World-class review of ballet and dance.
In today’s high-tech world, where trends blow up the Twittersphere and Facebook like a Tesla on Insane Mode—going from 0 to 60 in under three seconds—the current dance scene also has its share of fast moving choreographic innovators: Think Christopher Wheeldon, Justin Peck or Crystal Pite of Vancouver’s Kidd Pivot.
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Jacques Heim has been obsessed with geometric shapes for years. After founding the risk-intensive, hyper-physical dance troupe DIAVOLO | Architecture in Motion™ in Los Angeles in 1992, Paris-born Heim translated that passion into full-blown, custom-designed stage sets. Included are a 5,000-pound, 16-foot rotating aluminum wheel (“Humachina”), a large, scary-looking vertical pegboard that could serve as the centerpiece at an S&M soiree (“D2R”), and a 14-by-17 foot rocking boat (“Trajectoire”).
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Not too many dancers have a desire to perform in Newfoundland. But Louise Lecavalier, who got the idea from reading Annie Proulx’s book, The Shipping News, is decidedly unlike any dancer—past or present—in the universe. Indeed, it’s safe to say that nobody moves like Louise Lecavalier. The erstwhile star of Édouard Lock’s Montréal-based troupe, La La La Human Steps from 1981-1999, Lecavalier honed her fierce and extreme style that was—and remains—instantly recognizable.
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In the Facebook, Twitter and Instagram era, everyone can rack up ‘friends,’ followers and ‘likes.’ But in the real world of ballet, bringing together 18 major stars from 12 foreign countries to dance on one stage is no easy feat. Don’t tell that to Roberto Bolle or Herman Cornejo, however, as this dynamic duo—both principals with American Ballet Theatre—are doing just that with the world premiere of BalletNow.
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Joseph Toonga is the co-founder and artistic director of Just Us Dance Theatre, a London-based dance collective started in 2007. Just Us is the resident company at Greenwich Dance, and explores the intersection of urban and classical styles, weaving together elements of hip-hop, contemporary dance, physical theatre and spoken word.
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Nat Cursio is a Melbourne-based dance maker, who creates choreographies, curated programs and developmental platforms under the umbrella Nat Cursio Co. Here, she illuminates her newest project, at least for a while anyway. 24 Frames Per Second opens at Carriageworks, Sydney on June 18.
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Dancehouse, Melbourne's longstanding centre for contemporary dance, will host dance maker and dance photographer Gregory Lorenzutti's inaugural Australian exhibition, “Dance is My Landscape” from June 12-14. More than one hundred of the Brazilian-born artist's images will occupy all three floors of the Carlton North dance institution, in a unique display dedicated to the art of capturing motion.
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“I love being in the studio, creating—it’s my happy place,” said Robert Binet, choreographic associate of the National Ballet of Canada. On the phone, he sounds exactly that—happy. In just a few years, the 23-year-old choreographer's career has blossomed. In September, his first piece for New York City Ballet will premiere at their annual fall gala, alongside new work by Justin Peck, Troy Schumacher and Myles Thatcher.
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With Los Angeles currently cited as the world’s hottest art market, many seem to forget that the city actually has a storied history, both in the visual arts as well as in presenting cutting edge performances. The year was 1983 and “Available Light,” a collaboration between Bay Area composer John Adams, Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry, and then New York-based choreographer Lucinda Childs, was one of the first projects to inaugurate what was known as the Temporary Contemporary.
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The year was 1913; the city, Paris. The cause for commotion—indeed, a full-blown riot? Vaslav Nijinsky's choreography for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes’ production of “Le Sacre du Printemps,” set to a raucous score by Igor Stravinsky. And though it's been more than 100 years since that infamous night, the legendary music, which critics then dubbed “Massacre du Printemps,” continues to inspire choreographers.
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Choreographer and dancer Victoria Chiu is a Melbourne girl. She doesn’t speak a Chinese language and the closest thing she has to a Chinese cultural ritual, she says, is the odd weekend yum cha session. Nonetheless, the question she is often asked, do you speak Chinese? forms the basis of her new work. Developed in collaboration with dancer Kristina Chan, “Do You Speak Chinese?” explores the many ways our bodies speak for us, often before we’ve even had a chance to open our mouths.
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Nat Cursio (award-winning “Private Dances,” “Blizzard,” “The Middle Room”) and Shannon Bott (“Racket,” “Hang in there,” “Nice Mate Nice”) have been creating “Recovery” for a period of six years. The work came about due to untimely deaths in both their families, and confronts grief, and what it is to continue on in the wake of loss. Simon Ellis, well-known creator of intimate choreographies, joined the creative process, and just when it seemed “Recovery” would never be, here it is. I am deeply appreciative to Nat Cursio, Shannon Bott and Simon Ellis for answering my questions via email.
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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