Saturday, September 21

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Q&A with Misty Copeland in Fast Company.

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To discuss a different form of storytelling, you often underscore that storytelling is the heart of your art form and asked a powerful question: “How do you tell a story when you’re not able to use voice, dialogue, or words—all through [a] technique that a majority of the people don’t know?” How do you answer that question and then become your characters in a way that feels ethereal? 

It’s all rooted in honesty . . . To me, it’s always been [about] being as human as possible, which might seem easy for any person (we are human, of course, that’s easy). But, it takes skill and honesty, a groundedness and a commitment, to use this incredible technique and art form—with the history, baggage, [and] tradition that comes with it—and bring it back to humanity. Also, bringing it back to where we are in society today because this art form is very old.

 

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A review of New York City Ballet's season opener by Mary Cargill for danceviewtimes.com.

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NYCB’s opening night, called “Masters at Work” featured ballets by Balanchine and Robbins and could have been called “Masters at Play”, since the choreography (and the dancing) looked effortless, as if it just poured out of these masters while listening to the music.  The oldest work, “Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2”, began life as “Ballet Imperial” in 1941.  It has shed its regal trappings, though the majestic music and the formal choreography can't help but hark back to St. Petersburg.  The shiny newish costumes though (designed by Marc Happel in 2019) seem to look forward to a more modern commercial approach, since they were created, to quote the program “with with generous support of Swarovski”, and sports thousands of crystals.  

 

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A review of the first "Fall for Dance" program by Mary Cargill for danceviewtimes.com.

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The Fall for Dance Festival at City Center is 21 years old this year and, based on the rapturous audience reception on opening night, shows no sign of slowing down.  Ticket prices have increased from $10 to $30, still an incredible bargain.  The opening night program featured the usual eclectic mix; a classical company, a solo, and a modern work.  The valiant National Ballet of Ukraine brought the New York premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s 2022 “Wartime Elegy”, Aaron Bell of American Ballet Theatre danced Tiler Peck’s “Piano Songs”, co-commissioned by Fall for Dance and the Vail Dance Festival, and the innovative modern dance company Gallim danced “Sama”, choreographed by its director Andrea Martin in 2019 for the Juilliard School and the British company Rambert2.

 

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A review of the Paul Taylor Dance Company by Leigh Witchel for dancelog.nyc.

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Instead of toppling the walls of the temple, what if Samson decided to hold a fundraiser instead? That might have been similar to the closing performance of the 150th anniversary celebration season at the 92NY, where Paul Taylor Dance Company came back to the Y after almost 67 years. It was a scene. Alan Cumming hosted. Adrian Danchig-Waring, Alicia Graf Mack and Damian Woetzel guested. And the main event was a staged semi-lec-dem, semi-documentary of Paul Taylor’s infamous performance of Seven New Dances done at this theater in 1957.