dirac Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 Reviews of "Black Sabbath: the Ballet." The Financial Times Quote Black Sabbath — The Ballet was the brainchild of Birmingham Royal Ballet director Carlos Acosta, who cannily surmised that joining forces with one of the city’s greatest exports would prove a natural audience magnet. Acosta isn’t the first to pair classical dance with rock, but the Birmingham connection was truly inspired. Performances sold out at startling speed, attracting an entirely new crowd intrigued by the oil-and-water crossover. The Guardian Quote The three acts each have a different choreographer. You’ve got to love Acosta’s dedication to showcasing global, lesser known talent: Cuban Raúl Reinoso, Brazilian Cassi Abranches and Swede Pontus Lidberg. Reinoso’s opening act answers one question about a rock ballet: will there be air guitar? Alas, yes. He tries to capture the energy of the songs but ballet dancers just can’t lose their composure enough to truly rock out. The Evening Standard Quote Acosta makes it his mission to reflect Brum’s distinctive multicultural meld, but also welcomes far-flung talents. This show gathers three choreographers and three composers from six different countries. It could have been a right old mess, but the various voices are harmonised by composer Christopher Austin, whose orchestrations have the whomping urgency of a movie score – some could be classic James Bond. The Times Quote The thrilling first act, Heavy Metal Ballet, with music by Christopher Austin and Marko Nyberg and choreography by Raúl Reinoso, references the birth of the band when the teenage Iommi worked in a sheet metal factory in the 1960s. The act has a dark and dangerous vibe. The music’s hard-rock anger and nervy tension is paired with choreography that posits the dancers as sexy machine parts. Reinoso’s visceral movement also evokes youthful rebellion and the passion of first love, and has what must be the longest kiss in dance. Link to comment
dirac Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 A review of BalletX by Carla Escoda for Bachtrack. Quote Philadelphia-based BalletX’s latest program at the Joyce Theater in New York barely achieved lift-off under the weight of Matthew Neenan’s earnest Credo – but found its cruising altitude with Jamar Roberts’ thrilling, unsentimental take on romantic relationships and Jennifer Archibald’s rousing fusion of street dance and classical ballet. Both works showed off this company of magnetic dancers at their most powerful. Link to comment
dirac Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 More reviews of the Birmingham Royal Ballet. Bachtrack Quote Above all else, it is an important new treasure in the cultural life of Birmingham, extending Acosta’s clever policy of fixing BRB firmly into its home city’s history and culture: one thinks of Miguel Altunaga’s City of a Thousand Trades and the promotion of Rosie Kay’s Romeo + Juliet as earlier examples of this domestic policy. All 16 shows in this run, including London and Plymouth, are already sold out and such commercial success is superbly timed given the dire financial predicament of the City Council. It’s good to know that some of their money has gone to create a Birmingham success story. The Reviews Hub Quote It’s certainly a curate’s egg this one, but well worth breaking open to celebrate a band once derided by the London music rags as Swarfega-soaked slime-bag Brummie upstarts. Act 1 – The Heavy Metal Ballet, is a finessed, regimental riff on the War Pigs lyrics that were, with anecdotal folk-lore credibility, taken on board by US Army Marines caught up in the carnal chaos of the Vietnam War. Martial drums beat out the regimental structure as both the orchestra and recorded War Pigs signature riffs play off on each other, Tony Iommi acting as music consultant. Lighting designer, K.J, does structural manipulations of laser-beam frisson any stadium band would die for. Link to comment
dirac Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 A review of BalletX by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times. Quote For its program at the Joyce Theater in Manhattan, which began on Wednesday, BalletX offered a trio of recent works, including an older dance by Neenan and a pair of New York premieres, both from 2022, by Jennifer Archibald and Jamar Roberts. The choreography had a certain angle, a certain point of departure — even a certain splashiness — but it remained less than memorable. Link to comment
dirac Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 The president of Cincinnati Ballet departs just days after its recently appointed artistic director. Quote The timing of the departures is not the sort of thing that suggests institutional stability. But Altman insists the company is as stable as it has been at any time during its 60-year history. Link to comment
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