely high standard, and I would certainly expect the tightness to improve through the run as the dancers find their feet, so to speak.