Archive for review
October 5, 2007 at 11:37 pm · Filed under dance, review, morphoses, christopher wheeldon, JUSTIN, fall for dance, justin peck, armitage gone!, ligeti, kyle abraham, trisha brown
Hey Readers! Alright, so I guess most of you know that I was Matt’s “mystery” guest at Fall for Dance last night (Wingers of the world, UNITE!). So yeah, we have a fun time watching the variety of dance that the festival had to offer. Also, they totally opened up the nose-bleed seats at City Center (which was where we sat)! I’ve never seen that happen before.
Matt and I—maybe a step up from the ‘Golden Girls’ photoshoot from Matt’s post (Maaaatt! You told me that if I dressed up as a 70-year-old woman, you would keep those photos private!)
One thing that I noticed was the immense support the audience seemed to have for all of the acts throughout the evening. I’m not sure if it was because of the tickets being just $10, or maybe because the entire audience truly loved every piece (somehow unlikely), but either way I think its great that there was such unconditional support from the audience. From a performer’s point of view, it really does make a huge difference and gives off a satisfying feeling of accomplishment.
Anyway, enough chatty-talk, here’s my recollection/review of the evening:
An Evening of Dance Tapas, for just $10
By Justin Peck
October 5, 2007
Each Fall For Dance performance at City Center showcases several dance companies back-to-back over the course of one evening. At yesterday’s performance, the Festival continued to present an exciting, wide-ranging variety of high with the low, sweet versus spicy, and even downright fresh as opposed to dieing-on-the-vine.
The evening began with Ligeti Essays, which was danced by the Armitage Gone! Dance Troupe. It was a series of modern dances set to Gyorgy Ligeti’s music that had poetry spoken along with it. The setting was an empty white stage with a blank, white tree mounted off-center, all of which conveyed a “Waiting for Godot”, existential type mood. The choreography, which includes a series of typically contemporary solos and pas de duex, was oriented towards expansive movement, but very often fell short of reaching its potential.
Following Legeti Essays, Inventing Pookie Jenkins, a solo danced and choreographed by Kyle Abraham, was performed. The solo was danced to rap music by Dizzee Rascal. The choreography combined an eclectic mix of hip-hop, ballet, and street dance. It began in silence with an adagio variation and progressed towards wholehearted movement involving Abraham’s entire body and soul. Although Abraham has some interesting conceptual ideas involving the fusion of multiple dance forms, the piece itself lacked the essential structure necessary for a dance act to be wholly effective.
If the first two pieces of the evening had any sort of main purpose in relation to the evening, it was to frame and accentuate the final dance of the first act. After the Rain, performed by Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company (Christopher Wheeldon’s new company, which is independent of New York City Ballet), was powerful and memorable. The piece consists of a contemporary pas de duex set to a serene adagio by Arvo Pärt.
Craig Hall and Wendy Whelan floated through the pas de duex with a true viscous quality. Although Jock Soto cannot be replaced (it was choreographed by Wheeldon specifically with him in mind), Craig Hall performed well as a tender partner and provided grounded support for Whelan at all the right moments. The only shortcoming was that the entire first half of After the Rain (the “rain” section) was excluded, thereby eliminating the significant, chaotic set-up prior to the tranquil pas de duex.
Act II began with Spanish Dance by the Trisha Brown Dance Company. It is set to a Bob Dylan rendition of “Early Morning Rain” by Gordon Lightfoot. Five girls stand in front of the lowered stage curtain swaying back-and-forth to this Bob Dylan song until they reach the right stage wing. The piece itself was light, breezy, and simple, although it didn’t convey much of an idea with respect to exactly what the strengths and overall style of this company is. I would have preferred Trisha Brown selecting a piece that more compellingly showcased her company.
The final dance of the evening was by the Noche Flamenca & Soledad Barrio. The piece, titled Martinete y Solea, was a sensual flamenco dance that took the audience on a journey through Spanish culture. These flamenco dancers were gushing with talent and could easily give Savion Glover a run for his money. The music, accompanied by Miguel Perez on the guitar and vocals, was very much fiery and alive. Adam Gabel provided effective lighting that made the entire venue feel more like a Spanish night club then an Opera House. Martinete y Solea was a perfect closing performance for the evening’s very much mixed smorgasbord of dance.
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April 14, 2007 at 11:02 am · Filed under Uncategorized, ballet, choreographers, dancers, costumes, KATE, scotland, review, dancing, performance, scottish ballet, jarkko lehmus, modern dance, choreography, glasgow, contemporary dance, poster
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| Posted by Kate Bordwell
It is many years since I have been to see the Scottish Ballet, and I was a little sceptical about seeing them again when I arrived at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal on Wednesday night. Why? Because the last time I saw them, in their tired Nutcracker production, I did not enjoy myself as I should have done. The old company - we are talking about the late 1990s here - seemed tired, stressed, shambolic. It was a company in need of care and attention, of rejuvination.
The company I saw on Wednesday was a company transformed. Under the artistic direction of Ashley Page since 2002 the Scottish Ballet has become a kind of hybrid ensemble, with a range of dancers suited to different types of dance, a spectrum with classical ballet at one end and contemporary at the other.
The programme was as follows. Balanchine’s Agon opened, and in this we were able to see the almost impeccable techniques of classical dancers Claire Robertson, Eve Mutso and Erik Cavallari. It was wonderful to see the choreography performed so well, but also in such good humour - what stood out for me most about the Scottish Ballet is that on the whole they appeared to be enjoying themselves - and I think that in the case of Agon, which strikes me as a very difficult piece to pull off well, having fun whilst doing it is the icing on the cake!
After the first interval we saw Othello, by the Scottish Ballet’s founder, Peter Darrell. It was very melodramatic. There was a pause, and the curtain opened to a different drama; Room of Cooks by Ashley Page. This was a contemporary piece based upon a painting by Stephen Chambers and the action took place around a kitchen table, and was danced by Diana Loosmore, Jarkko Lehmus and Paul Liburd. (Kristin has already bigged up Lehmus, who is another dance blogger.) These three dancers were well suited to the style, and Loosmore has recently won an award for her own choreography.
The programme closed with a piece which was worth the price of the ticket all by itself: Krzysztof Pastor’s In Light & Shadow. This began with a serene pas de deux danced to the opening of Bach’s beautiful piano work The Goldberg Variations, and everything was gorgeous for five minutes. Then suddenly all the dancers (16?) appeared on the stage in wonderful and strange colourful costumes (two of which are pictured above) and the music changed to a vibrant Bach orchestral piece and I witnessed the most exuberant and joyful dancing I had seen in quite some time. It was in this we could see the variety of talents on display - from the strength of Lehmus and Liburd to the delicacy and precision of dancers such as Tomomi Sato and Sophie Martin. All were graceful - it was like being instructed in the many faces of grace and joy. A perfect piece for the diversity and range represented by the company’s dancers. I absolutely loved it and want to see it again soon.
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February 18, 2007 at 7:18 pm · Filed under backstage, london, american ballet theater, review, twyla tharp, abt, david hallberg, alex wong
Posted by Sloan
In a recent review of one of ABT’s London Tour Programs, the Observer’s Luke Jennings calls out David Hallberg for his “soaring line [that] takes absolute possession of the stage space.” in Twyla Tharps In The Upper Room. Read the full article here.
For David’s own thoughts and backstage photos from NYC performances of In the Upper Room click here.
And for Miami City Ballet’s Alex Wong reporting on his experience in the same ballet click here.
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December 4, 2006 at 9:02 am · Filed under dance, dance event, CATHY, brazil, modern, review
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| Posted by Cathy
This weekend the Compañía Nacional de Danza, directed by the choreographer Nacho Duato, was here in São Paulo and I went to the theatre to check it out. I was really curious to see his works, as I had heard a lot about them. Plus, it was another opportunity to see more of modern dance, and now, the more I can watch, the more I like and learn to appreciate it.
Nacho Duato has been their artistic director since 1990, and what he wanted was to innovate, and create an identity to this company. So, he added to the repertory many of his creations and works by Jiri Kylian, Forsythe, and many of the nowadays world-renowned choreographers.
The evening consisted in three choreographies, all of them by Duato: Por vos muero, Castrati and White Darkness.
Por vos muero is a work that was inspired by the Spanish Music from the XV and XVI centuries, Spain’s golden age, and also poetry by Garcilaso de La Vega.
The women were in dresses with very long and big skirts and the men in shorts. The music was very nice, and the choreography was light, soft, and beautiful. There were several small pas de deux and also the whole group dancing together.
Castrati is about male sopranos who suffered the castration during puberty in order to keep it as a soprano, so it would never get mature. They were common in italy during the 16,17 and 18 centuries.
A very interesting theme to explore in a choreography, and I must say, the result was a very very strong choreography only with men. They entered the stage wearing black outfits, and showed their powerful technique. The audience was in awe and moved. The language used in it to show this process made the suffering so clear in the dancers face and movements, and the choreography was fast and demanding. It was actually my favorite in the night. It was the kind of thing that you simply can’t take your eyes off, and you start to feel it with the dancers. It was quite magical.
The company has very good dancers and their technique is really clean and well worked.
White Darkness ended the evening with emotion and a lot to think about. A very polemic theme: the drugs and their effects over the society.
Indeed, all I can say is that it really makes us think about.
The music is by Karl Jenkins. It starts with a beautiful long-limbed dancer running across the stage to reach the powder that came from the ceiling. She tries it and is immediately affected: other dancers enter the stage, make crazy steps, and then, they also run towards the drug that was lying on the floor.
From this part to the end, it is shown how that woman becomes completely dependent on the drug, and the choreography gradually becomes something sad and dark.
The finale was the peak of the entire day: the same dancer under a rain of a lot of powder over her head, and it doesn’t stop and the light is just on her.
I believe now that dance can bring to us subjects like this for example, that is present in everywhere in this world, and although being polemic and painful, all it did was to make us think. How a single choice can change a person’s life forever (and also the people around this person), the consequences, and if there’s a way to solve it or not, and many other unanswered questions.
What I liked is how he didn’t show HIS point of view: he created a whole situation and the audience was the one responsible to judge and make its own perception over the subject.
And once again I was amazed by modern dance. And in this evening it was clear that it’s a language that has no limits, how you can create dance over any subject.
This image was an attempt to get Nacho. Didn’t work very well though as my camera is still acting weird
| | Posted by Cathy
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October 19, 2006 at 1:36 am · Filed under ballet, SUSAN, review
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Photo by Patrick Herrera
| | Posted by Susan
The Kirov Ballet is in town.
Well, really, the Kirov Ballet, Orchestra and Opera have all been in residence at the Orange County Performing Arts Center for almost the whole of October. Their stay at the Center has been integrated with the Center’s opening of the newly built and recently opened Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.
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OCPAC
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Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall
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I, for one, could not be more thrilled about the (resulting) Mariinsky Festival. Contemporary ballet and modern dance can be interesting and captivating in their own ways, but I’ve long ago discovered that nothing tickles my senses and piques my fancy as much as the more classical, full-length ballet does.
So, last night, I altered my usual route and routine at the very last minute; instead of heading to the studio to take class, I headed to the theatre to watch a ballet. (Mind you, this is, so far, a rare luxury in Southern California. Watching a ballet at one’s whim is not an ordinary treat here. Yet. Someday, hopefully, we will get there.)
Lucky for me, the Kirov opened their OCPAC run with one of my favourites: “Ромео и Джульетта” (”Romeo and Juliet”).
Diana Vishneva, ever beautiful and full of boundless energy and endless extensions, revealed, as Juliet, her infinite prowess at acting. Not even when the side of her knee suddenly bled a vibrant red spot through her tights in the last Act could she, or her audience, be distracted. She remained steadfastly heartbroken and deeply (and madly) in love with her Romeo, danced by Andrian Fadeev. The pair were beautifully star-cross’d lovers.
And how can anyone watch “Romeo and Juliet” without falling in love with Mercutio? Leonid Sarafanov was truly spectacular in the role.
The company performed the ballet as it was choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky in 1940. It was distinctly different, sometimes only slightly, sometimes very significantly. I didn’t know what to expect, but I think it was better than others at certain moments and not quite as appealing as some at other points.
What I do know for sure is that my heart broke a little last night. Still, I left the theatre having fallen back in love with love. And romance. Я люблю любовь.
Oh, boy. 
After reading this, can you imagine what a mess I’ll be after watching their “Лебединое озеро” (”Swan Lake”) on Saturday?
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October 10, 2006 at 7:08 pm · Filed under ballet, dance, choreographers, dance event, dancers, music, musicians, composers, MICHAEL, review
Posted by Michael
For those craving a dose of New York City Ballet, those who didn’t make it to Saratoga Springs in July, who won’t be hopping a plane to Chicago this month, who weren’t big enough donors to get a seat at the Sept. 29th Choreographic Institute workshop, and who just couldn’t possibly wait till the opening night Gala in Novemeber, “New Ballet Choreographers” at Columbia U’s MIller Theater in mid-September provided the needed fix. New works by NYCB’s Edwaard Liang and Tom Gold, and former ABT member Brian Reeder were the bill of fare.
The dimensions of the Miller provide a more intimate experience for performer and audience member. A smaller proscenium stage, live music close at hand, and audible footfall and limb-against-floor sound removes a bit of the fourth wall one is accustom to at the NY State Theatre(with apologies to Mr. B!!). And it allowed a chance to see some principal dancers’ work up close and personal.
This was the closing performance, a saturday eve, with a sold-out, age-diverse crowd eager to see some fresh stuff, a crowd somewhat familiar with City Ballet. My wife and I(Telefundraising Manager for NYCB Guild) were smack first row, right-center aisle; with the first violinist’s bow so close it tickled my fancy on numerous occasions.
As I scanned the audience looking for familiar faces, I spotted Ed Liang pacing a bit against the back wall, like a nervous dad.
Read the rest of this entry »
Recent Posts by kristin sloan
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