dirac Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 A review of the Bolshoi Ballet by Ilona Landgraf in "Landgraf on Dance." Quote There’s no need to discuss how Fokine’s choreography was performed. The Bolshoi is a guarantor of sublime performances. Indeed, the unity of the corps was nothing less than staggering; every step was measured yet effortless like an outpouring of natural decency. Perfect proportions soothed the eye. As the leading sylphs, Anastasia Stashkevich, Elizaveta Kruteleva, and Anastasia Denisova paid great attention to detail, adding the right tinge of buoyancy, melancholy, or playfulness to their solos. Vyacheslav Lopatin’s poet combined sensitivity and decisiveness. His clean and – at times mighty – jumps earned applause. Alyona Pikalova’s set design – an arch of gnarled treetops opening onto a sunny water meadow – invited the mind to dream. Link to comment
dirac Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 A review of New York City Ballet by Mary Cargill in danceviewtimes.com. Quote It was an unfortunate scheduling coincidence that the opening ballet, Jerome Robbins’ “Opus 19/The Dreamer”, also featured a man alone (Taylor Stanley) dreaming, this time about a woman (Unity Phelan). Robbins set his work to Sergei Prokofiev’s “Violin Concerto No. 1 (presumably the work is Robbins’ 19th ballet), a moody, piercing work, admirably played by Kurt Nikkanen. Stanley had several long, moody, piercing solos, full of reaching arms, flowing shapes, and extended arabesques, and Phelan alternated angular, commanding shapes with some elegant floating. Both danced very well, but the work does go on in one lugubrious moan, and they gave it more than it gave them. Link to comment
dirac Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 A preview of Alonzo King's "Deep River" by Gia Kourlas in The New York Times. Quote That can seem like a lot to put into a dance. But “Deep River” is driven by more than choreographic invention. When he was speaking to the composer Jason Moran about the score for “Deep River,” King told him that it needed to be deeply soulful and heartbreaking. “I want it to get past intellect and touch people’s hearts,” King said. “To wake them up.” Link to comment
dirac Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 A story on Utah's special connection to "The Nutcracker." Quote “It is the first full-length ‘Nutcracker’ created here in the United States by our founder, Willam Christensen, for San Francisco Ballet in 1944,” Scolamiero said. Willam Christensen, a Utah native, founded the San Francisco Ballet. His version of “The Nutcracker” became an annual Utah tradition in 1955. Link to comment
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