World-class review of ballet and dance.
Frances Chung, principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet, is seated in a flat side split, bendily warming up. Her beloved chihuahua, Iggy, finds a place to rest on the nearest tutu. “He's very comfortable in the studio,” Chung laughs.
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“When I began this company 34 years ago, education was crucial. So many people, they teach steps, but if you don’t know what the steps mean or what they are relating to, what is it?”
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Originally from Anshan, China, WanTing Zhao joined the San Francisco Ballet as a corps de ballet dancer in 2011. She has danced numerous principal and featured roles in Helgi Tomasson’s classical productions, and in Balanchine repertoire including “The Four Temperaments” (3rd Theme), and “Rubies” (principal). Recently Zhao danced in Benjamin Millepied's “The Chairman Dances,” which will return as an extended ballet in the company's 2018 season. In 2016 Zhao represented SFB with Carlo Di Lanno at the Eleventh International Competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize in Toronto, Canada, and she was awarded a silver medal at the 2010 Youth America Grand Prix. She was...
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Three dancers of the Australian Ballet met on a recent Monday afternoon in Melbourne for a photo shoot, and giggles, lots of giggles. Meet Isobelle Dashwood, corps de ballet, Christopher Rodgers-Wilson, soloist, and Amy Harris, senior artist. Photographed by Taylor-Ferné Morris with dancewear and styling by Keto.
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“I got an email from the director of the Pillow,” recounts Marsha Parrilla, cupping a mug of hot chocolate inside the warmth of a bustling Cambridge, MA, coffeehouse on a frigid February night. “She said I’m interested in talking to you about a potential opportunity, please reach out—and then I read it and I freaked out!” she laughs, her eyes beaming. “So I contacted her and she expressed interest in having us there for a residency.”
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At a recent All Star Ballet Gala in Toronto, you could watch Isabella Boylston melt into a role, and then, distinctly, conquer it. The American Ballet Theatre principal, Bella to her friends, showed off her fleet footwork in the pas de deux from Bournonville's “Flower Festival in Genzano,” before literally diving into Balanchine's “Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux,” smiling all the while. The crowd roared its appreciation.
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The last time New York-based dancer/choreographer/media artist Jonah Bokaer performed in Los Angeles, it was with Merce Cunningham Dance Company, more than 10 years ago. Indeed, the multi-hyphenate was 18 when he had the distinction of being the youngest dancer ever to join the iconic troupe in 2000, staying until 2007.
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Cassandra Trenary, American Ballet Theatre soloist, for one, had a very good year. The fast-rising star debuted as Princess Aurora in Alexei Ratmansky’s “The Sleeping Beauty” during the company’s spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, reprising the role while on tour to Paris.
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“I was very fortunate in Australia; I had an amazing four years at the Australian Ballet School—which was the best training—and when got into the company, I got to dance a Christopher Wheeldon ballet within the first three months of joining.”
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“My choreography was everything that I wanted it to be and more. For me personally, it was a huge challenge when it came to internal virtues, like leadership. Getting up in front of the room and having to own it.”
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“Why did you quit?” and “Why did you give up?” were some of the responses that Shelby Elsbree, former dancer with Boston Ballet, heard upon announcing her retirement from the stage earlier this year.
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Winning this year's competition for the Erik Bruhn Prize, hosted by the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto, were two dancers from San Francisco Ballet, soloist Angelo Greco, 23, and corps de ballet dancer, Natasha Sheehan, 17. Together they performed a captivating pas de deux from “Giselle” for the classical repertoire, and danced a contemporary duet choreographed by fellow company member Myles Thatcher.
PlusWatching Matthew Bourne's reworked version of the “star-cross'd lovers,” I was briefly reminded of Veronica, played by Winona Ryder, in the dark 1988 comedy by Daniel Waters and Michael Lehmann, Heathers, and her line, “my teen angst bullshit has a body count.” Yes, this is the darker side of Bourne's repertoire,...
PlusThe choreographer Alexei Ratmansky reflects on the war in Ukraine, the connection between geopolitics and ballet, and joining the house of Balanchine.
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Beneath blue California skies, manicured trees, and the occasional hum of an overhead airplane, Tamara Rojo took the Frost Amphitheater stage at Stanford University to introduce herself as the new artistic director of San Francisco Ballet.
PlusAfter a week of the well-balanced meal that is “Jewels”—the nutritive, potentially tedious, leafy greens of “Emeralds,” the gamy, carnivorous “Rubies,” and the decadent, shiny white mountains of meringue in “Diamonds”—the New York City Ballet continued its 75th Anniversary All-Balanchine Fall Season with rather more dyspeptic fare.
PlusAn “Ajiaco” is a type of soup common to Colombia, Cuba, and Peru that combines a variety of different vegetables, spices, and meats.
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