World-class review of ballet and dance.
When asked whether she’s ever had to perform in a work she didn’t agree with or believe in, Penny Wildman’s typically bubbly and lighthearted tone grows ever so slightly vehement. “All the time,” she replies. “All the time.”
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In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. And so it’s been with Los Angeles-based site-specific goddess, Heidi Duckler, who founded her eponymous troupe in 1985. The intrepid choreographer has staged more than 200 works in places as far flung as Australia, Russia and Hong Kong and in such disparate—and iconic—L.A. locations as an abandoned jail (“C’opera,” from 2006, which took place at the Police Academy), “Governing Bodies” (2010), set at City Hall and, more recently, “Hildegard Herself,” a gorgeous 2019 work inspired by 12th-century abbess, composer and mystic Hildegard von Bingen, performed at the 1925 Gothic Revival-style St....
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Li Cunxin, artistic director of the Queensland Ballet, joins us for episode five of Talking Pointes. Most of you will know Li from his early life: he is Mao's Last Dancer. Li was born into complete poverty in rural China, where he was plucked from obscurity to join the Beijing Dance Academy. He was put through years of brutal training, up to 16 hours a day, to become a dancer.
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On episode four of Talking Pointes, we speak with a woman many of you will know, Marie Walton Mahon. Marie, or Miss Marie, as many still call her, has taught and trained literally thousands of dancers here in Australia and around the globe. A dance prodigy in her own right, she was selected as a teenager to train in France with the great Rosella Hightower, and then danced professionally in Marseille, under the artistic directorship of the late, great, Roland Petit.
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I am scratched, punched, kicked and bruised watching Mele Broomes in her extraordinary film Wrapped Up In This. I am compelled by the multitudes within the stories, I feel consumed by its power. I'm disgusted by the real life accounts of racism endured by the womxn Broomes interviewed whilst researching this piece, whose voices are heard as it develops. Yet, it is not without hope, it grows and amplifies. It is utterly visceral and political. It feels radical, revolutionary in its intent. It is discourse, dance, and demonstration all wrapped up at once.
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Today, I'm speaking with my lifelong friend, Adam Blanch. Adam's story has often been compared with Billy Elliot. He grew up in a tiny town in regional Australia called Weston. It's about an hours drive west of Newcastle. In this tiny town everyone can always remember that Adam was dancing. And so, at the age of six, Adam's mum and dad enrolled him in the local ballet class, held in a local hall. He was the only boy. And so, his life in dance began. In this very candid and courageous interview, Adam opens up about his childhood, the bullying...
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As I walked in the blazing early evening sun to the subway this past Monday evening, I wondered how the performers of Andrea Miller’s “You Are Here” would fare in such heat. As if to immediately put my mind to rest, the show began with instant catharsis as the dancers plunged into the large rectangular pool upon entering Lincoln Center’s Hearst Plaza. In unison, they stomped and hopped their way through the water, clasping their own hands together, arms slashing to a driving beat. The steps had a folk dance feel, and their motions felt intentional, grounded, almost sacred. A...
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A recent Dance Data Project survey reports what everyone in the ballet world knows: Women are grossly under-represented in ballet leadership. Just one of the top 10 largest ballet companies in the U.S. is led by a woman, and only 30 percent of the top 50 companies are. Retiring ballerinas, we know, are far more likely to become ballet mistresses and school faculty than artistic directors.
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Lana Jones' journey in ballet seems like the dream run for many aspiring youngsters. As a teenager, she won the silver medal at the international ballet competition, the Genée Awards in London, was accepted into the Australian Ballet School, graduated dux and was accepted straight into the company. From there, the dream continued. She rose through the ranks, won the Telstra Ballet Dancer of the Year Award, married a fellow dancer and was promoted to Principal.
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David McAllister is probably the most well-known face of dance in Australia. He was born in Perth and he was accepted into the Australian Ballet School as a 17-year-old. He graduated and joined the company directly, wowing crowds across the globe. His final performance was in “Giselle” in 2001. And then, three months later, he was named Artistic Director of that same company.
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If you’re wondering what James Whiteside, principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, did last year during the pandemic, here’s the answer: he wrote a book. How does that make you feel about your own productivity? Well, Whiteside isn’t one to waste time. His new book, which goes on sale in August, is a memoir, with the very clever title Center Center. Center center, in Whiteside’s words, is the name for “a mark on every stage around the world that signifies the center of its depth and width.” This, naturally, is where he aimed to be from a very young age....
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When Covid-19 swept the globe in early 2020, businesses and organizations across the board were left scrambling. The performing arts sector—heavily reliant upon live, in-person events for revenue—was left with a void, both artistically and financially. This resulted in a rapid shift to digital content in an effort to remain viable. Now, after over a year of modified and predominantly virtual programming, Fjord Review takes a look back to analyze how dance companies pivoted to adjust to a new reality.
Continue ReadingTwo performers crawl in on hands and knees wearing neon green, hooded coveralls—the lightweight papery kind made for working in a sterile environment—and clusters of balloons pinned to their backs.
Continue ReadingWill Rawls makes boundaries visible by defying them. Known for the disciplinary and topical range of his projects, the choreographer, director, and performer approaches issues of representation in “[siccer],” a multi-part, multi-site work co-presented by L’Alliance New York’s Crossing the Line Festival. A live performance at Performance Space New York...
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It is always interesting when multiple theme steps emerge over the course of a mixed repertory evening, but it is uncanny on one featuring five different ballets, each with a different choreographer and composer, covering a twenty-year span (2005-2025).
Continue ReadingZvidance premiered its new work “Dandelion” mid-November at New York Live Arts. Founded by Zvi Gotheiner in 1989, Zvidance has been a steady presence in the New York contemporary dance scene, a reliable source of compositional integrity, and a magnet for wonderful dancers.
Continue ReadingCleveland native Dianne McIntrye received a hometown hero's welcome during her curtain speech prior to her eponymous dance group thrilling the audience in her latest work, “In the Same Tongue.”
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