Archive for matthew murphy
November 6, 2007 at 12:53 am · Filed under dance, rehearsal, studio, dancers, 890 broadway, photography, american ballet theatre, photographs, MATTHEW, matthew murphy
Well it seems as if the hundreds of photos I took over the past few weeks have dwindled down to this final post offering a peek inside the ABT studios. I hope that everyone has enjoyed looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking and sharing them. After having my first taste of dance photography, I can honestly say it’s one of the more difficult things I’ve ever done.
I took so many pictures during the rehearsals for Benjamin Millipied’s new ballet “From Here On Out,” but these are the final ones I have to share. If you’re on the other side of the country (to the coast where I’ll be journeying soon), you’re in luck because this piece (as well as many other fantastic rep pieces) will be performed this week in Berkeley. PICK UP YOUR TICKETS TODAY!!!
(Isabella Boylston and Hee Seo await the arrival of the blurry boys.)
(The girls during one of the large group sections.)
(Bella and Maria Ricetto await the arrival of…)
(The amazing flying Hallberg. Seriously, this ain’t right.)
(I love this picture of Hee, even though half of her arm is missing in action.)
(Thom Forster does some partnering.)
(Where did the other girl go?!)
(Simone and Bella showing of their fifth positions.)
(One of my favorite pictures. David and Bella in a flurry of movement.)
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October 19, 2007 at 4:43 am · Filed under dance, 890 broadway, MATTHEW, matthew murphy
I got a little snap happy the other day when I arrived at 890 Broadway, so I decided to split the “Fall River Legend” shots into two groups.
One of the things that I have found most interesting about playing around with dance photography is how little idea I get for the actual piece. I’m so focused on capturing individual moments that my brain doesn’t end up piecing them together. It ends up being a string of Christmas lights with only a few bulbs illuminated. Perhaps the more I photograph, the more I will be able to process both the individual moments and the entire piece. I guess only time will tell. Enjoy!
(Michele Wiles, Georgina Parkinson and Vitali Krauchenka eerily rock in their chairs.)
(The artistic staff is always watching closely and taking notes.)
(Sometimes the dancers watch closely. We have to become good at taking mental notes.)
(Michele and Isaac Stappas run through their pas de deux.)
(”Would you like my flowers?”)
(”Never. You know I only like tulips.”)
(”Okay, fine, I’ll take your flowers.”)
(Maria Bystrova views the flower debauchery from the back corner of studio 5.)
Much more coming soon!
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October 4, 2007 at 3:39 pm · Filed under dance, MATTHEW, matthew murphy
I’m having an intense love/hate relationship with dance right now on several levels. First, there is the fact that since I’ve not been able to dance much, if at all, over the past six months, watching it is slightly masochistic. So much of my life includes being around dancers, and studying dance that cutting it out of my life completely is nearly impossible. I can’t and I don’t really want to. Then there is the fact that over the past three shows I’ve seen at Fall for Dance (with my final one being tonight) some of the pieces I have loved and others I have hated (too strong of a word.) Like I said in my first post, the glory of a $10 ticket is that you don’t get too upset being disappointed with certain things.
Last night I took my friend Sam, a student at Juilliard, and headed to City Center mainly to support the FANTASTIC Keigwin and Company. A close friend of mine, Nicole Wolcott, is the Associate Artistic Director and I’ve been lucky enough to see this tight knit group of dancers perform several times over the past year. They’ve slowly been building their reputation and I was ecstatic to see a packed house at City Center respond so warmly to their performance of the stellar “Love Songs.”
The piece consists of six duets (three couples each performing two) to the music of Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin, and Nina Simone. One of my favorite things about Keigwin’s work is his unusual choice of music and how even though he uses a lot of “popular music” he never recedes into competition dance land. There’s an underlying humor to all of his pieces and from the woman (a fierce Liz Riga) clinging to a man (Marcus Bellamy) much smaller than her, for dear life, to a man tearing the skirt off of his partner to reveal her underwear, Keigwin always manages to make it endearing. Nicole and Larry took the two more mature duets, which exposed the more innovative partnering. Nicole is still my goddess and she looked as fabulous as ever. The third couple was the winning combination of Patrick Ferreri and Ying-Ying Shiau. They had the first and last duets and the progression through them displayed what “Love Songs” is all about. In their first duet, they go through basic ballet port de bras and rarely touch each other, or emote for that matter. They stand staring at each other and a simple crook of the head lets us know of their inquisitive devotion. By the last duet, which brought the house down, they are jumping ecstatically in the air with their fingers exploding in every direction. It’s exactly the kind of feeling you get when you watch wonderful dance, or experience wonderful love.
(Packed lounge at intermission.)
(They were serving Indian food which smelled amazing.)
(But we were too busy playing with my new camera to bother with food.)
(Sam shows the camera some love.)
While a piece like that can make me love dance, watching things of a more classical style is difficult because it reminds me of how much I’m missing by being out of our season. The first piece of the evening, “Cornered” by Royal Ballet of Flanders, had some breathtaking moments of partnering but didn’t gel as much as I had hoped. The dancers, especially the women, were gorgeous and the choreography, by Nicole Fonte, with its frequent leg extensions allowed us to gawk at the wonderful shapes they created. I really loved the music, a combination of Philip Glass, Ross Edwards and Gavin Bryars, which fit together perfectly. Even though a part of me was screaming inside watching something so close to the work I would be doing, it’s a testament to the power of dance that for brief flickers through some of the wonderful partnering, I would completely forget about how terrible I feel.
The other two pieces of the evening were Damien Woetzel performing Jerome Robbin’s “A Suite of Dances,” and Urban Bush Women’s “Batty Moves.” Having grown up watching Woetzel and idolizing him, it’s always a treat to see him dance. Urban Bush Women got the crowd going after Woetzel’s more subdued piece with their impressive gyrations and sass. It literally had the crowd whistling and hollering throughout the piece. I felt like they didn’t dance as much as I would have liked, but when they did it was great to see a style that I have no knowledge of.
I’m going back for my final evening tonight with a special guest….here’s a hint: they are part of the blogging universe. Who will it be?!
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October 1, 2007 at 1:41 am · Filed under dance, 890 broadway, MATTHEW, matthew murphy
In the past few days I’ve been trying to come up with fun new ideas for my blogs. Seeing as The Winger aims to give a glimpse into the lives of dancers, I was trying to think along the lines of giving fans a way to know their favorite dancers away from the stage. Along came: Dancer Trading Cards!
When I was a child, I can think of nothing I would have liked more than to have trading cards of performing artists. The local gas station only sold Sports cards, and while I had an extensive X-Men collection, it still wasn’t quite the same. So over the next few months, I’ll be posting the very first (as far as I know) Dancer Trading Cards! Along with each card, the dancer will answer 15 Facts about themselves to give a glimpse into the person behind the dancer. I hope everyone enjoys! First up? Mr. Blaine Hoven.
1. Favorite New York Location:SOHO and Central Park
2. Favorite Restaurant: Houstons
3. If you could be on place in the world right now, where would it be? Amsterdam
4. Performance that changed your life: Performing Twyla Tharps In the Upper Room
5. Favorite Band: Maroon 5
6. Biggest Guilty Pleasure Movie: Bring it On
7. Favorite Book: Kite Runner
8. Favorite Comfort Food: Cheese Grits and Mashed Potatos
9. Childhood Idol: Blaine Wilson, Gymnast.
10. Favorite Role to Dance: The adagio in Stanton Welch’s “Clear”
11. Who would you want to play you in a movie? Johnny Depp
12. Favorite Artist: Keith Harring
13. Favorite Historical Era: The 80’s
14. If You Weren’t a Dancer, what would you be? Engineer
15. Where do you see yourself in 20 years? Designing roller coasters for six flags or any amusement company.
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September 28, 2007 at 8:36 pm · Filed under dance, 890 broadway, matt murphy, MATTHEW, matthew murphy
Today I headed up to 890 Broadway to peek into rehearsals for the upcoming City Center season. It’s frustrating not being a part of yet another season, but I feel like I’ve come to terms with the situation.
One of the hardest things about showing up is running into countless people and having to endlessly explain how I am doing, etc. I’ve thought about making a shirt that just lists all the improvements and current problems, as it would make my life a lot easier. Once I get past the “sick” business, I’m always so happy to see my friends. After being in rehearsals with them constantly year round, it’s been tough not seeing the smiling (or sometimes brooding) faces of my fellow dancers. We took a little photo to share with everyone!
(Alex Hammoudi, Blaine Hoven, Isabella Boylston and Jackie Reyes keep me company in the dancer’s lounge.)
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September 27, 2007 at 7:45 pm · Filed under dance, matt murphy, MATTHEW, matthew murphy
Oh, Fall For Dance, how I’ve awaited your arrival! It’s that time of year again, the time where you can test out your tastes in dance and not cry if you leave slightly disappointed; after all, you’ve only spent $10 on a ticket. In the dance and theater world’s current state, with prices sometimes soaring into the triple digits, it’s hard to not feel like you absolutely MUST enjoy what you spend your money on. If you’re trying to save a dime (and who isn’t in this city?) venturing into the unknown can be nearly impossible. Then, along came City Center’s brilliant festival “Fall For Dance” which started last night in New York City.
(Yes, I realize this is last year’s poster. I forgot my camera last night so this will have to do. Plus Terry, pictured above, was my date!)
Last year I attended three performances, and this year I’ll go for four. I’ll have the chance to cheer on some old favorites and perhaps find some new ones along the way. Getting tickets to this sold out, two-week sample platter of companies from around the world is a tedious process to say the least. From the minute tickets go on sale, the traffic on the website makes it all but impossible to get through. Everyone is hungry for a bargain, and from the air in the sold out theater last night, anticipation for this year’s festival is higher than ever before.
After herding into the front of the 56th street entrance like a group of sheep that had lost their Shepard, my friend Terry and I finally made it to our seats. City Center is notorious for their frustrating sightlines and from the back of the mezzanine I found myself constantly bobbing back and forth to peer past the various heads of hair in front of me. This all made the grandmother sitting next to me very anxious, as did every other movement or breathe that came from the surrounding area. It started by her asking me repeatedly if my phone was off (I assured her it was) and then telling the group behind me, who were whispering as the lights went down, to “Simmer down.” For a moment I thought I’d stepped into a taping of Saturday Night Live circa 1999, but once Paul Taylor took the stage, I realized Cheri O’ Terri was nowhere in sight.
I’m not especially familiar with Taylor’s choreography (the last time I saw his company perform was in 2005) but the piece presented last night, “Arden Court,” was not my favorite work of his I’ve seen. Containing a group of shirtless men, who fly across the stage executing consecutive jumps, the piece is highly musical and contained some breathtaking partnering once the women joined in. It was a solid opening piece, a vintage work from 1981 by one of the country’s foremost dance makers, but it went on a little bit too long for my taste.
After a brief pause, the Kirov Ballet’s “Middle Duet,” began. Ever since Alexei Ratmansky’s created a piece for City Ballet last season (which prompted one of my favorite reviews ever by Joan Acocella in the New Yorker) I’ve been eager to see this much-touted choreographer’s work. Bathed in a prison grid of light, Ekaterina Kondaurova and Islom Baimurandov executed the stark and angular choreography beautifully. They seemed locked within their own prison of partnership, only escaping each other towards the end of the piece. Kondaurova had gorgeous lines and an icy stare towards the audience that worked well with the starkness of the piece.
During intermission, Terry and I worked our way through the crowd down to the lounge that is set up for Fall for Dance. What I love so much about this festival is the diversity that you see in the crowd. There are the people spanning all ages and an excitement in the air that sometimes gets forgotten in the dance community.
When we returned to our seats, I was starting to get anxious because I knew that there was only one piece left before we got to “Deuce Coupe,” the main reason I had bought tickets for the night. The piece that was the only thing in the way, ended up providing the type of surprise that only Fall for Dance can bring.
The curtain came up, and lining the wings on stage right was a group of musicians who began some entrancing Indian music. Alone upstage was Shantala Shivalingappa, looking radiant in bright pink traditional costuming. What began as minute gestures in which she was able to emphasize every flourish of the music with her fingertips and rib isolations, quickly escalated to an alarmingly fast, sometimes frenetic, type of movement that was egged on by the wonderful music. I was amazed and enthralled by how perfect her technique was, every bit as particular as the most classical ballet dancers, and how mesmerizing she was on the stage by herself. For me, she was hands down the surprise of the night and the audience responded very warmly. Her performance, an excerpt from “Varnam,” went on slightly too long, but it was still very beautiful.
With the conclusion of “Varnam,” there was only one more piece left on the opening night bill, Twyla Tharp’s 1973 hit “Deuce Coupe,” set to the music of the Beach Boys. This ballet brings up so many memories of my freshman year at NCSA and I was eager to see it again, almost seven years later.
(This photo has nothing to do with last night, other than that it was taken backstage at City Center. I know…it’s a stretch.)
A collaboration between the modern and ballet departments, as well as ABT Studio Company, when it was performed my first year at boarding school, I remember thinking it was the epitome of cool. As an underclassman, I wasn’t given the opportunity to participate in it, which frustrated me to no end. It marked the first time (that I really remember) I had seen a ballet that combined ballet technique, modern abandon, and pop music to tremendous effect. On top of that, the dancers of ABT Studio Company were doing a residency at NCSA and I would constantly slip away from classes to gawk at them. Among those young dancers, were Misty Copeland, Patrick Ogle, Craig Salstein and our very own David Hallberg. Even though I had no interaction with them as an underclassman, I remember them vividly. Before arriving at the theater last night, I had told David that my first memory of him was during “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” in “Deuce Coupe” as he flew through the air in a grand jete forward. Sure enough, there is that exact moment in the choreography! For once, my brain wasn’t fooling me.
I was really interested going in last night to see how much my memory had built up the ballet over the past several years. With any art, sometimes there is a tendency to embellish certain things, and while this is true with my memory of “Deuce Coupe,” I still found it thrilling. Danced by the students of Juilliard, each section prompted memories of being a young impressionable dancer. The role of the ballerina was beautifully danced last night, but nothing can erase Misty Copeland’s gorgeous lines from being forever identified with that role.
What I love so much about “Deuce Coupe” is the juxtaposition of the classical vocabulary used in the central ballerina role to the reckless abandon of the other dancers. At once both a reflection of the juxtaposition of styles, and the loss of purity during the 1960’s, it’s interesting to see this ballet after “Movin Out.” There are many similarities and it again amazes me how well Tharp can use completely different styles of movement and music. From the sound of the Juilliard cheering squad in front of me, the audience was ecstatic at the conclusion of this ballet and it wrapped up what was otherwise, a fairly uneven night.
Even though there was some unevenness in the program, it still left me feeling excited about the dance community. Having so many different styles presented under one roof over the next few weeks is what the dance world should be all about; experiencing the new and influencing each other. Watching dance is rather hard for me right now, since I’m sidelined, but I still can’t wait to head back to City Center three more times! Perhaps I’ll see some of you there.
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