Monday, October 17

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Major New York performing arts organizations make masking optional.

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The decision is a milestone for classical, dance and opera institutions, which had been among the most resistant to relaxing mask rules — wary of alienating older patrons, who represent a large share of ticket buyers. As coronavirus infections have declined and masks have vanished from many other settings, arts groups are feeling pressure from audiences to make a change.

 

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A review of Washington Ballet by Carolyn Kelemen for MD Theatre Guide.

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Alone on stage or with a partner who is sensitive to her extraordinary moves, The Washington Ballet’s adored Maki Onuki mesmerizes an audience no matter the technique nor the style of dance. She’s pure and cerebral in the ballet classics and feisty and fun in more modern works. This was evident in the latest installment of “NEXTsteps” which opened on October 12 at the Sidney Harman Hall in DC.

 

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 The creators of "The Gilmore Girls" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" hold an open call for dancers for their new series.

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The casting call suggests that the Palladinos’ upcoming show will have the ballet world as the main setting, and it’s pretty safe to bet on that. Not only because of the new series’ casting call, but also because the screenwriting couple already had a go at the subject in 2012, when Sherman-Palladino co-created the ballet series Bunheads, which had a short life on ABC Family (which has since gotten rebranded as Freeform). Also, the couple’s most famous show, Gilmore Girls, featured a ballet teacher among its colorful supporting characters, and her classes were often featured in episodes.

 

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A review of Alexei Ratmansky's "Wartime Elegy" by Jennifer Homans in  The New Yorker.

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At first, Ratmansky’s choreographic organization seems almost too clear: a nationalist folk cry surrounded by sad dances of grief and wartime tragedy. And yet the whole production is strangely moving, even haunting. It doesn’t fit easily together; the shards are too jagged, the transitions between dark and light, grief and rollicking joy too sudden. But that is part of the point, and, by some logic of loss, memory, and fun woven through the whole, it nonetheless holds, especially in recollection, as the mind allows the borders to soften and meld.

 

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A preview of Sarasota Ballet's season opener by Carrie Seidman in The Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

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Which is, in part, why there will be three world premieres on the bill when the company opens its 32nd season at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts Friday night – two by company dancers and another by an acclaimed young British choreographer. Director Iain Webb says the more expansive lead up time to the fall opener allowed him and the choreographers to take on the multiple aspects of producing three entirely new works, which wouldn’t be possible with the back-to-back crunch once the season is underway.

 

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A review of Fall for Dance by Leigh Witchel for dancelog.nyc.

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Wheeldon used crème de la crème tracks from Mitchell’s discography, but he didn’t match her perception. The loose phrasing seemed to equate Mitchell’s mellowness for easy listening, and it also seemed that was what the dancers wanted as well. They were taking it easy, but then Mearns did a high, linear extension to the side to remind you the rigor was there if she felt like it.

 

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A review of New York City Ballet by Mary Cargill for danceviewtimes.

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Hyltin gave a hypnotically interior rendition of the famous entrance, drifting in slowly and the curtseying to her memories; the gestures looked completely spontaneous, as if she were alone with her thoughts.  Fairchild seemed to appear out of her consciousness, holding her gently and then fading away.  He danced with a dignified gravitas, yet with a lightness that made him seem to float.  Hyltin melted into his arms before he disappeared, leaving her alone until they were absorbed into the whirling mass of black and white.