Saturday, August 3

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The Ballet of the Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre revisits "The Snow Maiden."

 

The While rarely performed on Western stages, The Snow Maiden is a fixture of Russian culture. This season, on the occasion of Ostrovsky’s and his piece’s anniversary, the Bolshoi Theatre premiered a new version, and the Stanislavsky Ballet revived Vladimir Bourmeister’s 1963 choreography. Both are set to Tchaikovsky’s score. At the invitation of the DANCEINVERSION International Festival of Contemporary Dance (which is directed at the Bolshoi Theatre by Irina Chernomurova), six choreographers from all over Russia were able to realize their interpretations of Ostrovsky’s fairy tale. Two of them—Irina Kononova and Alyona Britvak—worked with the Krasnoyarsk Ballet. Their one-act ballets premiered in March as part of the double bill, Snow Maiden. Myth and Reality.

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The Nutmeg Ballet's Mouse Captain makes an appearance at a Christmas in July event.

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This winter, the Nutmeg Ballet will again perform "The Nutcracker" in the longest-consecutively running production of this holiday classic in Connecticut, according to members. The performances will be at the Warner Theatre in downtown Torrington on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15. 

 

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Maine State Ballet presents "A Midsummer Night's Dream.'

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With mismatched lovers in the hands of mischievous supernatural beings, things can get a little messy and, in choreographer Linda MacArthur Miele’s high-spirited ballet “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” based on the classic Shakespearean comedy, they do. It’s a tale about the vagaries of love and dozens of professional and student dancers take the stage to tell the story of how immersion in the mysteries of life can both confuse and, maybe, save the day.

 

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Aspen Santa Fe Ballet hosts Parsons Dance.

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He credits one of his early pieces, “Caught,” which debuted in 1982, for propelling him into the dance world as a choreographer. The innovative — and mesmerizing — piece employs a perfectly timed strobe light catching a solo dancer midair, making it appear as though the dancer is literally floating across the stage. The precision needed to time the seemingly still-life moment is measured in inches: If a dancer’s legs aren’t fully extended when the strobe illuminates her, the illusion is marred. Add to that the fact that there’s no rhythmic beat to hit each mid-air pose due to the atonal music, and it makes the feat even harder to pull off impeccably, as Parsons Dance artists have, time and time again, throughout the decades. Clocking 100 jumps in five minutes, “Caught” is just one of the compelling works Aspen audiences can look forward to on Saturday.

 

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Margot Fonteyn remembered by Gary Smith in The Hamilton Spectator.

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A few moments later, she incredibly returned and walked down those same steps as the young Hannah.

 

A costume change, a fall added to her hair, perhaps a little more eye makeup, all helped make the transition. But it was more than that. It was nothing so obvious. It was nothing to do with tricks. It was something she did to lighten her body, to create an aura of youth.