Audacity of Dance
If there’s anybody who embodies ‘rizz’—charisma in today’s coolspeak—it’s dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker Benjamin Millepied.
Continue ReadingWorld-class review of ballet and dance.
In summarizing Sir Frederick Ashton’s oeuvre in 1961, celebrated critic Clive Barnes writes, “For all this his ballets are best seen from above.” In Covent Garden, Barnes continues, his favorite seat from which to view Ashton’s work is “from gallery right at the top of the house.” Although New York City audiences had the chance to catch a rare glimpse of Ashton’s choreography last week, thanks to Sarasota Ballet, the venue—the Joyce Theater—lacked the depth and perspective to really do his ballets justice. With its unadulterated sight lines, the intimacy of the Joyce is usually a joy for viewers. But when it comes to bejeweled costumes, intricate formations, and complex footwork, a little bit more space between the audience and performers (and the performers themselves, who often seemed at risk of tour jeté-ing into one another) might have helped to smooth out the kinks, and bring the entirety of Ashton’s vision to life.
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Macarena Gimenez and Ricardo Graziano in Frederick Ashton's “Birthday Offering.” Photograph by Steven Pisano
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If there’s anybody who embodies ‘rizz’—charisma in today’s coolspeak—it’s dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker Benjamin Millepied.
Continue ReadingOne might easily mistake the prevailing mood as light-hearted, heading into intermission after two premieres by Brenda Way and Kimi Okada for ODC/Dance’s annual Dance Downtown season. Maybe this is just what we need to counter world events, you may think. But there is much more to consider beneath the high production values of this beautifully wrought program. Okada, for instance, folds a dark message into her cartoon inspired “Inkwell.” And KT Nelson’s “Dead Reckoning” from 2015 reminds us the outlook for climate change looms ever large.
Continue ReadingIt’s not every choreographer who works with economists, anthropologists, neuroscientists and cognitive scientists, not to mention collaborating with the Google Arts & Culture Lab and the Swedish pop group ABBA, but Wayne McGregor wouldn’t have it any other way.
Continue ReadingDance scholars have been remarking on the great Trisha Brown nearly from the day she first stepped into Robert Dunn’s class—the genesis of Judson Dance Theater—in the 1960s.
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