Tuesday, March 7

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A report on ballet in Kyiv by Carol Schaeffer in The Nation.

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Kyiv—We sat in red velvet seats under the Kyiv opera house’s soaring dome decorated with baroque flourishes of black and gold, and we waited for a ballet adaptation of one of Ukraine’s most celebrated literary works to begin. It was February 23, the eve of the first anniversary of the invasion, and I was not surprised that much of the building was empty.

 

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A review of American Repertory Ballet's "Giselle" by Robert Johnson for NJArts.net.

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In the terrific revival of Giselle that American Repertory Ballet presented March 3-5 at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (I attended on March 3), co-producers Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg address this supposed flaw in the narrative by showing us what becomes of Albrecht in later life. Haunted by remorse, “Old Albrecht” recalls the events that led to Giselle’s tragedy and her ghostly transformation. The story unfolds in flashback, with an added epilogue brings the ballet to a shocking and macabre conclusion that may or may not satisfy moralists of Bournonville’s stern ilk.

 

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 The annual I Love Oakland Ballet Gala will be held next month.

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“It’s a fantastic downtown place, safe and with a cool vibe and very easy parking,” says Graham Lustig, the company’s artistic director. “It has a huge open space that allows us to have several different dedicated areas, such as a photo booth where you and your friends get pictures taken in a beautifully lit studio atmosphere. Another space, not surprisingly, will be where you can get bites and beverages at an open bar.”

 

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 Milwaukee Ballet revives "The Hunchback of Notre Dame."

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“Restaging this ballet after so many years has been invigorating,” says Pink. “It is a serious and difficult work that encompasses the spectrum of human emotion, which showcases both the technical ability and full artistic range of our dancers.”

 

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Alice Robb is interviewed by Sarah Crompton in The Daily Telegraph.

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That was its original attraction for her. “I just loved the girliness of it,” she says with a grin. But she pursued her ambition with steely determination. She was turned down for SAB twice before she was accepted; she carried on dancing at different academies when she was thrown out, even when it became obvious that her body was developing in ways that made it impossible for her to pursue a professional career – her hips that continued to widen, her feet that refused to arch. For years afterwards, she would dream she was auditioning for a role, and suddenly feel the joy of thinking it was not too late, that she could still be a star.