Tuesday, June 18

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A preview of American Ballet Theatre's summer season.

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While some of the ballets are literal visualizations of the tales that inspired them, others present a more abstract exploration of the source texts’ themes and ideas. Either way, as ABT’s Associate Artistic Director Clinton Luckett told Observer, “there will be great storytelling through great dancing.”

 

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A review of the National Ballet of Canada in "Jewels" by Paula Citron for Ludvig Van Toronto.

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Principal dancer Siphesihle November was not unexpected in the leading male role given his technical prowess, and he did not disappoint, particularly when he tossed off his wickedly fast turns as he exited the stage at one point in the piece.

The surprise for me was principal dancer Koto Ishihara, she of exquisite grace, whom I would have cast in Emeralds. Nonetheless, here she was using her superb technique to execute all the Balanchineisms that come hurtling a mile a minute at the dancers. Precision is the key, which Ishihara has in spades.

 

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Milwaukee choreographer Dawn Springer talks about challenging ballet's gender norms. (Radio interview)

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However, ballet also has ties to heteronormativity. Originating in the royal courts of the Renaissance, ballet reinforced strict masculine and feminine stereotypes, with male dancers portraying strong, dominant figures while female dancers embodied grace and passivity. Classic ballets often center around heterosexual romances, and training, costuming and presentation emphasize gender distinctions — further embedding these norms.

 

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Ballet Theatre Company of West Hartford, CT reverts to being a school only.

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West Hartford’s Ballet Theatre Company was founded in 1999 as a ballet school – producing a spring show and contracting with a few professional dancers for the students’ holiday season performances of The Nutcracker – but an aggressive expansion several years ago to incorporate a professional company ultimately proved unsustainable and that operation has been dissolved while the organization is regrouping and returning to its roots.

 

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Yasmine Naghdi talks about the benefits of receiving coaching from a sports psychologist.

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At 32, and a principal dancer since 2017, this was hardly her first rodeo. Was she surprised by the spiking anxiety? “I saw it coming,” she admits. “Dancers are known for striving for perfection. When I’ve done a performance that was under my expectations, I hold on to it. It’s tormenting.”

 

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A review of the Royal Ballet by Leigh Witchel for dancelog.nyc.

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Brahms Waltzes is one of Ashton’s more fascinating miniatures because it takes the salon qualities of both the music and Duncan’s performances and scales them up to an opera house. Drop Osipova on to that and the scaling becomes, well, it was pretty pumped up.

Osipova embodied Duncan, if Duncan were a major Russian ballerina. Whose name was Natalia Osipova. That is to say it had very little to do with Duncan, or Ashton. Every port de bras was a declamatory shout, every movement filled with drama drama DRAMA.