Thursday, July 27

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A report from the first Hungarian Ballet Grand Prix by Maggie Foyer for Bachtrack.

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In addition to the competition, students were able to participate in a range of designated classes with top quality teachers. My favourite quote came from Ildikó Pongor, one of Hungary’s greatest dancers and teachers: “You kick… it’s Folies Bergère. Very nice, but it’s not ballet!” It is such an important message at any dance competition where social media focuses on the high legs and multiple turns at the expense of artistic quality. Albert Mirzoyan’s classes were also a joy. His warmth and wisdom filled the classroom as did his deep-rooted knowledge of how best to help a student improve. Winners were chosen by the jury chaired by Tamás Solymosi, and included dancers from the Hungarian National Ballet and some of Hungary’s most distinguished dance artists and teachers. Kateryna Kukhar, principal dancer from Ukraine Ballet was a welcome guest as jury member and teacher.

 

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Reviews of "Carlos at 50."

Bachtrack

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Carlos at 50, a programme made up of works closely associated with Acosta during his dancing career, played to a packed house on 26th July (the entire run is sold out). The audience cheered loudly as the curtain rose at the start of the evening with his appearance in George Balanchine’s Apollo. Acosta grinned with pleasure at the applause, then settled down to give a strong account of this difficult title role. His figure is as trim and muscular as ever, and if his dancing is not quite as lithe as it was when he was a younger man, it still has tremendous authority and presence. He can jump high, like a big cat, but I did wonder what kind of God his Apollo was meant to be. Acosta didn’t perform the role along the lines of a danseur noble, like the British-born Xander Parish does, nor a streetwise kid, as the great Jacques d’Amboise did with New York City Ballet during the 1950s, but more like a God who is warm, smiling, amused and delighted by female company.

The Financial Times

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Acosta first performed Apollo with the Royal Ballet in 2003 and he retains the silky pirouettes and pussy-footed landings of the newborn deity. He was well matched by Marianela Nuñez’s sassy, sure-footed Terpsichore (the evening could easily be subtitled “Marianela at 41”). Both dancers have such deep muscle memories of Balanchine’s 1928 masterpiece that they can ride the Stravinsky score with confidence and find time to explore the tender, witty interplay between the muse and the god: dance safe in the arms of music.

The Guardian

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Acosta was always a masterful partner, and when he dances Swan Lake’s White Swan pas de deux with the divine Marianela Nuñez, the way he holds and turns her like a precious object magnifies her performance; he’s switched on at every moment. Their Manon pas de deux is more exposed, technically, but no less ardent. And where Acosta can’t dance the bravura steps he brings in some back-up, his nephew Yonah Acosta (a principal with Bavarian State Ballet) to do the barnstorming leaps for him in Le Corsaire. Not that Uncle Carlos doesn’t still have chops. A more recent contemporary work, Mermaid by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, plays on his swift, tight turns.

 

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More review of "Carlos at 50."

The Evening Standard

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Previous Acosta shows have been billed as farewells: he’s the unstoppable Mick Jagger of British dance. But chances to drink in his luxurious stage presence are increasingly sparse – and this audience came to acclaim him. He appeared in five of the 10 pieces, with talents from the companies he directs: Acosta Danza and Birmingham Royal Ballet.

The Arts Desk

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In a run of pieces in the second section, the mood darkened. Acosta paid tribute to the Englishman he is indebted to, Ben Stevenson, who, as a non-American, was able to extricate him from Cuba and take him to Houston Ballet. Stevenson’s End of Time Pas de Deux, silkily danced by Enrique Corrales and Yaoquian Shang to the mournful sounds of a Rachmaninov cello sonata, struck a rare note of apocalyptic doom.

The Jewish Chronicle

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Other works were performed by his friends (and a relative – Yonah Acosta, his nephew). Acosta Junior zipped through the flashy Le Corsaire pas de deux with his wife Laurretta Summerscales.

 

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And more:

The Daily Express

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Act Three is rather a mixed bag. Acosta's choreographical reworking of Fokine's Dying Swan into a plural version benefits from the sublime Zeleidy Crespo in the titular role but the addition of an angular, modern male swan has never really worked.

The Times

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But not everything works as well and some items seem like padding. The Acosta Danza ensemble tackle some hot, athletic, table-slapping choreography from Acosta’s 2015 take on Carmen with zest, but the accompanying pas de deux is tiresome. Acosta’s reimagining of the iconic Dying Swan solo as a duet is mainly just odd. As a dancer he acquits himself well in Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s ambiguous non-classical duet Mermaid, but it is Laura Rodríguez’s showier, poignant performance that grabs the attention.

The Stage

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Q&A with Dawn Atkins of Miami City Ballet.

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How excited are you to ascend to the role of principal dancer for this upcoming season?

To be promoted to principal dancer for the upcoming 2023-2024 season is a dream come true. Since I was a child, I not only wanted to be a professional ballet dancer, but to be a principal ballet dancer. To have been recognized and acknowledged as that is reaffirming of all the work that I’ve poured to this career. My heart is full to achieve this dream with a company that is so beautiful, and I am thrilled to represent Miami City Ballet as one of their principal dancers!

 

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Q&A with Stella Abrera.

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What do you most value in a work of art? 
When I feel changed after experiencing the art.

Who is an emerging artist worthy of everyone’s attention? 
Choreographer Gemma Bond.

Who is a dance artist are you waiting to see take the limelight?
Sierra Armstrong.