Monday, June 10

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A review of the Royal Ballet by Siobhan Murphy for The Stage.

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....No less a figure than Ashton’s original Oberon, Anthony Dowell, has been coaching the dancers, and there’s a sparkle to the whole enterprise. Francesca Hayward and Marcelino Sambé bring sizzle to their Oberon and Titania, as their tussle over a changeling child leads to mix-ups, magic and romantic misadventures. The distilled narrative is beautifully drawn, with every gesture playing its part, but for unalloyed storytelling skill, Vadim Muntagirov’s achingly expressive turn as Oberon is one to watch, with Lauren Cuthbertson as his decorously stately queen of the fairies. Elsewhere, the Japanese first artist Daichi Ikarashi’s dazzling, firecracker dancing as Puck practically steals the show.

 

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 A brief business article on how Michael Pink raised the funds for a new production of "The Nutcracker."

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In spring 2022, when the $5 million capital campaign was reinvigorated, funds raised covered the design, build and maintenance of the new “Nutcracker,” and supported the “Give Back to Milwaukee Fund,” so families with limited means could attend.

 

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A review of the Sarasota Ballet in London by Leigh Witchel for dancelog.nyc.

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The dancers hit their stride in Dante Sonata, where they threw away polite correctness and went for broke. Lauren Ostrander as the female leader of the Children of Darkness, and Jennifer Hackbarth as that of the Children of Light had a fabulous Battle of the Blonds seeing who could chew more scenery. The work, from 1940 is an emotionally charged rumination about World War II. It makes no sense to underplay it, and Ostrander was amped, playing her part like a vigorous combination of Carabosse and Madge.

Review of the company by Matthew Paluch for Broadway World.

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Varii Capricci (1983) premiered in New York City 41 years ago, but the current feel is much more Floridian nights. At the Linbury the original David Hockney sets have been replaced with neon projections of palm trees, and I'm afraid the overall impression is one of dated naffness.

 

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Susan Jaffe talks about the challenges facing American Ballet Theatre.

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Jaffe said she did not hesitate to take on the executive director position. “When something is falling off a ledge, you just grab it,” she said. “You don’t even think about it.”

As executive director, Jaffe has worked to expand the audience for Ballet Theater’s offerings and to build a new base of donors.

“We want to create the vibrancy and financial stability that the company deserves,” she said.

 

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Jean-Pierre Frohlich and Christine Redpath talk about preserving the ballet legacy of Jerome Robbins.

https://www.playbill.com/article/jean-pierre-frohlich-and-christine-redpath-remember-jerome-robbins

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What does that legacy entail, beyond the steps themselves? “Robbins ballets are wonderful for helping young dancers to develop,” says Frohlich. “When I teach his ballets, I always say, ‘I’m giving you the box, or the parameters, but you wrap the box. Come in with some ideas.” This readiness to impart his knowledge of the choreographer’s oeuvre—and the dancers’ enthusiastic embrace thereof—is a steady source of inspiration for Frohlich as new generations rise within the Company’s ranks. Interplay, Robbins’ 1945 follow-up to Fancy Free, takes the stage this spring after a five-year absence, along with Glass Pieces and Other Dances. “When I would travel to stage his pieces, I would call Jerry and ask, ‘What version do you want me to teach?’” recalls Frohlich. “He would say, ‘The version that looks best on them.’ When you teach his ballets, you’re always rethinking and reinventing. It’s as though you’re experiencing the piece for the first time, even though you’ve staged or danced it before. You’re teaching another generation or another group of dancers, and different ideas come.”

 

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The Queensland Ballet presents Coppélia .

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Queensland Ballet’s reimagined Coppélia could well change the minds of those who regard the 150-year-old classic as having limited appeal for modern adult audiences.

That perception may be one reason why it gets aired less frequently these days than in prior generations; then Coppélia was a childhood staple that often provided a first live encounter with ballet.

 

Related.

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The introductory animation by team Pixel Frame was both clever and involving. It not only provided explanation for the eventual creation of Coppelia, it highlighted the perils of the immigrant’s voyage to Australia. In this case, German immigrants coming to South Australia, where they founded the village of Hahndorf and carried on with cultural traditions.

 

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A review of the Royal Ballet and Sarasota Ballet's Ashton programs by Louise Levene in The Financial Times.

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The Florida company was founded in 1987, but it was only in 2007, under the direction of former Royal Ballet dancer Iain Webb, that the emphasis shifted to Ashton. The repertoire now includes 30 pieces, 11 of which have been brought to London. These seldom-seen works and extracts are a reminder of Ashton’s stylistic range — everything from the barefoot expressionism of Dante Sonata to the revue-like gaiety of Façade.

 

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A review of the Sarasota Ballet by Graham Watts for Bachtrack.

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The middle act was prefaced by a mesmerising performance of Dance of the Blessed Spirits by The Royal Ballet’s Joseph Sissens, displaying an abundance of elegance and strength coupled with a complete absence of any visible strain. This composed and breath-taking tour de force was followed by a chic performance of Varii Capricci, made in 1983 when Ashton was almost 80. Rhodes returned to do double duty as the cool beach-boy, hooking up with cocktail girl Jennifer Hackbarth, although was it him or the sunglasses that she was really after? The profound influence on Ashton of the works of Bronislava Nijinska is very clear to see in this sophisticated work with designs by Ossie Clark and music by Sir William Walton.